White-browed Hawk is one of the little-known specialties that can be found from Cristalino Jungle Lodge’s canopy observation tower. Photo: Rich Hoyer
Located in the far north of Brazil’s state of Mato Grosso, Cristalino Jungle Lodge offers surprising comfort and a near-pristine jungle experience. Buffered by the wide Teles Pires River on the west, the Cristalino State Park on the south, a giant military reservation to the northeast and other large federal and indigenous reserves in the region, the private reserve that we’ll call home for an entire week offers easy access to a fabulous wealth of flora and fauna.
It can be a richly rewarding and liberating experience to stay in one spot, free of the stress of a complex itinerary. Cristalino is a lovely place to hang out—amazing, really, when one thinks about where it is—with clean and comfortable accommodations, delicious food in an attractive new dining facility overlooking a calm bend in the river (great for swimming), hammocks to rest in and a learning and reading room for study, all in a small clearing surrounded by a rich rainforest where many treasures await our discovery.
Day 1: The tour begins at 6:00 p.m. in Cuiabá. After brief introductions we’ll go to dinner at a classic Brazilian churrascaria. Night in Cuiabá.
Day 2: Depending on the time of our short flight north to the town of Alta Floresta, we may have time for a quick morning excursion to the open country habitats near Cuiabá for birds not present in the wetter and more forested northern areas of Mato Grosso, such as Savanna Hawk, Southern Lapwing, Peach-fronted Parakeet, Guira Cuckoo, Campo Flicker, Yellow-billed Cardinal and Rusty-collared Seedeater. In the early afternoon we’ll arrive in Alta Floresta. The temptation to enjoy our first refreshing caipirinha, the Brazilian national cocktail, will likely be postponed by the lure of birds in the forest fragment immediately behind the hotel. Night in Alta Floresta.
Day 3: We’ll begin our birding early this morning in the hotel’s forest patch, which has hosted many surprising species over the years including Tiny and White-browed Hawks, Scarlet Macaw, Golden-winged Parakeet and Chestnut-tailed Antbird. An isolated pair of Harpy Eagles has nested here recently, though we’ll have to be extraordinarily lucky to see them this late in the year. By midmorning we’ll board our bus for the drive to the boat launch on the Rio Teles Pires. We’ll make the most of this ride, with obligatory stops for open-country and marsh birds as well as for Point-tailed Palmcreeper, which inhabits the Mauritia palm groves. Burrowing Owls perch on termite mounds, migrant shorebirds such as Solitary Sandpiper can be found in muddy pools and Brazilian Teal and other ducks might be on the farm ponds along the way. From the launch on the Teles Pires it’s a quick ride to the opposite side of this tributary of the Amazon and then up the much smaller Cristalino to our home for the next week. We’ll arrive at our lodge for lunch and then after a brief orientation get settled into our rooms. Night at Cristalino Jungle Lodge.
Days 4-10: Every day of our week will be different though most mornings we’ll begin by watching the flocks moving through the lodge clearing at dawn. The forest around us may seem monotonous at first glance, but there’s more here than meets the inexperienced eye. Some trails branching out just outside our bungalows lead through tall terra firme forest where we could see mixed flocks containing Streaked Xenops, White-eyed Antwren and Rufous-capped Nunlet, while Brazilian Tinamou emits its haunting whistles from the forest floor and Cryptic Forest-Falcon calls from the taller trees. Other trails pass through stands of Guadua bamboo with its attendant specialties, such as Large-headed Flatbill, Curve-billed Scythebill and Manu Antbird. One unique patch of seasonally flooded riverside forest is home to Bronzy Jacamar and the extremely local Zimmer’s Tody-Tyrant. Yet another trail leads to a peccary mud wallow (saleiro), the small clearing offering a good view of the trees where tanager and foliage-gleaner flocks are often found. Sometimes there is even a group of peccaries moving through the area, and a nighttime visit may result in additional wildlife sightings. We’ll have the opportunity to explore all these major forest types multiple times.
The place for tanagers and other canopy-loving birds is the 50-meter tower that overlooks the rainforest. A dawn spent here is magical, and we’ll want to ascend the tower several times. Spangled and Purple-throated Cotingas, White-browed Purpletuft, Black-girdled Barbet, Brown-banded Puffbird, Gould’s Toucanet, several species of aracaris, Tooth-billed Wren and Kawall’s Parrot are some of the delights most easily seen from here, and we sometimes get our best (and most entertaining) views of White-whiskered Spider Monkey and Brown Capuchins here as well.
We’ll also board the boat for short rides to various areas along the Cristalino River. Some trails can be reached only by boat; one of them climbs to the top of a granite dome with a very different sort of habitat. An overlook offers another chance to scan the canopy for treetop sitters, and the drier forest here is virtually the only place in the area where one can find Tataupa Tinamou, White-fringed Antwren, Rufous Casiornis, Spotted Puffbird and an undescribed species of poison-dart frog that was discovered in this very location just a few years ago. In a former farm clearing farther upstream we have seen Ash-throated Crake, Amazonian Scrub-Flycatcher, Spotted Tody-Flycatcher and lots of Painted Parakeets, while in an area of seasonally flooded forest along some oxbows another hour upstream we could see Hoatzin, Varzea Schiffornis, Rusty-backed Spinetail, Red-bellied Macaw and Orange-cheeked Parrot. One of the most relaxing forms of birding is to quietly drift downstream, keeping an eye on the shady sandbars and exposed snags. We could spot Sunbittern, Agami Heron or even a Brazilian Tapir on the former while the latter could host Amazonian Umbrellabird, Brown Jacamar, Black or Ornate Hawk-Eagle or even the rare Crested Eagle. On an evening outing in the boat we’ll have a very good chance of seeing the incredible Zigzag Heron, and after dark Common Potoo, Greater Fishing Bat and Paca are good possibilities.
We will of course hope to come across one or more army ant swarms. Many species of birds attend these swarms for food disturbed as the ants scour the leafy forest floor for all manner of small invertebrates to take back to the growing colony. Larger insects, spiders and lizards outrun the swarm only to be snatched up by the waiting birds. Some birds are so specialized that they are rarely found away from such ants (the local Bare-eyed Antbird is the hallmark species at Cristalino), but the mix could include several woodcreepers, ant-tanagers, Black-spotted Bare-eye and others. Almost as exciting are the fast-flying skippers found nowhere else other than with these ant swarms.
We’ll offer several night walks into the forest in search of owls, including Tawny-bellied Screech-, Crested, Mottled and Spectacled. We may also find Great and Long-tailed Potoos, Ocellated Poorwill and Silky-tailed Nightjar as well as the vocalizations of myriad frogs. During the warmer parts of the day the butterflies on the beach by the boats, near our rooms and along the forest trails can be a fascinating distraction.
Nights at Cristalino Jungle Lodge.
Day 11: After a final morning at Cristalino we’ll depart for Alta Floresta in time for our flight and our farewell dinner in Cuiabá. Night in Cuiabá.
Day 12: The tour concludes this morning in Cuiabá.
Updated: 25 January 2008
Prices
- 2008 price about $4,570
- Single Occupancy Supplement $375
Notes
This tour is limited to eight participants with one leader.
Those wishing a more extensive tour in this part of Brazil might consider Judy Davis’s tour, Brazil: The Pantanal and Mato Grosso Rainforest.