Flight from Sao Paulo to Cuiaba or join from the central Brazil Tour. The Pantanal needs is the largest and best known wetlands in the Americas. The greater part of the region is vast seasonally flooded grassland lying along the upper and middle course of the Paraná River. Our visit concentrates on the northern fringe of this marsh and as such has access to areas of dry grassland, gallery forest and dry woodlands making for a very varied avifauna. We will be birding along the famous Transpantaneira, a dirt road that crosses many of these habitats. When we are at Porto Joffre we take boats out onto the river for a visit to the National Park. Our stay is divided between Porto Joffre and the Araras lodge.

The Hotel in Porto Joffre gives us access to the untouched Pantanal National Park by boat. It is on this boat trip that we hope to see Jaguar, Giant River Otter and Tapir amongst a host of other species in this unspoilt area. The rough pasture behind the lodge holds dainty Long-tailed Ground-Doves and a roost of impressive Nacunda Nighthawks. We will be able to see a close hand both the Jabiru and Southern Screamer at a roost accompanied by hundreds of egrets and ibises. We shall also see the less common Plumbeous Ibis and hundreds of raptors. These include Grey-headed and Snail Kites, Crane, Savanna, Black-collared, Roadside and Short-tailed Hawks, Southern Crested-Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, American Kestrel and Aplomado Falcon. The scattered patches of gallery forest in the area are home to the Hyacinth Macaw. We shall see a good number of these birds and take time to watch them feed and flop about in the palm groves. Along the highway we should see Chestnut-bellied Guan, Chaco Chachalaca and the bizarre Bare-faced Curassow. As well as taking a boat trip in search of mammals we shall take a night drive to see Ocelot, Jaguarundi, Jaguar and Crab-eating Fox, Coatimundi and other mammals. During the day we shall also see a huge variety of birds that may include Anhinga, Muscovy Duck, Brazilian Teal, Whistling, Little Blue, Capped and Cocoi Herons.

A bit of luck may produce the lovely Agami Heron or a Boat-billed Heron. Bare-faced, Green and Buff-necked Ibises are common and we shall see many hundreds of Roseate Spoonbill, Wood and Maguari Storks, Purple Gallinule and Limpkin. In the drier areas Monk, Peach-fronted and Yellow-chevroned Parakeet and Turquoise-fronted Amazon are common. We shall also look for Little and Striped Cuckoos, Guira Cuckoo, Band-tailed Nighthawk, Glittering-throated Emerald, Blue-crowned Trogon, Green-and-rufous and Pygmy Kingfishers, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, White and Pale-crested Woodpeckers, Red-billed Scythebill, Greater Thornbird, Grey-crested Cacholote, Purplish Jay, Ashy-headed Greenlet, Masked Gnatcatcher, Chestnut-vented Conebill, Yellow-billed Cardinals, Saffron and Red-crested Finches, Rusty-collared and White-bellied Seedeaters, White-browed, Chopi and Scarlet-headed Blackbird. If we are lucky we will find one or two of the more uncommon birds of the area, which include Golden-collared Macaw, Black-hooded Parakeet, Buff-bellied Hermit and Golden-green Woodpecker.

CAN BE COMBINED WITH THE PANTONAL AND ALTA FLORESTA TOURS