Bonito and Jardim

Found to the south of the Pantanal, the busy Bonito area is famous for its lively town, clear springs, limestone caves and snorkelling in limpid rivers full of fish. A little further south, Jardim, a sleepier town, is a bit closer to the sites of interest for the serious naturalist. Those attractions include plentiful giant anteater, white-lipped peccary, toco toucan and tapir, and two major spectacles: the Hole of the Macaws and the Rio da Prata (Silver River). The former consists of 100 or so red-and-green macaws in a 120m-deep limestone sinkhole, and the latter involves snorkelling above thousands of fish in a crystal-clear river: truly unique wildlife experiences.