Budget Pantanal Tour: Affordable Wildlife & Lodging

Departure from Campo Grande: PlanetaEXO's local partner will pick you up at the airport, bus station, or your hotel between 10:00 and 10:30 AM to take you straight to the lodge.

After check-in and a brief rest, the first activity in the Pantanal is piranha fishing right outside the lodge, on the banks of the Miranda River. Guests use simple rods, and an instructor stays with the group, sharing tips and safety guidance. Catch enough piranhas and the kitchen can fry them up for dinner!

Weather permitting, late afternoon brings a motorboat ride to watch the sunset. As night falls, head out on the river with your guide for nocturnal spotting—caimans, owls, ocelots, and deer all become more visible after dark.

Meals included: Lunch / Dinner

Wake up early for breakfast, then head out on a 4×4 wildlife safari along the Pantanal Park Road in an open pickup truck. Look for armadillos, tapirs, marmosets, capuchin monkeys, bush dogs, etc. Halfway through, the group leaves the truck for a hike, which allows a closer look at the natural fields and gives the guides time to share trivia about the native flora.

After lunch back at the lodge, a motorboat speeds across the Miranda River for 30 minutes before switching to paddle canoes, giving the group a quiet, contemplative way to glide along the water and watch wildlife from the surface.

Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

After breakfast, board a comfortable boat (equipped with life jackets and chairs) for another wildlife outing along the Miranda River. The Pantanal's aquatic life is mesmerizing — black caimans, giant otters, and capybaras are commonly seen, with hawks, herons, and howler monkeys often visible on the banks and in the trees.

After lunch, a vehicle takes the group to a farm 20 km (1 hr 30 min) from the lodge for an afternoon of horseback riding (1h40) through open fields, low mountain ranges, and flooded areas—a relaxed, contemplative way to see the Pantanal from a different angle.

Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

It's the last day of the Budget Pantanal Tour, but there's still time for one final outing. Head back to the Miranda River for a relaxed boat ride combined with swimming and floating (foam floats and life jackets provided). Drift along with the current, enjoy the warm breeze, and listen to the sounds of the wetland one more time.

Transfer back to Campo Grande: after the final lunch and check-out, a car leaves the lodge at 2 PM. The journey takes about 5 hours in total (around 30 min from the lodge to Buraco das Piranhas, then about 4h30 by minibus to Campo Grande), with estimated arrival in Campo Grande around 7 PM.

Meals included: Breakfast / Lunch