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.

We have a half-day drive to Sao Jose do Rio Claro, where we will have two full days to explore spectacular area.

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.

From the lodge we will be able to take boat trips to explore the surrounding rainforest. While here, we will also visit a Wolf Sanctuary in the hopes of spotting a maned wolf (Lobo Guará). Sightings are not guaranteed, but chances are quite high.

Nights (3): Cunhataipora Lodge

After some morning birding at Jardim da Amazonia, we will transfer to Chapada dos Guimares National Park, where we will have two full days of birding.

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 (3): Chapada dos Guimarães (Pousada Quineira).

On Day 8, we transfer to the Pantanal, making birding stops along the way.

Here 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 boat rides, 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 (2): Hotel Pantanal Mato Grosso

We head to Porto Jofre for the next 2 nights.

We will take a morning boat trip, 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!

Nights (2): Porto Jofre (Santa Rosa Hotel).

After breakfast, we transfer to the Piuval Lodge for the night. In the evening we will take an open truck safari to observe nocturnal creatures. Possible sightings include Common Pauraque, Little Nightjar, Spot-tailed Nightjar, Great Potoo, Crab-eating Fox, Crab-eating Raccoon, and Brazilian Tapir.

Night (1): Piuval Lodge

After some early morning birding and lunch, we will transfer to Cuiaba. We will spend our final evening reviewing our checklists and reflecting on our amazing trip over a delicious dinner. Night in Cuiaba (Hotel Amazon).

Breakfast and transfer to the Cuiaba airport where our Brazil: Amazon & Pantanal birding tour ends, and connections made for flights home. Participants can book their flights home anytime today.