Emas National Park

Our Honest Experience

Emas National Park is one of the last pockets of protected cerrado (Brazilian savanna) left in this region. Completely surrounded by endless cornfields, seriously, as far as the eye can see, this tiny park is like an island of biodiversity holding out against deforestation and agriculture. It’s both beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time.

 

Despite its small size, Emas is home to iconic species like the Brazilian tapir, maned wolf, lesser anteater, and even anaconda. These were exactly the species we were hoping to see, especially the tapir, which many blogs claimed was “guaranteed.”

 

Yeah… spoiler alert: not for us.

In true fashion (this seems to be our curse), the only tapir we saw was unfortunately roadkill. No maned wolf either, which left us pretty disappointed considering that was one of the main reasons we added this park to the trip.

How to Get to Emas

From Campo Grande, it’s about a 5–6 hour drive to a small town called Chapadão do Céu, the nearest base to the park (just 30 mins from the entrance). The drive itself is a bit monotonous, kilometres of cornfields with little variation.

Where to Stay

  • Pousada Cajueira: $10 USD per person per night. Cheap, fine for the price, but our stay wasn’t the best due to a noisy group of workers lodging there at the same time.

  • Hotel Pousada das Emas : We stayed here for an extra night. Rooms were… pretty bad, not gonna lie. But the Wi-Fi was amazing, so if you need to get stuff done online, this is your spot.

 

Some Tips for Surviving this Small Town

Restaurants are rare and ATM's don't work for foreign people, so make sure you take enough cash with you (even though everything can be paid with card). There are some grocery stores and bakeries with pre-maid sandwiches for 10 real if you want to take lunch for the cruising. Make sure you have enough food in case you are stuck here on a Sunday, everything is closed.

How to Visit the Park

You can visit independently (+ it's free), but you’re limited to just a small section and restricted hours (8AM–6PM). If you hire a guide, you can start as early as 6AM and stay out until 10PM, which massively increases your chances of seeing wildlife.

 

We did one evening drive (4 hours, 200 BRL) and one full-day tour (10 hours, 350 BRL) with Rosi, a local certified guide. Full honesty, doing a 10-hour drive in one day looked good on paper… but it was rough. Super tiring. Halfway through, we straight-up passed out for a 2-hour nap. At the end not seeing anything was less disappointing since we were so exhausted.

The Park

Emas has five different biomes, which was actually a surprise to us. But the bigger surprise was how empty it felt. Even birds were hard to spot sometimes. Hours of driving with… nothing. It was one of the few times we both looked at each other and went: “…Was this a mistake?”

 

Best Time to Visit

If you’re serious about maximising your chances of seeing wildlife (especially maned wolves and tapirs), aim for November–December, which is also when the famous bioluminescent termite mounds light up the landscape at night.

What We Actually Saw (1 Day + 1 Night)

  • Yellow-and-blue Macaws: Surprisingly, they thrive here. Tons of close-up sightings. Absolutely stunning.

  • Toco Toucans: Lots. Always a joy.

  • Curassow Family: Mom, dad, and a baby at the park's campsite.

  • Agouti: Just one. As usual, extremely skittish.

  • Crab-eating Foxes: Multiple groups, including one super curious individual that walked within 10 meters of us. Highlight of the visit for sure.

  • Lesser Yellow-headed Vultures: Normally wouldn’t shout out vultures, but this was a first for us. Two of them perched 3 meters away at a viewing platform. Weirdly intimate and super cool.

  • Jungle Runner (a type of lizard): One of the very few reptiles we saw. Despite Emas being home to anacondas, boas, and other snakes… zero snake luck for us.

  • Parakeets: Same species you can easily spot in the Pantanal.

  • Pampas Deer: Two, right before we called it a day.

After a couple of disappointing days, we got super lucky when we suddenly spotted a nine-banded armadillo sitting right next to the road going back to Campo Grande, munching on something. We immediately pulled over and were able to get insanely close for a good look, such a cool encounter. After watching it for a while, we grabbed our hiking poles to gently guide it back into the field, away from the road, so it wouldn’t end up as roadkill thanks to the crazy Brazilian drivers.

Final Thoughts

Would we recommend Emas? Meh… only if you happen to be nearby or are deeply invested in seeing the cerrado biome. If your goal is specific wildlife like the maned wolf or tapir, be prepared for disappointment. The isolation and the creeping pressure of agriculture makes the future of this park pretty uncertain, and honestly, it shows in how empty it felt.