Birding Mato Grosso specializes in providing customized birding and natural history tours to Brazil, with a special emphasis on the Amazon rainforest and the cerrado savannas of the Brazilian Interior. We are committed to delivering quality tours based on the preferences of our clients.

BRAZILIAN CERRADO AND THE MIGHTY ARAGUAIA


Chapada dos Veadeiros and the Ilha do Bananal (12 days)


Contact us with your preferred dates for a custom tour

About this tour - Itinerary:

Day 1: Arrival in Brasilia and transfer to Alto Paraíso. We meet at the international airport in Brasilia in the early afternoon. There may be time for a quick sightseeing tour of downtown Brasilia to see the famous modern architecture of its eixo monumental. Otherwise we will depart in a comfortable air-conditioned vehicle for the three hour drive on good roads to Alto Paraíso de Goiás in the heart of the Chapada dos Veadeiros. Our hotel is situated 8 kilometres west of the small town, surrounded by cerrado and gallery forest - there is even a lovely waterfall on the grounds. If there is time we can look around the grounds a bit where we may find Small-billed Tinamou, Planalto Hermit and White-throated Kingbird in addition to the numerous Chopi Blackbirds and Saffron Finches. Night in Alto Paraíso.

Day 2: Private reserves near Alto Paraíso. In the morning we shall bird gallery forests on a private reserve near Alto Paraíso where we'll be searching for Russet-mantled Foliage-gleaner, Ochre-cheeked Spinetail, Helmeted Manakin, Pale-bellied Tyrant-Manakin and Saffron-billed Sparrow. In the late morning we'll drive up to an area of excellent cerrado on a highland plateau where we'll look for Collared Crescentchest and Chapada Flycatcher under an endless sky. In the afternoon we bird rocky cerrado north of town on a small private reserve to look for Yellow-billed Blue Finch, Checkered Woodpecker, White-rumped Monjita and Stripe-tailed Yellow-Finch. In the evening we can look for Giant Snipe on the grounds of our hotel. Night in Alto Paraíso.

Day 3: Encontro das Aguas. Today we drive west to a private reserve at the meeting of the Tocantinzinho and Couros rivers, stopping en route at a palm swamp in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park to try for Point-tailed Palmcreeper. At the reserve we'll stake out an elevated lookout above the turbulent encounter of the two rivers, hoping to find the critically endangered endemic Brazilian Merganser. Other species occurring here include Rufous-capped Motmot, Brown Jacamar and Blond-crested Woodpecker. After lunch in São Jorge we can have a look around the village where we should see Peach-fronted Parakeet, White-naped Jay and Black-faced Tanager. Stops on the drive back to Alto Paraíso may produce Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle, Red-shouldered Macaw and Streamer-tailed Tyrant. A late afternoon outing to rocky slopes near town will target Chestnut-capped Foliage-gleaner and Cinereous Warbling-Finch. After dinner at a local pizzaria we'll stroll a quiet street in town to try for Stygian Owl. Night in Alto Paraíso.

Day 4: Alto Paraíso to Cavalcante. Morning will find us in excellent cerrado grasslands on the outskirts of the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park. Our targets today include Red-legged Seriema, Cock-tailed Tyrant, Sharp-tailed Tyrant and Black-masked Finch. A small patch of gallery forest may have Black-capped Antwren, Greenish Schiffornis and Southern Antpipit amongst others. We can try a couple of nearby sites where Dwarf Tinamou has been recorded, and we'll have chances for Yellow-billed Blue Finch at these spots as well.

Day 5: Limestone forests and Terra Ronca.

Day 6: Terra Ronca.

Day 7: Gallery forests of Rio Paranã and drive to Brasilia.

Day 8: To São Felix do Araguaia. This morning we should have time to visit a small park in Brasilia to look for Blackish Rail before heading to the airport to catch our flight to São Felix do Araguaia. The flight takes about three hours including a refueling stop (our plane is a small 9-seater Cessna Gran Caravan). Upon arrival in São Felix we will be met by staff from our hotel and transferred 14 kilometres to the lodge in time for a late lunch. Our meal will likely be interrupted by activity at the rice feeders beside the restaurant, where a number of species visit throughout the day, including Orange-fronted Yellow-Finch and the extremely localized endemic Crimson-fronted Cardinal. If there is time we will take a short boat ride on the Araguaia river where we should see our first Hoatzins. Jabiru and Gray River Dolphins are also possibilities during our quick first taste of the mighty Araguaia. Night at Pousada Kuryala.

Day 9: Rio Araguaia. The best way to enjoy the Rio Araguaia is without a doubt by boat. Our daily excursions on the Araguaia, to the Ilha do Bananal National Park, and up the Rio das Mortes should turn up innumerous water birds and herons including Roseate Spoonbill, Orinoco Goose and Sunbittern along the banks and sandbars. The Rio Araguaia has incredible concentrations of Hoatzin, and we should see literally hundreds of these odd birds on a daily basis. Quiet oxbows and dense riverine thickets hold Agami Heron (common here), Zigzag Heron, Subgrebe and the endemics Bananal Antbird and Glossy Antshrike. A Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl may attract bands of mobbing passerines near the boats, and White-wedged Piculet, Araguaia Spinetail, Glossy Antshrike, Amazonian Tyrannulet, Stripe-necked Tody-Tyrant, Amazonian Black-Tyrant and Ashy-headed Greenlet are all possible. After lunch we'll bird the scrubby floodplain behind the lodge for Cinereous-breasted Spinetail and Riverside Tyrant. Night at Pousada Kuryala.

Day 10: Rio das Mortes. Today we'll explore a narrow branch of the Rio das Mortes where Agami Heron is particularly common. We may see Giant Otters and Black Caiman while navigating the sharp meanders. Least Bitterns and Azure Gallinules skulk amongst the patches of dense hyacinths while Black-collared Hawks and Horned Screamers maintain a watchful eye over all that passes. While searching the darkest corners of the oxbows and scouring the overhanging vegetation for Agami Herons (if we still need them), we should find Bananal and Band-tailed Antbird without much difficulty. Returning to the lodge we will stop at scrubby sandbars to search for an as-yet-undescribed species of Certhiaxis spinetail which is fairly common here. Night at Pousada Kuryala.

Day 11: Fazenda Sucupira. We'll set out early to bird the cerrado and overgrown pastures of a nearby ranch. In the cerrado grasslands we may find Long-tailed Ground-Dove, Collared Crescentchest, Chapada Flycatcher and White-rumped Tanager. Islands of dry forest on higher ground surrounded by cerrado hold the endemic Chestnut-bellied Guan, Blond-crested Woodpecker, Spot-backed Puffbird and Toco Toucan. There are usually many pscittacids in this area including Golden-collared and Red-shouldered Macaws. Further along, the overgrown pastures and regrowth cerrado have Greater Rhea and Capped Seedeater amongst a number of other more common species. In the afternoon we will either hit the river again or drive to a small lake where we will look for Maranhão Hermit in the nearby forest. Night at Pousada Kuryala.

Day 12: Wild card. This final morning is a wild card to address any targets we may have missed up to now. This could mean another river trip to check the favourite haunts of the enigmatic and endemic Scarlet-throated Tanager, here at the western edge of its geographic range. If we've cleaned up sufficiently, we could opt to explore new reaches of this highly under-birded area either by car or by boat. Either way, we're sure to work up an appetite for one final sumptuous meal before catching our early afternoon flight back to Brasilia. This tour ends in Brasilia, where participants may catch onward flights to São Paulo to make international connections.

About this tour - Price: Please contact us for price details of this tour.

About this tour - Difficulty: Easy. All birding will be done on flat trails or roads, and from small motor boats on the Araguaia river. There is one optional moderate hike of roughly 10km round trip, which we may consider only if we cannot find Brazilian Mergansers at stakeouts with easier access.

About this tour - Climate: Hot and mostly dry during the days at Chapada dos Veadeiros, where the temperatures may cool down in the evenings. You may want to bring a light jacket. Hot and humid on the Araguaia river.

October is a transitional month between the end of the dry season and the beginning of the rains. Rain is possible, but it is unlikely that it will interfere with our birding.

About this tour - Accommodation: Good. All accommodations have ensuite facilities with electric- or solar-heated showers. Food is good to excellent and is comprised almost entirely of delicious local ingredients. Electric current is 110V in Brasilia and Alto Paraíso, 220V at Pousada Kuryala - please bring a transformer if necessary. At Kuryala, power is provided by a generator which is run in the afternoon and during the evenings. There are solar-powered lights in the rooms for use during early morning.

Photographic opportunities: Good. The cerrado is an open habitat and many of the birds can be quite confiding. Our daily river trips at Kuryala provide numerous excellent photographic opportunities of large charismatic birds including Jabiru, Roseate Spoonbill, Horned Screamer, Hoatzin, Orinoco Goose and more. Giant Otters are common and photogenic here.

For inquiries as to availability and pricing in other currencies, please contact us via e-mail at bradley@birdingmatogrosso.com.