Page 64 - AlertDiver_Spring2013

62 | SPRING 2013
L arger than the continental United States and the fifth-
largest country on earth, Brazil is living proof that size
matters. Both predators and prey reach enormous
proportions, and strangeness abounds. Snakes nearly as
big around as office water-cooler jugs hunt rodents the
size of pigs. Pink dolphins swim in tea-stained rivers where
armored, 400-pound, bony-tongued fish can breathe air, and caimans are as
common as fruit on jabuticaba trees.
I embarked on my first major expedition into the Brazilian wilderness
in May 2012 — late in the fall there. The three-week adventure covered
more than 1,200 miles and encompassed the flooded Amazon basin near
Manaus, the northern reaches of Mato Grosso and the colossal expanse of the
Pantanal, a vast tropical wetland. Largely unexplored, these remote regions
are replete with unexpected hazards and home to an immeasurably diverse
array of wildlife. The ambitious route photographer Adriana Basques mapped
out for us required four separate guides, each seasoned by a lifetime of
experience. Going it alone could have easily proven fatal. We were optimistic
that although the trip would be logistically challenging, it would prove
photographically rewarding.
The Amazon, the Pantanal
and Bonito
T E X T B y C l a r k M i l l e r
P H O T O S B Y C L A R K M I L L E R A N D A D R I A N A B A S Q U E S
J u r a s s i c