Pantanal Wildlife Trails
Typical Pantanal landscape with Vazante Castelo
There is no other way around but it's fun, too
The Pantanal, known as the world biggest ecological sanctuary and largest wetland area, covers some 240.000 km² of the upper Paraguay river basin, Central-Western Brazil, Eastern Bolivia and part of Paraguay, there called Chaco or Gran Chaco. The largest portion of the Pantanal, 124.457.145.22 km² lies in Brazil, of which about 2/3 is located in the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and 1/3 in Mato Grosso do Sul, extending to the west into Bolivia and southwest to Paraguay. By comparison, the size of the Everglades in Florida is only 10.000 km².
According to most of the Portuguese-English dictionaries, Pantanal is a "large swamp or marsh". In reality the definition is not precise. The term Pantanal is correctly applied to a large land mass which becomes periodically submersed in most of its area, during the raining season from November through March.
Plumbeous Ibis
Tuiuiú giant stork with chicks
Nanday conures are always hungry
The vegetation of the Pantanal is basically a mixture between three of the most important ecosystems of South America; the Chaco with its dry forest formations to the south, the savannah-like Cerrado to the east and the Amazon jungle to the north. As a result of the topography and the seasonal climate the landscapes consist of seasonally flooded grass and woodlands, and various types of forest (evergreen, semi deciduous, gallery etc.). This mixture has caused the Pantanal to house the highest concentration of wildlife in all of the Americas.
The base for the Pantanal Fazenda and Wildlife Ride is the Fazenda 23 de Março. The ranch is located in the Miranda region, approximately 135 miles from Campo Grande, set in a 15.000 acres property, rich in flora and fauna of the typical savannah bush land, seasonal wetlands and tropical forest areas. The 23 de Março is also an active working ranch with over 3.000 head of cattle and sheep farming.
Let's be friends
Vaqueiro at work
Trailing cattle in the Pantanal
▲ to the top
Two other fazendas, the Santa Cruz and the Cacimba de Pedra, all belonging to the Dittmar family, are also participating in this Fazenda and Wildlife Ride. While the Santa Cruz has been founded before the war with Paraguay in the midst of the 19th century, the property has been inherited and splitted between the 2 sons and 1 daughter of the new owner Romeu Dittmar who bought it in 1954. Particularly interesting is the Cacimba de Pedra. There, besides of the traditional cattle breeding, activities include a cayman breeding farm of the species cayman yacaré, which attracts visitors from all over the world. Now they are also engaged in another project of a "feral pig" breeding farm.
During 10 days (8 full and 2 half days) the group will be riding on the vast lands, experiencing traditions of the Pantaneiro people, horses adapted to the temporarily flooded environment, the highest wildlife concentration of the Americas, particularly interesting for bird watchers. It is imperative, therefore, to keep your cameras ready at all times.