Barra Mansa Pantanal Hotel

The main lodge feels like visiting relatives you actually want to see – the kind who feed you too much and tell brilliant stories. Meals are served around a communal table, where the wood-fired stove creates dishes using garden vegetables and fresh beef. Hammocks are scattered strategically around, offering vantage points to gaze quietly at the Rio Negro flowing past and there's also a small riverside 'beach' nearby for extra R&R.

There are only six simple but super comfortable rooms, sleeping 17 guests in total so even when the hotel is full, the service is intimate and excellent. Sleeping options range from cosy double rooms to a full two-bedroomed private house with a living room that is perfect for families. All have air conditioning, hot showers, fans, and mosquito screens, with a typical Pantanal style that emphasises the incredible natural scenery outside.

The activities at Barra Mansa are spectacular and your schedule is entirely personalised to you. When you arrive, your guide will sit down over coffee and find out what makes you happy, from photography to wildlife to birding. Options include boating excursions on the Rio Negro, canoeing the flooded Vazante, jeep safaris to spot the Patanal's diverse wildlife, horseback riding, canoeing and fishing. There's also the opportunity to go out with the pantaneiros, rounding up and driving the cattle, milking them, and learning how to make cheese and the delicious doce de leite local delicacy.