Piquiri River Camping Trip:

Nine days / 8 nights

The Piquiri River is one of the best places in the Pantanal to see wildlife including Tapirs, Jaguars and Giant River Otters. Due to its remoteness, the one specie that is not common here is the Eco Tourist: If you want to go where few tourists venture in the heart of the Pantanal, then this trip is for you!

ITINERARY:

Day One :

Meet at the airport or your hotel in Cuiaba, Campo Grande, or Rodonopolis.
Transfer to the Basecamp our vehicle or by Bus (at our option). Traditional fish dinner baked over an open fire.
Overnight Camp in a screened in cabin.

Day Two :

5:30 hrs.  Wake-up. Break camp.
6:00 hrs.  Final preparations of the motorboat. Departure via motorboat on the Correntes River.  Breakfast onboard enroute.
Wildlife spotting all day, species in the “buritizal” include neotropical otters ( Lontra longicaudis ), Blue-and-yellow Macaws ( Arara ararauna ), Toco Tucans ( Ramphastos toco ), Turquoise-fronted Parrots (Amazona aestiva) and a nesting pair of Jabiru Storks ( Jabiru mycteria ).
Lunch at the confluence of the Piquirizino and Correntes river (11:00 hrs +/-)
The ‘Buritizal’ gradually transforms to Savannah with a gradual thinning and disappearance to the Buriti palms.
Continue downstream to the Curicaca Campsite on the Correntes River. (16:00 hrs +/-)
Time for fishing, dinner & traditional campfire activities (optional).
Overnight at the Curicaca Campsite.

Day Three :

6:00 hrs.  Wake-up. Break camp. Breakfast.
7:00 hrs. Departure by motor boat.  Now in a Savannah ecosystem of the Pantanal, the river is rapidly changing course and there are a number of channels and islands, the waters in this section are clear and fast-running.  Good opportunities to site more Neotropical otters, ....
Lunch and swimming along the river. Meander through some of the many oxbows, or arc or crescent shaped bodies  of water located in abandoned river channels that are common in this area.  Excelent chance to see the voracious Tucanare, or Peacock Cichlid, and the Arraia, or Freshwater Stingray, which inhabit these placid waters.  Continue downstream to the Fazenda San Jose. 
Dinner and camp overnight at the fazenda.

Day Four :

5:30 hrs.  Wake-up. Breakfast.  Early morning hike through the pastures to the San José private ecological reserve and the Vazante Formoso.  Excellent chance to see  groups of Capybara ( hydrochaeris hydrochaeris ), Collared Peccary ( Tayassu tajacu )and White-lipped Peccary ( Tayassu pecari ) forraging in the swamps.  Roseate Spoonbills ( Ajaia ajaja ) can easily be sighted here.
Return to the Fazenda, break camp.
Depart by motorboat 10:30 hrs.
Stop for lunch.
One hour to swim and relax in the afternoon at a sandy beach.
Pass the confluence with the Itaquera River.
Continue downstream to the Fazenda Alvorada. 
Overnight at the Fazenda Alvorada. 

Day Five :

6:00 hrs.  Wake-up.  Early morning walk in the Mata Ciliar looking for feeding howler monkeys.  Breakfast, break camp.  Descend by motorboat.  Lunch, swimming.  Camp on an Island with time to hike in sandy areas looking for jaguar tracks. Overnight at the Island Camp.

Day Six :

6:00 hrs.  Wake-up.  Breakfast, continue downstream.  Spotting of wildlife as we go.  Lunch, time for swimming.  Coninue downstream.  Camp along the river at the confluence of the Correntes and São Lourenço Rivers.

Day Seven :
6:00 hrs.  Wake-up.  Breakfast, break camp.  Turn upstream (subject to availability of fuel) on the São Lourenço looking especially for Jaguar.  Lunch, early camp on the São Lourenço.  Dinner, Time to relax, overnight camp.

Day Eight :

6:00 hrs.  Wake-up.  Breakfast, break camp.   Downstream on the São Lourenço to the confluence with the Correntes river where the River becomes the Cuiabá.  Continue downstream on the Cuiabá to Porto Jofre.  Transfer by Van to the Pousada Jaguar.
Reception at the Pousada jaguar. Dinner.  After dinner wildlife spotlighting Safari on the Transpantaneira.  Return to the Pousada.  Overnight accomodations. 

Day 9 :
6:00 hrs.  Wake-up.  Breakfast. Hike on the grounds of the lodge.  Return to the lodge. Trip by registered van along the Transpantaneira highway spotting wildlife along the way (130 KM)  Lunch in the city of Poconé.  Return to Cuiabá in the afternoon (2 – 2 ½ hrs by van).  Drop off at your hostel..
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