Day 1 –  Departure to Rio

Welcome to Rio. When you arrive you will be met at the airport by your Earth Trip representative and driven to your hotel. After an early check-in (subject to availability) you have the rest of the day at leisure.

• Board Includes:
• Breakfast

Day 2 – Rio de Janeiro

Today you will enjoy a full day tour of Rio’s beautiful landscape – Unesco World Heritage listed as ‘Carioca Landscapes Between the Mountain and the Sea’. You will see the Christ statue on Corcovado. Perched over Rio on a high peak swathed with rainforest and illuminated in brilliant-white at night, Rio’s Christ statue is every bit as good in real life as it looks in the pictures, standing almost a kilometre above the city and at the apex of one of the highest pinnacles in Tijuca forest, arms open to embrace the urban world’s most breath taking view. At his feet to the west are a panoply of bays, fringed with white and backed by twinkling skyscrapers and the neon of myriad streetlights. To the east as far as the eye can see lie long stretches of sand washed by green and white surf. In front and to the south, next to the vast ocean beaches, is the sparkle of Niterói watched over by low grey mountains and
connected to Rio by a 10-km-long sinuous bridge that threads its way across the 10-km
expanse of Guanabara Bay.
The statue of Christ the Redeemer is the largest Art Deco sculpture in the world. Designed in
France it was completed in 1931 and stands 30 metres tall, its outstretched arms spanning
nearly 30 metres. It has become emblematic of both the city of Rio de Janeiro and the whole
nation of Brazil. Your guide will take you through the colourful Rio neighbourhood of Cosme
Velho where you will catch a funicular railway up the mountain with him to the base of the
statue. Along the way he will explain the monument’s significance for Cariocas as the local
people of Rio are known. In the afternoon you will take the cable car up Sugar Loaf
Mountain for wonderful views of the city; and should you wish to you can walk down the
mountain on the Pista Claudio Coutinho path which cuts through some of Rio’s rainforest.
You will definitely see toucans and kitten-sized, tufted eared marmosets in the trees.
Today is Saturday – the best possible day for nightlife in Rio so you this evening you will
have a guided nightlife tour of the Lapa district – the home of samba in Rio de Janeiro. Your
six hour guided nightlife tour includes a paid for performance at the Rio Scenarium club; the
premiere authentic live samba club in Rio, housed in a large mansion and former theatre
props warehouse in Lapa.

• Board Includes:
• Breakfast

Day 3 – Rio de Janeiro

Today you have a full day in Rio at leisure. It’s a Sunday, so you might like to shop for
souvenirs in the little market in Praça General Osório square. Or you could try Rio’s
equivalent of the Sunday Roast – feijoada – rich meat and bean stew, served with manioc
flour, oranges and Spring greens. Most traditional restaurants serve it on a Sunday. It’s the
house speciality at A Casa da Feijoada restaurant in Ipanema, a short cab ride from you hotel.
They’ve been preparing it there for thirty-five years. For something less filling opt for açai –
an energising Amazonian berry, served ice cold as sorbet and topped with equally energising
guarana nut syrup. It’s available at any Juice Bar; and there are many near your hotel. Or you
could put your feet in the sand and sip juice from a cold, freshly cut coconut. Beach bars
along Copacabana, including right in front of your hotel will prepare one for you.

• Board Includes:
• Breakfast

Day 4 & 5 – Rio de Janeiro to Regua

This morning you will transfer to Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu (REGUA), one the one of the best locations in South America for endemic bird species. The Reserve lies in the heart of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves Unesco World Heritage Site. It’s a unique location – a private reserve covering over 11,000 hectares of pristine Atlantic Forest, restinga coastal wetlands (two of South America’s most critically threatened biomes), lowland tropical humid forest and montane elfin forest at over 2,000 metres.
For twenty years the reserve has conserved and restored these habitats, planting nearly ¾ million trees. Today it is one of the only locations on the Atlantic coast with wild tapirs (extinct for one hundred years in Rio de Janeiro state until the REGUA restoration). The birding is superb, with a bird list of 485 species to date; 63 species endemic to Brazil and 118 endemic to the Atlantic Forest and 12 IUCN threatened species and a further 29 species at Near Threatened. Seventy-three primate species have been recorded in the reserve and REGUA is globally important for endemic amphibians, butterflies and orchids.
Brazil’s Atlantic Coastal forests are home to 5% of the vertebrates on Earth – some 2,200
species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, with nearly 200 bird species found
nowhere else. 60% of all of Brazil’s threatened animal species call this forest home. Brazil is
the world’s leader in primate diversity (and you will see numerous primates on your
journey), with 77 species and subspecies so far identified to date; 26 of these species are
found in the Atlantic Forest, and of these 21 are found nowhere else in the world. Brazil’s
Atlantic Coast Forest preserves 20,000 plant species of plants – 8% of all those on the planet.
In the 1990s researchers from the New York Botanical Garden recorded 458 tree species in
2.5 acres in Rio de Janeiro State more than double the number of tree species in the entire
U.S. eastern seaboard. The Cattleya Orchid is native to Atlantic Coastal forests and new
species of flora and fauna are discovered regularly.
You will spend the night at REGUA giving you the best opportunities to see the best of the
birds and wildlife in the reserve in the evening and early morning when they are most active

• Board Includes:
• Breakfast

Day 6 & 7 – Regua → Comuna do Ibitipoca Tabletop Mountain

This morning your driver will transfer you to the Comuna do Ibitipoca Reserve; the perfect
counterpart to REGUA. With myriad streams and secret waterfalls, a range of micro
ecosystems ranging from Atlantic rainforest and cloud forests to rocky escarpments, lowland
forests and savannahs, it is a unique wildlife destination. Ibitipoca is one of the final refuges
of the rarest and largest monkey in the Americas, the Muriqui or Woolly Spider Monkey,
and you will get to see these astonishing animals in their natural habitat.
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The reserve has world-class guiding, and accommodation is extremely comfortable – in a
beautifully converted 19th Century colonial-style fazenda (ranch house) and with the option
of staying in the heart of the forest in a jungle lodge or on the mountain top itself in a rancher
station. The Reserve has a special Puma project, dedicated to restoration and monitoring of
the species and there is nowhere in Brazil where you have a better chance of seeing them in
the wild. Maned wolf are frequently spotted, as well as ocelot, peccary and paca. More than
350 bird species have been recorded, including recently reintroduced Harpy Eagles.
You will have three nights at the reserve, allowing you to explore all the various different
habitats and ecosystems – the cloud forest, cerrado and savannahs on the top of the
mountain, the broad-leafed Atlantic coastal rainforests where the Muriqui live at the base of
the mountain, the river systems and streams with their myriad moist micro habitats, covered
with ferns, mosses and orchids, the lowland savannahs and the recovering secondary forest –
which in Ibitipoca is scattered with wonderful pieces of art.
You will learn about the primate rehabilitation project from the scientists in charge of it on a
visit to the scientific research station in the Reserve. And you will visit the biological centre
where avian scientists are re-introducing the beautiful vinaceous-breasted amazon
(Amazona vinacea) – an endangered Atlantic coastal rainforest parrot.

• Board Includes:
• Breakfast

Day 8: Ibitipoca → Cuiabá & The Pantana

Today you will transfer to nearby Juiz de Fora airport for your flight to Cuiabá (with a
change of plane in São Paulo) – gateway to the Northern Pantanal. On arrival in Cuiabá you
will be met by an English-speaking driver for your private transfer to your lodge which is

situated in the heart of the Pantanal wetlands. You drive will take you through the late
afternoon into the early evening – the best time for wildlife and you will see numerous
capybara, crab-eating foxes, nightjars and owls en route. There is also a high chance of seeing
wild cats (from the tiny Pampas cat to the jaguarundi and possibly the Labrador sized
ocelot). Look out for their characteristic lemon-yellow eye shine.

• Board Includes:
• Breakfast

Day 9 – The Pantanal

Welcome to the wild. You will wake to a golden dawn over the creeks and savannahs, the sight of more birds you have ever seen emerging from their roosts and filling the sky and a superb Brazilian breakfast. Over the next three days you will explore one of our planet’s greatest wildlife destinations.
The Pantanal UNESCO Biosphere Reserve is the world’s largest freshwater wetland and the premier location in the Americas for wildlife. Within Brazil it comprises a plain of around 21,000 sq km. The plain slopes 1 cm every kilometre towards the basin of the Rio Paraguai and is rimmed by low mountains which drain some 175 rivers. After heavy summer rains, these rivers burst to create vast shallow lakes broken by patches of high ground and stands of woodland. Plankton then swarm to form a biological soup which feeds spawning fish. These in turn are preyed upon by waterbirds and reptiles. Herbivorous mammals graze on the extensive savannah grasslands and are preyed upon by South America’s great predators – the jaguar, puma ocelot, maned wolf and yellow anaconda. By August, the water which covers the Pantanal has reduced and wildlife concentrates around the rivers, lakes and
creeks. Only the plains of Africa can compete for animals and your chances of seeing a jaguar
are greater here than anywhere on the continent.
Your ranch house lodge has simple rooms but is one of the very best in the Pantanal for wildlife. It has its own huge private reserve on the edge of the vast Encontro das Aguas national park. The Pouso’s species list (available on their website) is one of the best of any Pantanal ranch. It is one of the only ranches to have a breeding population of Brazilian tapir on its grounds (harder to see in the wild than jaguar). Jaguar, puma, ocelot and margay are all seen regularly on the lodge’s grounds, as well as both peccary species and giant otter. The area around the lodge overflows with wildlife – giant and tamandua anteaters pull open the termite hills in the grasslands, capybara herd around the creeks and lakes, which are filled with spectacled caiman; ostrich-like rhea stroll out of the woodlands. The Pouso offers a huge menu of activities.

• Board Includes:
• Breakfast

Day 10 – The Pantanal

Today you will spend a full day on the Jaguar Express safari; beginning at the crack of dawn.
This is a designated shared trip designed to ensure that you stand the best possible chance of seeing the tropical world’s most elusive big cat. Beginning at the crack of dawn, you take a 2-3 hour drive down the Transpantaneira – a dirt road that runs through the heart of the wetlands, making short stops along the way for close up views of tapir, crab-eating foxes and coatimundis. You then arrive at the tiny river hamlet of Porto Jofre to board a launch for 6-hour boat ride along the trip along the São Lourenço
and Piquiri Rivers. The wildlife is extraordinary. You will see huge jabiru storks fishing, admire roseate spoonbill, black-capped might herons, dozens of toco toucans and the world’s largest parrot, the indigo hyacinth macaw. Eagles sit in every branch. Six-foot long giant otters – unique to South America, play in the water. And you can near guarantee seeing wild jaguars; this is where wildlife crews come to film them.

• Board Includes:
• Breakfast

Day 11 – The Pantanal

Today is your final day in the Pantanal; giving you a chance to make the most of seeing wildlife in the wetlands, and to spot those hyacinth macaws, anteaters, giant otters or ocelots you may have missed so far.

• Board Includes:
• Breakfast

Days 12: The Pantanal → Jardim da Amazonia Jungle Lodge

This morning you will transfer north into the Amazon Basin and a unique Amazon jungle
lodge Jardim da Amazonia; combining comfort with unique access to the world’s greatest
tropical forest. Jardim (Portuguese for garden) is one of the most inspiring ecotourism
projects in South America – an island of pristine southern Amazonian rainforest standing
over a clear-water tributary of the Tapajos river (one of the largest affluents of the Amazon
itself). There are mammals everywhere – paca and agouti grazing the lawns, huge herds of
almost tame capybara, margays and ocelots in the forest, and even jaguar and puma. A shy
tapir comes to steal cashew fruits from trees near the bedrooms in the dead of night. Careful
you don’t startle him. The birds are even better. According to E-Bird, Jardim is one of the Top
4 hotspots in Brazil for diversity, with an impressive 562 species recorded just on the hotel
grounds. The Jardim provides an ecological corridor (in an area depleted by soya, planted
mainly for European cattle feed), for a string of endangered Amazon species including
Umbrellabird and critically endangered Cone-billed Tanager (an endemic described in 1939,
based on a single specimen). Beautiful red-capped Black-girdled barbets, flame-crested
manakin and dot-eared coquettes (all vulnerable or endangered) flit in the trees.
Arriving at this private reserve by car is an incredible experience. The road from the Pantanal
takes four to five hours to drive (with stops along the way), and is lined by soya, stretching
to the horizon across the ceaseless plains. Thunderstorms flicker in the distance and every
hour or so you pass through a new agricultural town full of Stetsons and pickups. Then the
forest begins. A turnoff leads onto a dirt track into Jardim da Amazônia and cuts
immediately into thick forest, exuberant and full of life. Birds dart in the trees and after a few
miles the forest clears to reveal a beautiful house, set in tropical gardens and sitting on a lake
at the bend of a healthy Amazon River. Behind are a cluster of little boutique cabins.
Your three-night stay at the Jardim will involve a range of activities, including guided walks,
canoeing on the river, rainforest walks and wildlife watching. And there’s a nice relaxing
freshwater pool

• Board Includes:
• Breakfast

Day 13 – Jardim da Amazonia Jungle Lodge to Foz De Iguacu

In the early afternoon you will transfer back to Cuiabá and stay overnight in a hotel close to the airport in order to be fresh for your morning flight the next day to the Iguaçu Falls via São Paulo.

• Board Includes:
• Breakfast

Day 14 & 15 –  Iguaçu Falls

This morning you will leave after an early breakfast for your drive to Cuiabá airport and your connection via São Paulo to Foz de Iguaçu – gateway town for the spectacular Iguaçu Falls.

Foz do Iguaçu, or Las Cataratas del Iguazú as they are known in Spanish, are the most overwhelming and spectacular waterfalls in the world. Situated on the Rio Iguaçu (meaning ‘big water’ in Guaraní), which forms the border between Argentina and Brazil, they are made up of no less than 275 separate waterfalls. The most spectacular part is the Garganta do Diabo (Devil’s Throat), the mouth of a 28-km-long gorge that stretches downstream to the Alto Río Paraná. To see the falls at their best you need to visit from both sides. Visits from the Argentine side involve catching a small tourist train and walking over the river itself on platforms to the top of the Garganta. Viewed from below, the water tumbles and roars over the craggy brown cliffs, framed by verdant rainforest encrusted with bromeliads, orchids, begonias and dripping ferns. A seemingly perpetual rainbow hovers over the scene and toco toucans, flocks of parakeets, caciques and great dusky swifts dodge in and out of the vapour whilst a vast number of butterflies dance over the forest walkways and lookouts. On the Brazilian side you are right at the feet of the falls and of the mighty Garganta itself.

The falls sit in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Iguaçu National Park, which is replete with wildlife and a haven for birders. The most common mammals seen are coatis, which look like long-nosed racoons and squeakily demand food from visitors; do not be tempted as these small animals can be aggressive. There are other mammals here too, including jaguar, puma, ocelot and margay, which can occasionally be seen along the park roads just before and after dawn. They are wary of humans. Most frequently encountered are little red brocket deer, white-eared opossum, paca (which look like large, dappled guinea pigs) and a subspecies of the brown capuchin monkey. Other mammals include white-lipped peccary, bush dog and southern river otter. The endangered tegu lizard is common. Over 100 species of butterflies have been identified, among them the electric blue morpho, the poisonous red and black heliconius and species of papilionidae and pieridae.

The birdlife is especially rewarding. Five members of the toucan family can be seen: toco and red-breasted toucans, chestnut-eared araçari, saffron and spot-billed toucanets. From the bamboo stands you September see spotted bamboo wren, grey-bellied spinetail, several antshrikes and short-tailed ant-thrush. In the forest you might see rufous-thighed kite, black-and-white hawk-eagle, black-fronted piping-guan, blue ground dove, dark-billed cuckoo, black-capped screech-owl, surucua trogon, rufous-winged antwren, black-crowned tityra, red-ruffed fruitcrow, white-winged swallow, plush-crested jay, cream-bellied gnatcatcher, black-goggled and magpie tanagers, green-chinned euphonia, black-throated and ultra-marine grosbeaks, yellow-billed cardinal and red-crested finch.

• Board Includes:
• Breakfast

Day 16 – 21: Iguaçu Falls to Porto Seguro to Trancoso

It’s time for a few days beach time; and the most beautiful beaches in the Americas are in Brazil. This the Caribbean of South America – as unspoilt as the Bahamas 60 years ago and sitting on the edge extensive rainforests, protected as the UNESCO World Heritage Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserve. There are no large hotels, no big development, only low-key villages, the prettiest of which is Trancoso, where you will be based.

Trancoso’s beach hotels are simply gorgeous – nestled in tropical forest a stroll from strands that run for miles and miles, backed by palms, lapped by aquamarine ocean, empty of crowds. The village’s food is superb – in wonderful flip-flop friendly fine-dining restaurants like Capim Santo, Maritaca and Cacau. Your hotel is in the lower section of town with paths leading directly to the beach without any climbing involved. Staff can organise transport to the restaurant district of Trancoso village, around the Quadrado square, on request.

The village focuses on a grassy square lined by Portuguese cottages in paintbox colours – turned restaurants, boutiques and hotels – and topped by a tiny sugar-white 16th-century church. Little chic-shack bars serve wonderful caipirinhas, negronis, mojitos and margaritas.

There’s as little to do here as you like – by the pool, or on the beach; or you can take boat trips to see calving whales, horseback ride along the sand, mountain bike, wildlife watch in the rainforests or visit more fabulous beaches – like Espelho – a sweeping crescent of creamy sand that’s soft underfoot with glassy-clear water that sits in little coral pools at low tide. It’s almost always empty despite being consistently voted among Brazil’s top three beaches and there’s a gem of a restaurant by the sand’s edge –two-table Silvinha’s.

Day 22 – 23: São Paulo

After a leisurely morning you will transfer to the airport for your flight to South America’s greatest city and economic and cultural hub, São Paulo.

‘Rio’, declared Marlene Dietrich, ‘is a beauty. But São Paulo. Now there’s a city…’. The views of the seemingly endless, impenetrable high rise from the top of the Santander Observation tower, or the ranks of skyscrapers along Avenida Paulista are unforgettable. The interiors are exquisite – from fabulous fine dining restaurants to state-of-the-art speakeasies and live music clubs. The galleries and museums are among the world’s best and the city never sleeps. São Paulo may be where South America works but it is also where it comes out to play in myriad bars, clubs, live music venues and botecos. To visit South America without seeing its greatest city would be unthinkable. And your photos will be fabulous.

Before rapid growth in the Nineteenth Century coffee boom, São Paulo was little more than a Jesuit mission on the edge of Brazil’s vast, forested interior. Coffee money and railway trade built grand avenues and lavish mansions – a handful of which survive to this day. Industry boomed in the Twentieth Century making São Paulo Brazil’s wealthiest city (it now produces 50% of the country’s industrial output) and drawing in millions of internal migrants from all over Brazil, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. São Paulo has the world’s largest population of Japanese outside Japan, big populations of Italians, Koreans, Syrians and Lebanese and the largest populations of Portuguese and Spanish outside Iberia.

Your visit will be rapid, but it includes a guided day tour en route to the airport for your flight home, with stop offs to see the iconic Oscar Niemeyer modernist architecture in Ibirapuera Park and Avenida Paulista – São Paulo’s Fifth Avenue.