Pousada Rio Clarinho — Hotel in Região Geográfica Imediata de Cuiabá

The Pantanal is the lesser-known wildlife hub of Brazil and till today lives in the shadow of the much more popular Amazon. Watching nail biting scenes of the "Amazon" in the movies, we often do not know that these are mostly set in the Pantanal more popular for filming due to the variety of animals easily seen in the low lying savanna vegetation. The northern part of the Pantanal has a wider variety of animals than the south so instead of heading to the Panatnal via Campo Grande like most budget tourists, we took a flight to Cuiaba for a four-night stay with Ecoverde tours one of the less expensive guided tours available. ||||We were to stay at Pousada Rio Clarinho for 2 nights and at Pousada Pouso Alegre for 1 night! After a few hours on the TransPantaneria and seeing plenty of wildlife along the way to our first Pousada - Rio Clarinho, our van turned into the dusty gates of Rio Clarinho, a Pousada where we would be spending the next couple of nights. Rio Clarinho has only the most basic of amenities and, as we found, little vegetarian food. the rooms are basic with somewhat uncomfortable beds, and ok cleanliness of the rooms and the bathrooms. The rooms had A/C, a fan and mosquito net at the windows. Our guide informed us that we were to wear full-sleeved shirts with pants and boots at all times due to the numerous ticks and lice in the forests! In spite of this, we were to spend much of the time removing ticks from our bodies the next few days! After lunch we went by boat on the Rio Clarinho and saw plenty of birds that are unique to the Pantanal. Rio Clarinho is home to several birds and animals and we were lucky to see most of them. We hunted for wildlife during long hikes within the forest, half a day boat rides along the river and also saw the beautiful sunrise on top of a tall rickety tower constructed within the Pousada property. We missed the elusive jaguar but came across several capybaras, tapirs, Pantanal deer, red-footed dry land turtles, a rare thyra, marmoset monkeys, giant river otters and ring tailed coatis. The sheer number of birds made birdwatchers of us all and we recognized several birds we had previously seen in books or in zoos like macaws, owls, spoonbills, toucans, herons, kingfishers, ibises, hawks and vultures along our hikes and boat rides.||||The hot weather required excursions to be made early morning to noon and then from late evening till nighttime....... with several cold baths and a long siesta on the hammocks from noon to late afternoon. The food is great if you are open to plenty of fish and meat and although the Pousada made sure to include some vegetarian dishes, food for us was mostly salad and beans. If you are vegetarian the best option is to tuck in a heavy breakfast to make up for the relative lack of variety during lunch and dinner. Non of the staff spoke to us and we never got to know the owner. We had expected a friendly family atmosphere in most Pousada's and this felt like staying in a hotel...not a Pousada! Not great value for the amount of money we paid but the wildlife made up for all the...

Pousada Rio Clarinho is a very special place, which suits not to everyone. ||The accommodation is very simple, but the bathroom worked well. We had two different rooms during the stay and in both we had frogs and plenty of insects inside. When the room is free owners keep the door open, so, frogs and insects enjoy their stay! For us it was Ok, but if you have small kids with you or any insect phobia don't choose this place. The food is served three times per day, but you can pay for and get only two or one if you like. The food is quite simple, but you will not starve. For budget travellers - camping in your own tent is allowed for small price. While camping you can pay for meals or use your own food. Just bear in mind that it is quite hot even at night and sleeping in the tent can be not very comfortable (but still possible, we did it in some other place in the Pantanal).||Some guided wildlife watching activities are included in the price of the stay. We talked to the owner and he allowed us to pay less money, because we didn't want to use any tours. A really beautiful experience in this place is paddle boat trip along the Rio Clarinho. The river is quite narrow and very picturesque. Giant and neotropical river otters are possible to see, as well as a variety of birds, such as kingfishers, herons, cormorants, etc. The best thing for us was that it is allowed to take a boat by yourself. It is not typical, in such places you normally can take only a guided boat tour. So, just ask the owner where you can take a paddle, go to the river and take a boat. Their boats are quite big, but we two had no problems with swimming quietly even for a long distances. During the dry season river current is weak and you can choose which direction to swim. To stay one by one with giant otters is an unforgettable experience, but to find them you may need several days of trying. Once we saw them right near the boat station. Walking is also possible at this place. The most part of the territory is a forest, but you can walk around the pousada or 3 km road between the pousada and the Transpantaneira. We haven't tried, but spotlight at night should be interesting.||So, if you do not need luxury conditions, but seeking a quite place where you can meet the wildlife face to face this pousada will be a great choice. There are much less tourists in this pousada than in other places we stayed in Pantanal. So, if you are independent traveller focused on wildlifewatching, a few days stay will is highly...

We spent 4 nights here on our self-drive trip along the Transpanthanera highway beginning of October. The access road (of about 3 km) was in bad condition, but still managable with our SUV rental car. It's about a 3 hours' drive from Cuiabà, if you wouldn't stop to enjoy the wonderful landscape ánd abundant wildlife to which you will be treated on the final stretch of c. 60 km before you reach the lodge. ||||What makes this pousada especially unique compared to others in the surroundings, is the lovely stretch of forest, teaming with birds and monkeys, leading up to the lodge. The crab-eating foxes visiting the lodge early evenings are also an absolute highlight.||||As we were self-sufficient and wanting to maximize our time spent on wildlife viewing at the peak hours of the day (5.00 - 8.00 am and 3.00 - 7.00 pm) we skipped the breakfast (starts at 6am) and lunch served at the poussada, so we could be on the road. For this we had bought supplies at the supermarket in Poconé.||||Our time schedule really paid of, as we saw 5 different Giant ant-eaters, a tapir, Giant river otter (a large group fishing under one of the many small bridges you cross along the highway), Neo-tropical otter (3 individuals), 3 species of monkeys, coati, crab-eating foxes and even an ocelot (crossing the road one late afternoon, watching us from the foliage as we approached to look for it), not to mention the enormous variety of birds (the hyancinth macaws are a must-see!!).||||As a result, we did not spend much time at the poussada during the day, despite it's lovely setting along the river, and the very good bird watching opportunity's in the garden.||||For the purpose of having diner and sleeping, the poussada served us well, although the room was very basic, with a very noisy airconditioning, and many, many bugs as well as huge spiders entering through the relatively large gap underneath the entry door at night (a musquito net would have been nice..!).||||Also, our communication with the manager in charge at the time we visited, who must have been the main lodge manager's dad, went all but smoothly, despite our combined efforts of using a translating app / our 3 words of Portuguese but better Spanish and French / hand guestures ánd the input from his 4 year old grand daughter (..). ||||Still, all basics were provided and we had no further wishes in terms of boat trips (we had a 5-day jaguar boat safari planned for later that month) or other guided tours, so...