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 Old pond. / Frog jumps in. / Water-sound. The seventeenth century Japanese haiku poem clearly illustrates the Zen scenery of the Pantanal, a wetland area that covers part of the midwestern Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul.
The difference is that there are hundreds of rivers and ponds there. And there are many varieties of animals jumping into the water. There are around 260 kinds of fish and 50 kinds of reptiles, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). And that is not all: there are hundreds of species running on land and about the same in the sky, all in an area of approximately 140,000 square kilometers of the Pantanal in Brazilian territory (the wetland also covers parts of Bolivia and Paraguay). Such biodiversity has attracted very specific tourists: bird watchers. They come mostly from Europe and the United States. They bring in their luggage binoculars, telescopes, field guides about birds and notebooks. "The objective is not only to spy the exuberance of the landscape of the Pantanal, it is to understand the nature of the animals that move around it, to have a more intimate knowledge of each species. I call this voyeurism of nature," explained Maurício Copetti, a lover of the region and owner of inn Refúgio da Ilha, in the city of Miranda, in Mato Grosso do Sul. Copetti was one of the first to offer observation of birds in the Pantanal. Originally from the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, from the vicinity of São Borja, he spent some time living in Europe, in Italy and London. In 1998, tired of living in large cities, he packed his bags and returned to Brazil full of ideas and sure of one thing: he wanted to change his lifestyle. He went to the Pantanal, joined forces with his parents, who were considering the possibility of opening the inn, and together they established Refúgio da Ilha. The inn is small - just seven rooms -, rustic, but comfortable. "It was born focussing on a specific public: guests who want to escape the conventional tourism of masses. The idea was to offer visitors total interaction with nature in one of the richest ecosystems on the planet," he said. The business worked out so well - almost exclusively from word-of-mouth marketing, according to him - that in 2003 Copetti took one more important step towards advertising Brazil as a route for birdwatchers. He established an expedition program around the Pantanal. The route is similar to the kind of tourism that is executed in South Africa, Australia and Borneo. "This, at least, is what our visitors are saying. They say that the Pantanal is already equal to these regions that already explore their wildlife," he said. Most of the tourists participating in the expeditions come from Europe. They are, mostly, Dutch, English, Austrians and Germans. But the idea is to further spread the activity. Arab tourists are on the agenda, but no specific action has yet been executed. The program that Copetti has established works as follows: the group of tourists - between eight and 12 people - may stipulate the schedule. They decide whether they are going to spend nine or 12 days observing the local fauna. During the period, however, they do not stay at just one inn, they travel to other farms in the region after different creatures. Their adventures include not only exuberant birds like the blue macaw, the seriema and toucans, but also cougars, otters and anteaters. The period of observation is also defined by the visitor. They may spend 15 minutes observing just one animal. "The idea is to understand how the creature lives, to watch the movement they make to feed, to hunt. And all of this live, in the animal's environment, it is not like at a zoo," he explained. San Francisco Copetti's initiative also provided incentives for other inns to make use of bird watching in the Pantanal. This is the case of San Francisco farm, which belongs to Beth Prudêncio Coelho. The family's cattle farm since 1975, San Francisco has undergone some changes so as to become a bird paradise. "In 1983 we implemented a large irrigation project, with channels that recall the irrigation systems of Egypt. In that area, we started growing mostly rice. With the plantation and irrigation, birds and other animals started becoming more common visitors to the farm," recalled Beth. In 2004, due to a greater number of guests, Beth started promoting bird watching on her farm. She hired biologist Alyson Vieira de Melo and started a file of all the species that may be observed at San Francisco. The last study by the biologist showed the existence of 307 species of birds - almost half of the number of animals that live in the Pantanal, according to figures by the WWF, which, in 1999, catalogued 650. At San Francisco, the program is also executed according to the customer's profile. "I believe that five days on the farm are enough to observe the species that visit the area," explained Beth. And everything may be written down. Each one of the guests at San Francisco is given a pad showing all the species that visit the farm so that he may tick the ones he has observed during his stay. "If he has seen them all, he may then go to the partner inn: Baía das Pedras," explained Beth. Rita Lima e Jurgielewicz, the owner of Baía das Pedras, also inaugurated the bird watching activity a short while ago. The idea was born after she noticed the interest her guests showed in the matter. Like Beth, Rita also hired a biologist to identify the species that visit the farm. The result of the work should be ready in some months. "We are cataloguing everything to make a list for the visitors," she explained. Best Period According to Maurício Copetti, the best period in which to visit the Pantanal is between May and October. That is because it is the dry season, when rivers return to their original beds - after the rains. "In these months it is possible to visit sites that are flooded between October and March. However, the wet season is the most exuberant," he explained. Beth Coelho adds: September is also the breeding period of a large part of the birds, which favors the observation of bird fauna. How to Get There To explore the Pantanal region where the inns that are specialized in bird watching are located, the ideal route is to travel to Campo Grande, the capital of Mato Grosso do Sul, and, from there, to fly in a one-engine aircraft or to drive. Four-wheel-drive vehicles are the ideal vehicles. Baía das Pedras and San Francisco have landing strips. They are about 50 minutes away from Campo Grande. By car, on the other hand, the trip may take between three and seven hours. You may get to Refúgio da Ilha by car or boat. The landing strip for small aircraft is closed. The inn is 225 kilometers away from Campo Grande, and the distance may be covered in three hours. Service Baía das Pedras
Rates: between R$ 285 (US$ 135 for a double room) and R$ 320 (US$ 150 for a single room)
www.baiadaspedras.com.br Refúgio da Ilha
Rates: R$ 425 (US$ 200 in a double room)
www.refugiodailha.com.br San Francisco
Rates: between R$ 215 (US$ 100, in a collective room) and R$ 340 (US$ 160 for a single room)
www.fazendasanfrancisco.com.br Bilingual guides are not included in these rates. The rates include meals and outings. The values may vary, depending on the number of days the visitor is going to stay at the inn. Other sites www.birdinginpantanal.com.br
www.pantanalwilderness.com.br Anba - www.anba.com.br
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