Paraguay, Pixaim and Cuiaba Rivers and tributaries, Mato Grosso, Northern Pantanal
Caiman Ecological Refuge, Buraco Das Araras and Pousada Aquape, Mato Grosso do Sul, Southern Pantanal
Iguassu Falls, Paraná
October/November 2019
This 24-day comprehensive private visit to both the north and south of Brazil's Pantanal was booked through and superbly guided by Fred Tavares of Brasil Aventuras.
We visited a number of locations for the various animals you can see in the slideshow below, but of course, the main target of our trip was Jaguars. For these, we visited three very different locations. Firstly we spent four days on the Paraguay River, a beautiful river with stunning landscapes and numerous Jaguars, where we enjoyed great sightings with only one or two other boats, making for a wonderful experience. Then to the Cuiaba River near Porto Jofre, which is justly famous for the number and reliability of Jaguar sightings. We saw many over our six day stay, and although at times it was busy with other boats, we also enjoyed quieter encounters as well. Finally in the southern Pantanal we had a magnificent time at Caiman Ecological Refuge. The Jaguar project in the refuge (Oncafari) is doing superb work and going from strength to strength. Here we had some of my best ever Jaguar encounters. Being vehicle based, rather than in a boat as we were at the other two places, gave us much better flexibility, and we enjoyed many encounters all to ourselves - magic! In total on the trip we had 37 Jaguar encounters with 24 different individuals.