Animal Dreams in the Wet, Wet West

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Outside Magazine June 2003

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The Pantanal
Animal Dreams in the Wet, Wet West
Access & Resources (Cont.)

POINTS OF ENTRY Almost 400 miles northwest of Campo Grande, and 200 miles north of the Fazenda Rio Negro, Poconé is the starting point for the TRANSPANTANEIRA, a road intended to bridge the swamp. After 90 miles, a third of the way in, the project was put on hold. But the causeway has been a boon to naturalists. Animals congregate on the road in the wet season; during the dry season, ditches along the highway are the only permanent water sources. Eighty-seven miles south of Cuiabá, the 15-room ARARAS PANTANAL ECO-LODGE (www.araraslodge.com.br) offers horseback riding, hiking, biking, and canoeing.

The area's sole national park, 486,000-acre Parque Nacional do Pantanal Mato-grossense, is accessible only by plane or boat. Call the IBAMA office in Cuiabá (011-55-65-648-19147) for permit information, but be prepared to converse in Portuguese.

GETTING THERE Varig Brazilian Airlines (800-468-2744, www.varig.com.br/english/index.htm) has several daily flights from the United States to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Varig flies nonstop from S‹o Paulo to Campo Grande, with continuing service to Cuiabá. Fazenda Rio Negro can arrange for chartered single-engine bush planes from Campo Grande ($870 for three) or Aquidauana ($455).

Avis (800-230-4898, www.avis.com) has offices in the Cuiabá and Campo Grande airports. From Campo Grande, the roads are decent to Corumbá. Be prepared, however, for sloppy conditions while motoring the Transpantaneira. Don't even think about trying to reach Fazenda Rio Negro by yourself. But if you must defy common sense, the lodge's coordinates are 19°34'29.2" S, 56°14'37.1" W.

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