Brazil: In Search of the Jaguar

Day 1: Arrival in Sao Paolo

Upon arrival you will be met by a Mountain Travel Sobek representative and transfered to hotel.

Day 2: Cuiabá - Pantanal

In Cuiabá, our naturalist guide will pick you up at the airport at 12:30 pm. We'll stop for lunch, then hit the road for a 70-minute drive to the Pantanal. Once we reach the town of Poconé, we'll be at the start of Transpantaneira Road, the only year-round access road to the wild heart of the Pantanal. Once on Transpantaneira Road, we'll drive slowly for 69 km through the Pantanal wetlands, crossing dozens of small wooden bridges. Although today’s stretch of Transpantaneira is driveable in 90 minutes, we'll probably spend an additional hour stopping to observe and photograph the plentiful wildlife within only a few meters of our car. We'll arrive to our lodge, SouthWild Pantanal (SWP) in the mid to late afternoon. If we arrive early enough, it should be possible to go on a two-hour boat outing on the intimate Pixaim River, only a stone’s throw from the lodge. SWP is an eco-lodge situated on 7,000 acres of savannas and gallery forests on the banks of the Pixaim River. The lodge is home to three species of monkeys, conspicuous giant otters, capybaras, and paraguayan caimans, as well as excellent forest trails and viewing towers strategically placed for wildlife watching. Overnight in air-conditioned rooms. [Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner]

Day 3: SouthWild Pantanal & Pixaim River

After breakfast, explore the scientifically designed trail system in the biologically diverse riverine forest just east of our lodge. Return prior to lunch to relax or enjoy the birds in the trees around the lodge. After lunch, we'll take a late afternoon motorboat wildlife tour traveling down the Pixaim River end-to-end (60 meters wide, 12 km long). The Pixaim River is a river that only flows seasonally, when the channel isn't choked off by vegetation. [Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner]

Day 4: Transfer to SouthWild Jaguar Camp

After breakfast at SouthWild Pantanal, we'll drive south for 90-120 minutes to the end of the Transpantaneira on the north bank of the mighty Cuiabá River. We'll board radio-equipped jaguar search boats and cruise one hour upstream looking to spot jaguars—at about 22-26 km per hour. If we see a jaguar right away or one of our other boats reports a jaguar, we'll head straight for the cat and postpone check in. Most of the time, however, we cruise straight to camp and check in. After lunch at camp, we enjoy a late afternoon boat outing for 2-3 hours in search of animals such as giant otters, tapirs, and, obviously, jaguars. The camp lies at the center of an 800-square-mile area of private and public protected areas, all of which prohibit the hunting of jaguars. This jaguar preserve is five times the size of the largest national park in Costa Rica. [Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner]

Day 5: Exploring the rivers and channels of the world's richest jaguar preserves

We'll take two boat trips today at the time of your choosing, in search of fauna and flora. Jaguars and giant otters tend to be active most of the daylight hours, even in the middle of the day, so there is no reason to wake up at the crack of dawn, unless you are a serious bird lister. [Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner]

Day 6: Full day in search of jaguars

In our small maneuverable motorboats, we'll continue to explore narrow and wide rivers in the core of this sprawling jaguar preserve. We'll anchor our boats no less than 60-100 feet away from jaguars, so they exhibit their natural behaviors undisturbed by our presence. Return to the camp in time for dinner. [Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner]

Day 7: Transfer to SouthWild Pantanal

After breakfast, we'll boat slowly down river for 1 hour to Transpantaneira Road, then drive 2 hours back north to SouthWild Pantanal. We'll plan to arrive in time for lunch, followed by afternoon hiking, tower visits, or river outings. At some point at SWP, kids and adults inevitably choose to fish for piranhas, which often is successful. Children should not fish without close supervision, however, as taking piranhas off hooks is not child’s play! Overnight in the air-conditioned rooms of SouthWild Pantanal. [Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner]

Day 8: Pantanal - Cuiabá

After breakfast or lunch, we'll drive 1.5 hours along the Transpantaneira back to the town of Poconé, then to Cuiabá Airport for departure. [Breakfast, Lunch]