Snorkeling Rio da Prata - Sunday News

Reproduction/ Sunday News

Sunday News - São Paulo, 15 July, 2001

Going places – Elizabeth Willoughby

If the idea of snorkeling down an inland river sounds dark and boring to you, then you’ve never tried Fazenda Cabeceira do Prata’s “Recanto Ecológico Rio da Prata”. Here you can spend a morning drifting downstream with the current spying a variety of colorful fish and plant life in the clear waters of Rio da Prata. Only a short drive from Bonito, it is a day trip on every family’s agenda. The remarkable natural beauty, in the river and out, is a must-see.

Snorkels and masks are adjusted. Suddenly the skin divers come face to face with colorful fish and a brilliant sky-blue backdrop. The swimmers stare at the fish. Fish stares at the swimmers. Like surfacing whales blasting air through their blowholes, guts of wet air burst through the snorkels of meandering skin divers investigating the new and exciting underwater terrain.
The rest of the morning is spent quietly drifting back downstream in single file observing the pristine condition of the aquatic plant and animal life. The occasional subterranean spring bursts into Rio da Prata from below. In an effort to examine the curious holes, divers rage against the outthrusting current and plunge their arms into the abyss.
Arriving at the platform both exhilarated from the experience and weary from the exertion of keeping warm, everyone changes into dry clothes and slogs back to the main lodge. There, a hearty buffet of South Mato Grosso food is steaming ready. After the feast, hammocks swaying under shady trees await.