Highlights

• Seeing the wildlife including jaguars, caiman, capybara, river otters, Jabiru storks, anteaters, deer, monitor lizards, snakes, foxes and many other small animals and birds
• Fishing in the river using chunks of meat as bait to catch piranha and pacu
• Meeting the locals and trying local food
• Enjoying the quiet sounds of nature
• Driving a boat on the river
• Watching other tourists with their giant cameras

Before you go

• Pantanal is located in the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul
• Many local people do not speak English so it is helpful to have a translation app for Portuguese
• There are insects around so bring repellant
• Wear layers and bring a rain jacket just in case
• For decent photos, take a camera with a good zoom. It doesn’t have to be a fancy one but my iPhone was not great. Very glad my guide took a few photos for me

Transport

• The arrival airport for the start of my Pantanal adventure was Cuiaba in the state of Mato Grosso. Getting there was not easy from Paris as I had to fly first to Rio then Brasilia and finally to Cuiaba. On the way home I flew from Cuiaba to São Paulo.
• I had a great experience with Julinho of Pantanal Trackers who organised all of my transport, accommodation, food and sightseeing adventures
• For the rough roads in Pantanal, it was good that Julinho was driving a jeep. And the best views of animals and nature were from the boat. He drove most of the time and let me drive when the water was open. So much fun!

Accommodation

• My accommodation in Pantanal started out at the comfortable Pouso Alegre Lodge. It was surrounded by nature and one day I asked why people were looking in a big bucket. The hotel worker then showed me the snake that they had caught inside. Luckily it was a small one!
• Usually I don’t like camping but I will do it to experience beautiful nature. I was roughing it in a tent with no electricity and showering with water from the river in Porto Jofre. We camped on the land of a very friendly couple who were friends of Julinho, Maria and Carmindo
• Finally, back in Cuiaba I stayed at the simple, clean and comfortable Hotel Ramos. It was convenient to walk to the city centre

Food

Food was definitely not my main reason to travel to Pantanal. I figured since we would be in the wilderness, I would likely be eating very simple meals. In fact, most meals contained rice and beans in different formats and flavours. On the side, there were usually meats and vegetables. The food was hearty and filling, which was good after the active days out.

One day while we were out on the river, we met a group of men having a BBQ. They were farmers having a team building day out fishing. Most of them did not speak English, but the few who did were very friendly. They were surprised that I travelled to such an adventurous place on my own. We joined in for their BBQ and had some delicious grilled fish.

The highlight of my dining experiences in Pantanal was at our camping site at Carmindo and Maria’s house. During the day, Julinho and I went fishing in the river. We caught a mixture of piranha and pacu fish. Later that evening, we grilled it to eat for dinner.