The Pantanal is one of the world’s largest wetlands, it’s located in Mato Grosso do Sul state, in the south of Brasil. The Pantanal extends also into Bolivia and Paraguay and the estimated area is about 195000 Square Km. It gets water from Paraguay river and another tributaries, on the rainy season the water level raises between 2 and 5 meters and gets really flooded.
The Pantanal ecosystem has about 300 mammals species, 480 reptiles species and more than 1000 species of birds. It’s very easy to see tucans, macaws, caymans and capybaras but if you are lucky you will see a Jaguar or a river otter!
You can go to the Pantanal from Corumba city (Border with Bolivia) and then drive for about 2 or 3 hours, maybe more in rainy season. You can also get to the Pantanal from Campo Grande city, the capital of the state.
The Tucan Travel excursion to the Pantanal is one of the highlights of our tours, we stayed in a nice jungle lodge and enjoyed the nature for a few days. We use local guides who grew up on this area as they know everything about the animals and plants here. The weather is usually very hot and humid but sometimes rains a lot.
Our excursion to the Pantanal.
Day 1.
We arrived to our jungle lodge about midday and our local guides Paulo and Carlos came to meet us and help us with our bags and show us our rooms.
Our lodge was located in front of Miranda river, this lodge has great cabins, a dining room, bar and a pool table, there was also a pi
er where you can go fishing or just have a beer and see the nature. Around the lodge there were bridges so you can walk on your own and see monkeys, capybaras and birds.
After lunch we went for piranha fishing, our guides helped us and show us the best spots, we got loads of piranhas, saw a river otter and some caymans. We had a great afternoon and some of us went for a swim in the river as our guide, Paulo, told us the caimans and piranhas don’t bite humans. Later on Paulo and Carlos took all the piranhas that we caught to the kitchen as the chef wanted to cook them for dinner.
At night our local guide explained us about the activities for next day, then we had dinner and we went to the pier to have some wine and enjoy watching the nature, the sky was clear and we could see the stars and also listen the river and some frogs that were around.
Day 2.
We woke up early and had a good breakfast, eggs, local fruits toasted bread and Brazilian coffee. We packed a day bag and took a safari truck to go to the farm. On the way to the farm we saw a deer, an anteater, a few tucans and loads of caymans.
We arrived to the farm after a 1 ½ hr. drive, we left our stuff in the common area and then we went for a walk in the jungle, we saw a few monkeys blue macaws, parrots and a lake with probably more than 100 caymans. In the afternoon we had some lunch, then a siesta on the hammocks and some cold beers. Later on our guide called us for the next activity, horse riding!. Paulo prepared the horses for us and then we went for a ride, the landscape was amazing and we saw a few macaws and monkeys. The horse riding took about 1 ½ hours, the weather was very hot and Paulo explained us about the area and the farmers who live in the Pantanal. The locals have very big farms and loads of cows, the Brasilian cowboys are called Gauchos and they always drink a cold herbal tea called Tereré.
After a nice afternoon on the farm we took our safari truck to go back to the lodge, we arrived before dark and then had dinner, our guide explained us about the next day activities. After dinner we went for a walk by our own to see some animals, we saw some capybaras. That night we stayed on the pier for a few hours just talking about our jungle trip and all the animals we saw.
Day 3.
We woke up early in the morning and saw some howler monkeys around the lodge, they were very noisy and woke up everybody else. We had breakfast and went for a boat trip on Miranda river, the trip was for about 3 hours and we saw more animals, then we stopped on a little beach and had a swim. We came back to the lodge about midday, had some lunch and pack our stuff to continue our trip.
The Pantanal trip is one of my favorites excursions in Brasil as you can enjoy the nature and see loads of animals on the wildlife. It’s also interesting to meet the local people and listen to their stories about the jungle. Sometimes you can be lucky and see a jaguar but you never know what is going to happen in the Pantanal, it’s a great experience.
Visit the Pantanal on our Adventure Tours through Brazil.
Spread the love
