Cuiabá is not a destination. It is a threshold.
Cuiabá is not a destination. It is a threshold. This sprawling city in western Brazil sits at the edge of one of the most wildlife-rich ecosystems on the planet, and tonight you are on its doorstep. Check in to Hotel Amazon Aeroporto, have dinner, get some rest. Tomorrow the Pantanal begins.
Overnight: Hotel Amazon Aeroporto, Cuiabá
The drive itself is a warm-up act for what lies ahead.
The Transpantaneira is less a highway than a statement of intent. A dirt road that stretches south from Poconé into the northern Pantanal, flanked by roadside ponds teeming with Caiman, wading birds and wildlife at almost every turn. It is not unusual to spot a Giant Anteater before you even reach the lodge.
Pousada Piuval sits within a vast private ranch on the outer fringes of the Pantanal, a landscape of open savanna, flooded grasslands and dense gallery forest that holds an extraordinary density of animals. Hyacinth Macaws, Jabiru Storks, Red-legged Seriemas, and dozens of species you will not have seen before announce themselves almost immediately. Check in, settle in, and listen to the Pantanal come alive as the sun goes down.
Overnight: Pousada Piuval
Before dawn, you are already moving.
Piuval rewards those who give it time. Before dawn you are already moving. The pre-dawn hour is when Giant Anteaters are most active, ambling short-sightedly between termite mounds with their extraordinary long snouts and barely believable tails. This is one of the most reliable properties in the northern Pantanal for an encounter with them.
As the sun rises, the birding shifts. Hyacinth Macaws, bare-faced Curassows, Sunbitterns, Chaco Chachalacas and a seemingly endless list of species reward patience and good light. Tapir sightings are possible, Caiman are constant, and Capybara, the world's largest rodent, move through the property in family groups. By evening you will understand why the Pantanal is considered the highest concentration of wildlife found anywhere in South America.
Overnight: Pousada Piuval
Today the expedition shifts gear.
Today the expedition shifts gear. The road south along the Transpantaneira takes you deeper into the Pantanal until the road ends at Porto Jofre on the banks of the Cuiabá River. Here you board a boat and transfer to the Panoramico, a floating hotel moored on the river in the heart of Jaguar territory.
This is your base for the next six nights. The Cuiabá River stretches out around you, Caiman line the banks, Giant Otters surface and dive along the margins, and somewhere in the dense gallery forest on either side, Jaguars are watching the water. Porto Jofre is the undisputed Jaguar capital of the world. You are here now.
Overnight: Panoramico Flotel, Porto Jofre
These five days have one focus and one purpose. The Jaguar.
These five days have one focus and one purpose. The Jaguar. Every morning before first light your guide is scanning the riverbanks, reading the signs. When a Jaguar is located, everything else waits. You position the boat, cut the engine and drift, cameras ready, as one of the most powerful predators on the planet goes about its life at the water's edge.
The Pantanal Jaguar is a different animal to any other big cat you may have encountered. Larger, more confident, more visible. You will see them hunt, rest, drink, swim and interact with one another across the course of five full days on the water.
Between Jaguar encounters, the river delivers constantly. Giant Otters fishing in groups, Giant Anteaters on the banks, Capybara families moving through the shallows, Roseate Spoonbills, Jabiru Storks, Kingfishers in six species, Osprey, Black-collared Hawks and the prehistoric-looking Horned Screamer. The evenings on the flotel are unhurried. Dinner on the deck, the sound of the river, the darkness beyond the lights absolute and total.
Overnight: Panoramico Flotel, Porto Jofre
The final morning always delivers something.
The final morning always delivers something. Your guide takes you out before breakfast for one last search. The river in the early light, the banks still cool, the Jaguars sometimes most active before the heat of the day builds. By mid-morning you are heading back to Porto Jofre, then north along the Transpantaneira to Cuiabá, the Pantanal shrinking behind you mile by mile.
Overnight: Hotel Amazon Aeroporto, Cuiabá
The Pantanal will stay with you longer than you expect.
Check out and onwards. The Pantanal will stay with you longer than you expect.
Inclusions
- 1 night at Hotel Amazon Aeroporto – Deluxe Room on a Dinner, Bed & Breakfast basis
- 2 nights at Pousada Piuval – Standard Room on a Full Board basis
- 1 full day activity at Pousada Piuval
- 6 nights at Panoramico floating hotel (flotel)
- 5 full days activity at Pousada Piuval + 1 morning activity
- 1 night at Hotel Amazon Aeroporto – Deluxe Room on a Bed & Breakfast basis
- Drinks - Piuval and Panoramico provide drinking water. Either from refillable stations or small cups of sealed drinking water
- Road & boat Transfers
- All airport and surface transfers as mentioned in the itinerary
Exclusions
- Tipping and Gratuities
- All expenses personal in nature
- Beverages not specified
- Laundry
- International flights and visas
- Comprehensive travel & trip cancellation insurance.
- Items not mentioned in inclusions.
Payment Terms
- 25% Non Refundable deposit to secure the trip.
- 75% Balance to be paid 120 days prior to date of arrival.
- 100% payment due if the start date of the tour is within or less than 120 days of booking