ECOVERDE TOURS

Stay away. Do not engage. If you are already talking to Joel or his son Lauro, stop immediately. Do not send any deposit payments!

Please consider either: 1. Engaging another travel agent, or 2. Liaising directly with a lodge (pousada) to see the jaguars and wildlife in Pantanal and Porto Joffre. Most, if not all, pousadas can organise transfers and their own activities, and you do not neet a tour agent.

Having travelled to over 70 countries, this is the first time I experienced this. I pre-paid 50% (US$ 2,000) for a 6 night trip to Pantanal and Porto Joffre for 4 adults and 3 children. The money was stolen.

First, I was chatting with Joel (Lauro's father who has been in the tourist sector for more than 30 years). It was very friendly and rather professional. He suggested an itinerary and lodges. He asked for a 30 or 50% pre-payment. I chose the 50% option. As soon as I made the transfer, the father got sick and his son Lauro took over the conversation. It all went downhill from there.

After two months of back and forth with Lauro, we never got any itinerary or hotel booking confirmations! We asked him for lodge options and final prices. Up until the travel date, nothing was confirmed. We took the matter into our own hands and had a plan B (we got in touch directly with 'Pousada Berço Pantaneiro - Ninho do Jaguar' in Porto Jofre, who were wonderful and offered to organise everything just in case things completely fell through). Nevertheless, Lauro said he will meet us upon arrival to Cuiaba. We were meant to have (with Ecoverde tours) - a driver and an English-speaking guide and a van. Surely, Lauro was not there. Instead, there was a non-English speaking driver who also claimed to be a licensed travel guide, who he was not. We had the van and a driver. After more than one hour of speaking to Lauro on the phone and asking him 'what's going on', Lauro was asking for more money from us! When we asked him where did the US$ 2k go, he said it went to pay for the driver/van and pre-payment to the lodges. This was a lie. No payment was made to anyone.

Very distressed and angry with Lauro, we did not want to lose more time and continued with the driver to Porto Jofre. We met with the two lodge owners that Lauro said he pre-paid to, and they confirmed that nothing was received. In fact, Lauro has unpaid debt to one of the lodges. The scam is that they take a deposit payment from you, but you have to pay to the lodges and the driver yourself anyway. We had to pay the lodges and the driver 100%.

In Porto Joffre, we spent an hour on the phone with Lauro asking him for a refund and expressing to him that what he did/is doing is wrong, we were tired of Lauro's continuous excuses and confusing narrative - he was taking us in circles. Unprofessional, disrespectful, and quite painful emotionally.

After losing all hope, there happened to be a Brazilian lawyer staying in our lodge (Berco Porto Joffre) who wanted to help my family navigate with Lauro. He called Lauro and acted as an intermediary and sought a solution. He gave up, realising that Lauro is not willing to admit his scam, not apologize. He told Lauro that he is disgracing the face of Brazilian tourism, and the conversation ended.

All in all, despite this unfortunate experience, we had a wonderful time in Porto Joffre and Pantanal, and saw more than 6 jaguars and plenty of wildlife!

I have evidence of the above (written and video form) and will file a formal complaint with the Brazilian consumer protection authorities. Lauro should not operate this business and has, unfortunately, managed to disgrace the business that his father must have spent years building up.

I repeat: DO NOT ENGAGE WITH ECOVERDE TOURS.

Ce sont des voleurs. Joël Souza et son fils Lauro Souza vont voler votre argent.
Ils m’ont prit 200€.

Lauro arnaque les clients en faisant croire qu’il réserve mais il ne fait aucune réservation. Mon conseil : passez votre chemin ! Ce sont des voleurs et tout le monde dans le pantanal le sait.

They are thieves. Joel Souza and his son Lauro Souza will steal your money.
They took 200€ from me.

Lauro scams customers by making them believe he is making reservations but he is not making any reservations. My advice: go away! They are thieves and everyone in the pantanal knows it.