Pantanal and Central West
Caiman
Caiman is located within a 53,000 hectare ranch on the banks of the Aquidauana River in Brazil’s southern Pantanal and combines cattle ranching, ecotourism and conservation. The accommodation options have recently been upgraded with the opening of Casa Caiman featuring 18 suites in three categories surrounded by extensive gardens and complete with a swimming pool and gym. As well as Casa Caiman the six room Villa Baiazinha, located nine kilometres away, is available for private group rental. Guests explore the private reserve during day time and nocturnal jeep safaris, nature walks and canoeing trips. Horse riding excursions are led by the local community of cowboys.
There is a daily program of activities in small groups accompanied by an experienced bilingual naturalist guide and a local farmworker. A private guide can be arranged at additional cost.
Caiman maintains a 5,600 hectare private reserve which supports a variety of research and management projects. Principal conservation projects focus on the hyacinth macaw and the jaguar.
The jaguar habituation project, Oncasafari, offers visitors the opportunity to track jaguars in an Africa-style jeep safari. During the June to September high season presentations are given by the Oncasafari scientists, and dedicated tracking programs can be arranged on either a private or shared basis.
Guests can also visit the cattle ranch which was founded in 1910 and currently has around 35,000 head of cattle.
Facilities
Casa Caiman's 18 suites (1 x master, 3 x superior and 14 x standard) have air-conditioning, ceiling fan, outside terrace and WiFi. Facilities at Casa Caiman include an outdoor terrace, swimming pool, deck overlooking the bay, living room, courtyard, hammock area, and restaurant. A laundry service is available at additional cost. Villa Baiazinha has six superior rooms with king or twin bedrooms, ensuite bathroom and balcony.
Local Wildlife
The Pantanal has more than 650 species of birds, 80 mammals and 260 species of fish. This includes a healthy population of jaguars which are being frequently observed on dedicated excursions with Oncasafari. Other spectacular Pantanal species such as tapirs, giant anteaters, hyancith macaws, jabiru storks and rheas are also commonly seen along side hundreds of caiman and capybara. Night drives offer the possibilty of more nocturnal species such as ocelot, tamandua and crab-eating racoon.
Optional Activities
Hikes, bike rides, Canadian canoe, photographic safaris and nocturnal spotlighting.
John Melton
Area Specialist
If you have any questions regarding our Brazil tours, please feel free to contact me on +44 (0)1803 866965
A somewhat belated letter, but I thought I’d just send you a quick note to say thank you for all your work in putting together our honeymoon. We had a really great time, in great comfort, throughout our stay, and saw a huge range of different wildlife and landscapes over what was really quite a short space of time. By my reckoning, each day we saw at least one type of animal that we hadn’t seen before at any point on the trip – even in Rio!
Overall, a fantastic holiday – if we were to change one thing, it would have been to take another week, so we could have spent a little more time in each place… but who has a boss that understanding? In any case, now we have the perfect excuse to go back again when we’ve saved up enough money and holiday time.
Based on our experience, we will definitely be recommending your services to anyone we know of who is planning a similar trip in future, and will come to you first if we are doing so ourselves. Thanks once again for helping to arrange such a memorable holiday for us both.
