Next time you find yourself skeeved out by the shuffle of a passing possum, imagine for a moment that you lived in a place where rodents the size of small pigs roamed free by the thousands. No, not the New York subway system, but the Pantanal, about 54,000 square miles of wetlands in Mato Grosso do Sul, central-southwestern Brazil.
Rodents, as we know from the movies, have a special fondness for damp areas, so these particular critters, known as capybaras, feel right at home here. The Pantanal, from “pantano,” the Portuguese word for “swamp,” is also home to 50 species of reptiles, 80 species of mammals, 230 kinds of fish and an astonishing 650 different types of birds. A lot of the animals are familiar but different: ostriches that are actually rheas, small pigs that are peccaries, variations on the alligator that are called caimans and live long enough for their eyes to rot out (you can actually feed a group of more or less tame caimans with a guide, if so inclined).
Wolves, monkeys, deer, spotted jaguars, tapirs, parrots, toucans, anacondas, armadillos, anteaters, the red-necked, black-headed Jabiru storks that are the official symbol of the Pantanal; and even endangered blue macaws roam freely in the wetlands, which are on the border of Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia and constitute the world’s largest flooded plain.
The Rainy Season
Flood season begins in December and lasts until about May; the region’s numerous rivers (the longest, at 1,584 miles and 980 feet above sea level, is the Paraguay River) overflow onto the plains. The flooding isn’t exactly biblical in proportion; it’s significant mostly to the extent that it covers over roads (the locals trek by horse during the rainy season) and obscures the usual food sources for wildlife. The animals are expecting it, of course, and they simply migrate to the higher ground of the cordilleras (mountain ranges) until the dry season.
When to Visit
Dry season, between June and early December, is also the best time for humans to visit the area. This is Brazil’s winter and spring, when temperatures can reach 85 degrees by day and sink to the 50s at night, and the inevitable mosquitoes are reasonably under control. The waters lower and the region is in a “drought,” although the rivers actually just return to their shallow beds and reptiles, birds and animals begin feeding at the lakes again. The area is a birder’s paradise and, with snorkeling, white-water rafting, leisurely boat rides, rappelling, swimming and horseback riding, an outdoorsman’s as well. But even indoorsmen will love it here – you can stay as near or as far from the fauna as you like.
See also: Where to Stay in the Pantanal
