So when our time in the Pantanal was up, it took the better part of a day to drive the 147 kilometers (about 91 miles) back to Cuiaba to catch our flight home.  

 

After our what-could-have-ended-badly transportation incident with Mr. Grumpy Pants a couple of days before, Nicolas requested a different driver to pick us up at our lodge and drive us to the airport, with stops along the way to take a few final photographs of Pantanal wildlife.

It was a much more relaxed and enjoyable ride out than the tense ride in...

 

I was excited to see a spoonbill amongst the whistling ducks...

Nicolas is sneaking in for a closer photograph...

 

Beautiful and unique birds!

 

A trio of flycatchers...especially beautiful (but very difficult to photograph!) when they are flying...

 

Caimans always cruisin'...

 

You always get the distinct feeling that you are being watched...and you are!

 

We saw well over 100 caimans that morning...they were everywhere!

 

Cattle egrets among the large herds of cattle....

 

Momma screamer and her chick...

 

Jabiru poking in the muck...

I love this photo because it shows so many different animals together, all peacefully co-existing...

 

Our friendly driver pulled up to this long-abandoned house and began whistling....

 

A few seconds later, three big owls appeared!

 

They perched right overhead! 

Gotta love a guy that can call owls and they come flying in!

 

A snail kite uses that intimidating beak to dig snails out of their shells....

 

The egret and capybara don't seem the least bit fazed at the proximity of the caimans...

 

This caiman had something in its mouth...and the heron and kingfisher couldn't care less...

 

A tern circling over the marsh...

A striated heron...

Some bridges are more rickety...

...than others.  

 

Curious capuchin...

 

A troupial...wow, isn't he magnificent?!

Muscovy duck...

This pretty thing is a scarlet-headed blackbird...

 

Here are new birds to add to our list...a big group of monk parakeets....

...and their nest.

 

Marsh deer...

A red-crested cardinal...

 

Eventually the dirt road turned back to pavement...

...as we arrived back to civilization/the village of Pocone...

 

Yep, obsession with cell phones is everywhere!  Wonder if it's against the law to text and pedal?

 

Those plateaus we saw on the way to Cuiaba are gold mines...

 

Interesting!

And just before we arrived in the city, this colorful toco toucan showed up to bid us farewell....

 

Time for us to fly too!

The perfect end to a perfect Pantanal holiday, spending our last morning cruising along...

...the Transpantaneira Highway.