Seasons of the Pantanal:

The landscape of the Pantanal changes radically throughout the year due to the geographic and climatic characteristics. The fauna also changes, staying or migrating according to the existing conditions for shelter, nests or food. There are two seasons in the Pantanal: the wet season and the dry season. Between the seasons, it is common to say that the Pantanal is filling up or drying. Generally, the seasons are well defined: the dry season goes from April to September, and the wet season from October to March.

Global changes in climate also affect the cycles in the Pantanal and there is now an alteration in the length or intensity of the seasons. In spite of these variations, the general characteristics of each season remain constant.

The Wet Season:

In the wet season, with the rising of the waters that cover the fields of the Embiara namely Vazante do Castelo and Vazante do Periquito; the fish, clams, and crustaceans come out of the bays and the river banks to the plains in search of food and places to reproduce.

Soon after, many types of aquatic life come to the flooded fields, and end up becoming rich sources of food.

This phenomenon attracts a large population of aquatic birds; an amazing spectacle takes place when they gather in feeding places or when they fly off in bands to their nesting trees, filling the Pantanal with sound, color and movement at this time of the year. Aquatic mammals widen their domains, looking for food or mating partners. Land mammals migrate to higher ground.

The great concentration of alligators disappears and reptiles spread out to where there is water. The biggest problems about visiting the Pantanal at this time are rain and insects. Rains falls at the end of the day in beautiful summer storms: fast and strong. In the early morning, the sky is clear and clouds form in amazing shapes throughout the day. It is not uncommon to see this in the late afternoon, further enhancing the already colorful sunsets.

It rarely rains for days at a time. Insects, another source of food, attract birds and multiply in the heat and presence of water. The mosquitoes are more numerous at the beginning and the end of the wet season, when the water stops running and permits reproduction. The nights are clear and the sky filled with stars. On nights without a moon, the fireflies and the frogs, who benefit from the rise of the waters and the insects that they feed on, put up an amazing “son et lumiere” show. The start of the season is very hot and humid. Rapidly, the vegetation in the fields becomes very lush. Species that were buried in the soils, waiting for the water to rise, point their stems, leaves and flowers toward the surface. The muddy fields are transformed into vast gardens. The brush becomes denser and rich with foliage and becomes an excellent shelter for mammals and birds. This is how the Pantanal is imagined from pictures and movies as they are most often taken at this time

The Dry Season:

If the wet season in the Pantanal is the domain of birds, in the dry season the mammals get their turn when they become more visible as a great deal of the vegetation lose its leaves. Some plants species bloom during this season and give an impressive show of colors.

However, the blossoming is short lived. Smaller birds replace the large aquatic birds and only a few remain to reproduce, such as the wood ibis, which makes its nest at this time.

At times, butterflies populate the Pantanal and are found in vast quantities and then other times, almost none can be seen. The fields are now clean and dry make it easier for animals to move around in the Pantanal.

The fields are now without water and the plants that took over the muddy plains start to dry and go into a state of "hibernation” waiting for the next rains to come. The water-filled garden is transformed into a vast field of native grass and hay. Little flowers cover the soil. As the fields dry, fish, crustaceans and clams migrate to the rivers and lakes, where the water remains throughout the dry season. Those that do not make their way back, get caught in the small pools. They will be easy prey and eventually die. It is amazing the amount of fish that get caught in these shrinking pools and how long they serve as a source of food.

While the bigger fish are easier targets, the small ones, are more difficult to catch,and will keep on growing and become prey later on.

Conditions then become more favorable for the mammals, which start to invade the Pantanal. Their food is in the fields or buried in the soil.