Day 1: Welcome to Rio Arrive in Rio and check in to Hotel Arpoador, sitting at the curve where Copacabana becomes Ipanema, no avenue to cross to reach the sand. The rooftop pool and steam room look straight out over the ocean. Settle in, borrow one of the hotel's complimentary bikes for a ride along the seafront, or walk to Arpoador Rock and watch the day end. Overnight: Hotel Arpoador
Day 2: From the City Streets to Sugarloaf Spend the morning with a private guide in downtown Rio, tracing the city's layered past through Praça XV's imperial facades, the grand boulevards of Cinelândia and the Candelária Church. Look into the São Bento Monastery and the ornate interior of the Confeitaria Colombo, the belle époque café that has barely changed in a century. After lunch, move to the quiet bay-side district of Urca and board the glass-walled cable car to Urca Hill, then ascend again to the summit of Sugarloaf, nearly 400 metres above sea level, where Copacabana and Ipanema curve away along the Atlantic below. Overnight: Hotel Arpoador
Day 3: Samba Schools and Santa Teresa Go behind the scenes at a samba school, where percussion workshops and dance lessons pull you into the preparations that drive Carnival. Raise a caipirinha and join local dancers on the floor. Continue uphill into Santa Teresa, Rio's hillside neighbourhood of cobbled streets and colonial mansions, pausing for lunch before visiting the open-air Parque das Ruínas for wide views across the city. Explore the Chácara do Céu Museum's collection of Brazilian and European masters, and finish at Largo do Guimarães, the cultural heart of the district. Overnight: Hotel Arpoador
Day 4: Into the Pantanal Fly west from Rio to Campo Grande, then travel south by road into the southern Pantanal, arriving at Caiman Lodge in the late afternoon. The shift is immediate, the city gives way to open sky, flat wetland and the sounds of a working wildlife reserve. Meet the Caimaners, the lodge's specialist naturalist guides, and join the evening programme as the light drops over the marsh.
Overnight: Caiman Lodge Day 5: A Day with Onçafari Set out before the Pantanal fully wakes for the first of two tracking sessions alongside an Onçafari biologist and a pantaneiro guide. The day unfolds in adapted off-road vehicles across remote terrain, following radio-collar telemetry and camera trap data as part of the ongoing jaguar monitoring programme. Morning and afternoon sessions cover different ground, with the guides explaining how long-term field observation has shaped jaguar conservation and the relationship between wildlife and local ranching communities. Sightings can never be guaranteed, but this is a day spent deep inside the science behind one of South America's most respected conservation initiatives.
Overnight: Caiman Lodge Day 6: The Hyacinth Macaw Project Spend a half-day in the field with the Hyacinth Macaw Project, led by the team founded by biologist Neiva Guedes. Activities vary by season and field conditions, but may include watching hyacinth macaws in the wild, monitoring active nests and learning about the conservation challenges facing the world's largest macaw. During breeding season, there may be the chance to observe nest management carried out by the research team. The afternoon returns to the lodge's programme: 4x4 safari, guided hike or sunset canoe across the wetland bays.
Overnight: Caiman Lodge Day 7: The Wetlands at Your Own Pace A day within the lodge's included programme, at least two shared experiences led by the Caimaners, shaped by weather and wildlife conditions on the day. Take the open 4x4 across varied terrain, follow the forest trails on foot, paddle the calm bays by canoe at sunset, or head out after dark when guides scan the darkness for ocelots, giant anteaters and, with luck, jaguar. Around 350 bird species have been recorded across the reserve. Overnight: Caiman Lodge
Day 8: Return to Campo Grande Leave the Pantanal behind and travel north to Campo Grande for a comfortable overnight ahead of the early flight to Iguazú. Overnight: Deville Campo Grande
Day 9: Arrive at Awasi Iguazú Fly to Foz do Iguaçu and cross the border into Argentina, arriving at Awasi Iguazú after dark. The lodge sits within a private Atlantic Forest reserve twenty minutes from the falls, fourteen villas on stilts, each with its own plunge pool and jungle deck. Your dedicated private guide and 4x4 are in place from the moment you arrive. Overnight: Awasi Iguazú
Day 10: The Argentine Side Start on the Argentine side's upper and lower circuits, elevated walkways weaving between the San Martín, Bossetti and Dos Hermanas cascades, surrounded by butterflies, coatis and subtropical birdlife. An early start softens the light and thins the crowds. In the afternoon, take the private train to the head of the river and follow the boardwalk across the upper Iguazú to Devil's Throat: 80 metres of freefall into the gorge below, mist rising in shifting rainbows above. With private access and close to 30 minutes at the platform edge, the scale of it takes time to absorb. Overnight: Awasi Iguazú
Day 11: The Brazilian Side and the Rainforest Cross into Brazil for a panoramic view of the full waterfall system , a canyon-side walkway reveals all 275 cascades in one continuous sweep, ending at a platform near Devil's Throat seen now from the opposite bank. Later, leave the main circuits for the Macuco Trail, a quieter 3.5-kilometre path through rainforest where birdsong fills the canopy and capuchin monkeys move through the trees. The trail ends at Salto Arrechea, a 20-metre waterfall dropping into a clear pool. The guide can also arrange a river outing, kayaking the Alto Paraná to the hidden Yasy Fall, or paddling out to the point where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet. Overnight: Awasi Iguazú
Day 12: Departure Transfer to Puerto Iguazú Airport for your onward flight.
