Tour 11: All-in-one package

14 days/13 nights (only from March to mid-December)

1st to 3rd day (2 nights): Chapada dos Guimarães

Our travel guide picks you up at Cuiabá airport and takes you to Chapada dos Guimarães in an air-conditioned minivan or car (depending on the number of travellers). Here you will spend two nights at the Pousada Penhasco (or a different but similar lodge like the Hotel Turismo) and experience the unique beauty of the local mesas. After breakfast visit to the national park. During the hike through the highlands you will get a few opportunities to take a shower under one of the many waterfalls. Walk to the cave of “Casa de Pedra” (with its subterranean river), view from “Morro de São Jerônimo” (836 m), and hike to the highest waterfall in the area, “Véu de Noiva”, plunging down 96 m into a majestic canyon.

3rd to 5th day (2 nights): Pousada Piuval

After breakfast you say goodbye to Chapada and drive 170 km to Poconé. You are a guest in the house of Dona Dalva and Senhor Antonio, having lunch with a typically Brazilian family. Here you get the opportunity to freshen up a bit. After that you start out on your sightseeing flight over the Pantanal. A unique experience: seeing the Pantanal from a bird’s eye view. Afterwards drive to the Pousada Piuval (about 20 minutes’ ride). Here two overnight stays with full board are scheduled. In the afternoon we offer more tours in the vicinity of the lodge, either on horseback or by boat. After dinner nighttime safari to watch nocturnal animals.

In the next morning you rise early to witness the sunrise and the awakening of the Pantanal fauna. After breakfast more trips on horseback or by boat on the nearby Piuval lake are on the schedule; same programme in the afternoon. In the evening another nighttime safari to track and watch nocturnal animals. Overnight stay at the Pousada Piuval.

5th to 7th day: Pousada Rio Claro (2 nights)

A tour on horseback is offered after breakfast to watch the animal kingdom in the vicinity of the lodge. After that drive along the Transpantaneira to the Pousada Rio Claro. This lodge is supposed to be the climax of the whole tour and offers a vast amount of observation options which can only be sketched here in short. It lies directly by the river Rio Claro, embedded in an all but untouched and diverse landscape.

By the river many kinds of kingfishers (Chloroceryle), Agami herons (Agamia agami), fork-tailed flycatchers (Tyrannus savana), Trinidad piping guans (Aburria pipile), Toco toucans (Ramphastos toco) and giant otters can be watched. Nearby you will find a gallery forest which is home to many birds like the blue-crowned trogon (Trogon curucui), the rufous-tailed jacamar (Galbula ruficauda), the golden-collared macaw (Ara auricollis), the rufous hornero (Furnarius rufus commersoni), the lineated woodpecker (Dryocopus lineatus) or the great rufous woodcreeper (Xiphocolaptes major).

Photos protected by copyright: ©Günter Ziesler

7th to 9th day: Jaguar-Eco Lodge (2 nights)

First a sunrise tour before breakfast - to experience the awakening of the animal world in the Pantanal. After breakfast you take a trekking tour or a boat trip, then lunch at the pousada. Afterwards you take a ride along the Transpantaneira to the Jaguar-Eco lodge, the starting point for the jaguar excursions. In the afternoon you go on an excursion on foot in the vicinity of the lodge. After dinner you take a tour to search for nocturnal animals (depending on the weather).

On the next day, after getting up at 5:00 AM drive to Porto Jofre, the end of the Transpantaneira. Breakfast after arrival. Later on our schedule is a boat trip (approx. five hours) which takes you deep into the cerrado, into the heart of a pristine natural landscape – in the vicinity of the Rio Tres Irmãos, Rio São Lourenço and the Rio Piquiri to search for jaguars. Around noontime we return by boat to Porto Jofre where you have a picnic lunch. Afterwards we drive back to the Jaguar-Eco lodge. Dinner (followed by overnight stay) at the lodge.

9th to 11th day (2 nights): Fazenda Santa Tereza

After breakfast you bid the Jaguar-Eco lodge farewell and are taken along the Transpantaneira to the Fazenda Santa Tereza. This fazenda is preferably visited by ornithologists and biologists, since here in the past few years people have been trying to recreate the old habitats of, mainly, macaws and other bird species. In the immediate vicinity of the fazenda you can find flocks of hyacinth macaws (Andorohynchus hyacinthinus).

Other animal species such as Toco toucans (Ramphastos toco), American rheas (Rhea americana), jabirus (Jabiru mycteria), coatis, raccoons and giant anteaters (Nasua nasua, Procyon lotor, Myrmecophaga tridactyla), capibaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), giant otters (Lontra longicaudis) and large gatherings of caimans are often to be found here. On a horseback ride in the morning you can spot black skimmers (Rynchops niger) catching fish in ponds. This fazenda is a must-see for nature lovers and photographers and offers a wide range of activities!

Next up is an excursion in the afternoon, to forest islands with diverse trees that are exclusive to this area. After dinner night-time drive into the environment of the lodge to watch nocturnal animals such as caimans, rarely tapirs (Tapirus terrestris), but certainly rufous nightjars (Caprimulgus rufus), common pauraques (Nyctidromus albicollis) and the occasional common potoo (Nyctibius grandis).

11th to 13th day (2 nights): Curicaca lodge

After breakfast you go to the Pousada Pouso Alegre with many stops along the Transpantaneira. This fazenda is also very popular among ornithologists and biologists because of the attempts that were made here in the past few years to recreate bird species' old habitats. In the immediate proximity of the fazenda whole flocks of Hyacinth macaws (Andorohynchus hyacinthinus) can be spotted at times.

Other species of animals like giant toucans (Ramphastos toco), rheas (Rhea Americana), jabirus (Jabiru mycteria), giant anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), capibaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) giant otters (Lontra longicaudis) and large gatherings of caimans can be watched here frequently.

On an early-morning horseback ride you can see black skimmers (Rynchops Niger) hunting for fish in ponds. This fazenda offers various fields of activity and is a treasure trove both for nature lovers and for photographers!

After dinner night-time hike into the surroundings to watch caimans, tapirs (Tapirus terrestris), rufous nightjars (Caprimulgus Rufus), pauraques (Nyctidromus albicollis) and perhaps even the nocturnal common potoo (Nyctibius grandis).

13th to 14th day (1 night): Hotel SESC - Porto Cercado

After breakfast horseback ride in the vicinity of the lodge, afterwards lunch. Later drive to Porto Cercado to the Hotel SESC. Here you can relax by the swimming pool. Dinner at the hotel. On the next day transfer to the airport, depending on your flight schedule.

Note:

The tours are adjusted to the local conditions, changes of the programme are reserved. Timely booking is required since the Hotel SESC and the Refúgio Ilha do Caracará are usually booked up for months in advance.

Prices:

Participant	2 pers. DBL	3 pers. TPL	4 pers. 2 DBL	6 pers. 3 DBL
Prices per person	2275,00 €	1995,00 €	1775,00 €	1595,00 €

_{All prices valid until 23.12.2010. DBL = double room, TPL = 3-bed room}

Performances included in the prices:

24-hour support by trained tour guide (English-speaking)
All transfers and tours in an air-conditioned minivan, incl. all petrol costs
All tours by car, on foot, on horseback and by boat
2 overnight stays at the Pousada Penhasco in Chapada dos Guimarães with full board, lunch and dinner at a typical local restaurant in Chapada
Lunch with a local Brazilian family in Poconé
2 overnight stays at the Pousada Piuval with full board
2 overnight stays at the Jaguar-Eco lodge with full board
2 overnight stays at the Pousada Rio Claro with full board
2 overnight stays at the Fazenda Santa Tereza in the Pantanal with full board
2 overnight stays at the Curicaca lodge with full board
1 overnight stay at the luxury hotel SESC in Porto Cercado (Pantanal) with dinner/breakfast.
All accommodations with air conditioning, bathroom/shower, swimming pool (except for Pouso Alegre, no pool here), city centre tour of Cuiabá, approx. 1-hour sightseeing flight over the Pantanal in a Cessna (3 passengers per airplane) from/to the Fazenda Santa Tereza.

Not included in the prices:

Request regarding journey