Going to Pantanal

What to do in Pantanal

by Alex Robinson

The Pantanal—a vast, seasonally flooded wetland shared by Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil—has been called South America’s Serengeti. Capybaras, doe-eyed rodents the size of Labradors, graze the forests and grasslands alongside giant anteaters, tapir, white-tailed deer, and bands of pig-like peccary. Caiman bask on river beaches, blue macaws sit in nearly every tree, and there is nowhere better on Earth to see a jaguar. Brazil’s swath has the best facilities, with numerous tour companies in Miranda or Cuiabá. For total immersion, stay in a ranch house (fazenda ) in Mato Grosso or Mato Grosso do Sul, where you’ll wake to the call of the chacalaca bird. Take a horseback ride through the cerrado forest to spot maned wolves, marsh deer, and the ostrich-like rhea—or jump on a boat to see jabiru storks, six-foot-long otters, and piranha.

• Be the first to Review