Otuquis National Park

Otuquis protects around a million hectares of the Bolivian share of the Pantanal, the enormous wetland that spreads mostly into Brazil and Paraguay, a mosaic of seasonally flooded grassland, gallery forest, palm savanna and river channels that fills in the wet season and dries into pools and marsh through the winter. The wildlife is Pantanal wildlife: capybara, caiman, marsh deer, giant anteaters, jabiru storks and huge concentrations of waterbirds, with jaguars present and occasionally seen along the rivers. The Bolivian side is far less developed for visitors than the Brazilian, with almost no lodges and few operators, so trips are arranged from Puerto Suárez or Santa Cruz and involve boats and four-wheel drives rather than an established circuit.

What you actually see

• Flooded grassland - the seasonal wetland mosaic of the Pantanal.
• Waterbird concentrations - storks, herons and jabiru in numbers.
• Caiman and capybara - the animals visible along every channel.
• Palm savanna - the open country between the water and the forest.

When to go

May to September, the drier months, when the water falls, animals concentrate at remaining pools and tracks are passable. The wet season from December to March floods the whole system and access is by boat only.

Honest expectations

Infrastructure is minimal on the Bolivian side; the Brazilian Pantanal is far easier to visit and most travellers go there instead. Trips must be arranged with operators and are expensive for what they are. Heat, mosquitoes and remoteness are the conditions.

Nearby

Puerto Suárez lies east; the Brazilian border is beyond it.