SouthWild Wolf Camp
Parnaiba Headwaters National Park, Northeastern Brazil
Maned Wolf scouting for mice.
Photo: Pete Oxford. Amazon Wildlife Tours.
Saving rare species in style...
-- Kimberly Fay, LuxuryLink.com
Excursions depart daily from Barreiras, Brazil, which can be reached on weekday flights from the cities of São Paulo or Salvador da Bahia. We meet you in Barreiras to begin the five-hour drive through the wooded savannah, dry scrubland and the red mesas of Wolf Cliffs. The first four hours are bumpy, but the last hour between Corrente and the camps is a scenic and driving pleasure. An optional charter flight from Barreiras to Corrente avoids the first four hours and is available at additional cost. Season: see More about SouthWild Wolf Camp. Hyacinth Macaw viewing is guaranteed only from 15 April to 15 July.
The land price includes escorted transfers, private excursions with a naturalist guide, entrance fees, private bungalow with private bath, full board, all land transportation, and travel insurance for guests through the age of 59 years (over that age, there is a supplementary fee). All prices are per person based on two people sharing a guest room.
As featured on PBS: The Real Macaw.
Intra-Tour Flights & Fares
Air fares are in addition to the land price.
São Paulo - Brasilia - Barreiras & Barreiras - Brasilia - Sao Paulo
A charter flight between Barreiras & Corrente is optional.
Wolf Cliffs and Valley.
Photo: Pete Oxford. Amazon Wildlife Tours.
Highlights
Wolf Valley Camp
Day 1: Barreiras - Corrente - Wolf Valley. Upon your arrival in Barreiras from São Paulo or Salvador da Bahia, we will meet you in the airport to begin the four-hour drive in a 4 x 4 to Corrente, the biggest city in Brazil's northeastern state of Piauí, then an hour more to Wolf Valley, accessed by way of the tiny hamlet of São Gonzalo do Gurguéia. After a day of traveling, have a relaxing dinner and discover how the conservation project works by chatting with the local guides, whose livelihood depends on the success of the enterprise, which in turn relies on their incredible knowledge of the fauna in the reserve. Iced mineral water, soft drinks and beer will be available at the camp. If you are feeling a bit more adventurous, try Brazil's famous "caipirinha", made from local rum known as cachaça. We turn in early, by 9 pm, to be well rested for our early start the next day.
Brown Capuchin Monkey with palm nuts.
Photo: Pete Oxford. Amazon Wildlife Tours.
Day 2: Wolf Valley. Coffee and light breakfast are served when guests are awakened at 4:30 am. Daybreak is about 5:30 am and we aim to be in the blind at this time, before the first macaws arrive to eat palm nuts at this dry forest clearing. The blind, which accommodates up to 16 people, with eight front-row seats, overlooks a feeding site for a large flock of Hyacinth Macaws. Viewing dozens of the world's largest and most spectacular parrots in their natural environment is pure magic. And the perfect photo conditions will ensure the time you spend in this natural playground will stay with you forever. Rays of soft light illuminate the birds as they feed, rendering pictures of azure splendor. We watch them feed on their staple palm nuts and playfully jockey for position on favorite perches in the trees that surround the blind.
Just a few years ago, these same birds were targeted by trappers. The success of the project ensures that these birds can now nest in unblemished cliffs and feed in the preserved dry forest without any interference. The birds usually arrive at 6 am and leave by 8:30 or 9 am. We then return to camp for a full, relaxing breakfast. The balance of the day is enjoyed hiking from the camp to look for birds or swimming in a nearby crystalline river. In the afternoon, we return to the Hyacinth blind, where the birds return to feed between 3:30 and 6 pm.
Maned Wolves scouting for mice.
Photo: Pete Oxford. Amazon Wildlife Tours.
Day 3: Wolf Valley - Wolf Cliffs - Wolf Valley. We rise early again to view the Hyacinths. After lunch, we grab our daypacks for the journey out to the Wolf Cliffs Camp, BioBrasil's other property. On the leisurely, two-hour journey to the Wolf Cliffs, travelers may encounter Burrowing Owls, Red-legged Seriemas, Greater Rheas, Toco Toucans, Red-bellied Macaws, Amazon parrots, Sun Parquets, large hawks or any of the other over 200 bird species that call the reserve home.
We arrive at dusk and enjoy the extreme isolation of this lovely spot, where the nearest people are at least 10 miles (16 km) away. Before dark, at 4:00 pm, we will return to Wolf Valley. After dinner, we will wait for the elusive Maned Wolf, who usually makes us stay up late before putting in an appearance. Hammocks are provided to ease the wait. It is well worth it, however, since this graceful animal is as beautiful as it is elusive.
Blue-fronted Parrot.
Photo: Pete Oxford. Amazon Wildlife Tours.
Nutcracker Monkey Camp
Day 4: Wolf Valley - Capuchin Valley. On this day, we will go to the breathtaking "nutcracker" monkey site. Here, we head to a blind to watch the antics of the Brown Capuchin Monkeys, who demonstrate why their reputation as the chimpanzee of the New World is well deserved. They use stones to crack open nuts in an unparalleled display of manual dexterity -- all within 30 feet (9 m) of the visitor. We will overnight in a tented camp close to the Capuchins and other creatures, such as the Great Potoo or Horned Screamer as well as Greenwinged (Red-and-Green) Macaws.
Wolf Valley Camp
Day 5: Capuchin Valley - Wolf Valley. We're again enchanted by Capuchin and Greenwinged (Red-and-Green) Macaw activity in the morning. After lunch, we head back to the Wolf Valley Camp. On the way, we stop at a lovely century-old mango grove, where groups of Black Howler Monkeys perch on trees, curiously scrutinizing our bewildered stares.
Day 6: Wolf Valley - Corrente - Barreiras - Home. We have a final chance to visit the Hyacinth Macaw blind and explore the area around the camp. After an early lunch, we will set off on the return journey to Barreiras just in time to take the flight back home.
Details
Brown Capuchin Monkey smashing palm nut.
Photo: Pete Oxford. Amazon Wildlife Tours.
Recently scientists caught a glimpse of wild monkeys using tools in a surprisingly sophisticated way.
-- Jennifer Steinberg HollandTool Time, Monkey Style, National Geographic Magazine, January 2004
SouthWild Wolf Camp
Location: Parnaíba Headwaters National Park, Brazil. Reserve size: 19,000 acres within and adjacent to the 1.8-million-acre Parnaíba Headwaters National Park. Wildlife it protects: Hyacinth Macaws, Red-and-Green Macaws, Blue-and-Gold Macaws, Burrowing Owls, Great Potoos, Maned Wolves, Jaguars, tool-using Brown Capuchin Monkeys and Black-and-Gold Howler Monkeys.
Every half century or so, an amazing new wildlife destination bursts onto the South American scene. Such is the case for SouthWild Wolf Camp of the sunny, dry forests of central Brazil. No other destination in Brazil offers so much charismatic wildlife in so little time -- and with so much comfort.
Hyacinth Macaw.
Photo: Pete Oxford. Amazon Wildlife Tours.
This new camp complex is located at Brazil's new, 1.8-million-acre Parnaiba Headwaters National Park. At one-third the size of New Jersey, this park is Brazil's largest outside the Amazon and protects far more dry tropical forest than any other reserve on Earth. Only 10% of the world's original dry tropical forest remains today, while half of all wet tropical forest still stands, so the Parnaiba Headwaters National Park is of exceptional conservation importance.
Brown Capuchin Monkey wielding "hammer" rock to smash palm nuts.
Photo: Pete Oxford. Amazon Wildlife Tours.
From the comfort of SouthWild Wolf Camp, you can see some of the most exciting wildlife in Brazil. The Park harbors more than 1,500 Hyacinth Macaws -- 50-100 times more than any other national park. It also is the most important reserve for the endangered Maned Wolf, which is the world's largest and most beautiful wild canid. Finally, Parnaiba Park is the only place on Earth where Brown Capuchin Monkeys demonstrate the world's most complex tool use by nonhuman primates. This incredible display of intelligence was reported for the first time in 2004, initially in National Geographic Magazine and then worldwide in a BBC TV documentary. There is only one place to see all of these amazing creatures, and that is SouthWild Wolf Camp.
A private bungalow at the Wolf Valley Camp.
Photo: Pete Oxford. Amazon Wildlife Tours.
SouthWild Wolf Camp is the only visitor infrastructure at the Parnaiba Headwaters National Park. The camp complex is divided into three strategically-located compounds, separated by scenic drives of 60-90 minutes: Wolf Valley Camp, Wolf Cliffs Camp and Nutcracker Monkey Camp. Each of the Wolf camps has seven double-occupancy bungalows with private bathrooms, while the Monkey Camp has walk-in tents equipped with full beds and shared bathrooms. With its green, open, palm-studded valleys rimmed by 300-600-foot-tall, red-rock cliffs and mesas, the scenery at our locales looks remarkably like verdant parts of the American southwest.
Scientifically-designed photo blind near the flock of Hyacinth Macaws.
Photo: Pete Oxford. Amazon Wildlife Tours.
Excellent sunlight for photography, superb scenery, and extraordinarily exotic animals create a unique opportunity to become the nature photographer of your dreams. Scientifically-designed observation blinds deliver unbelievable photo opportunities, including dozens of Hyacinth Macaws and Greenwinged (Red-and-Green) Macaws at only 30 feet (9 m), Maned Wolves at only 10 feet (3 m) and tool-using Brown Capuchin Monkeys at 30 feet. Additionally, we are often rewarded with excellent views of Red-legged Seriemas, Blue-and-Gold Macaws, Greater Rheas, White Woodpeckers, Jenday Conures, and Black-and-Gold Howler Monkeys.
Hyacinth Macaws gather to search for ground-level palm nuts.
Photo: Pete Oxford. Amazon Wildlife Tours.
SouthWild Wolf Camp surprised the world by instantly shouldering aside the Pantanal as the best wildlife destination in Brazil. The Parnaiba Headwaters Park is three times larger than all the protected areas in the Pantanal combined, and no lodge or combination of lodges in the Pantanal can provide so much charismatic, colorful wildlife at such close range and in as little as three or four nights!
Greenwinged (Red-and-Green) Macaws.
Photo: Pete Oxford. Amazon Wildlife Tours.
The distant herons and caimans of the Pantanal, while wonderful, simply cannot compare with charismatic wolves, "nutcracker" monkeys, and close-up macaws. Moreover, SouthWild Wolf Camp is easy and fun to visit at any time of year, as it never floods and is virtually free of mosquitoes.
Burití palms (Mauritia flexuosa).
Photo: Pete Oxford. Amazon Wildlife Tours.
SouthWild Wolf Camp allows you to visit the world's largest and most spectacular dry forest park and enjoy some of the rarest and most beautiful wildlife of the Americas. Your friends will never have seen anything like the quality of wildlife photos and video that you will bring home. Enjoy a wildlife experience you thought was available only to National Geographic photographers, and at a surprisingly affordable price.
Blue-and-Gold Macaw.
Photo: Pete Oxford. Amazon Wildlife Tours.
SouthWild Wolf Camp consists of three separate camps, separated by scenic, 60-90 minute drives. You reach the camps by flying on large turboprop planes from the cities of Sao Paulo or Salvador da Bahia to the city of Barreiras and then driving 5 hours north. This region of Brazil has no malaria and almost no mosquitoes or other biting flies.
Red-legged Seriema.
Photo: Pete Oxford. Amazon Wildlife Tours.
We recommend 3-6 nights at a combination of the three sites to properly view all four of these unique spectacles: Maned Wolves, tool-using Brown Capuchin Monkeys, and separate, large flocks of Hyacinth and Greenwinged (Red-and-Green) Macaws at close range. All the additional wildlife and world-class cliff scenery represent "icing on the cake". These attractions peak during the long, cooler dry season, running from April through October, but there is excellent wildlife viewing in every month of the year.
More about SouthWild Wolf Camp
-- Dr. Charles A. Munn, ornithologist and vice president of the BioBrasil Foundation.
© 2011 Inka's Empire Corporation. Amazon Wildlife Tours. All rights reserved.
