Jaguars & Friends 2025


Get ready to dive into the wild with our thrilling Pantanal expedition trailer! From breathtaking  jaguar encounters to rare glimpses of elusive ocelots, vibrant macaws, and playful giant otters, this adventure was nothing short of spectacular. And the best part? We're doing it all again in 2025 with our Pantanal Safari!

So check out this cool video!



Join us for an unforgettable journey through one of the planet's most diverse ecosystems. Experience the magic of the Pantanal with passionate, like-minded explorers, guided by the expert hands of Andy and Suzie. Whether you're after incredible wildlife sightings, top-notch photography tips, or just an epic adventure, we’ve got you covered.

We're not like the rest—discover what sets us apart by checking out our brochures. Plus, with our trusted partner, ATOL Bonded (6330) tour operator Wildlife & Wilderness, you can book your spot with total confidence. Ready for the adventure of a lifetime? Let's go wild!




Safari Overview

Dates: July 19th to 31st 2025

Price: £8495 per person, single supplement £1595

Availability: 6 / 8

Fitness Rating: 🏃🏽‍♀️ (see below)

Tour Company: in partnership with Wildlife and Wilderness ATOL bonded tour operator

Tour highlights:

  • 12 Jaguar boat safaris - we stay longer than other tours looking for Jaguars and giant otters
  • Remote lodge - we work away from the massed sightings of the usual locations and look for our own encounters
  • Ocelot and Maned Wolf locations - we will hopefully work these again in 2025 ( year dependant )
  • Colourful bird species with hyacinth and blue / yellow macaws, toucans, flycatchers, jabiru storks and many others
  • No captive species, everything is wild and free
  • See the stunning Pantanal wetlands green and beautiful because we are travelling early in the season
  • Exhilarating speedboat and canoe safaris 
  • Constant help and tuition from the best guide team around
  • Fully insured and protected with Wildlife & Wilderness (ATOL 6330) bonding
  • Flight package available (see below) to save you doing it yourself at competitive rates
  • Conservation donation of £500 given to Jaguar Id project

We offer a quality travel experience, with no shortcuts or hidden costs. Everything is designed to give you the maximum enjoyment and to produce opportunities to take images that will make you smile. Cheaper tours will always be available elsewhere, more expensive ones too, in our view we offer a great 11 night package that is quality throughout so you can travel in confidence with us.





Client Testimonials

Here are our client testimonials from our 2024 tour...

Mike, UK

What a superb trip. We saw the jaguars and many bonuses, but it is the group that makes it so enjoyable. Thank you all for being such great company. 😁👍❤️🐆🐆🐆

Colin, Thailand

We waited a while for this one, and boy was it worth the wait! A fabulous trip with many exciting and memorable encounters. If you’re remotely considering this trip, stop thinking and book now!

Phil, Australia

What a feast of jaguars on this trip. Not to mention the wilderness and other wildlife. Absolutely memorable Pantanal.


Safari Details

Jaguars - Many photographers believe that the tiger is the ultimate big cat to photograph but in our experience it is the Jaguar that should hold this title. Powerful, uncompromising and always rewarding, the Jaguar gives much better photographic experiences than any tiger encounter. Jaguar central is the Pantanal wetlands of Brazil, which is a mecca for Jaguar photographers worldwide, where they are viewed from small speedboats. There are a few big lodges at Porto Joffre where 99% of tourists stay as it's a 30 minute speedboat journey to the Three Rivers National Park. Everyday groups of speedboats head up from these hotels to find jaguars for their clients,  you can get upto 25 -30 boats on a single sighting all trying to get the best position for their clients. This is not what we do!!!

Jaguar encounters -  Our experience with working with tigers in India has taught us a lot about working with big cats and we do not want to compete with a lot of boats for our clients. Simple speaking we do not enjoy it at all as it is not a wilderness experience. So we stay at a remote lodge at the far end of the national park from everyone else. This means that most of our encounters are either ALONE or with one or two like minded boats ( in which case we all work together so everyone gets the best view).  This is important as it allows Andy to position the boat for the most dynamic shots, using all his experience. Working like this means you will probably see less Jaguars than you would with all the boats down the river, we typically see 3-4 per day, but our encounters can be so much better. Sometimes the encounters are short or tough to see, whereas other times they carry on their lives right in  front of us on the riverbank. Jaguars never roam far from the river system so we can always find them if they around. Hunting, sleeping, swimming, jumping, climbing, on our 2024 safari we filmed all of this and more. Remember you will be seeing them at eye level from a small boat, so you will have unparalleled access. We also stay for 5 full days on the river, plus 2 half day safaris on arrival / departure day, that is a total of 12  jaguar safaris!

We are also travelling in July when there are less boats on the river anyway and the environment is still green and beautiful. 

It's not just jaguars in the pantanal - of course this safari is more than just about jaguars. Whilst we are searching for them we will take advantage of any sightings that present themselves, on our last safari we had multiple encounters with fun giant otters, colourful bird life and of course beautiful landscapes. 

And other wildlife superstars - before / after our Jaguar adventures we visit some very special lodges for great wildlife encounters. Expect hyacinth and blue / yellow macaws, parrots, aracari (mini toucans), woodpeckers, colourful birds and lots of caimans. This year we had fantastic encounters with the elusive and stunningly beautiful Ocelot at one of our lodges and if the dry conditions persist we will again try for this in 2025. We are also hopeful to include a Maned Wolf experience too (but no guarantees!!!).

Guides - Positioning is vital for this trip and with Andy's extensive experience he has proved time and time again that he gets his clients unique perspectives. Whether it be atmospheric shots, backlit or positioning for action, he is simply the best at this for his clients and that sets these tours apart. Plus you will have Andy with you at all times to help you use your cameras to the best of your ability. Suzie will be there too as a superb spotter (she spotted more Jaguars on our last two trips than the guides), another camera assistant and to provide her LightRoom processing expertise to anyone that needs it. Working alongside Andy will be his superb local guide team, who are trained naturalists and passionate about the Pantanal. In short you have a very dynamic team!!!








Accommodation

On this safari we have two main lodges, one for jaguars and one as a base for our day trips in the Pantanal area. 

The jaguar lodge is remote, away from the main hustle and bustle of the main river. It's comfortable and quiet. Rooms are very basic yet perfectly fine, think Travelodge not Hilton, but they are clean and the showers work. The food this year was great and varied, staff were friendly and we felt at home here. We will have this lodge exclusively to ourselves. We have 5 client rooms at this lodge so we need a balance of couples and singles on this trip to ensure that everyone has space.

The pantanal lodge is our base for local excursions and is extremely comfortable and nice, with good showers, nice rooms, lovely bar and restaurant and very well trained and friendly staff. Wildlife is all around the lodge and your rooms, literally you step outside of your door and will start photographing! They have a safari vehicle, a boat, canoes and walking trails. We have seen a lot of wildlife here including Tapirs.

We will visit two other lodges for Ocelot and hopefully Maned Wolf but they may not be overnight stays.


Conservation Donation

Our new policy for tours from 2025 onwards is to make a donation from each (actually from our profits not what the clients pay) to a conservation organisation that is connected with where we are going. For this tour we will be making a £500 donation to the Jaguar ID Project, a Pantanal based initiative to protect the Jaguar and it's habitat. For further details on how you can support their work please click here. 

This donation will be made after the tour is complete in July 2025.

Health and Fitness

This is very important so please read. 

We gave this trip a 🏃🏽‍♀️ rating out of 5 as there are no special fitness requirements.  How much walking you do is up to you but compared to most of our trips this is a very physically un-demanding trip! 

You will be spending 5-6 hours on the boat in the morning session and 3 hours in the afternoon. It's fun yes but also it's a long time sitting down and it can be hot too! Toilet stop wise there are a few spots that we can stop along the river of essential but we will never break off from an encounter to do this. 

Why an Andy Rouse Safari?

In his own words - "Many of you will come because you've been with me before and you know I deliver as much as I can and will trust me. You will also know that I hate putting all this stuff down but on this tour you will 100% need my skill and experience, especially with positioning the boat when on a jaguar sighting. I have always had a good knack at being in the right place at the right time and am good at predicting what happens next and move into position for it. 

Of course having all the insurance benefits of dealing with ATOL bonded tour operator Wildlife & Wilderness also sets us apart from many small operators.

We operate a safe space policy where all are welcome on our tours irrespective of race, gender, sexual orientation or religion, we respect everyone's right to be who they are.


Travel and Wildlife & Wilderness

This tour is operated in partnership with ATOL bonded (6330) Wildlife & Wilderness, whom we have worked with for a number of years. The ATOL bonding means that you travel is protected and when things go wrong with flights Steve will be there to help you get to where you need to be. Therefore Steve has put together a very competitive flight package for you that he will discuss at booking time. 

Wildlife & Wilderness is a specialist tour operator with over 27 years of experience and is fully bonded with the Civil Aviation Authority (ATOL 6330) allowing them to sell flight inclusive packages. 


Miscellaneous

Weather - the world's climate is unpredictable. But generally in the morning you will need a warm layer like a fleece and then it will get quite hot to a maximum of 30C. The evenings are pleasant. 

Insect life -  of course there is some insect life around, so you will need to take precautions for this. There is no need to take any anti-malarial medication.

Branded stuff - yes we will have some branded clothing as usual, free to you as a gift from us!

Pre-departure Info - as always we will provide extensive pre departure info several months before the trip that will cover everything that you need to know. 

Cameras etc - covered in the above pre departure info but generally you will need a reach of 500mm  / 600mm to get the most from this trip. So anything from a 100-400, 100-500, 150-400 and any combo like this will be perfecto.

No of people - there will be 8 clients on this tour.

Reality check - you must be very honest about your expectations for this trip. There are no guarantees about what we see, it is all down to luck on the day combined with our fieldcraft. 

Itinerary

The itinerary is as below...

20th July - Leave Home / UK late evening for Sao Paulo

21st July - Arrive Sao Paolo, fly to Cuiaba, drive to Pantanal Lodge, pm activites, overnight

22nd July - All day Pantanal Lodge, overnight

23rd July - am Pantanal Lodge, drive to river, lunch, 1st jaguar boat safari, overnight Jaguar Lodge

24th - 28th July - Jaguar safaris

29th July - am Jaguar safari, transfer to Pantanal Lodge, pm activities, overnight

30th July - Pantanal lodge

31st July - am Pantanal Lodge, drive to Cuiaba for local flight to Sao Paolo for flight home

Services end.

Please note the extra two nights at the end of the Jaguar Safaris may not be spent at the Pantanal Lodge, we are currently working with a new location on iconic maned wolves and anteaters.  A decision will be made on this nearer to the time but don't worry you will be busy these nights!


Prices and Booking Info

So the land only cost is £8495 per person, single supplement £1595. 

This includes all accommodation and meals (unless stated), transfers and all guiding services.

It excludes tips and items of a personal nature

Steve at Wildlife & Wilderness will book all flights for you into Sao Paulo and onto Cuiaba, it is vital that you do not book your own flights as we need everyone arriving together. 

Deposit - The deposit is £1500 per person and the remaining balance is due 3 months before departure. All monies paid are totally non refundable unless we find someone to take your place, in which case we will refund your money within a reasonable time frame. Once the final balance is paid however this is not refundable and we advise you to take out sufficient travel insurance to cover all eventualities that may arise. 

To book your place please click here to email us. Once the tour is full you will receive a formal booking confirmation from Wildlife & Wilderness and a set of their terms and conditions.



Terms and Conditions

ARWP LTD

  1. The meaning of some words used in these Terms and Conditions.
  2. We, us or our is a reference to ARWP Ltd.
  3. You or your is a reference to the person to whom we are providing our services and who is required to pay for the services we provide.
  4. Services means the trips, tours, tuition or workshops we will organise. The precise services we will be providing to you will be started in the literature including website(s) and newsletters advertising the services on offer and as we may agree from time to time
The Terms

  1. Legally binding contract
    1. A legally binding contract between you and us will come into being when you accept the offer of services from us by booking your place.
    2. We suggest that before you accept the offer and book your place you read through these Terms and Conditions.  If you have any questions concerning them please contact us.
    3. You should keep a copy of these Terms and Conditions for your records.
  2. Providing the Services
    1. Our aim is to always provide you with the Services using reasonable care and skill.
    2. There are certain situations or events which occur such as but not limited to adverse weather, non or poor appearance or wildlife, Acts of God, war, acts of terrorism, riot or civil commotion, fire, strike and government or other official intervention which are not within our reasonable control and will affect our ability to provide the services.  Where this occurs we will where possible attempt to recommence performing the services as soon as we are able to. In such circumstances there may be a delay before we can start or continue performing the services.  Sometimes we might have to bring the start time for the services forward.  If we are able to start or continue performing the services or bring the start time forward but you choose not to participate for any reason you will not receive any refund. 
  3. Expulsion from Services 
    You agree to act in a suitable and proper manner whilst participating in the services with particular reference to the safety and welfare of wildlife and the enjoyment of the service by other participants and their safety.  Should you be in breach of this we reserve the right to expel you from the services and in those circumstances you would not receive any refund. 

  4. Cancellation by us   
    If we cancel the services you will receive a full refund. If Andy Rouse is not able to lead the tour for reasons of health or any other unforeseeable event then the tour will still take place and a suitable guide replacement will be provided of the same quality and experience. 

  5. Cancellation by you
    1. Once we and you enter into a binding contract you will not be able to cancel the contract.  This is so that the services we are providing can continue for the benefit of other clients.  Any money paid by you will not be refunded whereas paid as a deposit or in full payment. 

  6. Insurance 
    It is your responsibility to ensure that you have adequate travel or other insurance to cover all eventualities where you do not receive a refund from us.

  7. Restrictions and Assumptions 
    We will assume that all information and facts that you provide are accurate and true such as your level of fitness or health if this is relevant to the particular services.  It is your responsibility to draw to our attention anything which may be relevant or which may affect you from participating in the services we provide before booking and making your payment to us. 

  8. Exclusion and Limitation of Liability 
    1. We do not exclude or limit liability for our negligence or negligence omission which causes you personal injury or death.
    2. We will not accept liability for any loss of or damage to photographic or any other equipment no matter how caused during or as a consequence of the services we provide.  
    3. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have adequate insurance to cover loss or damage to photographic or any other equipment before participating in the services.
    4. In circumstances where we may be liable for any loss or damage suffered by you which is a reasonably foreseeable consequence of a breach by us of this Agreement, our maximum liability will be the amount of payment received from you for this particular service.

  9. Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999
    For the purposes of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 this Agreement is not intended to, and does not, give any person who is not a party to it any right to enforce any of its provisions.

  10. Entire Agreement 
    These Terms and Conditions of Business constitute the entire Agreement between us and you and shall apply to all services provided by us. The invalidity or un-enforceability of any particular term of this Agreement shall not affect the other provisions herein.

  11. Law and Jurisdiction
    This Agreement shall be governed and construed by the Law of England and you and we agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales. 

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