lhgreenacres

I felt the need to let all you fodorites who love Costa Rica some information about our latest trip to Brazil. I thought that it was going to be so difficult to find anything that compared to Bosque but Brazil was absolutely incredible for anyone who loves nature and wildlife. The people of Brazil where wonderful and so kind and generous, very similiar to the Costan Ricans. The amount of animals and birds that we saw were staggering. We saw six different types of macaws, so many kinds of parrots, toucans,tons of other beautiful colorful birds, anteaters(both giant and regular), two different types of peccaries, deer, capybaras, coatis, pacas, tayras, otters(both giant and regular), three kinds of monkeys that we had never seen and the final highlight on our last morning was a jaguar that we got to watch swimming across a river in the Amazon and getting out on the other side of the bank. It was the most incredible thing to see. We worked with a lovely local tour operator in Campo Grande who set the trip up for us. His name is Jan van Dijke and his company is Open Door Tours. We are going back to Costa Rica for a fourth time this winter but we will also definitely be back to Brazil.

hipvirgochick

I wanna go! LOL! Actually, Brazil has been on my "list" for a while now. I have some friends who have travelled extensively there as well. Sounds absolutely amazing! Glad you had such a fantastic experience.

volcanogirl

Thanks for the recommendation; it sounds amazing. Good to know there's a place out there that can compare to CR.

cmerrell

That sounds like an absolutely phenomenal trip, lhgreenacres!

Where all did you go? Pantanal in addition to the Amazon basin??

The privelege of viewing wildlife in it's natural habitat is such a passion of mine! Sounds like it is for you as well.

tully

On my to do list as well....would love to hear about some of the places you stayed and areas you went to.

lhgreenacres

We stayed at two of the most amazing places. The first was in the Southern Pantanal called Barranco Alto. It is run by two of the loveliest people, Lucas and Marina. The transport there is by a three seater airplance and made the plane to Puerto Jimenez look like a giant. Everything is included there meaning your food, drink and all the activites. It is a working cattle ranch so for all the horse lovers you can ride as much as you want. I spent one afternoon riding with the cowboys while they did their afternoon rounds. It was an incredible experience. The land itself is 27,000 acres and includes over 100 lakes. The other activities were hiking, birding, canoeing, fishing, boating and jeep rides to look for animals. The food was primarily all grown there and was the best. The second place was in the Southern Amazon Rainforest and was called the Cristalino Jungle Lodge. It was on a river and also in a fairly remote location. Everything was all inclusive with the daily guiding also included. We had the best guide who spent everyday trying to make sure we saw the best in the rainforest. When we saw the Jaguar on the last day he was beside himself, so happy that we got to see it. Our accomodations were really nice and the food good but not as good as Barranco Alto. The trip was 16 days as it definitely was harder and longer to get around Brazil and with many more plane flights but everything went smoothly. I am only back a few days and can not stop thinking about how incredible of a trip we had.

janenicole

Hey, lhgreenacres! Fun to see you have been on another awesome trip! Did you bring Mom along? You all have such a zest for life and adventure - good for you!

I know we won't get back to Bosque this year, but boy, Costa Rica is sure calling to me. Hubby wants to get in some snorkeling on next trip, so who knows where we we go.

Glad you found another pristine place!

sari80

Hi, Ihgreenacres. My husband and I are also planning a trip to Brazil and are considering using Open Door Tours. I am glad to hear that you had such a positive experience. My question is about booking your international and domestic flights. Did you schedule your flights on your own? I have been reading about the Brazil Airpass and find it a little intimidating. We are planning to go next May so I'm also wondering when we should purchase our air tickets. Thanks for any help you can give.

Sara

lhgreenacres

Hi JaneNicole- How have you guys been? Yes, my mom went with us and she was her usual trooper self. Brazil was a lot more strenuous then Bosque but she really hung in there. Mixter603 says she might be going back to Bosque this winter. I think we are going to to Belize and take a year off from Costa Rica. Great snorkelling in Belize. May be we can all meet again there and talk Micki into something different. We found some great places to stay. One sounds a lot like Bosque so we are very excited.

Sari80- We also were concerned about all the domestic flights we had so many so them that I had Jan at Open Door book the tickets. He knew all the best flights and even informed us before hand when there was a schedule change. We booked the flights late as this was more of a last minute trip. There was no problem with the domestic flights but we did pay more for the international and did not get the most convenient routing. Where are you going in Brazil? It is such a beautiful country who are going to love it.

hipvirgochick

lh -- Would you mind sharing your total budget (even a rough idea) for this trip (less: int'l airfare)? Not sure the size of your family, but I'm interested for myself and 11 year old.

Thanks!

lhgreenacres

HipVirgoChick- I am also a hip virgo chick, September 18. The cost was around $3,000 a person for the sixteen days. The international airfare was $1,000 but we were more last minute and probably could have got a cheaper fare. There were many internal flights and a private plane to Barranco Alto so there was a lot in airfare. The costs at Barranco Alto and the Cristalino Lodge were really reasonable especially considering that all food and guiding is included in the cost. We have been researching Belize and are realizing what a good deal we got in Brazil. Any other questions, please ask and I would be happy to help.

Suzie2

I'm sold!!! Thanks for the great info. Hubby and I were just talking about something like that last week but we didn't really know where to start. We were thinking of a place in Peru but this sounds wonderful. Thanks for blazing the trail that I am sure many will follow.

hipvirgochick

lh -- Thanks for a good starting point! I will be doing some research and I'm sure I'll come back for many questions for you! Thanks for the offer to help. Your itinerary sounds like it would be perfect for us. What are the best times to travel weather wise? Sounds like you were just there in July/August?

You and shillmac share the same b-day.

hipvirgochick

Oops! Check that...volcanogirl is 9/18, shillmac is 9/20. Party on!

lhgreenacres

July and August are the best months to visit as this is the dry season. We also went to Peru in September and really enjoyed Brazil much more than Peru. I feel like I should be the poster child for the Brazil tourist bureau but I honestly can say it was so wonderful and I couldn't imagine how a place could match Costa Rica. Costa Rica is still so special and we will return for a 4th time but I also hope to go back to Brazil in the near future. The ease of sighting the birds and animals especially in the Pantanal made it so wonderful. The owners have activities completely geared to what you want to do everyday. If you wanted to horse-back ride every day you could, if you wanted to fish, go on the river, go hiking to look for birds and animals or take jeep rides to you just wanted to take it easy that was available as well. There are no more than ten guests at a time allowing for totally personalized attention. Check out trip advisor(Barranco Alto) for their reviews.

Mixter603

Hey lhgreenacres and janenicole, what is everyone planning on doing this winter? I can easily be talked into doing something different. hubby really wants to see the caribbean side of CR. We have not focused too much attention on the winter trip yet. Too much going on with work.

Let me know what you guys decide to do. I would love for us to all meet up again somewhere. I know Ricky would love it as well.

janenicole

Hello, Mixter & LH! Would be terrific to hook up with you again! Mike really wants some beach/snorkeling time this winter. Costa Rica is calling to me, however. Belize would probably be perfect for us, but flights there are really high $. I haven't researched cost once we would arrive. We are bringing our oldest daughter with us this year, so already more money for airfare. It is going to be hard to find anything quite like BdC, but anything away from winter here is good! Let's keep in touch regarding ideas!

lhgreenacres

OK Mixter603 and JaneNicole and any other Fodorites would like to join us. Let go to Belize. We found two amazing places to stay. The first is Chan Chich which actually sounds a lot like Bosque but perhaps a little more upscale. Sounds like beautiful birds and wildlife, great food and accomodation. The other location is at the beach for snorkeling and also has access to the rainforest. It is called Hamanasi Dive Resort. Go to Trip advisor and check them out and let me know what you think. The only problem is that I think the best time to go to Belize is in March due to the calmest waters. It isn't a problem for us but I know the cold weather people might want an earlier vacation from the cold.

hipvirgochick

That would be a lot of fun to meet up with you guys! We'll be in CR though, March 21-April 6...last few nights at BDC. First part in Puerto Viejo.

Janinecole -- Not sure your daughter's age, mine will be 11...let me know if your plans change to CR!

lh -- Your Belize places sound terrific

Suzie2

lh
Thank you so much again for this report.

I copied it to my husband and all he said was "this sounds perfect, I've always wanted to show you how beautiful Brazil was". It has been 40 years since he was there so I hope he isn't disappointed. It doesn't sound like it. He was terribly disappointed in Iguazu but he was working with the Indians collecting bird specimens before there were hotels and roads there and it was just crowded with tourists and even had speed boats in the water when we went a couple of years ago.

Where in Peru where you? We were just looking at the Manu area with friends. I copied them your report too.

My list is getting very long but other than CR this is going to be second on my list of places to go after visiting friends in Argentina again. Last time we went to Iguazu with them, this time we are going down to Peninsula Valdes. THEN Brazil.

Happy travels and enjoy Belize. I liked it my husband didn't. He just likes to be where he can speak spanish. We were there in Feb. a few years ago and the weather was perfect. I would love to go back and do more snorkeling.