Suggested itinerary: two weeks nature and wildlife in southern Brazil
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With only two weeks in the world’s fifth largest country, you need to plan your route carefully. This itinerary will give you a taster of the wildlife and nature on offer in Southern Brazil.
No trip to Brazil is complete without a three-day (minimum) stay in Rio de Janeiro, the buzzing, cosmopolitan capital. In between checking out all the usual sights, make time to try paragliding to experience Rio from a bird’s perspective.
It takes 22 hours of your precious time to cross this enormous country by bus so you might want to consider flying to the Pantanal. I recommend doing it overland though - Brazilian buses are an experience in their own right – fully reclining seats, televisions and great top-deck views of the slowly changing Brazilian countryside.
Campo Grande is the place to organise tours of the Pantanal, the world’s biggest wetlands and the best place in Brazil to get close to an incredible array of wildlife. Think caimans (closely related to crocodiles), capybara (the world’s largest rodent), sloths (if you’re lucky), jaguar (if you’re really lucky) anaconda, giant otters, black howler monkeys and giant anteaters. Make sure your tour includes piranha fishing and gaucho-style horse riding for the ultimate Pantanal experience. You’ll need at least three nights.
From Campo Grande, travel to Bonito to swim in crystal-clear rivers populated by sparkling shoals of brightly coloured fish that don’t know the meaning of the word ‘shy’. Devote one day to swimming the Rio de la Plata and another for checking out Grotto do Lago Azul (Blue Lake Cave) and Bonito’s so-called municipal swimming pool – a gorgeous stretch of river filled with plump fish where you can snorkel, sunbathe and dine in one of three meaty restaurants. If you have the time, money and inclination, abseil 72 metres into the Anhumas Abyss and swim in the cave’s transparent waters.
Finish your Brazilian bonanza in Foz du Iguaçu with one of the world’s most incredible natural wonders, Iguazu Falls. The Brazilian side of the Falls gives jaw-dropping panoramic views of which no photographs can do justice – the scale of the Falls is simply unbelievable. Finally, pop across to Argentina for a day (check visa requirements for entry to Argentina and re-entry to Brazil) to see the Falls up close in all their raging glory.
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