Feb 19, 2011
|Last updated on March 29th, 2021 at 10:27 am
Have you thought of taking a Brazil eco-tour of the Pantanal wetlands, where wildlife and birds are in abundance? In Brazil’s southwestern corner, on the border with Paraguay and Bolivia, lies the world’s largest wetland. This vast stretch of over 50,000 acres is host to an incredible amount of biodiversity, including capybaras, giant anteaters, marsh deer, piranha, peccaries, macaws, and approximately 30 million caiman. There are passion fruit, cashew fruit, and orchids blooming. Cattle feed on the marsh grass.
Located south of the Amazon Basin, the Brazilian Pantanal is arguably better for wildlife spotting because the wetlands offer open spaces rather than dense jungle. Yet the Pantanal is often overshadowed by the popularity of its big brother, the Amazon rainforest, and also overlooked by lax government regulations concerning deforestation, farming, fishing, and other ecological hazards.
Brazil eco-tours and Pantanal eco-tourism helps to encourage travelers to minimize the negative impact of tourism in fragile ecosystems while teaching travelers positive ways to interact with nature. While participating in Pantanal eco-tours, travelers can stay in a Pantanal lodge, take nature hikes, go on a horseback ride through the wetlands, or whiz by on a zipline adventure through the forest canopy – all with minimal damage to the environment. Travelers should be careful to ask what methods their Brazil tour guide or Brazil tour agency are using to protect the environment and minimize their business’s harmful impact. Travelers can check with the Brazilian Association of Ecotourism or a similar organization to see if the agency or Pantanal lodge is registered. Home to hundreds and thousands of unique bird species, insect species, and other flora and fauna, Brazil is one of the world’s most popular eco-tourism destinations. The Pantanal offers just as much – if not more – of the excitement and possibility of wildlife spotting.
At some Brazil eco-tours destinations, you can get up close and personal with parrots or Brown capuchin monkeys if the Pantanal lodge has a conservation effort underway. Often there are canopy walks installed near a Pantanal lodge, so that travelers can see out over the treetops and perhaps watch a sunset over the wetlands. If you are considering a trip to Brazil, consider our Pantanal tours or our other Brazil tours. Contact a tour consultant if you have any questions about planning your trip to South America.
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