AMAZONAS FOREST
The Amazon Forest is one of the planets greatest temples of Biodiversity.
ARAGUAIA
The Araguaia River, with its length of 2,115km produces the most paradisiacal complex of fluvial beaches in the world.
CHAPADA DOS GUIMARÃES
Cerrado is one of the most beautiful and mystical ecosystems in Brazil, and it is also one of the worlds richest and most diversified medicinal plant stock.
ILHA DE MARAJÓ
Surrounded by fresh and salt water - from the Rivers Amazon and Tocantins and the Atlantic Oce is the island of Marajó, separated from Belém by the River Tocantins, and which is the largest river island in the world.
PANTANAL
The vast Mato Grosso's Pantanal is the largest flood plain of the world, controlled by the ciclic seasons of the waters.
SANTARÉM
Santarém is the second city in the state of Pará and one of the region's most beautiful cities, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Tapajós and Amazon.
BONITO
Situated 260 kilometres from Campo Grande, capital of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, the town of Bonito and all its surrounding region has countless grottoes, caves, springs, natural aquaria, waterfalls, lakes and archaeological sites.
GOLDEN LION TAMARIN RESERVE
Golden Lion Tamarin Conservation Project - Poço das Antas Biological Reserve
ILHA GRANDE
The island has a 193 sq km nature preserve where no cars or roads are allowed.
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The Amazon Forest is one of the planets greatest temples of Biodiversity. A mysterious jungle that shelters an incalculable and splendorous natural richness.
The dense forest is composed by large species, sometimes surpassing the 50m high marks. It is among this environment that lives one of the most diversified fauna. In the far north of the State of Mato Grosso, the Tele Pires and Jurena rivers give birth to the amazing Tapajós River.
Alta Floresta, Aripuanã, and Feliz Natal in the Xingú Indian Reserve, are cities with an infrastructure for the Eco-tourism. Jungle Hotels have been built on the border of virginal rivers and wonderful waterfalls to ensure a complete fusion with the Amazon Forest.
The Araguaia River, with its length of 2,115km produces the most paradisiacal complex of fluvial beaches in the world. Sailing through the Araguaia river waters is an unforgettable experience.
The wonders of fauna and flora, the river banks and sand bars, the sunrise and sunset will always be remembered by those who had the chance to experience them. And there is more! The Araguaia Valley is very famous for the quantity of fishes in its rivers: Pirarara, Pirarucu (the largest fresh water fish in the world), Filhote, Matrinchã, and Tucunaré (Rainbow Bass) are just some of the species that most attract the sport fishing practicioners.
Another important attraction is the Bananal Island, the world´s largest fluvial island. Within its borders was created the Araguaia National Park, where some Indian tribes like Txucarramãe, Tapirapé, and Carajás are still settled. The Roncador Mountain Range provides the beauty and mysticism that attracts ufologists, researchers and adventurers from all over the world.
Cerrado is one of the most beautiful and mystical ecosystems in Brazil, and it is also one of the world's richest and most diversified medicinal plant stock. Its not only this! The Cerrado is a natural museum, irresistible to archeologists, researchers, and historians from all over the world that research on Natural History and Archeological Sites.
Hundreds of crystal headwaters, grottos, caves, rapids and waterfalls create an extraordinary scenery for adventure tours, radical sports, mystic and esoteric tours. Here is also found a varied thermal potentiality.
The Chapada dos Guimarães National Park, is placed on the very center of South América, it is a postal card of the Cerrado.
You could fit a whole country onto Marajó, Brazil's largest fluvial island. Known in Brazil as Ilha de Marajó or Ilha do Marajó, the island at the mouth of the Amazon and Tocantins Rivers is roughly the size of the Netherlands and Switzerland.
Washed by fresh and salt water at one of the world's most majestic deltas, Marajó Island is an alluring destination to travelers who go the extra step to delve deeper into the essence of a place.
Marajó's Natural Treasures
Marajó is a birdwatcher's dream. The scarlet ibis (Eudocimus ruber), or guará is one of many species of birds which can be seen on the island - roseate spoonbills, parrots and little blue herons are some of the other birds you're likely to spot during the dry season (roughly May-November).
Marajó Towns
No more than a dozen towns are scattered on Marajó, which is the main island in an archipelago by the same name. Most of Marajó's 250,000 inhabitants live on the main island's eastern shores, where the towns of Soure and Salvaterra are located on opposite sides of the Paracauari River.
Soure, one of the main gateways to Marajó, is connected to Belém by daily boats. Boats are also your mean of transportation between Soure and Salvaterra, as well as the way to get to Cachoeira do Iriri, where Museu do Marajó (www.museudomarajo.com.br) displays the archaeological finds which inspire the island's current day marajoara ceramics.
Water Buffalo
Introduced in Marajó in the late nineteenth century, water buffalo can be seen in great part of the island. Despite their relevance to the island as transportation and food, they're by no means a unanimity. Instituro Horus, an environmental organization, has raised concerns such as trampling of ecosystems by herds of water buffalo.
Still, buffalo is part of the Marajó experience, including the local cuisine.
This phenomenon repeated at millions of years transformed the Swampland in an only complex - the largest humid surface of the planet - sheltering the largest reservation ictiológica of South America. In the Pantanal, the waters command the rhythm of life for men and wildlife. Its the largest periodically flooded area of the world with 230,000 km.
During summer, the rainy season, the animals take shelter in the higher grounds. This is the period in wcich the nature is exuberant. Normally, the rainy season goes from December to April, but the Pantanal paln remains flooded up to the end of May. From then on, the waters start going down. It´s the ebbing. The synthesis of these two periods explodes into a wonderful show of natural life.
A sight to be rememberd forever. The fluvial basin, mainly composed by the Paraguai, Cuiabá, Piriqui and São Lorenço rivers plus thousand of interconnected intermittent water channels, wich hold a large quantity of fish species of all sizes, is also one of the responsible factors for the spectable.
Santarém is a city in the state of Pará and one of the region's most beautiful cities, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Tapajós and Amazon. Santarém used to be inhabited by the Tapajós Indians.
Ceramic pots recently found at the archaeological site on Taperinha, reveal the existence of an advanced pre Andean civilization, which has led to new interpretations in relation to the human occupation of the American continent.
The Baía Bonita Aquarium is one of the best known places in the region. Situated on the Anhumas estate, 21 kilometres from the small city, the cave, discovered by the Terena Indians in 1924, provides a magnificent morning spectacle: between 7.30 am and 9.30 am, the sun's rays enter the cave and are reflected in the water, turning it blue and creating steam that rises in the colours of the rainbow.
The cave's stalactites are also reflected in the waters of the lake, creating a mirror image. The Lago Azul (Blue Lake) is a pre-historic site where in 1992, Brazilian and French divers discovered animal fossils around ten million years old, including those of a giant sloth.
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Biome/Ecosystem: Atlantic Rainforest
Gateway: Rio de Janeiro - 2h driving to reserve
Length: Full day
Activities: hiking, observe the golden lion tamarin
Level: Easy
Suggested Extension: Wolly Spider Monkey
One of the best-known rainforest conservation efforts in Brazil, the Golden Lion Tamarin Conservation Project (GLTCP), is a mere two-hour drive from the city of Rio de Janeiro. The Golden Lion Tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia), a strikingly beautiful squirrel-sized primate, that exists only in the lowland Atlantic Rainforest of the state of Rio de Janeiro, is one of the most endangered primate species on earth.All of the approximately 1000 remaining wild individuals are found in the Poço das Antas Biological Reserve and the surrounding private land.
Program Summary
07:00 h Rio de Janeiro - Silva Jardim
Airport or Hotel pick up. Transfer Rio-Silva Jardim, where the reserve is located.
09:00 h - Reintroduction area (farm according with reintroduction staff)
Arrival to reintroduction area, where Golden Lion Tamarins are being reintroduced to their natural habitat, with the supervision and guidance of Golden Lion Tamarin Conservation Project technical staff. Tracking through trails in the forest to observe the specimens in reintegration in their natural habitat.
11:00 h Golden Lion Tamarin Project
Visit to the Environment Educational Center.
12:30 h Fazenda Bom Retiro
Transfer Fazenda RPPN Bom Retiro Farm for lunch. The place has an informal but warm atmosphere where travelers will have a Brazilian regional meal. Buffet service.
15:30 h Silva Jardim - Rio de Janeiro
Return to Rio. Estimated time arrival: 17:30 h.
General Information
Important A percentage of visitors' fee will be hand out to the Golden Lion Tamarin Project.
Included Transfer in/out, driver guide in English, lunch at the farm, hiking with the staff to watch the animals.
Not included Lodging
Capacity Maximum of 15 travelers.
Easy Level Program.
Guide English. Other idioms upon request.
Personal Gear Long sleeved shirt, jeans or tracksuit, sneakers or hiking boots, mosquito repellent.
Optional Gear Video and/or photo camera(s) & films, penknife, raincoat, small backpack.
Note - A contribtuion to the project is included in the price. Due the research character of this project, booking capacity is very limited.
Program not available on weekend.
The island has a 193 sq km nature preserve where no cars or roads are allowed. An unspoiled paradise, discovered in 1502. To get to the island travelers must take a boat trip either from Mangaratiba (116 km from Rio de Janeiro) or Angra dos Reis (170 km from Rio de Janeiro). The duration of the boat trip is aprox. 1:30 hs. The commercial activity is concentrated on Abraao Village, where you can find the best infrastructure for the tourism, with most of the hotels and from where all tours departure from. Among the several activities travelers can enjoy are: boat tours (to secluded beaches, caves, waterfalls,etc); hiking (light, moderate and advanced); diving; surfing; fishing; birdwatching and several other technical visits.
Suggested package:
Ilha Grande - Regular package 03 days/02 nights - (on SIB basis)
1st day - Rio de Janeiro / Ilha Grande
05:45 - Pick up at hotel and transfer from Rio de Janeiro to Mangaratiba on air conditioned car;
08:00 - Transfer by ferryboat from Mangaratiba pier to Abraao village (Duration aprox. 1:30);
09:30 - Arrival and Reception by local guide. Walking transfer to Sagu Mini Resort.
10:30 - Reconnaissance tour (Main points: restaurants, bars, Internet, Mail, Diving Operators, Lazaretto ruins, Aqueduct and Preta beach);
Afternoon and night free.
2nd day - Ilha Grande
08:00/10:00 - Breakfast
09:30 or 10:30 or 11:30 - Presentation on the tourism pier.
Depart from the wooden dock to Pouso beach, and from this beach paxs will follow a trail (15-20 min.) towards Lopes Mendes beach. At the end of the day return to Pouso beach to take a taxi boat to Abraao village.
Night free to discover Abraao village (Weekend and holidays, typical music: Forró and MPB at Casarão restaurant - on the place).
3rd day - Ilha Grande / Rio de Janeiro
Morning and afternoon free for optional activities;
17:00 - Presentation on the main pier;
17:30 - Departure by ferryboat from Abraao village to Mangaratiba (Duration aprox. 1:30);
19:00 - Arrival and transfer to Rio de Janeiro on air-conditioned car.
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