Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
you on a trip. This will cost around R$250-300/day/person,
including canoe or vehicle transport and a guide/boatman/
driver. Local guides and
fazendeiros
usually prefer to use the
road networks to reach
fazenda
-lodges within the swamp,
and explore in canoes or on horseback from there.
Equipment
It's important to take all the equipment you
need with you if you're going it alone in the Pantanal,
including food, camping gear, a first-aid kit and lots of
mosquito repellent.
settlements of the interior.
Jeep trips
Short jeep trips, often run by freelance
operators, are relatively cheap (especially from Corumbá,
where a hammock-and-truck tour can cost as little as
R$100/day/person; from Cuiabá, it's more like R$180
upwards), but they offer little more than a flavour of
the swamp.
Lodge-based safaris
It's best to seek out reliable and
recommended companies that can offer lodge- or
fazenda
-
based safaris to suit your budget.
Boat trips
It is also possible to take small boat trips
(around R$100-200/day/person), from Corumbá, Porto
Jofre or Cáceres - there are no agencies for this sort of trip,
so just ask around). Note that if you're in Campo Grande, the
trips you might be offered will invariably be luxury cruises.
TOURS
Most people go on organized tours, entering the swamp in
jeeps or trucks and following one of the few rough roads
that now connect Corumbá, Aquidauana, Coxim and Cuiabá
(via Poconé or Cáceres) with some of the larger
fazenda
7
ACCOMMODATION
Fazendas
Swamping it in comfort is possible at one of an
increasing number of
fazenda
-lodges in the Pantanal, well
away from towns and main roads. Most of the
fazenda
-
lodges are located east and northeast of Corumbá, and also
on either side of the Rio Cuiabá in the north, accessible for
the most part via the aborted Transpantaneira road
between Poconé and Porto Jofre. With few exceptions
fazenda
-lodges cost upwards of R$300 a night per person,
and over R$500 is not uncommon. However, these prices
invariably include several activities, including trips by boat
LUXURY PANTANAL FISHING TOURS
Luxury fishing boats
are an ideal way to encounter the swamp's wildlife on the end of a line,
and ultimately on your plate. Essentially floating hotels designed with the Brazilian passion for
angling in mind, a stay on one of these for a week costs from R$1000 a head per day, though
the price is full board and usually includes ample drink, food and unlimited use of their small
motorboat tenders for exploring further afield. Note that for families with
small children
, any
river trip is inadvisable as none of the boats currently in use has guard-rails safe enough to
keep a toddler from falling in.
Most of the boats are based in Corumbá, with some others in Cáceres, Barão do Melgaço
and Cuiabá, and can be booked through tour agents. In high season, they tend to run
pre-scheduled trips, departing and returning on Sundays; routes are mentioned where they
remain fixed from year to year. Out of season, they're up for rent, with a minimum number of
passengers and days invariably demanded, though bargaining is possible. You can find the
vessels tied up at their home ports.
FROM CÁCERES
Cobra Grande
T
65 3223 4203,
W
cobragrande
.com.br.
A small boat with five cabins an
d an adequat
e
dining room; book well in advance.
R$200-300
/
day/person
Pantanal Vip
T
65 9941 4181,
W
pantanal
vip.com
.br.
Available for luxury fishing trips. From
R$350
/
day/person
FROM CORUMBÁ
Kalypso
Book direct on
T
67 3231 1460 or through
agents Mutum Turismo (see p.459).
Brazil's answer
to Nile cruisers, the
Kalypso
is a spacious three-tier
affair with berths for 120 passengers and looks like a
pile of portacabins on a barge (which is what it once
was). The interior is wood-panelled, the restaurant
self-service, and there's a pool on top in which to
escape the mosquitoes and the heat. Originally
designed as a base for fishing trips, it has a number of
small motorboats and a giant fridge in which you can
keep
your ca
tch. There is a minimum stay of six nights.
From
R$300
/day/person
Millenium
T
67 3231 3372,
W
opantaneirotur.com
.br.
This luxury vessel has ten cab
ins and
can only be
booked for six days at a time. From
R$180
/day/person
