Introduction

Jaguars are simply awesome cats, tough, uncompromising, powerful, yet stunning to watch and photograph. It's not just about the Jaguars though for this trip, it's about the experience of being free zipping along the river in a speedboat, of seeing one of the last great wetlands on the planet and seeing other iconic Pantanal species too.  It's a fantastic trip and we know that both groups who have experienced it with us have loved the experience. Last trip we found an amazing new lodge that we stayed at before the Jaguar river trip. It gave us the chance to go canoeing, on a 4x4 adventure and to observe the wonderful Hyacinth Macaws closehand. It made the trip into much more than just a Jaguar experience and for us offers a much more rounded package. 

For 2024 we are going to make a major change to the trip though, no longer will we stay at a houseboat. The standard of these has left something to be desired, and this year they have all increased their prices massively too. So we are going to stay at a very remote fishing lodge, much further up the river and in the opposite direction to the main lodges at Porto Joffre which do not offer the remote and private experience that we want. The attraction of staying at this lodge is that three times per day (we don't count the morning as Jaguars like to sleep in) we will be travelling through jaguar territory to get to the usual hotspots. This means that we can find our own jaguars, away from the hustle and bustle of the main river sightings, on a recent inspection by our partners in the Pantanal they saw 4 jaguars within 10 minutes of the lodge. So we are close enough to be get to the main areas without worry (and it's fun being on the boat in these parts of the river) but also we can get our own sightings, where I can position the boat with total freedom. In my view it's worth the remote location as this increases our chance of getting good jaguar encounters. 

Lots of other tours do this trip but we are the only one to really focus on the Jaguar with an extended river stay. There is only one with me too, you know I will help you all the time, you know Suzie will and you all know how good I am at predicting and fighting for position! It's the same policy as we used on the tigers, focus on one species to do it well and give the best chances with NO filler nights!! So you will see we do 4 full days and  2 half days, 10 boat safaris, that is more than anyone else. 

Timing wise we are going slightly earlier than the main tourist season, which should mean less boats on the river, better weather and more chance of the jaguars sitting out on the banks of the river. 

As always details below without any sugar on!

Our Daily Routine

Sao Paulo lodge - out well before dawn for the drive down to this lodge, stay all day have lunch there and return at sunset

Pantanal Lodge - we will be out early and late, either in their safari vehicle, at bird feeders or on canoes. This will be a very relaxed and chilled experience and you are free to do anything at your own pace.

Jaguars - we start well before sunrise with breakfast at the lodge before boarding our special speedboat and heading off up river into the national park. Since jaguars like to sleep in we rarely find them first thing so instead we concentrate on river otters, birds and landscapes. Once the temperature comes up then we start our Jaguar search, either finding our own or responding to a radio call from another boat. It's so exciting to go chasing up the river not knowing what we will find. When we do come across a jaguar my experience working with tigers and big cats comes into its own as I direct the boat from the front to ensure that we have the best chance of getting pictures. Several times in the big encounters this policy got us in the right place at the right time for the killer shot. 

Around 11am we will start the journey back to the lodge, looking all the time for Jaguars. After a rest and lunch we will head out again for more jaguar time. As the daylight fades the jaguars melt into the forest and we start to concentrate on species in the low light and of course some backlight stuff too before a beautiful ride back to the lodge. 

Our Sao Paulo Lodge

Our Pantanal Lodge

After a night in Cuiaba we will transfer to a lodge for a 2 night stay. The owner, an accomplished photographer, is the first to setup feeders for bird photography in the Pantanal. Right now he has hummingbirds coming in plus colourful tanagers, curassow, yellow billed cardinal plus coati mundi and tame agouti. Top for me was hyacinth macaw nest, which are simply the best of the best. They have a safari vehicle and a boat, plus they are building a slightly underground hide near to a water source visited by ocelots and jaguarundi (no guarantees). They are real wildlife enthusiasts and have lots of plans for things to do, so I have no doubt this will be great! We went on several canoe safaris and also had a lovely encounter with a Tapir too!

So we are allowing two nights here to give you effectively one afternoon and a whole day (plus dawn the 2nd day) to relax, get some good wildlife and allow us to help out your photography and prepare you for the jaguars!

Our Jaguar Lodge

So as I said earlier we are staying a remote river lodge, away from the main hustle and bustle of the main river. It's comfortable and quiet. Rooms are perfectly fine, think Travelodge not Hilton, but they are clean and the showers work. Don't expect 5 star luxury in Brazil, this is a very remote lodge! and basic but perfect for what we need.

The Kit

A Word about Fitness

You will spending long periods in the speedboat, maybe 5 hours max. And it will be hot. So you will need to be able to cope with this, in the middle of a sighting we will not be able to break off and head back to the lodge. There are a few places that we can have toilet stops along the bank but it's best to be honest if we don't do that, so if you think that you will have to go every hour on the hour then this trip may not be the one for you! Other than that there are no fitness requirements at all!

Travel

Miscellaneous

Itinerary

Price and Booking

The price for this adventure is £7850 per person sharing, the single supplement is £950. This is the land cost only and includes all lodge accommodation, all transfers, all meals at  the lodges and all guide services. It does not include international flights, alcoholic drinks, tips and items of a personal nature. Steve at Wildlife & Wilderness will handle all flights. 

You MUST take out adequate travel insurance to cover any cancellations by you.

Important for those not in the UK - Steve will be able to sort out any differences in flight cost etc for you if you wish to use a different route or operator (or for those of you based in the home of KLM!!). Please note that if you choose not to travel on our group flight then you will need to organise your transfers in Cuiaba. Please note that the cost of flights may change at the time of booking and you will be advised of this. Also note they are subject to availability. 

Deposits - Right if you wanna go email me and confirm it asap. Please send a copy of your passport with this too. We are running this trip with Wildlife & Wilderness, they will handle the £1500 per person deposit and help you with the flights. The balance is payable 60 days from departure. If we postpone the trip your deposit will either be refunded to you in full or held over for a future trip (it will be your choice). If we have paid for flights then airlines are not great at refunding money so please take out comprehensive travel insurance for this trip.