Brazil: Amazon & Pantanal

Our Brazil Amazon & Pantanal birding tour starts in Cuiaba where we meet for an evening meal to discuss our upcoming adventure. Night in Cuiaba.

On the first morning of our tour, we will have an early breakfast then begin our long drive to the fabulous Pantanal and check-in for a two-night stay our hotel. We will have ample opportunity to bird and photograph the profusion of species along the Transpantaneira. Birds throng the wetlands; we will especially look for scarcer species such as the shy Plumbeous Ibis, Maguari Storks and Rufescent Tiger-herons.

Raptors are seemingly everywhere: Lesser Yellow-headed Vultures, Crane, Black-collared and Roadside Hawks, Gray-headed and Snail Kites and more. On slightly higher ground, gallery forests have taken hold, and are often alive with wildlife. It is in these forests that we search for Toco Toucans, Bare-faced Curassows, and Chestnut-bellied Guans. As well as these spectacular birds, we may see Great Rufous Woodcreeper and White Woodpecker in this area.

The forest walks should reveal many birds including Mato Grosso Antbird, Helmeted Manakin, and Large-billed Antwren. We are likely to encounter several flycatchers, ground-doves including Long-tailed, horneros, cardinals and seedeaters, and possibly White-naped Xenopsaris.

On our boatrides, we will find more of the Pantanal specialties and wetland species including Jabiru, all five South American Kingfishers, and perhaps the colorful Agami Heron. Nights at Hotel Pantanal Mato Grosso.

After some early morning birding, we transfer to Porto Jofre. As we drive along the famous Transpantaneira, a dirt road that traverses the Pantanal, we have an overview of this incredibly rich area with wildlife in abundance. We will make stops along the way, and we may see up to 100 species today! Night in Porto Jofre.

Another unforgettable day! After breakfast, we have a morning boat trip on the Cuiaba River, a highlight of the tour. We have a good chance of seeing a Jaguar; the Pantanal jaguar is actually larger than the Amazonian one. We explore the margins of the river in search of this great cat, as well as other impressive fauna and flora.

After an afternoon break for lunch, and perhaps a siesta, we will return to the river for an afternoon boat trip. Between the two boat trips, we should end up with an impressive array of birds, possibly including Sunbittern and Sungrebe, and in dry scrub and woodland on the river banks Cinereous-breasted Spinetail, Peach-fronted Parakeet, Turquoise-fronted Parrot, Rufous-tailed Jacamar and Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant.

There could also be caimans, capybaras, Giant Otters and probably a few other mammal and reptile species, maybe even anacondas! Night in Porto Jofre.

Today we again drive almost the full length of the Transpantaneira highway, focusing on species we have not seen already. After dinner we will have a 1-2 hour safari in an open truck to look for nocturnal creatures, perhaps including Common Pauraque, Little Nightja, Spot-tailed Nightjar, Great Potoo, Crab-eating Fox, Crab-eating Raccoon and even Brazilian Tapir. Night at Piuval Lodge in the Pantanal.

After early morning birding, in which we are likely to encounter some birds that are difficult to find in the interior of the Pantanal such as White-fronted Woodpecker and Great Rufous Woodcreeper, we make the nearly 3-hour journey to Pousada do Parque in Chapada dos Guimaraes, our base for 3 nights.

The scenery in this magnificent park is astonishing! Situated at the western edge of the Planalto do Mato Grosso, the canyonlands and waterfalls of this park are truly impressive. We can expect a wide diversity of wildlife, from macaws to hummingbirds.

We search for some of the endemics of the Cerrado (dry scrub savanna), including White-rumped and White-banded Tanagers, Collared Crescent-chest, Plumbeous Seedeater, Black-throated Saltator, and Campo Suiriri. Nights in Pousada do Parque.

We have a half-day drive to our next location, Jardim da Amazonia (Garden of the Amazon), where we will have 2 ½ days to explore. The next two days we will have a morning and an afternoon boat ride with a lunch break at shore.

This area has very high biodiversity in a rainforest setting, truly a part of the Amazon Rainforest. Some of the birds we will look out for are Cone-billed Tanager (found in very few other places in the world), Razor-billed Curassow, Ocellated Poorwill, Green-tailed Goldenthroat, Blue-cheeked Jacamar, White-throated and Rufous-faced Antbirds, Rufous-tailed Flatbill, Greater Yellow-headed Vulture, Point-tailed Palmcreeper, Red-necked and Chestnut-eared Aracaris, Bare-necked Fruitcrow, Black-crowned and Masked Tityras, Spotted Puffbird, White-banded Swallow, Black Caracara, Black-eared Fairy, Swallow-winged Puffbird, Black-girdled Barbet, Scaled Pigeon, Laughing Falcon, Red-bellied, Red-shouldered Macaws and Blue-and-Yellow Macaws. There is even a possibility of seeing Harpy or Crested Eagle.

After some morning birding in this special area, we will have lunch and then transfer to Cuiaba. We will spend our final evening reviewing our checklists and reflecting on our amazing trip over a delicious dinner. Overnight Night in Cuiaba.