Brazil’s Pantanal: Jaguars and much more

Brazil’s remarkable Pantanal is simply one of the natural wonders of the world. It is a vast watery wilderness harbouring one of the greatest wildlife concentrations on the planet. In fact we think it is not just the best place for wildlife in Brazil but also one of the world’s best wildlife photography tour destinations in terms of number and quality of opportunities and subjects. We will visit the northern part of this huge expanse of wetlands, which is nowadays known as The place to photograph the magnificent Jaguar, and we will have six days of boat trips on the Rio Cuiabá and its tributaries devoted to finding them.

Although the Jaguar dominates the scene in the Pantanal as the keystone predator, they would not be here were there not a healthy population of prey animals. Capybaras, the world’s largest rodents, are a favourite prey of the big cat and occur all over the Pantanal, leading a semi-aquatic life. Many Pantanal Jaguars also prey on caimans, their ultra powerful jaws enabling them to bite through the crocodiles’ skulls!

Photographic Highlights

• Exploring the myriad channels of the sleepy Rio Cuiabá and its tributaries in search of Jaguars on South America’s number one wildlife photo tour
• A high chance of repeated good photographic encounters with Jaguars, taking a nap in some nice light, prowling a riverbank or, if we are very lucky, a caiman kill
• A family of hyperactive Giant Otters hunting all around our boat, the younger ones squealing with delight when mum has caught a fish
• Good chance of an audience with the superb Ocelot at a purpose-built viewing station
• Multiple sightings of Hyacinth Macaws and Toco Toucans – the world’s biggest parrot and toucan!
• Jabiru, the world’s biggest stork and a host of other herons, egrets and ibises thronging the fish-filled pools on the Pantanal
• A wide variety of other colourful and photogenic Neotropical bird species at feeding stations by our lodges along the Transpantaneira
• A slow motion, close encounter with the weird-looking Giant Anteater, one of South America’s most iconic animals
• A family of Capybaras, the world’s biggest and dumbest-looking rodent, slumbers on the riverbank, next to one of the Pantanal’s two million(!) Yacare Caiman
• A Crab-eating Fox trots past our rooms at the lovely and rustic Pouso Alegre Lodge
• The shy Brazilian Tapir swims across a quiet channel and hauls itself up a muddy riverbank and away in the forest, leaving its strange three-toed footprints behind
• The massive, prehistoric form of a Black-and-white Tegu, a lizard fortunately harmless to humans, lumbers into view
• A gorgeous Agami Heron, the beauty of the shadows, fishes in slow motion under the overhanging trees along the riverbank
• Attractive kingfishers perch here and there along the waterways of the Pantanal, we have never seen more of them anywhere
• Two special trees, the pink flowered Piuva and the yellow-flowered Cambara add splashes of colour to the landscape of the Pantanal
• It seems everything in Brazil is colourful, from the flora and fauna to the food and the wonderful people who look after us in the Pantanal!

Next departure click HERE