Brazil

Catedral da Se

Transpanteneria Road

Transpanteneria Road

Jaguar Safari - Jaguars

Notes

• Type C/N adapter needed.

Day 1: Arrival & Sao Paulo

• Upon arrival, store your luggage for the day at the airport while you go out and explore Sao Paulo.

• Take the train at the airport to Downtown.

• Mercado Municipal Market de Lapa at the Lapa train station.

• Theatro Municipal and Edifico Copan at the Republic train station.

• Explore Batman Alley and have food at a local restaurant — we ate at Ziv Gallery at the train station Fradique Coutinho.

• Take the train to Consolacao and walk Avenida Paulista, explore the park, and make your way to Trianon Masp train station.

• Take the train to Se and visit Catedral da Se.

• Train back to the airport for your pre-booked evening flight to Cuiaba.

• Upon arrival, walk to Hotel Express (1 night).

Day 2: Transpanteneria Road & Jaguar Safari

• Have breakfast at the hotel and schedule hotel pick up by your guide with Pantanal Jaguar Safaris (3 nights). Book in advance.

• Be super clear on your expectations. If you are okay to do the standard safari, you will not be out all day. We prefer to safari nonstop, so we requested a guide that will go for 12 hours a day, eat a packed lunch on the boat, and not come back until the sun goes down. This will require additional guide tipping and communication. Meals while on site are included.

• The guide will drive you the 5 hours to the Pantanal. The drive itself is a safari. Expect to see caiman, capuchin and howler monkeys, endangered marsh deer, capybara, peccaries, and maybe an anaconda.

• Once you arrive, check into your bungalow, have lunch, and explore the compound. You may see resident toucans, hyacinth macaws, and capybaras roaming the property.

• At the designated time, take off with your guide and boat driver for your first river safari. You’ll see caiman, giant river otters, and likely jaguars. During our trip, we saw 11 different jaguars on 21 occasions.

• At the end of the night, have dinner, swim, and turn in for the night.

Jaguar Safari - South American Tapir

Days 3–4: Jaguar Safaris

• These days will be full-day boat safaris. Agree with your guide on start time.

• Pack breakfast food for lunch to stay out on the boat all day if arranged with your guide.

• Enjoy observing wildlife. We saw jaguars mating, fighting, swimming, hunting, and more!

• Buy the digital book Jaguar ID Project. It helps you identify the jaguars you’ve seen and supports conservation efforts.

Day 5: Explore Camp and Transpanteneria

Jaguar Safari - Jaguar

• Have breakfast in the morning and walk around camp birding and critter watching. There is a boardwalk you can walk on for some birding.

• When it’s time, your guide will drive you back to the Cuiaba Airport. Enjoy the 5-hour wildlife-filled drive.

• Take your pre-booked latest flight to Iguazu Falls (only option includes a layover in Sao Paulo).

• Take a taxi to your hotel (1 night).

Santuario Do Caraca - Church

Santuario Do Caraca - Catacombs

Santuario Do Caraca - Trails

Santuario Do Caraca - Maned Wolf

Day 6: Iguazu Falls

• Bring your luggage to Iguazu Falls as they have large, inexpensive lockers.

• Take the free shuttle bus to Macuco Safari Speedboat ride and choose the wet ride! You can buy ponchos for $3 USD. Book on arrival.

• After the boat trip, have lunch at the food court by the falls and then explore the paths and boardwalks (Devils Throat and Waterfall Trail).

• Once done, bus back to explore the trails around the visitor center — watch for black capuchin monkeys and coatimundis.

• Get your luggage and take a taxi back to the airport. Have dinner and take the latest flight (pre-book) to Belo Horizonte.

• Pick up your pre-booked car rental from Movida and begin the 3-hour drive to the nature preserve of Santuario Do Caraca.

• You will likely arrive late, and it will be gated shut. Transparently, we sat there for a little bit with our lights on and someone came and unlocked it. From there, drive about 40 minutes to the santuario itself. You may spot wildlife on the way.

• Check in at Santuario Do Caraca (2 nights). Book in advance, and communicate that you will be arriving late. Front desk isn’t open all night so they will need to arrange for you. It was difficult to communicate, between language barriers and lack of clarity if we had a room (some emails said we did, some said we didn’t). Just being honest, but it couldn’t have been any more worth it. You will have your own room, included meals, and community bathrooms/showers. They were always empty when we used them. We actually preferred this as we didn’t need to all take turns with one shower.

Day 7: Maned Wolf at Santuario Do Caraca

• Check in, sleep in (if you get in late), and enjoy the large buffet breakfast with a wood-fired black rock grill.

• Explore the catacombs, church, and surrounding grounds.

• Hike Cascatinha (1.2 miles out) to rocky pools and small waterfalls, and you can swim if you like.

• Return for lunch, then hike Prainha (0.6 miles) and Bocaina (6 miles) and stop at Pedra Da Paciencia.

• Have dinner early, then head to the stoop for the maned wolf feeding at 7:30 (verify time). If you get there earlier, the wolf might be waiting at the bottom of the stairs and you’ll get some semi-private viewing time before the feeding starts.

• Watch the wolves come to eat, guided by biologists who ensure ethical feeding. Stay late to enjoy wolves and crab foxes visiting throughout the night. Enjoy some complimentary popcorn while you watch.

Day 8: Santuario Do Caraca Hikes and Departure

• Get up early, have breakfast, and pack your bags.

• Hike Tanque Grande, a short walk to a dam where endangered titi monkeys and marmosets are sometimes seen.

• Then hike Vanho Do Belchior, a river trail about 1.83 miles out (1.5 hours total).

• Have lunch before leaving (you’ll need to arrange in advance, share that since you are coming so late you will miss dinner the day of check in and see if you can switch that meal for this lunch).

• Drive down the road to the Piscina (natural pool).

• Swim, then hike to the Mirante (viewpoint) which is steep but worth the amazing view of the santuario.

• Drive back to Belo Horizonte to return your rental car and shuttle to the airport.

• We recommend dropping off car and taking shuttle to arrive back to the airport more than 2 hours before your flight.

Santuario Do Caraca