Rewilding Brazil

Take a private city tour of Sao Paulo's highlights, the self-appointed heart of modern Brazilian culture. This is a huge city and your tour will depend on your interests, but possible stops include the Liberdade neighbourhood, home to one of the largest Japanese populations outside Japan. You might also stop by the Sé Square, the city's central square, Ibirapuera Park - the biggest green space in central São Paulo - and Patio do Colegio, the site where the city was founded in 1554.

If you have some experience with birdwatching there's plenty to look out for around Cristalino. The birdwatching activities usually start early in the morning, before sunrise, when the birds are most active. Your guides will look for endemic species and the famous mixed flocks, where several different species can be seen in the same place, often feeding on insects. Explore trails that cross a variety of habitats.

Bird watching in the Amazon is a more challenging task than in savannah areas, because it is easier for birds to move around undetected. Nevertheless, it is a very gratifying experience to encounter species that you will not see anywhere else in the world.

Cristalino Lodge offers many outdoor activities within the stunning scenery of the tropical rainforest. There are trails of different kinds, taking you through forests and hills, plus canoeing and climbing the Observation Towers, during which you can look at the plants, birds and monkeys. The activities usually begin early in the morning, particularly if you are to watch the sunrise from the top of an observation tower.

It is important to note that viewing animals in the Amazon is a challenging task, because of the forest environment. Many birds and animals can only be seen with the help of the telescope that the guides carry with them.

Explore the Pantanal from Caiman Ecological Refuge. Activities may may include walking tours in the surrounding area on trails through the forest to observe flora and fauna, or through the ranch and research centres, ending at Paizinho’s bridge, an excellent place to observe the Spectacled Caimans. There are also photographic safaris on specially adapted vehicles available, on which you'll try to find a wider variety of animals, canoe trips out onto the waters and night time wildlife watching.

Spend a full day and evening with the Jaguar Habituation Team. You'll head out in the morning and get involved in their daily activities, searching for the ever elusive jaguar. The team spends a huge amount of time searching for the animals themselves as well as for clues that point in the right direction when the nocturnal jaguars get active as the sun sets.

Together with the team, you will check camera traps for any sign of them, look for tracks on the ground, try to locate kills that jaguars might have made during the previous night, check data from satellites that follow the collared animals, and even search for them via a receiver that can capture VHF signals emitted by their collars. You may have a chance to experience tracking on foot with the trained trackers, to see firsthand pictures taken by the camera traps.

Once a sign of the animal is found, you will attempt to locate it in order to further the habituation process. More often than not you will be likely to find the approximate location of the cats during the day, increasing your chances of finding them at night. Depending on circumstances, you will set out at sunset or just after dinner in order to see the jaguars. You will also be given a full presentation on the project’s work and objectives at the base station.

Few tropical bird species are more striking than the hyacinth macaw, the deep royal blue plumage and gold-rimmed eyes of which delight all who have the good fortune to observe them. But this gorgeous creature is an endangered species. Since 1990 a conservation project has been at work in the Brazilian Pantanal, one of the bird’s habitats, with the single-minded aim of conserving the existing bird communities and provoking the recuperation of its numbers. In addition to studying the hyacinth macaw’s biology, reproduction and interaction with its habitat, investigating scientists at the project are also investigating the behaviour of other species, such as red macaws and toucans, to see if they can increase the understanding of what helps them to thrive. All this is being accomplished in the context of conservation in the Pantanal as a whole, so that the environment is protected for all endemic species.

On a visit there you will be able to admire the bird up close, learn about the history of the species, how it has suffered from acquisition by humans who covet it for its exquisite plumage, and how existing pairs are now being monitored and encouraged to reproduce.

Head out from the pousada after sundown in a safari car towards Lagoa das Araras. You'll get to see various nocturnal species on the trek: mammals, birds, reptiles and insects seldom seen during the day.

Upon arriving at the lagoon, you'll board an eco-friendly, silent, electric motorboat. As you near the shore, we’ll shut down the engine to get a closer peek at the star of the show, the dwarf caiman. This is the smallest species of the Crocodylia order, growing up to just 1.5 meters. They are nocturnal, live in harems, travel great distances over land, and are more tolerant to cold water than other alligators.

The maned wolf, a symbol of the Cerrado, the largest native canid in South America, is threatened with extinction. Seven monitored individuals of this species inhabit the borders of Fazenda Trijunção under the care of the NGO Onçafari, a project dedicated to animal preservation.

Guided sighting excursions in open-air cars take place in the early morning or at dusk. Up to six people can head out together. When we find the wolves, you'll get to observe them up close in their natural habitat and learn more about this incredible species. It is also common to see tapirs, anteaters, deer and even other species.

Most of the initiatives of Pousada Trijunção are related to their conservationist breeding practice. Guided by specialists, you can visit the project and learn more about the conservation of emus, peccary, and other wild animals, getting to see them up close and find out about their importance in the area.