Hi,

Just got back the day before yesterday from Brazil (Although my bags haven't - thanks Alitalia!) so I would like to repay back to all of the help I got with some information of my own:

We have visited the following places:

A. IlhaBela - Taking a rental car from Guarulhos airport (Budget, booked from the Internet) we have staying at the Pouso de Grego Pousada (R100 per night for a couple) , and got upgraded after the weekend has ended by the owners to the next door Pousada Carolina, which is I think is more expensive. Praia Jabaquara is very nice and remote but is barely passable with a regular car (although possible).

The roads from Guarulhus to IlhaBela are not too bad and not too much trucks as well.

B. Rio Cristalino private reserve - Highly Recommended. Not cheap (US$220 per person for a night in a VIP bungalow, plus I think about R370 each way for the TRIP flight Cuiaba to Alta Floresta or back) but includes everything execpt for drinks, we had forest walks, boat trips, including evening/night walks/boat trips.

Our guides, Sebastiao (originally a fishing pousada guide from the state of Para which knows a lot about the Amazon forest) and Bill Walker (an American living at Alta Floresta which translated and guided a bit as well) were simply great. The service level was high and every care was taken to make us as comfortable as possible in the Jungle. Food was great as well.

We saw many macaws (red, blue and yellow), parakeets, Toucans and other birds, as well as a small armadillo, wild boars (Pecarris), 4 types of monkeys, caimans, Anaconda, Iguanas and a Tarantula.

C. Noel Kempff Mercado - We met a guide at Cristalino called Paulo Boute (quite a character, not somebody I would tolerate as my own guide) who recommended a guide called "Chileno" (Jorge Veloz) at Comodoro, MT. Since we had nothing else, we went for this.

We were taken by Pickup Truck towing a boat from Comodoro, MT by a bad dirt road to the Rio Guapore ("Campamento Saboa"), stayed there for a night, then went with the boat to central Noel Kempff Mercado (Rio Verde), then to Flor de Oro, we we stayed two nights, hiked in the forest, the Meseta, then got back to Saboa, stayed there another night, then got back.

We saw little animals in NKM, mostly birds and monkeys (although zillion of cats / Tapir tracks), most of what we saw was on the Rio Guapore (top of pink river dolphins, birds, Capibara and an a huge 5 meters caiman) and on the dirt road from Comodoro to Saboa (Rattlesnake, 2 Armadillos). The guide claimed there is too much water in the River and around, and once the water level drops (few months from now) it will be easier to see wildlife as they will come to the Rio Guapore to drink (Also he claimed that the lack of moon is a problem because they are afraid of predators) - sounds like too much excuses...

The cost was supposed to be R380 per day per person, for 4 nights in Flor de Oro (Northern NKM) or similiar, but in reality the first and last days were at a very basic hut in a fishing village ("Campamento Saboa") at the edge of the Rio Guapore, and because he arranged for food+Accomodation in Comodoro, MT for the night before the tour and for the day afterwards until we got on the evening bus, he wanted another R380X2 (e.g. R380X2 peopleX.05 for half dayX23 half days) but after some haggling we agreed on R380 extra which should cover his labor, one hotel night, hotel during the day, dinner , two small lunches laundry and phone calls to the TRIP airline (we got to Vilhena with TRIP, and he picked us from the airport by Taxi to Comodoro, but because we returned on a Saturday, we would miss our flight back because it was too early, so we decided to took the bus instead). Besides the money issues, the guide was being sometimes annoying (especially making fun of me after getting a bad rash because of chiggers attack in the forest) and also miscalculated the time to arrive at Flor de Oro from the central part of the park (Rio Verde), ending up sailing at night, scaring the hell out of my wife.

We were not too happy with this guide, but I do not know another organized option (River access to the Rio Guapore is possible from Vila Bela da Santissama Trinidade MT , Comodo MT and Pimenteiras RO, so theoretically it is possible to get there from all three, but you need to find the right person to do it - most tour organizers relays on connection to arrange stuff in parks and around). The guide claimed Pimenteiras is dangerous because of drug trafficing, but he is obviously biased. There is also a dirt road leading from Vila Bela to San Ignacio in Bolivia, but during our stay (and probably now as well, for few more weeks at least) the road from Florida to Los Fierros is blocked for Vehicular access.

D. Parque Nacional Das Emas (copied and edited for length from an answer to a thread about Das Emas) :

We went with Rotas (bus company) from Comodoro, MT, via Cuiaba, Rondonopolis to Mineiros.

The bus drive back to Cuiaba (with Motta) was bad because of faulty A/C (bus had to be chaned in Rondonopolis, MT) and excessive stop at the Mato Grosso/Goias border for paperwork (other bus companies, e.g. Ecatour did this in 1/10 of the time).

From Mineiros, we got a guide who claimed no Rental cars are available for hire and she will arrange for a Taxi. Her fee was 120R per day, and with 86KM MineirosPN Das Emas, this should turn out about 400R per day (86R taxiX2+120R guide + Taxi driving inside the park) This turned out to be a bad choice, as the Taxi driver was payed R1 per KM, and was only interested in driving fast, making noise and money, and not in aiding us seeing wildlife.

Furthermore, Our guide said we will go to the park in the morning, stay there the day, do an afternoon tour and then go back to Mineiros, so we won't be charged twice for the Mineiros PN Das Emas drive.

The road is mostly paved but has a lot of potholes and is in a bad state, although our crazy Taxi Driver managed to do it in 1 hour each way.

After a while the guide suddenly suggested we go back to Mineiros and return at 20:30 for a night drive, which would inflate the Taxi bill by almost R200 (she knew the Taxi driver personally and obviously had an interest to inflate his bill).

After some argument, we agreed to stay and go for a drive at 18:00 (sunset).

At around 19:30, when we entered the loop, she stopped the car, telling us to be silent, and went out with a flashlight, and then suddenly the Taxi driver started yelling, she got back and then told me he has previous obligation to do in Mineiros and we need to go back (How exactly did she expect to go back at 20:30 then ???)

He drove super fast in the dark, and we tried not to look since it was too scary.

After we got back to the hotel I understood the plan - After making speaches in Portuguese, I asked her for the price, got another speech, then asked her to write down, and she suddenly pulled out a new conditions page saying that after 8 (we left the park at around 19:30 and got back to the hotel at around 20:50) it is another day and she wants another R120 (obviously this explains why they wanted to leave the park when they did and why they were not in a hurry afterwards).

I told her this is the first time I see this condition, and for me a day is 00:00-24:00, so she gets R120 for her and nothing more, I payed her R400 (the Taxi fee was almost R300) and that was it.

Our guide name was Eliene, please avoid using this guide.

Regarding the park itself, we saw birds, including green parakeets, Emas and Owls and also a Rattlesnake ("Cascavel" in Portuguese), and two Ant-Eaters obscured in the grass at around 6PM.

E. Chapada dos Guimaraes - got there with a rental car ("Easy" car rental in Cuiaba), took the Pousada Penhasco at R200 per night for a couple, very nice with amazing cliff views, but avoid doing Laundry there as they overcharge (R100 for Laundry!). Both the Veu de Novia waterfall and Cidade de Pedra are closed because of the rock fall, so other than R&R there is not too much to do in the park. Around the town there are some more waterfalls, but most of them are a long way through dirt roads, and most require a guide anyway.

F. Nobres - got there from the Chapada with a rental car, the town is totally unprepared for tourists, managed to find some information in a Pousada at the entrance to the town (we decided to skip it and go back), all attractions require a guide and are mainly waterfalls, diving, lakes, including a one with Macaws.

BR-364 is full of potholes and trucks, better use the BR-010 road from Cuiaba to Acorizal then to Jangada, and only then join the BR-364 .

G. Pantanal - we went with Julinho and were satisified - all things were delivered as promised, at the agreed price. We stayed 1 night at the Porto Jofre hotel, 2 nights in camping with a local Pantaneiros family on the banks of the river, and 2 nights at the Pousada Piuval, for US$1750 for two people.

At the first day we drove the Transpantaneira, then mainly went with the boat for 2 days, then (at Piuval) did a mix bag of walking, horse riding (very nice, the horses behaved really well), night driving, and combined boat+walking trip.

Unfortunately, no Jaguars were seen (Julinho said the water levels are too high so the Jaguars don't stay on the dry river banks). We saw Hyacinth Macaws, green parakeets, Armadillos, deers, turtle, Fer de Lance snake, Iguanas, Monkeys (Capuchin and Howler), Agouties, Pecarries, Emas, Many nightjars, Jabiru storks, herons, zillion Caimans, Capibaras.

In Cuiaba for a nice hotel (R180 for a couple) we preferred the Odara hotel, rate includes breakfast, internet and airport transfer. The Mato Grosso Palace is run-down and cost almost the same. The Deville costs more, no airport transfer and although much more elegant, service in the restaurant was slow, breakfast was poor compared to the Odara, and we did not have hot water in the morning.

For Sao Paulo, we used the Mercure Jardins hotel, very nice but has some water pressure issues.

We went to the Vento Haragano churrascaria in Sao Paulo, free Van service back and forth from the hotel, excellent salad bar including Sushi, very good meat.

Few tips:

Beware of unrecommended tour operators, especially ones who are not used to foreign tourists, as they tend to agree on a certain price and then add more once the tour is finished (tours usually pay at the end, no advance so you can always haggle).

Car rental is possible, but long highways between big cities are full of trucks and potholes, drivable but tiresome.

Learn portuguese in advance, and be prepared to be at loss, since many people talk fast and way too much, so only a native can understand them.

Insect bites are a big problem, use repellent (helps partially), altough we got no diseases (AFAIK). Malaria was only present in our trip in NKM, we took Malarone but was told it was not around Flor de Oro, only in far away regions of the park. Yellow fever jab is recommended but was not checked anywhere in Brazil, including the Mato Grosso/Rondonia border post. If you go in the jungle beware of wasps and bees, put the end of your pants inside your socks and spray with repellent to avoid chiggers, which was very bad for me.

Credit cards are widely used, no telephone transactions are possible, so you cannot book flights over the phone, but unless your card is cloned, nobody can misuse your card number in Brazil.

Food comes in big portions (especially the breakfast, or "Cafe da Manha"), in a la carte restaurants meat/fish/chicken comes in portions for 2 people, which can feed 3-4 people. We ate everything (e.g. vegetables), drank everything (e.g. juices, with milk and ice, but used mineral waters) without any problem - food higiene is pretty good.

Questions/PMs are welcome.

Elad.