Want to do a safari in Brazil?
 

I am.

After lots of researching I have booked a 3-week trip to Brazil with <b>Focus Tours</b> that emphasizes nature, mammals, reptiles and birds. Departure is August 5, 2007, an excellent time for bird watching and other wildlife viewing.

The itinerary includes both the savanna as well as the river environment of the Pantanal, where we will search for an abundance of wildlife, including the elusive jaguar. Several nights are in Caraca Natural Park with accommodations at a seminary where rare maned wolves often appear at night. At the Caratinga Biological Station we will look for the largest primate in the Americas along with other monkeys, mammals and birds. Throughout the trip we will also search for River Otters, Howler Monkeys, Sloths, Capybaras, Tapirs, Anteaters, Macaws, and an abundance of birds in 6 unique habitats.

I am looking forward to it already. Maybe you can be too. Feel free to email me. The Focus Tours site is www.focustours.com

The trip is billed as

In Search of the Jaguar-Pantanal Land and River; Plus Maned Wolves of Caraca; and Monkeys of Caratinga

I've secured my FF miles for the international flights and just sent a check ($600) for the internal flights that will be booked with a Brazil pass. Brazil pass flights are in limited supply.

www.focustours.com

This should be an exciting wildlife destination if you wish to join part or all of the excursion. The trip goes with just me, but a few more travelers increases the camaraderie and decreases the cost.

Happy Travels to you, wherever they take you!

I have purchased the bird book for the trip. I found it ironic that I bought a book on birds of Brazil on Amazon dot com.

Let me guess. You work for/own focus tours.

Naplo999 - atravelynn posts regularly, esp the Africa board. I don't think she is promoting this company for personal gain.

But atravelynn, I should say, I thought the same as Naplo until I looked at who actually wrote the post. It looks really ad-y. Also, you should let some of the africa folks know about your trip--you know how wildlife crazy we all are.

Ah, ok. Just looked odd w/ several posts and no replies and atravelynn didn't ask any questions.

Anyway, good luck finding the giant otters. They have these crazy looking white/twisty nose dolphins in the amazon too.

I have no ties with any travel agent. I'm just trying to recruit some additional members for the trip I booked.

I also could not contain my enthusiasm when the milestones took place such as tickets bought and bird book ordered.

I did post lots of questions under the heading Pantanal but did not get too much information.

<b>Schlegal1</b>, thanks for coming to the rescue. Where is the burden of proof in this one? On me to prove I am not an agent? Or am I innocent until proven guilty?

I did post on the Africa board at the time of the original post and included a link. It generated some interest and I got a couple of emails from some of my Africa buddies. The thread was titled something like, &quot;If you like Safaris in Africa, how about one in Brazil?&quot;

<b>Naplo,</b>
After rereading it, I can see why it does look like an ad. Can you tell me more about the giant otters? Do you have any Brazil wildlife info to share?

Thanks!

Pardon my enthusiasm and excitement over the upcoming Brazil trip. I simply must post the latest developments. My bird book has arrived. Plus one on vertebrates. I'll have to look up giant otters.

After some discussion with the agent and the travel clinic I go to, I am pleased I don't even need malaria protection.

I am still not a travel agent.

Nice to see your trip coming together so nicely. It seems like just my sort of trip, but unfortunately, the timing isn't right for me.

I'm excited for you!

I am looking at going in September. Any idea how the weather is then?

Femi,
Thanks!

Bombastic,
The weather depends on where you are going in Brazil.

My focus, the Pantanal, has a July-Oct dry season similar to Africa, which I know you are familiar with. So Sept would be great in that area.

For other parts, try this site
http://www.ils3.com/nav.php?id=Brazil_Weather

My passport is finally safely in my hands after 9 weeks at the US Passport Agency getting more pages and then a brief trip to Houston, Texas for a visa through Passports Plus.

The final balance has been paid.

Next up is getting a decent map.

Map, check.

Anybody else recently returned form the Pantanal? Or going sometime soon?

Not recently enough ;-) but we were there last summer. Fabulous, absolutely fabulous...you might want to take a look at my photos here:

http://www.jczinn.com/Central%20and%...l/saindex.html

The birds and animals are amazing. Bring your camera!

jczinn- I loved your pictures. We are thinking about going to the Pantanal in September. Where did you stay and where did you see the most animals and birds? Were the monkeys in the Pantanal as well. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

JCZinn,
Outstanding pictures. I may review your bird photos before I go to help me in recognizing them once I get there. I loved your fauna shots. Seeing a capybara would be such a thrill. Your general scenes were beautiful too. What was your itinerary and when did you go?

We went for 9 days in August; September should also be a great time. Dry season so perfectly hot, clear, sunny days every day (hot!!) We were in the Northern Pantanal, along the Transpantaneria out of Pocone...flew into Cuiaba.

We were on a birding and photography trip that I set up with Boute Expeditions... www.boute-expeditions.com. They were great and I can highly recommend them; I believe they also have a general nature itinerary if you aren't birders. In the Pantanal proper, we stayed in two lodges: Fazaenda Santa Teresa (http://www.santaterezahotel.hpg.ig.com.br/), and Fazaenda Pousa Alegre (http://www.pousalegre.com.br/). Both were great for specific specialties, so a couple of nights at each is perfect. From Santa Teresa you can take a boat ride on the Pixiam River and it is there we saw the Giant River Otters (a family of them lives right there.) Capybara are everywhere, not to worry.

Pousa Alegre is home to the Hyacinth Macaws. Also, we saw the monkeys somewhere around Pousa Alegre, although I don't remember exactly where. We didn't see many monkeys--I don't think they are that easy to find (not like in Costa Rica). But we saw so many other great animals--anteaters, foxes, tapir, capybara of course; and tons of birds.

We also spent a couple of nights in Serra des Araras to see the Harpy Eagles; this is on the edge of the Pantanal and Amazonia so is a bit of a transitional habitat with different birds. Finally we had two nights in Chapada dos Guimaraes at Pousada Penhasco (http://www.penhasco.com.br/en_US/index.php) which was another very different habitat with many Macaws, Manakins, Trogons and other good birds.

Thank you JCZinn. I'll be there in August also for about the same number of days as you. Your links will be helpful to those searching for Pantanal info.

I´m here! I´m here! In just 12 hours in the country (Sao Paulo) and covering no more ground than from the airport to the airport hotel (where I am now) I counted 6 acts of noteable kindness toward me, helpfulness and exceptional hospitality. When I do a report, I´ll describe them in more detail.

Lucky you Lynn! I missed this post somehow and am still relishing in your Mala Mala/Phinda trip report.

Sounds like a trip I would be interested in doing one day after I have fulfilled my African dreams. Three weeks, very nice! You are having a great summer filled with tons of adventure...I am your biggest admirer.

(PS- our Panda in San Diego had her baby yesterday...Panda Cam here I come, heck what's one more cam???)