Brazil by Regis St Louis

Author:Regis St Louis
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Travel.Travel Guides
ISBN: 0383798000
Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications
Published: 2010-10-15T10:00:00+00:00

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Mato Grosso & Mato Grosso do Sul

* * *

CUIABá

CHAPADA DOS GUIMARãES

ALTA FLORESTA

CáCERES

POCONé

THE PANTANAL

GEOGRAPHY & CLIMATE

PLANNING

TOURS

SLEEPING

GETTING THERE & AWAY

GETTING AROUND

MATO GROSSO DO SUL

CORUMBá

COXIM

BONITO & AROUND

PONTA PORã

* * *

Mato Grosso was once Brazil’s wild, wild West, where explorers, Indian hunters, animal poachers, gold seekers and naturalists collided under miraculous sunsets and marvelous moons. Today, the massive area, split into the two separate states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul in the late 1970s, is still a wonderfully feral region that is home to some of Brazil’s most spectacular wildlife and incredible scenery. It is a prime destination for ecotourists and anglers, the majority of whom come to visit the star attraction of the region, the Pantanal, an enormous floodplain that extends its watery tentacles across parts of both states as well as into Bolivia and Paraguay.

Though the Amazon has a larger marketing budget, it is the Pantanal that shines as Brazil’s top destination for wildlife-viewing and bird-watching. Encompassing an area more than half the size of France, it is one of the most important and fragile ecosystems on the planet and home to an impressive concentration of cohabitating mammals. Jaguars, caiman, anacondas, giant river otters and capybaras are here in great numbers, as are seemingly endless collections of extraordinary birds, including macaws, toucans and jabiru storks.

Cuiabá, Corumbá and Campo Grande are all gateways to this celebrated wetland, but the region’s offerings certainly don’t stop there. There’s the far-north town of Alta Floresta, where the cerrado morphs into the Amazon in a vast, fervently preserved forest full of copious bird species and picturesque waterways; and the Serra do Bodoquena surrounding Bonito, where high waterfalls, deep canyons, caves and crystal-clear rivers present world-class ecotourism opportunities. Between the two is the stunning Parque Nacional da Chapada dos Guimarães, an imposing tablelands with some of the most commanding views in Brazil.

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