Activities
Santa Cruz is an economically sustainable, ecologically and socially concerned working cattle ranch with seasonal variable capacity from 900 to 1.200 heads. Quarter horses on brazilian saddles are available for the guests to accompany Santa Cruz's daily work (milking cows, cattle round-ups, checking the cattle, doctoring livestock, mending fences, checking the water and the salt, corral work and cattle drives) or range by themselves on an unlimited basis. We offer open riding instead of nose to tail. You can either catch, groom, and outfit your own horse or have it brought ready to the house. Bird and mammal watching including deer, capybara, tapir and lots of birds from tucanos, blue macaws, red macaws to dozens of smaller species. Visit to native south American Indians reserve to a close experience with their culture. Non-riding activities include hiking, wildlife photography, 4WD trails through fields and forest, cave exploration or just relaxing on a hammock sipping a caipirinha or a mohitos. Your Santa Cruz stay will also be a fantastic opportunity to learn or improve your roping capabilities knowledge, as Alberto Lopes, the ranch manager, and his wife Clara, are renowned regional champions. Guided hikes on the fields or in the forest are available, where you might expect to see even more wildlife as there will not be the sound and smell of the horses approaching. Some of them can be self-guided if preferred. Despite having a quite large cave that can be visited at Santa Cruz, our plans include taking our guests to Bonito/Bodoquena (please, see details bellow at Region Section).
