포자다 피우발(Pousada Piuval)

This pousada is on the "front" end of the Transpantaneira closer to Pocone. (We drove the entire 147 km road to the end, over the course of a couple of days.) It was the nicest of the three lodges we stayed at during our tour of the Pantanal. The property is extensive, and there were amazing views with many birds that you could see within view of the rooms (including greater rheas, black skimmers, great egrets, nacunda nighthawks, neotropic cormorants, buff-necked ibis, and more!) The rooms were updated and modern. The bathroom was the largest one we'd seen in Brazil. There was a buffet with a decent array of options. The place has a pool, which I wanted to try out but didn't have enough time. We would have loved to stay here more than one night.

Really enjoyed my stay here. It’s location is superb and its access for seeing Pantanal wildlife is excellent. I felt really welcome and relaxed here. Very comfortable, quiet with helpful friendly staff. Good food and very clean. Top class eco-tourism carefully thought through.

This is a special place in so many ways. First and foremost, the wildlife. We didn’t think we’d have much luck seeing lots of animals outside of the park but boy, were we wrong. The property was huge with a lot of different types of landscapes. We only spent one night here and explored the property day and night, in safari vehicles and on foot. We were amazed by everything we saw in such a short visit: 4 giant anteaters, including a baby on mom’s back, within 15 minutes of our morning drive; a jaguar, foxes, and an ocelot during a night drive; marmoset and capuchin monkeys; and most amazingly a pair of jaguar mating! The biodiversity here is incredible. After already spending 6 days in Pantanal, we were blown away by our experience at Pivual. If you enjoy wildlife and beautiful birds, definitely stay here. Another highlight was the cowboys and the livestock. These were not tourist attractions, this lodge is a working farm with thousands of cows and many horses. We enjoyed watching cowboys running the horses back and forth across the property grounds and the huge herd of cows coming home at sunset. It was beautiful. Last but not least, this is a well-kept and well-run lodge with big and comfortable rooms, delicious (and a huge variety of) food, and friendly and helpful staff and guides. We regret our schedule only allowed us to spend one night here. We would have liked to enjoy the pool and other facilities if we had more time.

We spent three nights at this property primarily designed for hosting a revolving influx of tour groups The A/C rooms were modern, clean but very small with no chairs in the room, however there were two chairs outside the room adjacent to the common walkway. The room also accommodated a small fridge and the large king size bed was quite comfortable. The property consisted of a large inviting pool, however there were only four lay down chairs around the pool that were quickly used up between safaris. The restaurant was basic tour group semi functional buffet, consisting of highly salted and tasteless fair that often became a zoo with tourists bumping and jockeying for position at the food dishes. Breakfast juices were highly watered down and had the consistency of colored water! The restaurant staffs are awesome and very attentive, immediately taking drink orders on ones arrival. Electricity and internet were intermittent and often went down for short periods…… On safari we would see a range of animals and birds including giant anteaters, foxes, leopards, weasels etc. The safari part is interesting and the restaurant a necessary evil for a stay here.

I stayed for 2 nights. The tours offered were great. I saw many birds, Giant anteater and little Anteater, and a pair of Jaguar. The swimming pool was clean and nice for the hot noon to mid-afternoons between the tours. The food for 3 meals were excellent and had many choices. The room is spacious. I will return for another two nights on Oct. 5 to 7.

This is one of the best places to see the real Pantanal if you are into ecological safaris and experiences. First, you have an array of options to explore this conservation accommodation unit with your family and friends. From observation decks to comfortable safari trucks just like in any African ecological hotel. Second, the property is amazingly preserved, biodiversity is on the register. When the tour driver passes by or you go to a walking tour or even on a horse ride you could see that by yourself. In short, your stay is positively impacting the conservation of this massive bioma and region. Food is very diverse and offers you a taste of the local cuisine called Pantaneira life. The delicious Bolo De arroz is regional and traditionally associated with this region, native fruits are added to staple ones like rice in a very tasteful combination. As a pescetarian, I enjoyed a very well-seasoned fish and enjoyed the view of many capybaras dotting the nearby lake. There is a body of water strategically positioned nearby the swimming pool that is full of animal life including jacares to see on a very warm night. The sight of the moon by the pool savoring food and drinks is memorable. Nature and tourism at its best. I would recommend the safaris and walking guided tours, by early morning to see the majestic birds ( many), the caimans* or jacares(especially the females were in abundance when we were on our tours), those majestic Hyacinth macaws, jaguars (even the jaguar paw marks printed on the mud are impressive), and so many other animals. For us, the highlight was to see the white-lipped peccary or animal jaw bone (queixadas) running in a pack from a safe distance. The tour guides are extremely well versed on the local biodiversity, which makes the experience educational too. Highly recommended. Rooms are roomy, well-kept, clean, and modern.

Amazing wildlife, 3 Jaguars, 2 anteaters, 3 tapier, monkeys, coati, possum and so much more + the variety of birds here is simply spectacular. We had 5 days at this fabulous place and still found new animals on our last morning. César (Osa Nature Lovers) was an excellent guide who went above and beyond to share his extensive knowledge as a naturalist and photographer with us in perfect English. Also Erberta who has eagle eyes and knows the land around the lodge deserves a special mention too for finding many of the more elusive creatures. All the staff were excellent: knowledgeable guides, housekeepers ensured clean comfortable accommodation and catering served delicious plentiful food!

We began our Pantanal excursion, as many do, at Pousada Piuval. We had a lovely room with king bed, large bathroom, and jacuzzi. Our room was located at the end of the new line of guest rooms so was very private and quiet. AC and WiFi were generally good although we did lose power a couple of times during our 3 night stay. Fortunately, it didn't last long. Our meals were generally good although the selection for vegetarians was very limited. Basically it amounted to pasta and salads. It would have been nice to have had a dedicated vegetarian entree! The grounds around the ranch are extensive and we spent our days birding the area. Lots to see! Since it was the dry season it was dusty but better to visit in the dry season than endure hordes of mosquitos in the wet.

A PIOR EXPERIÊNCIA QUE JÁ TIVE NO PANTANAL Eu e minha esposa optamos por fazer o passeio de trilha ecológica, que na tabela de valor deles constava o valor de R$ 60,00 pra cada. Na tabela apresentada no balcão constava trilha do Macaco, trilha do Tuiuiu. Entretanto em nenhum momento constava descrito que cada uma das trilhas custava o valor integral, na hora do pagamento o valor cobrado foi de R$ 240,00, o dobro do combinado, questionei e o funcionário falou que nada podia fazer em relação ao valor. Outro ponto é que a trilha do tuiuiu nem é uma trilha, é apenas os rastros das 4x4 que ficam no campo, algumas pessoas chegaram e pagaram o day use e saíram caminhando pelo campo, só que sem pagarem por essa suposta trilha. Se possível EVITEM a Piuval, grande chance de ocultarem com a verdade em algum momento e você só perceber na hora de acertar a conta. (THE WORST EXPERIENCE I EVER HAD IN THE PANTANAL My wife and I chose to take the ecological trail tour, which in their price list included R$ 60.00 each. On the table presented at the counter there was the Macaco trail, the Tuiuiu trail. However, at no time was it described that each of the trails cost the full amount, at the time of payment the amount charged was R$ 240.00, double the agreed amount, I questioned it and the employee said that there was nothing he could do about the amount. Another point is that the tuiuiu trail is not even a trail, it's just the tracks of the 4x4 that are in the field, some people arrived and paid for the day use and left walking through the field, but without paying for this supposed trail. If possible, avoid Piuval, there is a great chance that they will hide the truth at some point and you will only realize it when you settle the account.)