Tour 12: Chapada dos Guimarães – Nobres (Lagoa Azul) - Bom Jardim - Lagoa das Araras

4 days/3 nights

This programme can be combined with one of our tour programmes in the Pantanal and Mato Grosso, either as a follow-up programme or a completion programme. However, it is also available as an individual tour and offers some excellent insight into the diverse vegetation forms and ecosystems that Mato Grosso has to offer.

1st day:

Pickup in Cuiabá at the airport and journey to Chapada dos Guimarães (approximately 70 km). You spend two nights at the Hotel Turismo or at the Pousada do Parque (your choice) and experience the singular beauty of the mesas there.

In the afternoon (depending on arrival time) visit to the national park.

During the walk in the highlands one has the opportunity to take a bath under one of the many waterfalls.

The waterfall Véu de Noiva is 86 m high and plunges down into a majestic canyon. Visit to the cave Casa de Pedra with its underground river, then view from Morro de Sao Jeronimo (836 m), the highest spot in the area.

Dinner at a local restaurant in Chapada dos Guimarães. Overnight stay at the Hotel Turismo or at the Pousada Penhasco.

2nd day:

After breakfast we go to Nobres for snorkelling. We inspect a new ecosystem in this beautiful region of Mato Grosso; includes a trip to a dripstone cave.

After a simple lunch at the Pousada Bom Jardim you head to Lagoa Azul and equip yourself with snorkelling gear (life jacket, diving goggles, snorkel and diving fins). You swim in a crystal clear basin and explore the underwater world. This place is home to pintados, dorados and various other fish.

Lagoa das Araras (1 km from Bom Jardim):

3rd day:

Before breakfast you watch the hustle and bustle of hundreds of macaws and parrots (after rising at around 5 o'clock), then you go on an excursion to the Lagoa das Araras (trip of approximately 1 km). Return to the Pousada Bom Jardim and return journey to Chapada dos Guimarães, later lunch at a regional restaurant. In the afternoon trip to the Centro Geodesico. This spot lies at the exact centre of South America. On a good day one can see for 100 km from here. Afterwards trip to the village Chapada dos Guimarães where lunch waits for us at a local restaurant. Many Cuibáns have their weekend cottages here, which makes it very busy on weekends. After lunch we visit the Veu de Noiva and Andorinhas waterfalls. This is the ideal time for taking a bath, perhaps you even dare jump down the smaller waterfall; this is considered a test of courage in these parts.

After this refreshment we return to the hotel or pousada (depending on your choice of accommodation). Time for a shower and some relaxation at a local restaurant in Chapada.

4th day:

After breakfast transfer to the airport, depending on flight schedules; alternately start of follow-up programme.

Note:

The distance from Bom Jardim to Chapada dos Guimaraes is 170 km, 40 km of which are covered on non-asphalt roads. This can make the journey somewhat exhausting. After your visit to the Lagoa Azul there will be another 30 km's drive on non-asphalted roads to the Pousada Bom Jardim. We ask you to take this into account upon planning your journey.

Prices apiece:

	2 persons	3 - 4 persons	5 - 6 persons
Hotel Turismo	495,00 €	375,00 €	315,00 €
Pousada do Parque	575,00 €	515,00 €	455,00 €

_{All prices apiece; valid until 23.12.2010.}

Services included:

All transfers and all drives, incl. petrol costs
2 overnight stays at the Hotel Turismo or at the Pousada Penhasco in Chapada dos Guimarães with breakfast, lunch (2 x) and dinner (2 x) at local restaurants
Day trip to Nobres, incl. lunch at the Pousada Bom Jardim
1 overnight stay with breakfast at the Pousada Bom Jardim, 1 x dinner in the small town of Bom Jardim
Excursion to the Lagoa dos Araras.
Short city centre tour in Cuiabá
24-hour support by trained travel guide (English-speaking)
Snorkelling equipment (which is cleaned and disinfected after every use)

Not included:

Request regarding journey