The Pantanal's abundance of birds and wildlife in environs that vary from wetlands to savannas took our breath away. From all our research, we had expected extraordinary sights, but nothing compares to the awesome experience of being there.
The World Heritage Site -- the Pantanal Conservation Area -- is only 1.3 percent of one of the world's largest freshwater wetlands known as the Pantanal, which is about the size of the state of Montana. Visiting sections of the Pantanal is fairly easy -- several cattle ranches operate eco-lodges that feature wildlife-viewing safaris. Getting to the World Heritage Site, though, is a challenge: It is remote and it is not set up to receive tourists. It was beginning to look like we weren't going to be able to visit the actual site. To travel so far and not be able to set foot in the World Heritage Site would have been heartbreaking, especially for two people who are so passionate about World Heritage Sites.
Fortunately, through an intensive search on the Internet we found an outfitter in Rio de Janeiro who had the contacts and connections to make our visit possible. Peter Roehmer, a German-born resident who operates
Southern Cross Tours and Expeditions put together an excellent itinerary for us that included the World Heritage Site and two eco-ranches where we got to experience different Pantanal wildlife and landscapes. We highly recommend Peter! He is fluent in English, German and Brazilian Portuguese, his business ethics are commendable, and he makes sure he thoroughly understands what you want to do before he creates your itinerary.
The World Heritage Site borders the Amolar Mountain Range along Brazil's boundary with Bolivia. It's a 20-hour riverboat ride from the Pantanal's western gateway, Corumbá -- or two hours by air in a private prop jet. We opted to fly, which gave us a remarkable aerial view of the landscape.
Four parcels of land comprise the Pantanal Conservation Area: government-owned Pantanal Matogrossense National Park and three private conservation reserves owned by Ecotrópica (the Brazilian counterpart to The Nature Conservancy), named Acurizal, Penha and Dorochę Ecotrópica accommodated us in their facilities at the Acurizal Reserve.
During our visit, we had the pleasure of meeting with Dr. Jose Alberto Ferraz de Lima, superintendent of the Pantanal Matogrossense National Park. He generously shared his time to show us key areas in the park which he hopes to open to eco-tourism in the next year or so. Our superb guide, Marcos Violante, knew the river and channels like the back of his hand. The young biologist is fluent in English and spent 15 months doing research at the Acurizal Reserve.
In the coming months, we'll post an article and photo essay about our travels throughout the Pantanal And we'll post some precious drawings of Pantanal wildlife by kids, age 7 to 12, who attend a ranch boarding school.
If you ever have the opportunity, do go to the Pantanal!
