Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(cerrado hike per person B$120)
Theoretically the El Porvenir station can organize a vari-
ety of tours with enough notice, though these are more difficult to arrange during the wet
season. The most popular are the four-hour canoe trips to see the black caimans in
La-
guna Normandia
(per person B$80)
; a four-hour
cerrado hike
to the monkey-rich rain-
forest islands; and a full-day
Las Torres tour
(per person with food B$250)
on horseback
to three wildlife-viewing towers where you can observe both
cerrado
(savanna) and rain-
forest ecosystems, and also fish for piranhas for dinner.
If you're a bird fanatic, take the
Loro tour
(per person B$80)
on foot or horseback to
see the colorful spectacle of macaws and parakeets coming to roost - or you can check
them out in the palms at El Porvenir, where they provide a natural 6am alarm clock.
The most interesting but also the most taxing option is the four-day
Tur Monitoreo
(per person without/with food B$600/700)
, during which visitors accompany park rangers
on their wildlife monitoring rounds into the furthest reaches of the reserve. You will need
your own camping gear for this and, of course, plenty of insect repellent, but you'll have a
great shot at seeing monkeys, macaws and pink river dolphins.
To go into the rainforest beyond Laguna Normandia, you'll definitely need a guide. It's
a four-hour walk from the lake to the edge of the secondary-growth rainforest. A further
four hours' walk takes you into the primary forest. Along the way, a 6m viewing tower
provides a vista over an island of rainforest, and a 4m tower along the Río Curiraba
provides views over the forest and savanna in the remotest parts of the reserve.
Sleeping & Eating
El Porvenir $$
(per person incl food dm/camping B$100/50)
Accommodations at El Porvenirare are in
airy bunk-bed rooms. Its fine when it's hot, but in cold weather you might wish you had
brought your sleeping bag. Amenities include a library, a researchers' workshop, an inter-
pretive center, and a small cultural and biological museum. There's plenty of drinkable
water but consider bringing snacks and refreshments as there is nowhere to buy anything
for miles around.
LODGE
