Bolivia · BO

Laguna El Cusi

Laguna El Cusi is a remote lake in the Bolivian Pantanal transition zone of eastern Santa Cruz, set within the vast wetland mosaic of the San Matías Integrated Management Natural Area. With no population recorded within a seven-kilometre radius and surrounded by cattle estancias, this is among the most isolated water bodies in Bolivia's share of the Greater Pantanal — the world's largest tropical wetland. The lake sits in the ecological crossroads where Chiquitano dry forest, cerrado savanna, and floodable Pantanal grasslands converge — a landscape that shelters jaguars, giant otters, caimans, marsh deer, and the iconic hyacinth macaw. For the intrepid traveler already exploring Bolivia's least-visited protected area, Laguna El Cusi represents the raw, unmediated face of the wetland.