"Beautiful" Bonito

On our whirlwind vacation, we also included a precious few days in the Brazilian Pantanal in a town named Bonito, which means beautiful.  It was amazing.  We really only had 2 days there, and while we'd have loved to stay longer, our schedule just didn't allow it.  I am so so so glad our kids got the chance to see the really wild part of Brazil up close and personal.  This is as close to the Amazon as we were going to get, and we enjoyed pretty much every minute of it.  D, although he was sick for about half of our time there, told me Bonito was the absolute best thing we did in all of our time in Brazil.  I am so glad he feels that way, because I do too.

We stayed at a little farm/bed and breakfast called Hotel Cabanas.  We did indeed have a little cabana house nuzzled in the forest.  We left our window shades open at night because the first little ones to wake in the morning were entertained (and therefore quiet) by the wildlife still active in early dawn.  All around our room there were monkeys, cutias, macaws, bats, birds of all sorts, an emu, and more.  One morning I asked my kids if they think they'll ever meet another person who woke to such a show of wildlife as this.  Gratefully, they fully appreciated the rarity of this experience.

M watching a monkey cross the path at the hotel.

More monkey friends hanging out around the hotel.

I love this amazing tree...perfectly captured on film by DaddyHealy.

Everything in Bonito is privately owned.  The tours we took were all within private farms or at least the access to them was.  It was an interesting set up, and I love the signage guiding you along the way.  It was just very Brazilian to me.

I called M our lead elephant, because she really was the trail blazer.  We were told, in so many words, that Bonito is not really a family destination.  The travel company we used tried to talk us out of it, actually.  I am so glad we didn't listen.  We forged ahead, with difficulties at times, but we had a most amazing experience as a result.



My little explorer