The best time to visit the Pantanal

The Pantanal changes scenery every season! The region, which is the biggest wetland of the world, is governed by cycles of rain and drought that totally interfere with the landscape. Thus, before you come it is necessary to decide which is the best time for the tours you want and plan your trip in the ideal conditions.

Drought: from May to September. The best time to watch the Pantanal animals.

The rain ceases, the water flooding the plain becomes increasingly scarce giving way to the fields, it concentrates in small puddles where the mammals go out in search of food and crowd to drink. The birds begin the mating season and find themselves in a lush plumage to try to conquer a mate. Trees lose their leaves to save water and what used to be a lush, green landscape becomes brown and arid.

It is the best time to see the diversity of wildlife in this ecological sanctuary, to make photographic safaris, nocturnal animal safaris, ecological hikes in search of a closer contact with nature, tours to contemplate the life in the countryside and the cattle farms.

The period also coincides with the flowering of the pink and yellow ipês in mid August, one of the most striking events of the year where the Pantanal plain gets colorful for a few weeks.

Rain season: from October to May. The flood season, the beauty of the waters catches the eye of the visitors.

When the landscape is extremely dry, the flood season begins bringing the water that renovates life. The plants, revigorated, start producing leaves again and everything turns green. The birds, which have their mating season in the drought, take advantage of the abundance to feed their offspring. The lower lands are completely occupied by a water mirror. The mammals look for the higher places, leaving the wetlands with storks, ducks, alligators and fish that look for food among the multicolored aquatic plants that begin to develop. It is the period that most characterizes the Pantanal.
Boats can take long and different routes, the horseback riding or 4x4 vehicle rides become more exciting, and you can even admire on a canoe ride the pantanal sunset that in this season becomes even more beautiful thanks to the mirror formed by the water that floods the plain (great for landscape photographs).
Access to inns and hotels in the area is more difficult during this time. Much of the roads are flooded and transport has to be done in special vehicles and in some places you can only arrive by boat or private plane.

 

Most of the farms where you can stay visit the Pantanal not only offer good infrastructure and tourist services, but also show you their ecological awareness and the Pantanal culture. By boat, on horseback and on foot, you will enjoy the flight of the herons, tuiuiús and spoonbills, see the colors of the macaws and the toucans, be enchanted with the deer of the marsh, capybaras and oriranhas, to hear the sounds of the howler monkeys, admire the sucuris and the alligators and maybe spot a jaguar in the fields!