Thursday 30 October 2008

Balneário Municipal

South America Day 35 - Travel to Bonito & Balneário Municipal


It was time to leave the lodge and head to Bonito. We re-traced our steps back to the highway. We saw the otters again in the same small pool we'd seen them a couple of days previous. We also crossed the Rio Paraguay (above). Being that it was the dry season there wasn't much water in this river, but you can imagine what it's like in the wet season.
It was quite a long drive to Bonito along a rough dirt road for the most part.

Balneário Municipal

We arrived at our hotel, got settled in and set off fairly soon after for Balneário Municipal.
Balneário Municipal is a 7 km taxi ride from the town of Bonito. It's a natural stream with three little waterfalls that absolutely teems with fish.
There is some shoreline development including a lifeguard tower, diving board and a flying fox. There is also small restaurant, and a couple of play areas, one for kids (playground) and one for adults (giant chess set and pool table).

It was a great place to kick back & relax in the water. It was a welcome respite after a couple of hot sticky days in the Pantanal. You can even hide in behind the waterfall below.
We did have to vacate the water at one point thanks to a nasty thunderstorm. After a couple more goes on the flying fox & a couple more jumps off the diving board, we reluctantly headed back to town.
For dinner we went to a pizza place that Suellen had recommended. Bad choice! They were probably the worst pizzas I've ever had.