Visiting Brazil’s South Pantanal on a Budget: A Wildlife Road Trip Guide

Short on time but still want to spot wildlife in the South Pantanal without spending hundreds on luxury ecolodges? This guide breaks down exactly how we did it: renting a car, sleeping in it (or cheap hostels), cruising scenic roads, and joining one cheaper local tour. Here’s everything you need to know, from how to get there to what we saw and what we wish we knew.

Safety

South Pantanal felt really safe, including the towns. We often walked around with phones out, but as always, read the room and see what the locals are doing.

Best Time to Visit

The best time to visit the South Pantanal is during the dry season, from June to October. Roads are more accessible, wildlife concentrates around water sources, and it’s easier to self-drive. In the wet season, many areas are flooded or muddy, making roads impassable without a 4x4.

We went at the ultra-beginning of dry season (the end of May). Not the best time to see anteaters apparently, but we still saw a decent amount of wildlife during our stay!

Getting to Campo Grande from Foz do Iguazu

Renting a Car in Campo Grande

For South Pantanal and Emas National Park we decided to rent a car to give ourselves complete freedom. 

We took an Uber from the bus stop to Localiza at the airport.

• Rental Duration: 12 days

• Car: Automatic SUV

• Cost: ~2340 BRL total

• Booking: Reserve in advance via the Localiza website

• Note: They don’t speak English, use Google Translate

• Requirements: Bring your international driver’s license

Roads in the Pantanal are generally okay in the dry season (many potholes though, so drive carefully), but be prepared for dirt roads and the occasional river crossing (yes, seriously, by boat). Gas stations along in Pantanal are rare, so make sure you plan!

Heading to South Pantanal: Miranda

• Destination: Small town of Miranda, 2-3 hours from Campo Grande. This is the main area you will be staying to explore South Pantanal.

• Stock up: Buy snacks, lunch, or dinner in Campo Grande: in Miranda, restaurants close after 2 PM and reopen at 6 PM, we made the mistake of arriving too late and survived on coxinhas!

Day 1: Arrival in Miranda

We arrived in Miranda in the late afternoon after a long travel day. Before heading to our first overnight spot, we stopped in town for snacks and supplies. This is where we learned our first lesson: Miranda is not the place for spontaneous meal plans. Most restaurants close after lunch (around 2 PM) and don’t reopen until 6 PM. Since we missed that window, we had to make do with an emergency stash of coxinhas.

Sleeping in the car wasn’t the comfiest (pro tip: invest in a better camping mattress), and the mosquitoes were insane. We had to rig up a makeshift mosquito net over the windows just to get some airflow. But despite the challenges, the location was incredible. That night, we saw several frog species hopping around, blue macaws flying overhead, storks resting nearby, and even an owl perched directly above our car. Not a bad welcome to the Pantanal.

Day 2: Sunrise Safari on MS-184

As the day heated up and animal sightings dropped, we continued toward Corumbá, taking the MS-228. This road was much quieter in terms of wildlife. Midway through, we ran into a surprise obstacle: a river with no bridge. Our only option was a tiny car ferry, which cost us a steep 80 BRL. We were definitely overcharged, but turning around and going back would have taken several more hours.

We arrived in Corumbá in the late afternoon and checked into Suite Case Central Garagem Hatch, a budget stay at $27 USD per night. Nothing fancy, but it had aircon and a comfy bed.

Day 3: Disappointing Morning Drive

We got up again at 3 AM to drive back from Corumbá toward MS-184 (via the main highway 262 this time) and try our luck again at sunrise. Unfortunately, this time, the wildlife didn’t show up. We saw a lot of birds, many new species for our list, but no mammals. That’s just how it goes sometimes with wildlife watching: no guarantees.

On the way back to Miranda (we backtracked the road), we finally started spotting animals again, huge families of capybaras grazing along the roadside. Sadly, we also saw a giant anteater that had been hit by a car.

We checked into Pousada Nativos, which became our base for the next three nights. It’s a budget-friendly pousada with shared dorm rooms, but we had the place pretty much to ourselves. At only $10 USD per person per night, it was a great deal.

In the evening, we booked a night boat tour with Nadir Ecotour to try and spot some nocturnal wildlife on the Miranda River for 200 real per person. Sadly, it was mostly uneventful, we only saw some caimans. However, the real excitement came just before the tour even started: a neotropical rattlesnake was crossing the 262 road, and we managed to safely scare it back into the bushes before it could get run over. It was the first snake of our South America trip, and my first rattlesnake ever!

Day 4: Giant Anteater Hunt in Agachi

After the disappointing river tour the night before, we still had hope for the next night sighting. So we booked another evening tour with Nadir Ecotour, this time by car. We hit the Estrada do Rev, a dirt road leading toward Refúgio da Ilha Ecolodge, at around 7 PM.

The drive started off slow. For the first half hour, we didn’t see much. But on the way back, things started to get a little better. We spotted fresh pawprints of a mother jaguar and her cub. According to our guide, they were very recent, meaning we had likely just missed them.

At the end, we spotted a Mato Grosso lancehead snake along the roadside, a venomous pit viper species that’s not commonly seen. 

Day 5: Sunrise at Agachi & Night Safari Revisited

Determined to make the most of our time, we returned to R. Gen. Camisão and Agachi early the next morning (again around 6 AM) to check the same area where anteaters had been previously spotted. This time, we saw a flock of Emas, dozens of capybaras (at least 30!), and 2 spoonbills, which was a first-time sighting for me. 

Day 6: The (almost) Great Anteater Sighting

Day 6 was our departure day from the Pantanal, but we had one mission left: spot a giant anteater. Despite multiple early mornings and hundreds of kilometers of slow cruising, we still hadn’t seen one. But the night before, we stumbled across a wildlife blog that gave us a last glimmer of hope. According to their sightings, there was a dirt road between Miranda and Campo Grande, heading towards Pousada Aguapé, where they had spotted 13 giant anteaters, 2 armadillos, and 1 tamandua, all in one drive.

No anteaters. No armadillos. Only capybaras, some burrowing owls, several beautiful bird species (including blue macaws), and a herd of pampas deer. It was surreal and honestly kind of crushing after everything we’d read. According to multiple blogs and trip reports, it felt like anteaters were supposed to be guaranteed in South Pantanal. Afterwards, a guide told us that it is very difficult to see anteaters outside of winter, which means July-August is the best time.

And just when we thought the day couldn’t get more ironic, we got back on BR-262 and saw a fresh roadkill anteater on the roadside. It had just been hit. A moment of silence was in order.

After a short lunch stop in Anastácio, we drove the remaining 1.5 hours to Bonito to visit the Buraco das Araras the next day. We stayed at the Bonito HI Hostel for $10 per person, and they even have a pool. If you’re planning to spend more time in Bonito, the hostel also offers snorkelling tours in freshwater rivers and caves, which are worth looking into.

Day 7: Buraco das Araras

For our last day in the Pantanal region, we visited Buraco das Araras, a small preserved private reserve about an hour away from Bonito. 

We’d read great things about the place online, especially about the large population of Red-and-Green Macaws that call the sinkhole home. The best time to visit is during the dry season (July–August) when the macaws aren’t busy nesting and gather in larger numbers. In the wet season, sightings are less impressive since many pairs are nesting away from the sinkhole. When we went, we saw around 30–40 macaws. In peak dry season, you might spot over 100 macaws flying, squawking, and interacting around the sinkhole walls.

The reserve is run ethically, the birds aren’t fed or baited, and visitors are kept at a respectful distance with two elevated lookout platforms offering views into the sinkhole. A guided tour is mandatory (it’s included in the price) to limit group sizes and reduce disturbance. We paid 130 BRL per person and were happy to see that groups were small and well-managed.

On the drive back to Campo Grande, we suddenly saw a six-banded armadillo crossing the road! I was so shocked, and honestly not expecting it at all, that I completely forgot to film it. After days of trying and failing to find anteaters, that little guy made me feel a little less bad about it.

Costs & Budgeting

Of course we wanted to share our costs for the entire South Pantanal trip to show how you can do it on a budget. South Pantanal is a bit more expensive in general, but we tried to do it as cheaply as possible. Our total spending was 865 USD (432.5 USD per person) for 7 days, with our main expense being the car.

Final Thoughts

South Pantanal on a Budget, is It Worth It?

Absolutely, but manage your expectations.

If you’re hoping to see wildlife without splurging on pricey ecolodges or multi-day tours, South Pantanal by car is a fantastic option. With just a rental car, basic accommodation, and some local tips, you can spot capybaras, marsh deer, toucans, otters, caimans, peccaries, and even snakes (whether you want to or not). That said, the lack of guaranteed sightings, combined with some rough roads and absurd mosquitos, can be frustrating. We didn’t see a giant anteater despite hours of searching and choosing roads with “100% success rate” in blog posts. 

However, it felt refreshingly un-touristy. And if you’re traveling South America with flexibility and a love for wildlife, we say: go for it.