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In early August 2010, Elionil and I accompanied a European couple on a short 3-day-2-night jaguar tour with the two nights being spent at Puma Lodge. Despite the fact that it is difficult enough to find jaguars, since “nature is nature,” and that we had only a very short time period at our disposal, we started out nonetheless optimistically after picking up the couple at the Cuiabá airport mid-morning and heading out directly to Poconé, first stopping en route to fill up the gas tank of the VW van or "combi" as it is affectionately called in Brazil, as well as the extra gas and ethanol tanks for the motorboat ride along the Cuiabá river, a bottle of motor oil and lots of ice for the cooler. These items are bought separately for each trip out to the Pantanal and are included in our tour price.
In Poconé town, about a half-hour drive from the edge of the Pantanal, we stopped for lunch at a churrascaria where vegetarians and meat-eaters alike are provided with a wide selection of dishes and where the bathrooms are roomy and clean. After lunch we stopped at a grocery store to buy some fresh meat and beer for the cooler, which we had filled with bottles of wine, caipirinha mix, and soft drinks the night before. We had also brought dozens of litres of drinking water. Now we were finally ready for what the Pantanal was about to show us.
After the rough, unpaved road of the transpantaneira had begun, it was still about 20 minutes to the park's entrance gate (photo #1) and when we arrived we stopped to take some photos of yellow-billed cardinals that were feeding by the guards' hut, and a single solitary crocodile. Next along the route, we saw some green ibis (2) wading in the reeds and a capuchin monkey scurrying along whilst a kiskadee atop a twig watched his progress. On the other side of the road a savannah hawk (3) was perched on a fence post, and a wood stork loped along, feeding from the ground. Next we noticed some male anhingas swimming in one of the pools of water, one with a fish in his beak (4). Now we seriously had to keep looking both sides of the road: a series of crocodiles (6) on the right soaking up the sun, lazing on the sand or cooling off in the water, not unlike a line of humans suntanning on Ipanema Beach in Rio; a flock of wood storks on the right walking in a line. Among the crocodiles on the right were masses of white egrets and white-necked herons (5), a few more anhingas and storks on the left with a few of the latter perching on a large clump of bushy matter - one white-necked heron was holding his wings wide open in front of him in an effort to dry them off.
Then a trio of baby limpkins (7) were seen in their nest off to the right followed by a caracara (8) on a fence on the left. More crocodiles (9, 14, 15), white egrets (10), a mature limpkin on its own (11), our first jabiru stork in flight, and an immature jacana (12), some vultures, a rufescent tiger heron (13), and our first capybara up against the fence that bordered the transapantaneira. A mature wattled jacana then toed its way along the water hyacinths and another kiskadee (16) started singing to its friends.
Then suddenly coming toward us were three pantaneiros, the local cowboys, chasing an escaped cow, which ran off the road and into the fields with the three cowboys riding hard after it. They managed to lasso it and get it back to the rest of the herd, whilst a snail kite (17), its red eyes reflected in the lowering sun, observed the chase from a fence post and a caracara watched from high up in a tree.
Then Elionil pointed out to us our first jabiru nest (18, 20) on our right, containing an adult using its long black beak to feed its three youngsters. It was particularly picturesque as the nest had been built in a pink Ipe tree which was just coming into flower. At the same time, on the other side of the road, a ringed kingfisher (19) observed us while clinging onto a telephone line. A bit further on, Elionil spotted an anteater (21) on our right walking back and forth in the field picking up termites, or perhaps ants, from the ground as there were no termite hills in that particular area though we had seen entire fields full of them earlier. Then we were watching a woodrail (22) poking around the reeds near the road on our right when a flock of monk parakeets (23) suddenly flew into the palm trees on our left and began their squawking. Soon after, a hyacinth macaw flew into a tall tree on our right. The presence of these types of birds signalled that sunset was imminent.
There were two more occupied jabiru nests (24) on our left to photograph and then a large group of capybaras on our right emerged from the water and began grazing. The sun was getting closer to the horizon and reflected off the water droplets on their very thick fur. We were getting thirsty and needed a bathroom break by this time, so Elionil pulled the VW van into a pousada just after the bridge over the Pixaim River. The Europeans had a beer and I photographed the bird feeder swarming with yellow-billed cardinals, saffron finches, bay-winged cowbirds and masses of bees. A large caracara was nearby, picking at carrion, and a couple of crocodiles (25) were at very close range as they snoozed on the pousada's boat jetty. Then it really was starting to get dark so I put away my camera and we pulled into Puma Lodge around 6pm with time for a rest and a shower before a 7pm dinner of a variety of meat and vegetarian dishes, coffee, and other drinks for purchase. The mosquitoes were also starting to bite and the air was cooler so it was a good time to put on a sweater and some mosquito repellent. At the lodge there were two or three bird, animal and plant books pertaining to the Pantanal, so I skimmed through them marvelling at the photos and recalling to myself just how much we had seen that day and planning what we might still see over the next two days that we had left.
On DAY 2 we were woken by the squawks of chaco chachalacas and the thumps produced by howler monkeys (26, 27, 28) jumping and clambering across the roof. We rushed outside for photos and met for breakfast at about 6am when the sun was already up. Breakfast consisted of eggs, sausages, bread, cake, fruit, juice, tea, coffee and was quite a consistent repast in preparation for the long day ahead of us. The sun was still hazy when we were stopped en route to Porto Jofre by a herd of Pantanal horses (29, 30) and then about 9am we pulled into the grounds of the Hotel Porto Jofre where Elionil keeps his motor boat for the jaguar tours. While he prepared and packed the boat and had it transported to the jetty, the Europeans and I roamed the grounds of the hotel, searching for wildlife to photograph, especially the Amazon or Giant Waterliles that grow in the pond at the back of the hotel grounds. (More information about these unique plants is found on our Pantanal Plant Life page.)
Among the fauna present in the grounds of this hotel were lapwings (31, 32, 34), kiskadees (33), black vultures (35, 36), a caracara (37), a giant hyacinth macaw (ha, ha, 38), crocodiles (39) and wood storks (40). Finally, we were on the water and motoring fast upriver on our hunt for jaguars. We soon saw a group of boats drifting downriver full of photographers watching the bank, as someone had said there was possible sighting there recently, but after a while of drifting without result, we decided to press on and continued on our quest alone, motoring up a few rivers branching off the main Cuiabá River, called Tres Irmões and Piquiri. After seeing not jaguar but otters (41), crocodiles, white-necked herons, capybaras (46, 48), rufescent tiger herons, anhingas (42, 44), kingfishers (43), a green iguana (45) and a southern screamer (47), we stopped for a late lunch on the bank and Elionil pulled out his barbecue grill so as to cook us up some sausages and beef steak. A delicious, juicy pineapple and fresh bread rolls accompanied the meal along with caipirinhas, beer and soft drinks. A few black vultures (49) were hanging around - we thought perhaps they were attracted by the smell of grilled meat - but we realized, while resting in the shade of a large tree to digest our meal, that we were sitting where a jaguar had settled the night before, because we found jaguar foot prints (50, 51), among other animal and bird tracks, and the remains of a caiman that it had consumed (thus explaining the presence of the vultures) - so close and yet, lucky for us really that the cat was not still in the vicinity.
We carried on up the side rivers again for another chance of viewing jaguars but the principal animals we kept seeing (and photographing) over and over again were caimans (52) and capybaras. The Europeans, mellowed by the caipirinhas, started praying to the jaguar god to show himself, but luck was not on our side, so we had to content ourselves with having been privileged to have sat among the footprints of this elusive feline. We also caught sight of an emerald-coloured jacamar (53) and, later on, a flock of roseate spoonbills but unfortunately, by that time the sun was low in the sky once again, so photography was difficult. On the road between Hotel Jofre and Puma Lodge, Elionil brought out the searchlight and we had a night safari before dinner at the lodge and another one after dinner. We saw some deer and small rodents but not much else.
DAY 3 began slightly later than day 2 as the Europeans' flight out of Cuiabá was not until about 4pm so we slept in a bit and had breakfast at about 8am. I wandered round and took some photographs of Puma Lodge and its environs (54) and spoke to the owners about their plans for expansion. We then left for a jungle walk, which started in an area where there was an abandoned house with a few skulls and bones of local fauna as well as animal parts in jars - I wondered who had collected these gruesome specimens. Elionil had brought us here because he knew of a potoo that lived here, but we looked up all the trees and couldn't see it (this particular bird is the king of disguises as it tends to resemble a short tree branch). So no luck with the potoo, but we did see another jabiru nest, this time closer to the ground with one large, solitary chick who would squawk now and then to remind us of his presence. We also caught sight of our first araçari (55) - a cousin of the toucan. Back onto the road - a side road of the transpantaneira between the Puma Lodge and the Hotel Porto Jofre - we sighted our first crab-eating fox (56), who patiently posed for us. We also had brief glances of agouti and snake as they rushed into the undergrowth. The pink Ipe trees (57) were looking lovely and we got out to walk along the road thinking we might have more luck seeing animals this way. It was a hot and dusty road, and despite the dust, or because of it, the bright colours of tiny roadside blooms (59, 60, 61, 62) were made more remarkable. I also photographed some footprints of tapir (58), racoon (63) and stork that had walked along the road the evening before.
We then went off-road for a while to follow the grunting of howler monkeys in among the trees, but no wildlife appeared and we started hearing human shouts so we hiked back to the road and were met by the lead driver of a cattle herd in his SUV, asking us to drive out as there was a herd of 1000 cattle head on its way down this road. Had we not gotten out then, our return to the Lodge may have been delayed as we either followed the herd, very slowly, or tried to wind our way precariously through the herd. Instead, we drove slightly ahead and managed to get a quick image of the front of the herd, with the dust rising behind (64). We then photographed some more caimans (65, 67), another immature wattled jacana (66) and, back at the lodge, a nunbird (68). We packed up our luggage and then rested in the hammocks or by the pool while we waited for the early lunch we had booked for 11:30am. After lunch, we drove back down the transpantaneira north to the airport in Cuiabá arriving by 3pm in good time for the Europeans' flight. As it is a very long drive, we did make two stops to stretch our legs on our way back: one was at the first jabiru's nest (69, 70, 71, 74), where the pink Ipe tree, in which it had been built, seemed to have blossomed quickly in the 48 or so hours since we had last been there, as had other Ipes near by (72, 73); the other stop was to photograph a herd of rheas (75) on our right just after leaving the park.
If you would like to book your own jaguar tour, please keep in mind that for a better chance of actually seeing jaguars we recommend tours of 5 days and 4 nights during July and August. It is best to reserve your tour early as it is the high tourist season and room availability is limited. |
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