Fascinating landscapes and cultural highlights:
• Wildlife observation in the Pantanal
• Culture, Nature and Cariocas in Rio de Janeiro
• ‘Trilha do Ouro’ Trekking
• Brazil’s colonial past in Paraty
Itinerary:
01 day.- São Paulo – Campo Grande – Pantanal
Arrival at São Paulo International airport Guarulhos, with connecting flight to Campo Grande. Pick-up and transfer to a private airstrip for flight to our ranch in the Nhecolândia region. Ronny, our pilot, flies generous detours at low flight level providing excellent opportunities to photograph the Pantanal from bird-eye-view. At the ranch, here called Fazenda, you will be greeted with a traditional Caipirinha by your hosts, who will personally take care of you during your stay with them. After lunch and relax, you are ready to explore the area next to the Fazenda in search for wildlife. The Fazenda is situated among the Vazante do Castelo one of the largest of the Pantanal.The so-called vazantes are lakes and ponds formed by the retrieving waters that flooded in the rainy season most parts of the land. They give the landscape the characteristic appearance that is generally associated with the Pantanal and are the last remaining water resource for the animals during the dry season. Here you can observe plenty of diversified wildlife concentrated in one area. Overnight.
02 - 04 day Exploring the Amazon rais forest of Pantanal
The following three days offer you a fascinating opportunity to discover the region around the Fazenda and visit the various lakes, ponds and the bush lands of the savannah. You will plan your itinerary together with your hosts, depending on the conditions at site and your personal preferences. You may also choose the means to get around, exploring the area hiking, by four-wheel-driven vehicle and or on horseback. Observe and photograph giant anteaters, capybaras, armadillos, anacondas, huge marsh deer, tou¬cans, all of the big macaws, among them the endangered, major psitta¬cidea species of the world: the up to one meter measuring hyacinth macaw. You will also encounter hundreds of other bird species, particularly water birds. A complete wildlife list will be supplied after confirmed booking.
The Fazenda's economic activities include a 10.000 head of Nelore cattle breeding for organic meat production and horse breeding, on a total of about 12.000 ha. of land. By talking to the people on the ranch you will get an inside view of the daily life of the pantaneiros as the people of the Pantanal are called.
05 day.- Pantanal - Campo Grande - Rio de Janeiro
This is your last day in the Pantanal and you will want to spend the morning to make more discoveries in the vicinities. Being back at the Fazenda for lunch you have time to pack your gear, pay a visit to the Fazendas Pantanal Boarding School – an interesting social project -. Now it is time to say good-bye to this overwhelming scenery and its great array of wildlife and to your hosts and all the other friendly people that helped to make your stay unfor¬gettable. Ronnie the pilot brings you safely to Campo Grande. From the private airstrip there you will be transferred again to the main airport and fly to Rio de Janeiro. Transfer to your hotel at Copacabana beach.
06 day.- Rio de Janeiro – Corcovado Mountain - Floresta da Tijuca National Park
Pick-up at the hotel for a city tour. The 710 m high Corcovado Mountain with the world famous statue of Christ the Redeemer offers an outstanding view over Rio de Janeiro, the Guanabara bay, neighboring Niteroi´s ocean beaches and Organ Pipe Mountains. Next, a tour through the Floresta da Tijuca National Park, the world's largest urban jungle with breathtaking views, waterfalls and rich tropical vegetation. You visit the Capela Mairynck, a historic chapel from the 19th century with wall paintings by Portinari. Lunch at a restaurant located amidst the jungle. Nearby the Museu do Açude / Museo Castro Maya in the heart of the rainforest, features a permanent exposition of contemporary Brazilian artists as Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Pape and José Resende.
The afternoon is at leisure. Enjoy the beach or visit the famous Botanical Gardens with its incredible Imperial Palms gallery. At night, instead of the usual tourist samba shows we take you out to enjoy world famous Brazilian singers and musicians at the Teatro Rival or other show houses.
07 day.- Rio de Janeiro Sightseeing Tour
Our to days sightseeing tour begins at the historical Cinelândia Square in front of the Teatro Municipal, built in 1909 imitating the style of the Paris Opera House. Nearby, we see Catedral Metro¬politana/Petrobrás/BNDES, a fine ensemble of modern Brazilian architecture with gardens by Roberto Burle Marx, and the Convento de Santo Antônio, a magnificent baroque church with monastery from the 17th century, high above the Largo da Carioca Square. Visit of the Real Gabinete Português de Leitura, a noteworthy old bibliotheca from 1888 and the Confeitaria Colombo, Rio's finest coffee house founded in 1894. Stroll around the Praça XV Square with the Paço Imperial, the former Emperors Palace and some picturesque small cobblestone alleys, near to the Arcos do Telles. The Centro Cultural do Banco do Brasil and the Casa França-Brasil are other are other musts to visit, because they feature both: architectonical highlights and interesting expositions. Lunch either at Cinelândia or Santa Tereza, to where we get by taking the old wooden streetcar taking us across a viaduct from 1750 to the charming Santa Teresa neighbourhood, where narrow cobble stone streets, historical mansions, bars, ateliers and arts and crafts shops enchant the visitors. A visit of the Chácara do Céu museum, with interesting pieces of Brazils colonial history and modern art, concludes the tour. The rest of the day and the evening is at leisure.
08 day.- Rio de Janeiro - Sugar Loaf - Serra da Bocaina National Park
After breakfast you will be taken you up for a cable car ride to the top of the 396 m high Sugar Loaf, world famous symbol of Rio de Janeiro, offering splendid views of the ocean, the bay, the surrounding mountains and the city itself, not to speak of the exuberant tropical vegetation on this island mountain. Right underneath the mountain there is a coastal path with beautiful sights, used by the locals to stroll while watching guenons and several species of humming birds. We suggest you do the same.
After return to the hotel you will check out and get prepared to head to the Serra da Bocaina mountain range. The ride takes about 3 hours by car. Arrival at the small town of São José do Barreiro, at the foot of the Serra da Bocaina National Park, where you will check-in a Pousada. After lunch a stroll through the charming village, with its well tended lawns, parks and historical buildings. Dinner and overnight.
09 day.- Serra da Bocaina - Trilha do Ouro
Departure from the Pousada at about 9 am in direction to the gold trails starting point, with the main luggage leaving behind. It will be taken by car to Paraty. The backpack that you take along should contain essential items only: lunch pack, water bottle, rain cape, sun glasses, sun blocker, hat/cap, a vest or a sweater and of course, your camera, to capture the lush flora and fauna of the Atlantic Rainforest. After presentation of the guides and the further participants you drive up to the mountains by a four-wheel-driven jeep and make a first hike to the national park administration to get the entering authorization.
After that, you proceed your way along the ‘Trilha do Ouro’, which you leads through the Bonito valley to the Santo Izidoro and Posses waterfalls. There, the crystal-clear and refreshing waters invite you to swim. After 13 kilometers of trekking you arrive at a settler’s cabin, were a delicious, stone-oven made dinner in the regional style awaits you. You overnight at the simple log cabin (no electricity) in common rooms (dormitory). It offers a common bathroom with hot water.
The 3 days trekking tour leads through the Serra do Mar, the Coastal Mountain Range, including the Serra da Bocaina National Park down to Mambucaba, near the famous luxury resort of Angra dos Reis, at the Green Coast. Most of the time you hike along the ‘gold trail’, which exists since the colonial époque, with its cobble stone pavement still laid by slaves. At the end of the 17th and during the 18th century the gold from the mines in Minas Gerais, later also the coffee from the Paraíba valley, were transported on this trail by mule caravans to the harbor of Paraty. From here they were shipped off to Portugal.
10 day.- Bocaina National Park down to Mambucaba
Breakfast. An eight kilometer long hike through the Atlantic Mountain Rainforest with difficult terrain lies ahead. Mules will carry your backpack. Today’s destination is once more a cabin. After accommodation you head for the one kilometer distant Veado waterfall, where two cascades rushing down from 200 m height. A refreshing swim in the crystal clear waters underneath the falls awaits you. Return to the log cabin and another tasty traditional dinner is served. Sit together with the other participants for a chat around the fireplace while the guides will explain the wonders and the threats of the remaining 8% of the original extension of the Atlantic Rainforest.
11 day.- Bocaina National Park down to Mambucaba - Paraty
Today breakfast is at 6 am, so that you can start the 18-kilometer long hike of the ‘Trilha do Ouro’ that takes you to Mambucaba, at 7 am. Near to the destination you enjoy another swimming opportunity, this time in the Santo Antônio River. In Mambucaba a car will transfer you to the picturesque colonial town of Paraty, in fact the endpoint of the gold road. You will be accommodated in a colonial style Pousada in the historical center of town. On an evening walk you get a first impression of this colonial old town that is totally preserved in its original form. Dinner and overnight.
12 day.- Paraty - Tropical island paradise
After breakfast guided tour through the old town of Paraty. Patrician houses and churches from the waning 17th and beginning 18th century are architectonical masterpieces from Brazil’s colonial. Their history is as fascinating as their features. After lunch you undertake a boat ride through a tropical island paradise. During the about 4-hour schooner ride fruits and drinks are served. The schooner will anchor on the most beautiful beaches that offer swimming in crystal clear waters where you also enjoy the white sandy beaches. After return the rest of the day is for free disposal. Promenade Paratys narrow alleys with its old cobble stone pavement. With a cozy dinner in one of the fine restaurants and a concluding ramble through the boutiques and handicraft shops you round off the day. In the main season or with sufficient participants an optional visit of the far beyond Brazil borders reputed puppet show ‘Contadores da História’ can be arranged.
13 day. Trinidade - Rio de Janeiro
After breakfast you make an excursion to one of the most beautiful beaches of the whole Rio de Janeiro State: Trindade. Its magnificent beaches justify the Green Coast labeling and invite to swim as well as to enjoy a lunch with generous portion of fresh seafood under a shadowy wild fig tree. After return to Paraty, you will checkout and transfer to Rio de Janeiro airport. Return to your home destination.
Prices 2008:
USD 3.445.- peer Person
Singleroom supplement USD 575.-
Participants Min. 4 – max. 8 people
The package includes:
• overnight with breakfast in double room in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro
• all internal flights in Brasil
• all transfers in private Transportation
• all meals and beverages during the Tour (In Sao Paulo and Rio only Brakfast)
• expedition equipment
• experienced, qualified expedition leader and reliable local guides and porters.
Difficulty level
• Strenuous. The terrain during trekking is difficult. We recommend adequate physical preparation.
• International flight airport tax (USD 41.- per person)
Disclaimer of warranty:
This journey has the character of an expedition. Rivers and rainforest replace streets and paths. The conditions which are encountered her will be completely different and new for the traveler. A correct attitude and understanding for a different and fascinating environment is imperative. The unexpected can happen, whereupon the traveler has to react flexible and depending on the situation, relaxed. The guides with their knowledge, experience and readiness are absolutely reliable. The willingness of the traveler to cooperate and friendly interact with other participants is assumed also in strenuous situations. As operator we disclaim ourselves of any warranty for any risk on this journey.
If you need any additional information please write us:
Rio Negro Rainforest - Pico da Neblina - Pantanal Wildlife
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