The vast Pantanal wetland covers part of Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia and is over half the size of France. More than 50% of the area is within Brazil. Although part of the Brazilian Pantanal is protected as the Pantanal Matogrossense National Park, only about 2% of the Pantanal is under federal protection and the ecosystem is under threat from human activities. These include uncontrolled recreational fishing, the hunting and smuggling of endangered species, deforestation, forest fires for agricultural clearance, pesticide run off, and pressure for economic development.
Most of the Pantanal lies in the flood plain of the Rio Paraguay and its tributaries and 80% of the Pantanal is submerged during the wet season. In the dry season (July through September) the water drains from the wetlands leaving dry grassland, small wooded islands and fish filled pools where animals and birds congregate to drink and feed. This makes for incredible wildlife viewing (think Amazon rainforest without the trees!) and during the dry season many of the 700 species of birds, 100 mammal species and 80 reptile species can be seen. These include the metre high Jabiru Stork, symbol of the Pantanal, Hyacinth Macaws, anacondas, Jaguars, Giant and Collared Anteaters, Giant Otters, about 600,000 Capybara (at around 50 kg the world’s largest rodent), and between 10 and 35 million caiman (South American crocodilians)! The best place to see this wildlife is from one of the many ranches that have been converted to tourism, both in the northern Pantanal out of Cuiaba, and the southern Pantanal from Campo Grande.
There are many ranches within the Pantanal offering accommodation, but Tribes tends to use 4 in the southern Pantanal and one in the northern Pantanal we think offer particularly good wildlife experiences in a sustainable manner. Most of the activities available are common to all 5 ranches and include horseriding, hikes, canoe rides, photographic safaris and animal night spotting.