Recommend March 2012 - (Page 56)

latin america CARLA HUNT Plunging waterfalls are one of the many natural highlights tourists will find at the Chapada dos Guimaraes National Park. PANTANAL the brazilian serengeti B carla hunt 56 march 2012 onsite september 2011 review Borrowing from the words of William Shakespeare, “All the world’s a stage,” travelers looking for an outdoor theater carrying showings of the greatest concentration of wildlife in the Western hemisphere should book a ticket to the Pantanal region in southwestern Brazil. Speciﬁcally, animal-viewing performances take place across 50,000 sq. miles of vast grassy lowlands of the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, and every seat in the house is front row center. You’re going to love the cast of characters: some 100 species of mammals, 177 reptiles and more than 600 bird species (compared to 500 in all of Europe), including such lead actors as capybaras—think a 140-pound guinea pig; Brazil’s largest birds, the greater rhea—standing four ft. tall and costumed like a gray ostrich—and the jabiru stork, feathered up in white, red and black; the endangered Hyacinth macaw, glamour bird of the show and the world’s biggest parrot; crusty looking caimans, cousins of the alligator that measure seven ft. from snout to tail; and the Pantanal jaguar, everyone’s favorite dramatic lead. Supporting actors making more than guest appearances are giant anteaters, peccaries, marsh deer (the largest in South America), ﬁve monkey species, ring-tailed coatis, tapirs, pumas and ocelots. Yes, it all adds up to one of the greatest natural shows on earth. The Pantanal lives in the shadow of Amazonia, its mammoth neighbor to the north whose dense rainforest canopy can make wildlife spotting difﬁcult. Not so in Brazil’s Pantanal, roughly the size of Oregon and at least 20 times larger than the Florida Everglades. This is the largest freshwater wetland in the world (also embracing parts of Bolivia and Paraguay), and its wide-open spaces offer an easy-to-view fauna panorama comparable to a safari in East Africa—minus the super-luxury lodges. However, on a recent visit, we were guests at the Araras Eco Lodge, which to our mind is just the right kind of place to hang one’s broad-brimmed sombrero and essential binoculars. Sitting on a 6,670-acre private-reserve ranchland and built in the traditional Pantaneira farm style, the lodge has 19 large, comfortable rooms that come with air conditioning, a ceiling fan, screened windows, twin beds, lots of storage space and big bathrooms with hot and cold showers. Rooms open onto a covered verandah with easy chair and hammock. Depending on the weather, guests dine buffetstyle outdoors or indoors in the dining room-bar on simple, tasty, imaginative and plentiful food, prepared with organic produce direct from the farm’s orchards and gardens or purchased (outstanding local continued on page 58 recommend.com http://www.recommend.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend March 2012

Editor's Notes/Agent Speak
Hotel Desk: Vikram Chatwal Hotels
Tour Talk: SITA World Tours
From Zambia to Zimbabwe
Small Ship Cruising in the U.S.
All-Inclusive Resort Guide: The Caribbean & Mexico
Alaska: New Action in an Old World
Sandpearl Resort, Clearwater, Florida
European River Cruising 2012
Pantanal: The Brazilian Serengeti

Recommend March 2012