The city of Miranda in Mato Grosso do Sul is a base for travellers crossing the southern Pantanal, and there are a number of farms in the region where you can spend the day, stay overnight and do some Pantanal tours.

The city of Miranda is 205 kilometres from the capital, Campo Grande.

On the outskirts of Miranda, MS, some of the region’s most impressive ranches are open to the public, including the famous Caiman, home to Mato Grosso do Sul’s first eco-tourism centre, inaugurated in 1987.

Founded in 1778, the city is washed by the Miranda River, one of the largest tributaries of the middle Paraguay River.

Typical of the interior, it has quiet, tree-lined streets. At night, young people hang out in the bars of Avenida Afonso Pena.

Miranda’s most historically and architecturally important building is the old railway station, which since 2002 has housed the Casa do Artesão and the Municipal Department of Tourism and the Environment.

Miranda MS Attractions

1. Terena Indigenous Culture Reference Centre
2. Wild Kingdom Breeding Centre
3. Cattle Show
4. Santo Antônio Sugar Mill
5. Parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
6. Farm Hotel in Miranda MS – Rural Tourism

1. Terena Indigenous Culture Reference Centre

Built in wood, this space is responsible for preserving the culture of the largest indigenous nation in Mato Grosso do Sul, with 15,000 inhabitants, almost half of whom live in the Miranda region.

Explanatory panels explain the history and customs of the Terena Indians, and there is a small exhibition of pottery made by the Indians. BR-262 junction, Municipal Department of Tourism and Environment).

2. Reino Selvagem Breeding Centre

An initiative of a couple of ranchers, it was opened in 1989 to combat the illegal hunting of alligators, a serious problem in the Pantanal during that decade.

At the farm, tourists can see the lagoon, where hundreds of animals are kept during the breeding season, and the fattening ponds, which have a capacity of 12,000 caimans.

At the headquarters of the Cacimba de Pedra farm, where the breeding facility is located, various caiman-based dishes are served.

3. The cattle show

When the Pantanal begins to flood and the water infiltrates the pastures, ranchers are forced to move their cattle to higher ground where they will be safe from the floodwaters.

When the rains stop, the cattle are taken back to their original wintering grounds.

These journeys take place in caravans called “comitivas” and can last from twenty days to four months. During the journey, which can cover up to 20 kilometres a day, around a thousand animals are driven.

Some of the Pantanal farms – Aguapé, Baia Grande. Pequi and Santa Inês – accompany tourists on these incredible walks.

Traditionally, seven walkers make up an entourage, each with a specific role.

The cook always goes ahead of the herd to prepare lunch and rest. He is highly respected and, as well as preparing the food, he also sets up camp.

At the head of the herd is the ponteiro, the leader of the group, who is responsible for communicating with the passers-by through the various sounds of the berrante.

At the sides are the two bailers, who help the ponteiro guide the herd. At the back, the man in charge of the drive is assisted by two culateiros – cowboys who are responsible for catching any cattle that escape from the herd.

The daily routine of the cattle drive, which begins before sunrise, is governed by certain rules of behaviour, which can vary: for example, they are not allowed to take off their hats while eating. There is also a very special participant in the rallies: the Pantanal horse.

This is an indigenous breed that is exceptionally well adapted to the local conditions, with a hoof that can withstand swampy areas, is adept at grazing on submerged fodder during periods of flooding and copes well with extensive livestock work.

In addition to the Brazilian Association of Pantanal Horse Breeders (ABCC), founded in 1972, organisations such as the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa/Pantanal) and the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul carry out research and conservation projects for the breed.

4. Santo Antônio Sugar Mill

Usina Açúcareira Santo Antônio, this historic building from 1900 was for a long time a company that worked with sugar cane derivatives.

5. Parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Miranda is one of the oldest cities in Mato Grosso do Sul, founded on 16 July 1778.

The Parish Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is one of the city’s centenary buildings, located in front of Agenor Carrilho Square, flanked by buildings that house the Parish House (the former residence of the nuns), the Funlec School and the current City Hall.

The church was built in 1931 with eclectic inspiration and currently belongs to the Mitra Diocesana de Jardim.

6. Farm Hotel in Miranda MS – Rural Tourism

1. San Francisco Farm in Miranda MS
2. Baía Grande Farm
3. Caiman Ecological Refuge

1. San Francisco Farm in Miranda MS

The highlights of this 14,800-hectare cattle and rice farm are the day-use programmes.

Located 36 kilometres from Miranda, Fazenda San Francisco can accommodate groups of more than a hundred tourists in a single day. A simple lodge is available for those who wish to stay overnight.

The farm is home to the Gadonça Project, which aims to study jaguars and welcomes volunteers for scientific tourism tours.

Tourist Attractions of the San Francisco Farm

• Chalana Ride

The river tour takes place on the Sào Domingos Creek, a tributary of the Miranda River. On the tour you can see herons, cormorants, kingfishers, boobies and spoonbills, as well as the rarer giant otter.

The programme lasts two and a half hours with stops for piranha fishing.

• Night game drive

During the two and a half hour tour, we drive through irrigated fields and small capons in a 4×4 vehicle.

Along the way you can see tapirs, wolverines, anteaters, deer and, if you’re lucky, jaguars.

• Bird Watching

The practitioners of this hobby, known as birdwatchers, generally use binoculars and field guides to identify different species of birds.

Fazenda San Francisco is home to 346 species of birds, many of which are threatened with extinction, such as the Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthus):

• Hyacinthine Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus),
• Seriema (Cariama cristata),
• Sarkidiornis melanotos,
• Duck Hawk (Spizaetus melanoleucus),
• Goldfinch (Carduelis magellanicus), among others.

An important finding of the research was that Fazenda San Francisco is a strategic resting and feeding site for dozens of migratory birds, both from the north: Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), Pied-billed Sandpiper (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) and several species of Sandpiper, and from the south: Cocoroba (Coscoroba coscoroba), Pernilongo (Himantopus melanurus), Narceja (Gallinago paraguaiae) and Flycatchers: Tesourinha (Tyrranus savana), Verão (Pyrocephalus rubinus) and others.

Some of these species number in the hundreds or even thousands and stay at the farm for months before returning to their breeding grounds.

• Scientific Tourism – There are two programmes

Both allow participants to follow the field activities of the Gadonça Project, which monitors the behaviour of jaguars living near cattle ranches.

The aim is to find more effective ways of preventing jaguar attacks on cattle.

• The Scientific Research Tourism programme lasts three to five days, during which time lectures are given and radio-collared jaguars are monitored.
• Another option is the Volunteers in Nature programme, which lasts at least two weeks. With the training they receive, visitors can take part in all the tasks carried out by Gadonça, including checking camera traps, making footprints, collecting faeces and going out at night to observe jaguars.

Participants, who stay in shared accommodation, must be at least eighteen years old and in good physical condition.

The location

From Miranda, it’s 36 kilometres on the BR-262, at km 583, towards Corumbá, to the entrance of Fazenda San Francisco (there are signs indicating the entrance).

2. Baía Grande Farm

Located on the southern edge of the Pantanal, 20 kilometres from Miranda, this farm offers accommodation and day trips.

The owner, Alexandre da Costa Marques, is a member of a traditional family from the region and an expert Pantanal storyteller.

The 1,800-hectare farm is also part of the CRAS programme, and as the organisation’s biologists often stay at Baía Grande to monitor the re-adaptation of certain species, you can see this conservation work up close.

Boat trip in Baía Grande – the beautiful 30,000 square metre lagoon that gives the farm its name is 6 kilometres from the headquarters.

Surrounded by forest, especially the towering Carandá palm trees, you can take trips by motorboat or Canadian canoe, and it is a good alternative for piranha fishing. The best time to visit is at dawn or late afternoon, when the temperature is milder and the birds and wildlife are more active.

Plan a visit to enjoy the sunset, but don’t forget to use insect repellent.

Tourist Attractions at Fazenda Baía Grande

• Horse riding and livestock

There are many opportunities for horse riding, either outside or inside the property.

Another suggestion is to take part in cattle drives, usually led by people who know the animals of the area.

Children, the elderly and those who don’t like horses can take a ride in a horse-drawn carriage, an equally interesting alternative.

• Night spotting

This two-hour activity takes place in a four-wheel drive pick-up truck with seats fixed to the back of the vehicle. At night, the light of the “sinbim”, a high-powered torch, is reflected in the eyes of the animals.

On the route between the headquarters and the Baía Grande, alligators can be seen, as well as mammals with nocturnal habits, such as the lobinho and the tamanduá-bandeira.

Near the bay, the croaking of frogs is a spectacle in itself.

Getting there

From Miranda MS, take the dirt road to the indigenous village of Lalima. It’s 18 kilometres to the farm entrance.

3. Caiman Ecological Refuge

Mato Grosso do Sul’s first eco-tourism resort.

The Caiman Ecological Refuge is one of the most charming destinations in the Pantanal. Created in 1987 by businessman and environmentalist Roberto Klabin, it is located on the Caiman Farm, a 53,000-hectare area that combines cattle ranching, scientific research and ecotourism.

Refúgio Ecológico Caiman - Pantanal MS

Among the farm’s four comfortable lodges, the attractive Baiazinha and Cordilheira lodges stand out, both far from the village, with independent infrastructure and set in beautiful landscapes.

The Caiman Ecological Refuge employs a team of university-trained guides who speak fluent English and have extensive knowledge of the Pantanal’s flora and fauna.

They lead the tours, always accompanied by local field guides.

Caiman offers a wide range of activities, all of which are carried out with special care for the safety of the guests and the preservation of the environment.

Sometimes the care given to the tourists is seen as a limit to their freedom, which is why the farm is not recommended for those who prefer to make their own programme.

In order to preserve the ecosystem, the Dona Aracy Private Nature Reserve (RPPN) was created in 2004, an area of 5,600 hectares within the farm.

Wildlife conservation projects

The Caiman Ecological Refuge is home to two projects to protect endangered animals.

Since 2002, the Jaguar Project, a partnership between the Jaguar Conservation Fund (www.jaguar.org.br) and Conservation International (www.conservation.org.br), has been compensating ranchers whose animals have been killed by jaguars to discourage them from hunting.

As of 2006, eleven ranches (covering 325,000 hectares) are participating in the programme, which also provides medical and dental care for ranch workers.

Another project based in Caiman is the Hyacinth Macaw, which was established in 1990 to research, manage and conserve this bird.

It is estimated that around 10,000 Hyacinth Macaws were smuggled to foreign markets in the 1980s alone; as a result of this trade, the bird is on the official list of endangered species of Ibama and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The project monitors 130 natural and 97 artificial nests, based on data collected in 2004 and 2005.

The results are encouraging: in a decade and a half of work, the population of the species has tripled to around 5,000 birds in the southern Pantanal region.

The project has another base at the Araraúna Lodge, owned by the University for the Development of the Pantanal State and Region (Uniderp).

Caiman Ecological Refuge Tourist Attractions

• Pantanal Safari

Embark in open cars to discover different scenarios in search of the Pantanal’s wildlife: there’s no shortage of incredible sightings throughout the tour.

• Hiking

Twelve trails are maintained on a rotational basis to reduce the impact on the environment. Almost all of them start near the lodges and continue through typical forests.

Along the way, it’s not difficult to spot herds of peccaries and groups of capuchin monkeys.

If you are lucky, you may even see the Blue-crowned Udu (Momotus momota), a beautiful bird of the Pantanal.

Routes vary between one and a half and three hours. Photo safari and night observation.

In the wildlife-rich Caiman Region, it is not uncommon to see groups of caimans, capybaras, hyacinth macaws, curicacas and anteaters, among many other species – although the noise and smoke from the lorries carrying tourists can be a bit of a nuisance.

• Canadian canoe

The farm’s two bays are explored in canoes for up to three people. Paddling slowly close to the shore makes the experience even more rewarding, as you can observe the behaviour of herons, spoonbills, quer-queros, dry-heads and maguaris at close quarters.

Try to stand in complete silence and listen to the symphony of these birds. The tour lasts about two hours, with a stop for refreshments, but without disembarking from the canoes.

• Horse Riding

Caiman’s riding programmes are fairly strict when it comes to guest safety and can be a little monotonous for the more experienced.

For example, you are only allowed to ride in single file. The tour takes about three hours. Aquidauana River Trip – This is one of Caiman’s most fascinating attractions, combining a photographic safari programme with chalana and Canadian canoe trips and walks along the banks of the river.

Between the headquarters and Aquidauana there are 32 kilometres of dirt roads, travelled on the back of an adapted truck, from where you can enjoy the beautiful Pantanal scenery; some people have even seen the rare jaguar on this route.

The activity, which is paid for separately, lasts four and a half hours.

• Bird watching

Caiman offers a special programme for those interested in birdwatching, accompanied by a guide.

The tour is paid for separately. Advance booking recommended for birding groups.

• Blue Macaw Institute

Experience the adventure of monitoring the macaw nests scattered around the refuge, accompanied by biologists from the Blue Macaw Project.

• Jaguar Safari

Follow the movements of the jaguars that find their natural habitat in our reserve. The tour is led by specialised guides from Onçafari, a pioneering initiative fighting for the conservation of the species.

How to get there

At the Miranda junction, take the Agachi road for 2 kilometres. From there, it’s another 36 kilometres on a dirt road to the headquarters.

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