An Update from Chris Korbulic and Ben Stookesberry:

Ponte da Pedra: 3/3/10
Cachoeira Ponte da Pedra is one of several falls that pops out of South Western Mato Grosso on Google Earth like an emerald amid a swath of agro-industrial fazendas. 

Extensive scouting on Google Earth has been of utmost importance prioritizing the whitewater-filled sections of river amongst vast stretches of flat water, and the Rio Ponte Pedra is dotted with over exposed stretches indicating falling water.  

Just past the apex of one of the rainiest summers in resent history, we arrived to find a raging torrent full to the brim with clear water. But the locals were not warning that the river “cheio”, or full of water, but instead frightened us with various first had encounters with anacondas, dangerous jungle cats, and aggressive insects.  Especially alarming was a photo of the opened belly of a giant anaconda with a pair of human legs hanging out. 

Our first day scouting the river, we made a fascinating descent of the rivers final cataract that culminates in a roosting wave train under a natural sandstone bridge. That night Ben put 3 holes in the rear driver side tire and shortly after punctured the spare, stranding us late into the night in the middle of the jungle. 

That late night lead to another late start and another sunset scouting mission at our put-in on the edge of a massive soy plantation. The Fazendas gregarious manager Andouli wrestled in to the dense jungle towards the river to get a look at the water while we climbed a small hill to get a peek at the noisy cascading river. Seconds later Andouli was bashing the dense bush where we had just stood.  ”Sucuri!” yelled the agitated farmer as he swung ferociously at the bank of the river. Ben and I had tread unknowingly over the back of a “small” 8 foot anaconda, awakening the serpent to squirm under foot of our incredulous host.   

After some hard contemplation, we entered the sun-bathed jungle the following morning weary of the flooded overgrown banks of the river as if it were teaming with Anaconda. Horizon lines repeatedly forced us out of the steep flooded river and into the crowded jungle. A mass of vines, thorns, and viscous Maribondos (bird sized wasp), greeted us at every scout.   

Formed from an incredible amount of water during the wet-season and Moab esque sandstone bed rock, the river is a class V marvel including natural sandstone arches spanning the river and incredible rapids and falls. As a grand finale the “Ponte da Pedra,” is one of the most beautiful rapids that I have ever seen with a 10 meter falls rushing out under a natural bridge large enough to drive across.  

Although the bottom portion of the run is protected as Indigenous land, the Rio Ponte da Pedra will not be speared from slated damn construction near future. The farms surrounding the soon-to-be reservoir are more than happy to trade some of their tillable land for the projected gains in power and income from the hydropower project.   

Over the next week and a half we will travel into the remote area’s to the west towards the wild border with Bolivia in search of three massive waterfalls hidden on the even more massive clear water tributaries to the mighty Amazonian giant, the Rio Juruena.