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The
Pantanal (Wetlands) of Mato Grosso is one of nature's last frontier,
the world's largest animal reserve and home to more than 600 diferent
species of birds.
Located
in the geographical center of South America, in the westernmost
part of Brazil, the Pantanal is a vast floodplain of some 240.000
square kms. spread across Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, with around
130.000 square kms. in Brazil. A perfect ecological niche for a
great number of birds, reptiles and other animals, to the delight
of wildlife watchers and photographers
Wildlife
spotting goes according to the season and fauna migration . Ordinary
bird fauna are Bare-faced curassaw, buff-necked ibis, ducks, egrets,
falcons, great blue heron, rhea, hawks, horned screamer, jabiru,
lartge-billesd & lesser ssed-finch, macaws, parakeets, parrots,
pintails, red-winged tinamou & wood storks
The
annual cycle which creates this unique environment starts with the
summer rain between mid-November and January, leading to the flooding
of the Paraguay and Cuiaba Rivers during January and February, creating
spawning grounds for over 170 varieties of fishes.
During the dry season (September to November), fishes are trapped
in the receding waters and the area becomes home for a vast number
of birds and other animals. In the Pantanal the wildlife is protected
and hunting is forbidden. Here, one can see a great number of blue
macaw, tuiuiu, colorful toucans, egrets, parrots . Large numbers
of the South American cayman bask here in the sun, herds of capybara
roam the landscape, and the screams of the howling monkeys echo
through the air.
The
ideal time of the year to travel to the Pantanal is from March to
November. The climate is tropical humid with temperature between
7 degrees C (evening and nights during winter time) to 40 degrees
C (day time) and the average temperature is 24 degrees C.
In
the next pages we have packages carefully prepared for one who wants
to see the best of this fantastic region.
The
Pantanal is still a very wild and unexplored area. The Lodges have
clean rooms with private facilities but no luxury should be expected.
Light
clothing (pullover for the evenings), comfortable shoes, sun glasses,
sun tan cream and a mosquito repellent are recommended.
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