SouthWild Pantanal Lodge

the best location for ocelots and tapirs

Set in the northern fringes of the Pantanal in southern Brazil, SouthWild Pantanal Lodge is a deceptively simple wildlife-focused property.

The owner of the lodge is SouthWild, a very interesting and pioneering wildlife experience operation which is driven by renowned American biologist Dr Charles Munn. When you see those BBC Wildlife or NatGeo documentaries about jaguars in Pantanal or pumas in Patagonia, chances are these are the guys who made them possible.

SouthWild Pantanal Lodge is very much a staging post on the way to the headlining SouthWild Jaguar Lodge further south, with guests typically staying one or two nights here and then three to six nights in the heart of ‘Jaguarland’.

The lodge is set alongside the Rio Pixiam, around 2.7 km (1.7 miles) off the Transpantaneira Road.

It consists of a cluster of simple pantile-roofed buildings, which contain very modest public areas, leading out to informal gardens with a very small and basic plunge pool.

As you can see from the imagery and descriptions, the focus here is definitely not on the build quality of the lodge. This place feels much more like a research station than a lodge, which is not surprising given that it is essentially owned and run by a group of naturalists and environmentalists.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at SouthWild Pantanal Lodge is in 15 rooms, arranged in a long low building, each with a private bathroom, air-conditioning, window screens and a hammock out on the shared verandah.

Activities

SouthWild Pantanal Lodge offers a good range of guided activities, most of which are included in the room rate, some of which need to be paid for locally.

• Walking safari
• Motorboat safari
• Canoeing
• Horseback riding
• Night vehicle safari

Particular wildlife highlights at this lodge include capybaras, ocelots, tapirs, giant anteaters and toco toucans.

Safari planning

The Pantanal is usually visited for a period of 7-12 nights, usually split over between two to five different lodges.

SouthWild Pantanal Lodge usually features for 1-2 nights and is generally considered to be a staging post for the more prestigious SouthWild Jaguar Lodge.

Seasonality

The best time of year to visit the Pantanal is generally considered to be during Jul-Oct, which represents the main dry season.

It’s worth noting that June and the first part of November are two ‘secret seasons’, when the jaguar and other animal sightings are usually strong, but visitor numbers can be much lower.

At other times of year the conditions become so challenging that the area only becomes suitable for visitors with very specific seasonally-driven interests, such as bird-watchers and fishermen.

Getting there

The Pantanal is generally accessed via São Paulo Airport (GRU) or Rio de Janeiro Airport (SDU) into one of two local airports.

SouthWild Pantanal Lodge can be accessed by road from Cuiaba Airport (CGB), a journey of around 170 km which takes 2-3 hours, the last part 70 km of which is along the Transpantaneira Road, which crosses over a hundred bridges before terminating at Porto Jofre. During the June to early November dry season there are good chances of wildlife sightings along the way.

a staging post for SouthWild Jaguar Lodge