Pantanal, Southern Amazon & Costa Verde beaches holiday

Environment

This holiday takes place in some of the most precious and vulnerable habitats in South America. We firmly believe that thoughtful and responsible eco-tourism has a central role to play in their ongoing preservation. So you're going to be staying in two of the most respected eco-lodges in the country, first in The Pantanal, then in the Amazon.

Your lodge in The Pantanal balances the traditional farming of the region with low-impact ecotourism and habitat conservation. It started as a cattle ranch in the early 20th century and stayed as such for over 70 years. Since the mid-80s the owners have expanded its scope with the primary objective of protecting the precious wildlife habitats. Tourism has been a major driver of this, allowing more land, and by extension more wildlife to be conserved, bringing employment opportunities to the locals and sharing the region's distinct culture. Your visit here directly supports these ends.

The lodge works directly with projects to support the protection of hyacinth macaws, blue fronted parrots and jaguars. We encourage all guests to spend time with the researchers from Onçafari as they track jaguars. You not only get to (hopefully) see these majestic creatures close up, you'll understand the importance of the conservation work and be directly contibuting to it.

Your eco-lodge in the Amazon has a remarkable story. The passion behind the project was Victoria da Costa who began to swap her land around the town for pristine forest to the north of the river. The locals thought her mad but happily agreed, allowing her to create a vast buffer zone of pristine primary forest between the cleared pasture lands around Alta Floresta and the deep Amazon.

It also has outstanding eco-credentials; among the initiatives are solar-powered water heating, advanced waste management and photovoltaic panels to power each room. Group sizes are limited to 8 to minimise impact to the trails and the wildlife.

Community

One of the things that will shine through as you travel from place to place is the expertise of your guides. That holds true in Rio and Paraty just as much as in the Amazon and Pantanal. Using local guides, be it those we know directly or those employed by the eco-lodges gives you a priviliged insight into how people live in these extraordinary places.

We always encourage people to spend time with the Onçafari people in The Pantanal. You not only get to go in search of jaguars, but you make a positive contribution to the project. They are studying and monitoring the behaviour of these elusive of big cats within the area of the reserve by means of tracking collars. They are also responsible for the first successful reintroduction of orphan jaguars into the wild, an event which was subject of a fascinating BBC natural history documentary.

Sharing the ranching lifestyle of The Pantanal adds an extra dimension to this holiday. Whilst you are almost certainly coming here for the wildlife, understanding how the local people interact with the landscape and the delicate balance at play between them and the wildlife is fascinating. The ranchers also take great pride in doing so, helping to preserve their ways of life.

In Rio and Paraty we make a number of suggestions to point you in the direction of some of the best locally owned places in town. These are places that we have been to and love to share with our clients through our Holiday Guide.