Jaguars and Wildlife of the Brazilian Pantanal

With all the traveling I've done lately, it's been awhile since I've gone on a proper wildlife trip. Brazil's Pantanal (deriving from the Portuguese word "pantano" meaning "swamp") has always been on my bucket list, and what better time to travel there than during my birthday? Bordered by Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela, Brazil is the world's fifth largest country in terms of population as well as land area (after Russia, Canada, China, and the US). Brazil has more plant and amphibian species than any other country, is second for mammals, and is third in the world for birds, reptiles, and fish. You might be wondering what the Pantanal is... few people know about it (unless you're a wildlife photographer!) and few people visit it. The region is still very much underdeveloped in terms of transportation and hotels with rough roads consisting of long driving transfers and basic accommodations with probably the world's worst mattress at a fishing lodge. The Pantanal was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000 and has since also been declared a Biosphere Reserve. It is the world's largest freshwater wetland consisting of more than 1,200 rivers and streams and is a diverse landscape encompassing rivers, lakes, marshes, islands, forests, and many other various ecosystems. The area comprises roughly 3% of the entire world's wetlands (globally, wetlands cover just over 6% of the Earth's land surface). Unfortunately, while it is considered to be one of the most well-preserved wetlands in the world, only 2% of the Pantanal is currently under any form of legal protection as most of the land is held privately by ranchers with 2,500 fazendas (plantations) and up to eight million cattle in the region. This 42-million acre area is a lesser-known counterpart to the Amazon despite the larger concentration of animals found in the Pantanal. Here, you can find around 650 species of bird, over 1,100 species of butterflies, more than 100 species of mammals, approximately 10 million caimans, and the highest concentration of jaguars to be found anywhere on Earth. While the majority of the Pantanal is in Brazil, it also extends into Bolivia and Paraguay. 

On July 21, James and I took a red eye flight to São Paulo ("Sampa" as locals affectionately say) connecting through Panama City. By the time we landed in Brazil and transferred an hour to the city, it was already 11 PM. By the time we ordered room service and ate, it was midnight. Unfortunately for us, we had a 5 AM wake up call to transfer back to the same airport to catch our morning flight to Cuiabá. I nearly had a heart attack in the airport because when the luggage came off the carousel, mine was nowhere to be found! My bag was the very last one off the flight, and some people (not on our trip) did not receive their luggage at all.


The city itself is actually two sister cities separated by the Rio Cuiabá: Old Cuiabá and Váreza Grande where the airport is located. Upon landing, we headed straight for a restaurant on the water where we got our first taste (more like "look" because we didn't eat a lot of it) at local food. This local only restaurant is not frequented by tourists and is truly off the beaten path. There was a buffet laid out with various kinds of fish from the Amazon, plantains, rice, beans, and lots of dishes incorporating caiman or piranha. 

Buffet lunch.

Once seated, waiters brought skewers of meat and fish to the table in true Brazilian fashion. If you wanted anything from a skewer, they would cut a slice off from the skewer and you'd grab the meat with a pair of communal tongs. We enjoyed the views for awhile before our road transfer into the heart of the Pantanal. 

View from lunch.

On the way to Araras Ecolodge in the northern Pantanal, we stopped to take pictures at the gateway to the Pantanal right after the town of Poconé (the last town before being pretty cut off from the outside world and the last chance to get any supplies needed for your travels). The Transpantaneira was originally constructed in the 1970s with the hopes of building a highway that plowed all the way through the Pantanal from Poconé to Corumbá. Since humans and technology were not a match for this, the project was aborted after 90 miles at Porto Jofre, a small fishing village on the shores of Rio Cuiabá. 

At the gateway to the Pantanal.

Over the years, the former highway has metamorphosed into a bumpy road connected by 126 wooden bridges in varying states of disrepair, though we did see some workers reconstructing the bridges on one of our drives. Even though it's a bit overgrown and falling apart at times, it's the only road that actually leads into the Pantanal. The first stretch of the Transpantaneira is lined with fazenda (plantation) lodges and it is not uncommon to see cattle, horses, and of course the Pantaneiro cowboys. Along the way, we stopped to photograph some of the native bird species and did not end up arriving to our lodge until almost dinner time. To say we were exhausted would be an understatement. After little sleep the night before and a long travel day, we could barely keep our eyes open for dinner-- we dined and dashed!

A black-capped donacobius.

A ringed kingfisher sits on a telephone wire.

Because we were still sleep deprived and tired from our long travel days the following morning, we opted to skip the morning group walk. Instead, we slept in, chatted with the lodge's owner, had a leisurely breakfast, and went on our own photo walk around the property. Below are some photos of the property itself.

The entrance to our lodge from the highway.

Entering the lodge.

Each room had its own hammock.

View from the room.

...And we did see a cayman on the path!

The pool had bar stools in the water and you could order sodas at the bar!

We saw lots of bird life from here... also lots of caymans.

We spotted quite the range of bird life including the black curassow, the green-barred woodpecker, monk parakeets, and a beautiful yellow-billed cardinal. Of course, we also saw lots of caymans. Below are some photographs from the morning.

Black curassow.

A female black curassow.

Green-barred woodpecker.

Monk parakeet.

Yellow-billed cardinal.

One of the many caiman at the lodge.

This caiman was right near our room!

When it started to warm up mid-morning, we went swimming in what would turn out to be the best pool of the trip. When I spotted hyacinth macaws in a nest right above the pool, I ran to the room to get my camera. I'm pretty sure I gave James a heart attack when I asked for his help with bringing my very expensive camera into the pool with me to photograph them from a low angle!! 

Near the deep end, barely keeping the camera above the water.

Cameras at the ready!!

These gorgeous birds are a threatened species with an US $10,000 price tag on the black market. Locals construct boxes around their nests to protect and conserve the species (we'll get more into this later).

Hyacinth macaw as photographed from the pool.

Following a little hammock snooze, we met up with the group for lunch before heading out on our first game drive. We didn't see a whole lot (some howler monkeys, a very cute capybara that James spotted, and some birds) but the drive itself was beautiful among the blooming pink trumpet trees... But the mosquitos were not so beautiful!

A capybara with a wattled jacana on its back.

A tiger heron fishing.

Many pink trumpet trees were blooming.

A pink trumpet tree with the moon.

We stopped at the lodge's working ranch to watch the sunset before returning to our lodge. I ran straight to the horses!

The horses were being let out for the evening when we arrived at the ranch.

On July 24, we left our lodge for the five-hour drive to Porto Jofre which is home to the highest concentration of jaguars anywhere in Central or South America. Driving across the bridges of the Transpantaneira we saw marsh deer by the side of the road. We took a quick leg stretch and snack break... and we saw our first "jaguar"!

Our first "jaguar".

We arrived at our humble accommodations by lunch time. We took a quick tour of the property, posing for a photo at the stairs to the dock, before settling in to the lodge that would be our home for the next few nights.

The stairs to the dock.

Pantanal Norte originally functioned primarily as a fishing lodge. As fishermen began posting about jaguars in the region, the lodge saw an opportunity to cater to tourists as well, and now this is the premier jaguar viewing location in the Pantanal. Unfortunately, the jaguar viewing here reminded me much of Eastern Africa where there are no limits to the number of people at a sighting, so we often had over thirty (!!!) boats at a jaguar sighting because all the boats radio to one another whenever there is a jaguar or river otter.

After lunch, we loaded up the boat with M&M's, nuts, grape juice, guaraná (easily my new favorite soda), water, and more. We sped along the Cuiabá River for about 30 minutes before reaching the official boundary of Pantanal Matogrossense National Park in the state of Mato Grosso at the border to Mato Grosso do Sul. Now that's a mouthful!

The ultimate form of sun and bug protection!

Within the first 15 minutes of entering the park via boat, we came across our first jaguar swimming in the water. 

Our very first jaguar sighting.

Slinking through the vegetation.

When we lost her to the dense foliage, we continued on and found another male jaguar on the edge of the river bank less than an hour later. He was very lazy and kept yawning, stretching, and rolling over.

 

Belly rubs?

With their coloring, I think jaguars are even more beautiful than leopards.

Grooming himself.

Checking out all the boats looking at him.

Jaguars are considered one of Brazil's "big five", along with the giant anteater, giant river otter, tapir, and maned wolf. They've long played an important mythological and cultural symbol among indigenous communities for thousands of years. Pre-Columbian artwork depicts jaguars on tools, statues, and temples; the Maya associated jaguars with the afterlife believing it could move between the worlds of the living and the dead; the Olmecs worshipped a half-jaguar/half-human deity. These majestic cats are the third largest cats (after tigers and lions) and the jaguars in the Pantanal are the largest in the world... sometimes, they exceed 300 pounds and 7 feet in length! Relative to body size, jaguars have the strongest bite of all the cats with a crushing power of up to 1,500 pounds of force. Compared to leopards, they have a stockier build with shorter legs and the "rosettes" on the coat of the jaguar have spots inside the rings while leopards do not. While jaguars are legally protected, hunting still does occur. Ranchers frequently kill jaguars in retaliation killings because jaguars hunt their cattle, similarly to how villagers in parts of Africa kill lions in retaliation for killing livestock. Even so, their main threat remains deforestation. When roads penetrate the forest, they're the first of the large mammals to disappear. The jaguars' range includes nearly 28% of the world's biodiversity but more than half their original range has been lost, and the rest of their original range has become highly fragmented. The global population's rising appetites for soy and beef (two of the biggest drivers of agricultural expansion in South America) have fueled a rapid clearing of the forests that have pushed jaguars into smaller, isolated patches as a result. While it's estimated that about 64,000 - 173,000 jaguars still exist in the wild, the numbers of jaguars and their prey are decreasing in most regions. It's suspected that the species could soon qualify as vulnerable on the IUCN list.

As the sun set, we geared up with our bug goggles to repel mosquitos as we sped back to the hotel. 

The bug googles look ridiculous, but work really well!

Sunset on the river.

The following morning, we came across giant river otters pretty early on. Giant river otters are fierce predators also known as the "river wolf". These critters hunt fish, crustaceans, reptiles, and small mammals and are the largest member of the weasel family. 

"Say cheese!"

Scratching itself on a swim break.

Looking for its friend.

Eating one of the many fish it caught.

We followed the otters for awhile before zooming off to what became my favorite jaguar sighting of the entire trip. 

Speeding down the river.

With all the boats at sightings, it's crucial to have a seasoned boat driver who is able to position the boat in a good location. In predicting and anticipating the animal's behavior, this can easily be done. When we came across a female jaguar (the most famous jaguar in the area), we followed her upstream as she hunted for caimans. She put on quite the show for us, walking right on the edge of the water before crossing up and over a sand bank. Past the sand bank, she continued to hunt until we saw a giant splash... she had caught a caiman! Below are some of my favorite photographs from the nearly hour long sighting.

Looking right at us!

She disappeared into the bushes, but came back out towards the river on another path.

Crawling towards the water.

Walking down a sand bank.

Ready to pounce!

On the hunt again...

She must see something...

Got it!

...And below were just some of the boats around us!!! 

The rest of the afternoon was fairly quiet with just a few birds (below) and as the heat intensified, we were given cold towels since the boat had no sun covering. At one point, I could feel the dehydration kicking in despite drinking lots of fluids. I buried my head in my life jacket as much as possible, with my hat providing minimal shade on my face. I chugged an entire water bottle of electrolytes to no relief, chugged an entire bottle of grape juice, and ate M&Ms for sugar. I still didn't feel any better and was very grateful when we returned to the lodge for lunch after over five hours out on the water.

The anhinga, also known as the snakebird.

Black-collared hawk.

By the time we got back to the lodge, I was so dehydrated that I wasn't even sweating in the heat of the day. James and I opted to refrain from the afternoon boat ride and instead chose to swim and stay in the air conditioned room. 

We had the pool to ourselves!

When the group returned from their afternoon river excursion, my friend Kim and I sat outside watching all the capybaras grazing on the lawn. I must have gotten 50+ mosquito bites on my back and legs during that time, but it was so worth it! 

The main lawn of our lodge.

Walking back to the river.

By dinner, I was feeling much better and was ready for the next day: my birthday. As a birthday present to myself, I hired a private boat for James, Kim, and myself so we could leave at the earliest possible time and attempt to find wildlife in the morning golden hour light. We left the lodge at 5:45 AM when the sun was just starting to rise since the boats can't sail in the dark. It was so dark I used a flashlight to make my way to the dock, all decked out in my anti-bug gear!

All decked out and ready to go!

The pathway to the boats was quite dark.

The sun had just started coming up.

The orange glow illuminated the water and the mist began to burn off as the temperature climbed. Being awake for the sunrise is always something I treasure whenever I travel, because I'm often not awake for it at home. But what's sleep on vacation?! 

Heading out before everyone else.

The mist hadn't yet burned off and it floated around us. It was magical.

Sunrise in the Pantanal.

Not long after we got to the border of the reserve, we came across capuchin monkeys in the trees with perfect lighting.

Shortly after, we came across two river otters hunting for fish. We followed them in the most beautiful light and watched them as they'd quickly devour the fish they caught, often propping themselves up on a log in the river. We were so close we could hear the bones of the fish crunching! Not only that, we were the only boat at this sighting for the longest time which was incredibly special as most sightings have at least ten boats. 

Two river otters swim side by side as they hunt for fish. While they hunt together, they don't share their catch with the other.

Eating a fish on a dead tree in the river.

They aren't the cleanest eaters!

An anhinga ready to take off.

It was so much more peaceful photographing the river otters because we weren't worried about positioning the boat to get a good view around other boats. Instead, we could direct our driver to position the boat to anticipate their behavior with zero obstructions to our view. We followed the otters into an estuary and we photographed them for nearly an hour before our boat driver, Tattoo, received a call that there was a wildlife sighting. 

Alone in the wilderness.

I loved all the blooming trees!

Even though Tattoo didn't speak any English and we didn't speak Spanish or Portuguese, we knew it was a jaguar sighting by the way he gunned the motor. We flew across the water, winding around river bends, hair whipping across our face until other boats came into view. 

I had to take my safari hat off because it definitely would've blown off into the water.

There, barely peeking out of the dense vegetation, was a jaguar. We only got a few photos before she disappeared, but my birthday wish of seeing a jaguar came true! 

Walking along the river checking out the boats.

James and I at the jaguar sighting.

When the jaguar disappeared, we thought maybe it would come back out so our driver parked us in the reeds. When it didn't return, we sped on to the next thing.

The rest of the morning was fairly quiet, with beautiful birds and narrow estuaries until we saw a mother jaguar holding her cub in her mouth as she crossed a river channel. When we arrived, I had just seen a small splash in the water and didn't realize it was a cub until I zoomed into my photograph later on. It wasn't a photographable sighting, but incredible to see. While the below picture isn't an award-winning photo, it's a great one for the memory... if you look closely, you can see the baby's head, ear, and closed eye! 

Mom with her cub.

We returned to the lodge around 10:30 that morning because, as we saw with the group touring, not much happened after that time and it got miserably hot. So, James and I took a little walk around the property to see if we could find some capybaras. We did! These semi-aquatic mammals are the world's largest living rodent and are very common throughout the Pantanal. They can survive underwater for up to five minutes, though unfortunately they often fall prey to jaguars. These herbivores can weigh up to 130 pounds and eat up to eight pounds of grass per day. They're often found in groups of 10-30 led by a dominant male and are highly communicative through a combination of scent and sound with purrs, alarm barks, whistles, clicks, squeals, and grunts. 

Capybara family at the lodge.

Capybaras resting in the shade of the trees during the heat of the day.

Enjoying the view!

We photographed the capybaras for awhile before taking a short walk on a bridge to observe the Victoria regia (also known as Victoria amazonica) lilies in the water. It's the second largest water lily in the world, strong enough to hold hundreds of pounds. 

The pathway over the water.

We were told to only walk halfway across because the bridge was not very sturdy.

Giant lily pads!

These were the only lily pads we saw for the entire trip.

After lunch, we left for our afternoon private boat ride. While the afternoon was very quiet (we only saw a few birds and some smaller reptiles), it was so peaceful just being on the water in the fresh air sipping grape juice. It helped that it was starting to cool off, too. Towards the end of our afternoon excursion, we came across a beautiful jabiru stork, the largest flying bird in the Americas. It grows 4-5 feet tall and has a wingspan of 9-12 feet! 

Jabiru stork in the late afternoon light.

Close up of a jabiru stork.

And, of course I enjoyed my grape juice!

When we got back to our lodge, I told James that I was craving pizza. Five minutes later when we sat down for dinner, two pizzas appeared! It's like the lodge read my mind. For dessert, the lodge made a delicious mango cream birthday cake (thanks, mom!) All in all, it was a great 28th birthday! 

My delicious mango birthday cake... one of the best birthday cakes I've had.

On July 27, we walked to the lodge's airstrip and hopped on a quick one hour flight to the southern Pantanal (where we were based for the remainder of our trip) but not before stopping for some last capybara photos! 

Capybara sleeping.

A family of capybara at the lodge.

Entering the airstrip.

Our group had two planes.

The cockpit-- larger than African planes I've been on!

The flight over the central Pantanal is in lieu of a 10-hour drive and is much more scenic. We flew over blooming yellow trumpet trees and the largest bodies of water in the Pantanal. Some of these areas never dry up.

Taken shortly after lifting off from Porto Jofre.

Some of the many water channels in the Central Pantanal.

I loved all the different colors as we flew over the Central Pantanal.

When we landed at Caiman, we drove one hour to our lodge after enjoying some snacks at the airstrip (plantain chips, fruits, and nuts). This renowned ecolodge lies at the remote heart of a 130,000 acre sustainable cattle ranch and the atmosphere reflects the local cowboy culture spanning 200 years of combined Portuguese, Paraguayan, and indigenous traditions. 

The airstrip at Caiman.

Our safari vehicle... much larger than what I'm used to!

Some of the many wildlife signs in the area.

The lodge was the first ecotourism operation in the region and when it was established, 10% of the ranch acreage was set aside as a private conservation area, off-limits to cattle but open to visitors. The area, chosen with the aid of research scientists from the University of Sao Paulo, is remarkably diverse with habitats encompassing wooded and scrubby savanna, open pasture, stands of caranda palm, hammock forests, streams and seasonal channels. Caiman has a few properties in different areas of the reserve. Since we were with a group, we had the Private Villa (called Baiazinha) to ourself. With just six rooms, this property is in a magical location and is shaped like a macaw with the two wings of rooms connected by a common area. Every room has a hammock, the decks have gorgeous views of the water, and the pool was a fantastic lap pool. By the time we got to the hotel, we had lunch and rested (i.e. swim and yoga!) before heading out on an afternoon game drive.

The entrance to our lodge. This was the entire building!

Our room.

Each guest had a little welcome gift waiting on the night stand.

The main area of the lodge.

The main area at the lodge and the dining room.

Our hammock on our balcony overlooked the pool.

The pool!

The staff brought out sodas and snacks for us while we swam. It was incredibly thoughtful, and a nice touch.

When we went on our afternoon game drive, we stopped to photograph some hyacinth macaws at their nesting boxes. Founded in 1990, the Hyacinth Macaw Institute monitors nests to obtain data about the species. The project maintains viable populations of hyacinth macaws in their natural habitat over the medium and long term by studying the biological and ecological relationships of the macaws in their natural environments. The nonprofit supports 850 registered nests, 480 natural nests, and 400 artificial nests and conducts research on the macaw population by climbing the trees in a harness to check on the nests. The project has helped to recuperate the population of the species throughout the Pantanal and remove it from the list of endangered species in the region. 

A hyacinth macaw sits atop a nesting box.

Shortly after, we came across our first giant anteater in an area they don't usually frequent. Up to 7 feet long and weighing up to 100 pounds, these mammals have the lowest body temperature of any mammal. They can eat more than 30,000 ants and termites every day, and they're considered a vulnerable species due to habitat loss, hunting, and deaths from the burning of sugar cane fields and vehicle strikes along the highway. We didn't see this one for long since it was crossing the road and the vegetation is dense, but it was enough to get a quick photo out the back window of our vehicle. 

A giant anteater crosses the road.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon photographing birds and foxes until we came across mating jaguars by the side of the road. Unfortunately, the sun had already begun to set and the lighting was terrible though it was a special sighting nonetheless. 

One of the many foxes we saw.

Nearing sunset.

Hyacinth macaws near the main lodge, which was quite a drive from where we were.

Monk parakeets near the main lodge.

This large, male jaguar mated with a nearby female right next to the road.

The following day, we went on a short morning walk through the forest after photographing marsh deer at the lodge. 

A lone marsh deer.

Can you spot the marsh deer?

A marsh deer as photographed from the lodge.

iPhone panorama from the back deck at the lodge.

iPhone panorama from the lodge.

On our walk, we photographed more macaws and some howler monkeys, the largest of the Pantanal monkeys (weighing up to 10 pounds). The majority of the group also stopped to photograph ants (yes, really) while James, Kim, and I stood talking with one another.

The road to the lodge.

A small, blooming flower on the ground.

A nesting pair of hyacinth macaws.

A howler monkey high in the trees.

A Savanna hawk.

When our forest loop was finished, we went on a short morning game drive. The highlight was seeing macaws eating nuts and Edison, our pantaneiro guide, using his machete to show us how to crack open a palm nut (it's extremely difficult and the macaws use their zygodactylous feet to open the nuts). 

A hyacinth macaw uses its foot to crack the nut.

The macaws only eat the small, white part as pictured here. You can see how thick the nut's shell is!

"Posing" for a portrait.

On the way back to the lodge, we stopped at the ranch because the pantaneiors were working. They were very friendly and invited us into the corral to watch as they saddled the horses and demonstrated various aspects of their daily life, like using a horn to signify danger or the start of the day. 

The ranch has a large BBQ area.

Rounding up the horses.

The horses line up to be saddled.

The traditional saddle.

Tacking up.

This horse behind me just wanted attention!

Demonstrating the use of the horn.

Me and my new friends!

All the saddles are hanging in the outdoor dining area.

After lunch back at the lodge, we had an eventful game drive towards the end of the day when we came across armadillos mating, an anteater with a baby on its back, toucans, and a burrowing owl. My favorite photos from the afternoon are below.

There is just one long road. Because of the fences for cattle on either side, you can't offroad.

 

We watched as the male armadillos ran around trying to catch the female. This one won the race and mated with her.

A mother anteater carries her baby on her back.

A different anteater looks for insects.

Two beautiful toucans!

A burrowing owl on top of a termite mound as the sun sets.

Instead of returning to the lodge for dinner, however, we went back to the ranch where a traditional BBQ was waiting for us. 

Sunset at Caiman.

When we arrived at the working ranch, they had transformed the outside space into a cozy seating area.

Meat over the fire, cooked in the traditional style in the crevice of a tree.

Roasting marshmallows in Brazil of all places!

As we sat at the tables, the pantaneiros brought meat on skewers that they would cut for us at the table. You just tell them how big of a piece you want, grab your fork and knife, and catch the meat as they cut it. It was truly farm to table, and some of the best steak I've had (they cook it over a tree!) While we were eating, there were local musicians with some of the best voices I have heard and our guide bought one of their CDs for me (for my birthday!) since I was raving about them the whole evening. When we left dinner, we had an extremely rare sighting of an ocelot, though I was way too slow with the camera for a photo... But, I can say that I saw it!! 

We spent our last morning at Caiman at leisure by editing photos and packing and went on the afternoon game drive only to have it be a very quiet last evening out. We did see fireflies, which I saw for the first time in my life and that was very special, but other than that, we didn't see anything. The next day, we left Caiman at 9am for our five hour drive to Campo Grande (gateway to the southern Pantanal and the capital of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul). 

Kim and I at the main lodge.

After checking in at the small airport and going through security, we ate our boxed lunches in the terminal before our two hour flight to São Paolo. 

We walked to the plane from the small terminal.

By the time we picked up our luggage, loaded up the bus, and got to the hotel, we only had 20 minutes to shower before the farewell dinner. Immediately after dessert, we checked out of the hotel for our 1:30 AM flight. By the time we landed at LAX the next day, we had been traveling non-stop for approximately 34 hours... As much as Africa! 

Thanks for following along with our adventures in the Pantanal. As always, follow my Instagram @elissatitle for photos and stay tuned for more!