Guest Comments
Pantanal Wildlife Safari

November 2006

John Rankin

Peter,

Just felt I ought to drop you a line & thank you for organising a wonderful trip for me. Nearly everything went off without a hitch & I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The whale watching was fantastic with excellent outings both by sea & land. Lots of whales were seen, some very close & some very active jumping out of the water. The hotel was well situated on the beach (& on a couple of days there were even whales in the bay in front of us). All the staff were very friendly & welcoming. Just a shame it was low season & there weren't more other people there.

The day trip round Floripa was very interesting & Renata was a very informative guide. Unfortunately the Hotel Tamarindo was a bit of a disaster, no restaurant or bar so I had to go out for dinner & as there was nothing nearby the taxi fares cost more that the meal! (It was a superb Thai meal). The emergency breakfast was so dry & no drink provided with it meant I couldn't eat it. But this was a minor setback in the overall holiday.

The trip to N Pantanal was lovely. Marcus was a great guide, knowledgeable, hard worker, even had a sense of humour. The animals were a little shy, seeing tracks more often than the actual animals (& I missed the only cat sighted as I was having a lie in!). Again that is expected on a wildlife holiday & was more than made up for by the birds & mammals we did see, particularly the otters, a group of semi tame monkeys & a giant anteater. It was also great that Marcus & I went out spotting at night & saw a few more animals.

The 2 nights out in Chapadas was a welcome break & a chance to see a bit of civilisation, including election night celebrations & do some souvenir hunting. The hotel was good with a lot of facilities but again was low season with nobody around, even the restaurant was closed.

The South was different but equally as good if not better than the North. More homely, less commercially orientated & despite being in one place for 5 days we managed a very varied daily itinerary. The flights in/out were great gave good views of the whole area & I even took the controls for a few minutes! It was also very useful to have Marcos on hand as a translator.

So all in all a wonderful time thanks to all your organisation & Marcos's enthusiasm.

John Rankin

August 2006

Eduardo Bernabeu (Onteniente, Spain)

Dear Peter,

the stay on your fazenda was a wonderful experience. The wildlife, the staff, your guide as well as the lodging, was simply outstanding and I remember everything with great pleasure.

As you already know, my suggestions regarding special hides would give the photographer a better chance to photograph certain species (herons, stork).

Bueno Peter, I am certain that I will repeat the Brazilian experience, whether it be the Pantanal or another destination I don´t know yet. We will soon be in touch again.

Eduardo Bernabeu