The Pantanal The Pantanal is an incredible mixture of different ecosystems, combining such diverse landscapes as savannahs, flood plains, forests with an Amazon character, jungles and steppe areas. These landscapes are extremely dependent on water, and are characterised by the annual rainy and dry seasons. In the Rio Paraguai, this vast area has only one outlet. All the rainwater that fills up the lakes and lagoons around the turn of the year (and which makes the numerous rivers in the north rise) sluggishly flows towards the south during the next six months - every year. The UNESCO has declared the Pantanal one of the most species-rich and diverse nature reserves of our planet and has included it in its list of the "Heritages of Mankind". It stretches over an area of roughly 230,000 sq km, including the far midwest of Brazil as well as parts of Paraguay and Bolivia - which makes it the largest flood plain on the continent.  During the inundations, which usually start in January and reach their peak in May or June, the water forms bays, lagoons and innumerable branch streams. At the end of the rainy season a large variety of animals is concentrated in the water and in the mud of the lagoon shores, which in turn attract other animals in search of food, such as wild boars, coatis, deer and waterfowls. When the water levels sink - in the dry season from June/July to December - the nutrients in the water are deposited in the soil, thereby fertilizing it and offering new food to the animals in the area. Thanks to the coming and going of the water in the Pantanal, there is a tremendous diversity of flora and fauna to be found here. The Ipê Roxo (the symbolic tree of the Pantanal) blooms during this time, for instance. To get a sense of the biodiversity of the Pantanal you only need to look around you, at any time of day: caimans, marabous, jaguars, otters, cranes, herons, falcons, deer, howler monkeys, macaws and parrots, as well as a huge number of insects populate the rivers, forests and lakes. Their different voices and colours give this ecosystem its incomparable atmosphere, which enchants every visitor. Further: Vegetation forms | Climate | Fauna | Tourism | Cuisine | History | Cuiaba | Chapada |
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