Tour 1: Pantanal + Chapada dos Guimarães

4-day/3-night minimum, individually combinable and extendable – offered throughout the year

All trips on this tour are adjusted to the circumstances on site concerning weather and water levels. You are taken where you can see the most plants and animals, which is why this is an all-season offer. The physical condition of the participants is also taken into account. However, you should keep in mind that the programme is primarily determined by nature, not by man.

The tours include excursions through the natural beauty of the Pantanal on foot, on horseback, by boat/canoe and in parts by vehicle. You are accompanied by a trained and competent travel guide, who is available exclusively to you 24 hours a day.

After a stay of up to 2 nights, accommodations are switched in order to allow you a more comprehensive impression of the Pantanal; also, you cannot track every kind of animal in the vicinity of a lodge. All fazendas/pousadas come with clean rooms with air conditioning/fan and a bathroom/toilet, some of them also have a swimming pool. Depending on booking/on request, a stay in the mesas of Chapada dos Guimarães is possible. The order of destinations (first the Pantanal, then Chapada) depends on the circumstances on site as well as on your arrival and departure time.

2nd day: Pantanal – Pousada Rio Claro

Sunrise tour at around 5 am. Experience the awakening of the Pantanal, a natural spectacle that you should definitely not pass up. After breakfast a boat tour gives you a chance to get a sense of the diversity of the vegetation and the bird and animal world. You look for the nests of the Jabiru stork (from June to September), the blue Hyacinth macaw and other bird species. After a siesta, for instance in a hammock, you get ready for a horseback ride, one of the best opportunities to explore the Pantanal. After dinner there is another tour to track caimans and other nocturnal animals.

3rd day: Pousada Rio Claro - Fazenda Santa Tereza (or comparable lodge)

Sunrise tour at 5 am. Breakfast at the Pousada Rio Claro. Afterwards you undertake a horseback ride in the vicinity of the lodge, but a boat tour on the Rio Claro or a short hike in the nearby gallery forest are possible as well. Return to the lodge and lunch. Later you are taken to the Fazenda Santa Tereza on the Transpantaneira road with its many wooden bridges. On the way there will be opportunities to spot the whistling heron (Syrigma sibilatrix), the ever-present Jabiru stork (Jabiru mycteria), the Toco toucan (Ramphastos toco), the great white egret (Casmerodius albus), the limpkin (Aramus guarauna) and the great white hawk (Buteogallus urubitinga). In the afternoon you undertake a short hike in the environment of the lodge, and after dinner there is a nighttime safari to watch nocturnal animals.

4th day: Fazenda Santa Tereza

Today you rise early. With a bit of luck you can even watch the Paraguay or yellow anaconda (Eunectes notaeus) basking in the sun. Swamp deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) can often be seen as well. After breakfast you go on a horseback ride on the lodge grounds. Lunch at the Fazenda Santa Tereza.

A special highlight about the Fazenda Santa Tereza is always the boat tour, on which you get to see all kinds of kingfishers (Chloroceryle/Ceryle), mangrove herons (Butorides striatus), blue-throated piping guans (Abburia pipile), snail kites (Rostrhamus sociabilis) and many other rare animals. Always around is the black-collared hawk, only waiting to plummet down and snatch fishermen's discarded fish out of the water.

With a little bit of luck you even get to see the very shy giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis). Their communication alone, through whistling noises, is an impressive spectacle. At dusk, nightjars such as the pauraque (Nyctidromus albicollis) can often be watched. After a boat tour you return to the lodge in the late afternoon. Dinner and opportunity for another nighttime safari.

5th day: Fazenda Santa Tereza - Curicaca lodge

Sunrise tour at 5 am, then breakfast at the Fazenda Santa Tereza. Afterwards you head back towards Poconé on the Transpantaneira, to the Curicaca lodge. The Curicaca lodge is located in the midst of untouched nature in a gallery forest by the small Rio Nova. It is a rustic-style building and a paradise for bird lovers, although many mammals can also be discovered and watched here. After arrival, you move into your room and go on a first walk on the lodge grounds. Lunch at the Curicaca lodge.

After lunch you can choose to undertake a horseback ride, starting from the nearby Pousada Piuval or Pousada Portal Paraiso, since the Curicaca lodge has no horses of its own. However, a canoe tour on the nearby Rio Nova or a walk on the lodge grounds are also an option. If you like you can also go on a bike ride along the Transpantaneira. Return to the lodge and dinner. Afterwards you undertake a nighttime safari to track nocturnal animals.

6th day: Curicaca lodge

In the next morning sunrise tour at 5 am. Witness the awakening of countless bird species. Breakfast at the lodge. After breakfast you set out on a canoe tour on Rio Nova, where regularly tapirs, anteaters and many other mammals can be spotted; a short hike is possible too. Lunch at the lodge.

After a siesta in a hammock, you go on another excursion on foot or, if you wish, another horseback ride. If you want, you can also go cycling on the Transpantaneira instead. Near the Curicaca lodge there is a small look-out tower from which you get a magnificent view over the Pantanal. Dinner at the lodge.

7th day: Curicaca lodge - Chapada dos Guimarães

Sunrise tour to experience the awakening of the Pantanal. After breakfast drive to the Chapada, a completely different kind of landscape (about 170 km). You pick your accommodation for the night: the Hotel Turismo, the Pousada do Parque, or the Pousada Penhasco. Lunch at a local restaurant (in case of accommodation at the Hotel Turismo or the Pousada Penhasco) or at the Pousada do Parque.

In the afternoon (depending on arrival time) visit to the mesas. During the hike through the highlands you get the opportunity to take a bath under one of the many waterfalls. You also get to see caves and small rivers. Many rare bird species have been sighted in this protected reservation.

8th day: Chapada dos Guimarães

In the next morning you set out for the Centro Geodesico. This unique spot is the geological central point of South America. When the view is good you can see for more than 100 km. We proceed to the village of Chapada dos Guimarães, where lunch awaits you at a local restaurant or at the Pousada do Parque respectively. Many people from Cuiabá have their weekend cottages here. That makes it a very busy place on weekends.

After lunch you go for a hike in the national park starting from the Pousada do Parque, which is located in the midst of a protected reservation, or you visit the highest waterfall in Chapada (closed on Tuesdays). Time to take a bath, maybe you are even brave enough to jump down the waterfall. This is considered a test of courage in these parts. After this refreshment you hike back to the Pousada do Parque (or a similar accommodation). After a shower and some rest dinner in Chapada at a local restaurant. Overnight stay at the lodge of your choice.

9th day: Chapada dos Guimarães - Cuiabá Airport

Breakfast at the lodge, afterwards transfer to the airport in Cuiabá. Follow-up tours or extended stays possible on request.

Prices apiece:

Length of stay	Single room	Double room	3-bed room	4-bed room
4 days/3 nights	1185,00 €	695,00 €	645,00 €	575,00 €
5 days/4 nights	1695,00 €	865,00 €	795,00 €	725,00 €
6 days/5 nights	1985,00 €	1095,00 €	985,00 €	915,00 €
7 days/6 nights	2295,00 €	1345,00 €	1035,00 €	995,00 €
8 days/7 nights	2535,00 €	1565,00 €	1445,00 €	1325,00 €
9 days/8 nights	2775,00 €	1775,00 €	1695,00 €	1575,00 €
10 days/9 nights	3045,00 €	1995,00 €	1925,00 €	1875,00 €
Pousada Penhasco - 2 N	+ 175,00 €	+ 80,00 €	+ 70,00 €	+ 60,00 €
Pousada do Parque - 2 N	+ 175,00 €	+ 80,00 €	+ 70,00 €	+ 60,00 €
Flight - 1 hour	400,00 €	200,00 €	150,00 €	100,00 €

All prices apiece (valid until 23.12.2012). Additional days possible, prices on request. Choice of alternate accommodation possible at any time.

The following services are included in the prices:

2 nights at the Pousada Rio Claro with full board
2 nights at the Fazenda Santa Tereza or comparable lodge with full board
2 nights at the Curicaca Lodge with full board, beer, water and soft drinks
2 nights in Chapada dos Guimarães at the Hotel Turismo (lunch at a local restaurant)
2 nights in Chapada dos Guimarães at the Pousada Penhasco or at the Pousada do Parque at an extra charge
All transfers in air-conditioned, insured vehicles in top condition
All trips by car, boat/canoe, on horseback or on foot
Lunch with a typically Brazilian family (depending on arrival time at the airport)
24-hour, private support by German or English-speaking travel guide (depending on availability at the time of booking).

Not included:

Beverages at the other accommodations (except for the Curicaca lodge), tips, personal expenses, 1-hour sightseeing flight over the Pantanal in a one-engine Cessna, overnight stay at a hotel of your choice in Cuiabá. Overnight stay at the Pousada Penhasco and the Pousada do Parque at an extra charge.

Please note:

The tour programmes depend on the situation on site, changes to the programme (order of accommodations) remain reserved and are adjusted to availability and to flight schedules respectively. Timely booking is required, since most accommodations are booked for months in advance during the peak season. The tours and excursions described above can be changed according to weather, season or constitution within the group.

All prices are assuming that the basic political and economic conditions in Brazil do not change significantly until the start of the tour. Price changes are reserved due to currency fluctuations and steadily rising fuel prices.

What you should take with you:

T-shirts and shirts for sleeping, trainers or hiking boots, jeans or hiking trousers, hat and sunscreen, camera, sweatshirt from June to September.

The texts and photos on this site are protected by copyright:
© Texts and photos by Günter Stysch

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