The Pantanal

The Bolivian Pantanal (there's a Brazilian side as well) is one of the largest, most intact, and biologically diverse environments on the entire planet, bar none. It's also one of its most important ecosystems, to say nothing of its incredible tourism potential, something both governments have recently woken up to (with Bolivia in the lead on this one). The Pantanal is the world’s largest wetland system, and the Bolivian portion alone encompasses some 22,008 square miles (35,213 sq. kms), and that's just what's officially protected. Dr. Frederick Swartz, the former secretary general of the World Conference on Preservation and Sustainable Development in the Pantanal, sums the area up as follows in the introduction to The Pantanal of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay: "With its extraordinarily concentrated and diverse flora and fauna, and a landscape spanning a variety of ecological sub-regions, the Pantanal stands as one of the world’s great natural wonders." That's no exaggeration.

Go a little deeper and you'll get the picture. "This area is an unparalleled wildlife sanctuary of spectacular beauty, an ecological paradise containing hundreds of species of birds, thousands of varieties of butterflies, myriads of brightly colored flowers, and shoals of fish. Capuchin and Howler monkeys, capybaras, toucans, anacondas, caimans, and tapirs help create an aquatic and sylvan theater of sights and sounds." This is no place to overlook. Even if you've seen some of Bolivia's other natural wonders, such as Amboró, Noel Kempff Mercado, or Kaa-Iya, the Pantanal will astonish you, especially if you're there just after the rainy season ends. (Don't go during it, however!)

Looking towards the Serranía Sunsás from Santo Corazón	Toucans roosting in Parque Nacional Otuquis

Of course, there's much more than water and wildlife to the Pantanal. Generally considered to include both Germán Busch and Ángel Sandóval provinces, and bordering Brazil and Paraguay for much of the way along the placid Río Paraguay, the area has everything from indigenous communities to free trade zones, from pre-historic paintings and eons-old unexplored serranías to modern five-star hotels (ok, one anyway) and freeways (ok, one again). It even has a Jesuit mission town of its own, Santo Corazón, tucked away in the savanna. From the sleepy little cattle town of San Matías in the extreme northeast, to the chaotic maelstrom of international commerce (probably less than half of which is legal) that Puerto Suárez and its sister town Puerto Quijarro thrive upon, the Pantanal has something for everyone. With two amazing national parks (Area Natural de Manejo Integrado San Matías and Parque Nacional y Área Natural de Manejo Integrado Otuquis), this is especially so for those who fancy their flora and fauna up close.

Best of all, you still can see the region largely as you wish: with guides, alone, as part of a group, whatever strikes your fancy (you can arrange your itinerary with agencies in Santa Cruz or Puerto Suárez). It won't be this way for much longer, however. There is intense pressure to develop the Pantanal as a package deal and other parts of it are being carved out as mining concessions; soon several places you can reach today will be off-limits. Best to see iit whilst it remains what it has been for centuries: one of the world's great natural wonders.

Aerial view of the Pantanal	Hidden pool along the way to Puerto Suárez