AMAZON RAINFOREST
He mythical Amazon can only be described in superlatives. It covers an area of more than 5 million square kilometers of which 80% is on Brazilian territory. It is the largest and most intact rainforest region in the world. Through it flows an extensive drainage system of more than a thousand rivers, which account for 20% of the world’s fresh surface water. The rainforest is thought to hold 30% of the world biodiversity and an estimated 50% of its species are still to be identified by science.
CERRADO
The heartland of Brazil, covers an area equal to Western Europe (2 million sq km) and its original vegetation is called Cerrado. Thought to be one of the south American continetn’s more ancient ecosystems, it has crucial links to Brazil’s two great rainforests. Most of Brazils big rivers find their source here. Considering its antiquity, watershed function and interaction with the rainforest. It is no surprise that the Brazilain cerrado is considered the richest savanna in the world because of its high plant diversity and endemism.
For a long time the heartland was seen as an empty quarter, but not only is it an area of enormous ecological importance, it also has many areas of spectacular scenic beauty. It is also a key habitat for Brazil’s large mammals.
VISITING THE CERRADO
The cerrado is a great place for the active traveler with many opportunities for hiking rafting and canoeing, vertical sports and caving.
There are many great cerrado destinations in Brazil. Justly famous are the Tablelands: chapada Diamantina in Bahia, dos veadeiros in Goias and so Guimaraes in Mato Grasso. Be impressed by their towering escarpments and cliffs, high waterfalls and vast rolling landscapes. Delight at the varied vegetation: beautiful veredas cool natural pools, gardens ofmany colored wildflowers and orchards of knotty small trees, bearing strange fruits. And there is of course the varied wildlife.
Principal gateways to the cerrado are Brasillia, Belo Horizonte, Cuiaba and Salvador.
PANTANAL
In the center of the South American continent lays the largest inland delta in the world. The Pantanal. The origins of these floodplains probably go back to the time when there was a great inland sea in the South American continent. Today. Life in the Pantanal follows a yearly cycle of rising and falling waters, dictated by the rains and the course of the great Paraguay river and its many meandering tributaries. The diversity of vegetation, the rich soil and the abundance of water attract and sustain an enormous variety and abundance of wildlife. Most of the wildlife is also encountered in other parts of Brazil but nowhere are they as easily seen as in the Pantanal.
VISITING THE PANTANAL
The pantanal is a must visit destination for nature lovers, who will find a spectacular wilderness area where they will be received with old time hospitality.
From here one can transfer to the many farm hotels, which offer full board plus tours. Some operators offer safaris on horseback or by 4 wheel drive that willtake you from farm to farm.
The three gateways are ccampo grande , Corumba and Cuiaba which isalso a gateway to the Cerrado and Amazon.
CAATINGA
Caa tinga is the Tupi Indian name for the typical vegetation of the arid backlands of the North East of Brazil. In the prolonged dry season, most of the thorny bushes, scrubs and contorted trees of the caatinga lose their leaves and you see a thicket of dull grey white trunks and twigs. But it only needs to rain and steams start to flow, pools fill up and suddenly the whole caatinga becomes a delicate green tapestry.
This is an ancient country and you find traces of the distant past everywhere: rock paintings and rock inscriptions, dinosaur nd prehistoric mega fauna fossil sites bound, long a hide out for bandits, rebels and visionaries, the caatinga also earns a reputation as a mystical badlands.