For an agent who has been sending people to Bonito and the Pantanal in Brazil for years, it is interesting to find out what other agents think about places such as that, which have not been on the mainstream radar. I just read an article from the Adventure Travel Trade Association, talking about a visit that some of their members made. Here are some excerpts from that article:
“My pre-conceived notion of Brazil? Poor, dirty, expensive, dangerous and uninteresting food” said a buyer the morning we were to embark on a 9-day tour of the Pantanal region and the cities of Corumbá and Bonito. Needless to say, a few action-filled days later the same person wrote an extensive, glowing review of a destination that radically changed his mind and won his heart. Amazing food, warm people, exotic landscapes and wildlife and experiences so wide ranging and world class, he couldn’t recognize his fictitious Brazil.
This is is one of the main benefits of AdventureWeek — the world is huge and even seasoned travel pros cannot experience it all so their image of a place is built by stories and experiences their minds have gathered over time. And while affecting buyers’ and journalists’ understanding of a place is of utmost importance, there is another, somewhat unsung benefit to the program: to wake the destination and the businesses within it to the startling realization that what they imagine outsiders will enjoy and want to experience might be very different from what they are currently offering.
AdventureWeek was no exception. The area of Brazil we covered was in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul in the giant wetlands famed worldwide for wildlife and an ever changing landscape due to the very unusual annual “flush” of the entire region as the rains inexorably work their way through the wetland on a slow but vital push of nutrients. Brazilians have enjoyed this “secret” region for years but outsiders are less familiar. So, AdventureWeek served to both professionalize and improve the tourism offerings, strengthen the value chain and then showcase it to buyers who will sell it and writers who will promote it, all while preserving the uniqueness of the experience and environment.
I want to share a few highlights from the trip that I think really encapsulate what made AdventureWeek Brazil surprising and contrary to nearly every expectation our group had.
- We snorkeled in the clear and cool (not cold) Sucuri and Prata rivers, full of fish that would seem to belong better in the ocean — from tiny bright jewels flitting around to huge piraputanga and seemingly prehistoric dourado. The sounds of the jungle — the parakeets, macaws, insects, capuchin and howler monkeys — jarringly remind you that your face is in a river, not the ocean. Bubbling cauldrons at the bottom of the river boil out white sand that has such a size and consistency that it doesn’t cloud the crystal clear water but just continues to drop back down on the river floor. This was an experience that no one had done before and everyone was disappointed when the excursion came to it’s unavoidable end.
- Bonito is blessed with water filtering limestone so the rivers are impossibly clear and the region is an adventurer’s paradise, full of enormous caves with blue waters inside and teeming with wildlife. The Anhumas Abysm cave is essentially a hole in the earth that is 500 feet deep and half filled with freshwater. Visitors can repel down 225 feet to a floating platform to experience the cave’s otherworldly structures without damaging anything by walking on or touching. With snorkel gear and a flashlight in hand we lowered off the platform into the water and proceeded to follow a guide through the dripping, dark eeriness of the caves stalactites and stalagmites to the deep recesses. As you snorkel along, you can look down aided by flashlight into the depths to see an array of giant cones which have built up over thousands of years, which made me suddenly imagine I was in the jaw of a great beast whose teeth rose from the dark and welcomed me in for my final swim. After 4 hours in the cave, I felt myself relaxed and in tune with my surroundings as most of our senses get muted in that environment. It was magical and memorable.
| Our group had 23 participants and most (80%) had never set foot in Brazil before AdevntureWeek. Those who had, had never been to the Bonito nor Pantanal regions, which are not built for mass tourism. This makes them perfect places for AdventureWeek, ideally suited for the adventure, active and eco travelers of the world to come and experience an amazing place while helping give the locals a financial reason to continue to resist exploitative industries. While the Pantanal is most inviting to lone travelers or small group pulled into the unknown, Bonito beckons the visitor to a tightly managed program to both show off and protect the beauty within. Together the regions create an adventure experience altogether unexpected in Brazil, even to the most seasoned traveler. It’s nice to know that there are still places like this to be discovered, isn’t it? |  |
I remember walking into an agency office in Brazil almost 20 years ago, with a nature-oriented magazine about Brazilian areas, and saying "this is what I want to offer to people". We did not send many people on Bonito tours and Pantanal tours at first, but now the word is out and many people are going. It is really gratifying to hear the clients rave about the experience that they had. And these places are not terribly hard to get to and you can really enjoy them with just a fews days. 4 days is fine if you are going to one of the areas. We have a sample 6 day tour that combines both areas.
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