Tour 6: Transpantaneira2-person minimum, offered from the end of May to the end of November  1st day: Cuiabá – Pousada PiuvalYou are picked up by your tour guide at the airport in Cuiabá and take a drive of about 110 km to Poconé on asphalt roads. Once there, you have lunch in a typically Brazilian family and savour the local cuisine of Mato Grosso (depends on arrival time at the airport). Later you go to the Pousada Piuval via the Transpantaneira, with several stops along the way to watch the flora and fauna. After arrival at the lodge in the afternoon you go on a boat tour on the nearby Piuval lake or a horseback ride on the grounds of the Fazenda Ipiranga (which belongs to the Pousada Piuval) to track down various bird species and howler monkeys (depends on the arrival time at the lodge as well). After dinner, there will be a nighttime safari with torches and headlights to watch nocturnal animals on the programme.
2nd day: Pousada Piuval – Jaguar-Eco Lodge or optionally Hotel Porto JofreYou take a sunrise tour before breakfast to witness the awakening of the animal world of the Pantanal. After breakfast you undertake a riding tour or a boat tour on the Piuval lake. Lunch at the Pousada Piuval. Depending on booking, you later proceed on the Transpantaneira to the Jaguar-Eco lodge or the Hotel Porto Jofre. This is your starting point for the jaguar safaris. In the afternoon you take a hike in the surroundings of the lodge. Near the Hotel Porto Jofre in particular one can see the Victoria water lilies, which only occur here; in the late afternoon there is also often a population of hyacinth macaws to be seen. After dinner you take a tour tracking nocturnal animals (depending on the weather).  3rd day: jaguar safari and animal watchingIn the early morning you go to Porto Jofre, the end of the Transpantaneira. Upon arrival you have breakfast. Afterwards begins a ca. 5-hour boat tour (simple, slow boats) deep into the untouched nature of the cerrado to track jaguars in the area of the rivers Rio Tres Irmãos, Rio São Lourenço and Rio Piquiri. Lunch in the form of a picnic (packed lunch). Return to the lodge, the rest of the afternoon is free. Dinner and overnight stay at the Jaguar-Eco Lodge.If you spent the night at the Hotel Porto Jofre, you get up at 5 am for breakfast. The jaguar tour into the three-river area in convenient boats begins at around 6 am. Return between 12:30 pm and 13:00 pm for lunch. After lunch you go on another boat tour to track jaguars. Return to the Hotel Porto Jofre for dinner. Later you have the option of another nighttime safari to track nocturnal animals. 4th day: Jaguar-Eco Lodge/Hotel Porto Jofre – Fazenda Santa TerezaSunrise tour at around 5 am (optional). Breakfast at the Jaguar-Eco Lodge or at the Hotel Porto Jofre respectively. After breakfast drive on the Transpantaneira to the Fazenda Santa Tereza. Whenever possible, there will be short stops to give you the opportunity to watch and photograph the animals. Lunch at the Fazenda Santa Tereza. Afterwards you go motorboating on the Rio Pixaim. This boat tour is always a special highlight at the Fazenda Santa Tereza, since you get to see all kinds of kingfishers (Chloroceryle/Ceryle), mangrove herons (Butorides striatus), blue-throated piping guan (Aburria pipile), snail kites (Rostrhamus sociabilis) and many others. Never far away is the ubiquitous black-collared hawk (Busarellus nigricollis), always waiting to snatch anglers’ discarded fish out of the water.With a bit of luck you can even spot the very shy giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis). Their communication alone, through piping sounds, is quite an impressive spectacle. At dusk, there are often plenty of nightjars to be seen, such as the pauraque (Nyctidromus albicollis) and the nighthawk (Chordeiles minor). Return to the fazenda. After dinner nighttime safari to track nocturnal animals in the vicinity of the lodge.
5th day: Fazenda Santa TerezaYou rise early (5 am) to watch the awakening of the flora and fauna of the Pantanal, a unique natural spectacle you should definitely not miss. With a bit of luck you can even watch different kinds of anacondas (Eunectes notaeus) taking a sunbath. Swamp deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) are no rarity here either. Return to the lodge and breakfast. Afterwards riding tour in the surroundings of the lodge. Lunch at the lodge. In the afternoon you try your luck catching piranhas during a boat tour on the Rio Pixaim. Here you are also most likely to watch free-living giant otters. If desired, there will be another tour to track nocturnal animals after dinner.
6th day: Pantanal – CuiabáAfter breakfast transfer to the airport in Cuiabá, depending on departure time. In case of a later flight, horseback rides and hikes will be offered after breakfast.
Prices apiece:
Performances included in the prices:1 overnight stay in a double room at the Pousada Piuval with full board2 overnight stays at the Jaguar-Eco Lodge or at the Hotel Porto Jofre respectively (full board); includes a 5-hour boat tour from/to Porto Jofre (Jaguar-Eco Lodge) or an all-day boat tour tracking jaguars from the Hotel Porto Jofre respectively 2 overnight stays at the Fazenda Santa Tereza with full board (if the Fazenda Santa Tereza is booked out, we will switch to the Pousada Rio Claro) All rooms with bathroom/shower, fan and air conditioning All transfers and trips by car, on horseback, by boat and on foot 24-hour support by trained and competent English-speaking travel guides, depending on availability upon booking All drives in air-conditioned and insured vehicles in mint condition (minivan or car, depending on the number of travellers) Not included:Beverages, tips, personal expensesRecommended equipment:Sturdy footwear (light hiking shoes), long jeans or hiking trousers, long-sleeved shirt or blouse, t-shirts and shirts for sleeping, hat, cap or headscarf, sunscreen and mosquito repellent. No black clothes, since black attracts mosquitoes. Sweatshirts, sweaters or fleece jacket from June to September, since it can get very cold at night. Jaundice inoculation strongly recommended. Torch or flashlight, light raincoat.Note:Programme changes reserved in case of adverse weather conditions and flight schedules (order of accommodations). Prices changes remain expressly reserved owing to fluctuating exchange rates and reasons of organisation and safety. Timely booking is required, since the smaller accommodations are fully booked for months in advance.Additional days or tours to Nobres possible at any time, programmes and prices on demand. The texts and photos on this site are protected by copyright: © by Günter Stysch |
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