SAFARI ON A BUDGET

Dubbed the Brazilian Serengeti, the Pantanal region contains the highest concentration of wildlife in South America – so Steph Dyson goes in search of the country’s own Big Five

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With its elongated nose, 60cm-long tongue and wiry, feather-duster tail, it's hard to see a giant anteater as anything more than the fever dream of a desperate cartoonist. My guide Dai Scapini has bundled me out of our van in southwest Brazil, and we're watching as it swaggers across the dirt road, its white and black-banded body sashaying a bushy tail with each step.

We can get so close because this creature's hearing and sight are sufficiently poor that it could do with a cane to get around. But its comedic nose makes up for these shortcomings; soon it smells us and flees into the bushes, leaving just one beady eye peering vexatiously through the undergrowth.

Brazil's stunning coast hit our screens last year when it appeared in the second series of Celebrity Race Across the World. However, I've been lured to this country for an entirely different reason. Sometimes dubbed the Brazilian Serengeti, the Pantanal contains the highest concentration of wildlife in South America – even more so than the Amazon rainforest. And while Africa has become synonymous with safaris, more affordable Brazil has flown under the radar. Catching the “great migration” through Tanzania and Kenya or spotting the notorious “Big Five” game animals comes with a sobering price tag: seven-day holidays rarely cost less than £3,000 per person.

But Brazil has its own Big Five: the capybara, giant river otter, maned wolf, jaguar and – tick – the giant anteater. With allinclusive lodges costing from £120 per person per night, it promises an affordable alternative to a traditional safari.