Brazil - Mammals of the Pantanal

The Brazilian Pantanal undoubtedly offers some of the finest bird and mammal-watching in South America. With the onset of the dry season, this enormous wetland gradually begins to dry out, leaving its inhabitants with ever-diminishing pools around which to congregate and feed. Families of Capybara, the world’s largest rodent, often end up vying for position alongside huge numbers of Yacaré Caiman, storks, herons and ibises … and all under the watchful gaze of numerous predators, both avian and mammalian. It is no secret that the north Pantanal currently offers the best chance of seeing Jaguars and Giant River Otters anywhere in the Americas, but the area is also excellent for Giant Anteater, Brazilian Tapir and Ocelot. With such an all-star cast, it is perhaps not surprising that the limited number of lodges and guides in the area charge a premium for their services, particularly when you consider the large number of boat trips included in the most successful itineraries. Building on the success of our ‘Brazil — Just Jaguars!’ holiday, and utilising our excellent relationship with our local partners, this tour is designed to provide a slightly more affordable option for visiting the Pantanal while still providing the opportunity to see the star mammals as the specific focus.

This 10-day itinerary includes 2 nights at Pouso Alegre, 3 nights at the Jaguar Flotel and finishes with 2 nights at SouthWild’s Pantanal Lodge.

Our holiday begins with a flight to Cuiabá, via São Paulo. From Cuiabá we will travel along the famous Transpantaneira and for for our first two nights we will stay at Pouso Alegre Lodge. The 7-kilometre-long driveway that runs to the lodge offers our best opportunity for a sighting of Giant Anteater, one of Brazil's most sought-after mammals, who spend most of their lives lapping up termites and ants with their long tongues. Other mammals to look out for here include Red Brocket Deer, Marsh Deer, Azara's Agouti, Southern Tamandua, Collared Peccary and Brazilian Tapir. We will search for these species by day and night from a comfortable open-sided safari 'lorry' which offers excellent visibility for all.

Moving on, we continue our journey along the Transpantaneira to Porto Jofre, where we board boats to travel upriver to our base for the next three nights at the Jaguar Flotel, a floating hotel located in the heart of the Jaguar's realm. The whole operation here is geared to finding this elusive apex predator. The lodge sends out a team of small spotter boats at our disposal — all in radio contact — each morning and afternoon, who scour the riverbanks in search of Jaguars. We will head out too during these cooler periods of the day and search the most Jaguar-rich sections of the Cuiabá, Piquiri and Three Brothers Rivers for our quarry. Maybe the spotters will find a Jaguar first (and radio us to join them), or maybe we will beat them to it. To date, this tour has achieved a 100% success rate, with a minimum of one sighting, but typically several. Brazilian Tapir and noisy families of Giant River Otters are usually seen too! Our stay at the Jaguar Flotel includes six boat trips.

The Pantanal's birdlife is even more abundant and diverse than its mammals. Such delights as Southern Screamer, Wood Stork, Jabiru, Roseate Spoonbill, Limpkin, Sunbittern, Black-collared and Crane Hawks and Ringed Kingfishers are common. Toco Toucans are seen daily, whilst we will also be on the lookout for Greater Rhea, Chestnut-bellied Guan, Chaco Chachalaca, Yellow-billed Tern, Black Skimmer, Maguri Stork, Blue-crowned Parakeet and numerous others.

On one evening, a 2-hour boat trip from the Flotel takes us to a remote research lodge on the banks of the Piquiri River. The lodge lies next to the cerrado (tropical savannah), a key habitat for South America's largest canid, the Maned Wolf. In recent times, up to three animals have been visiting at dusk for a free offering of food and water which is helping to protect and conserve this particular population. We will wait and spend the evening here hoping for an encounter with this long-legged and rarely seen creature. The beautiful Hyacinth Macaw can also be seen at this spot.

We will spend our final two nights of the tour at SouthWild Pantanal Lodge and explore the wider area on a series of boat trips on the Paxaim River and walks through the surrounding forest. The lodge also offers a couple of wildlife-viewing towers, one in the riverine forest and one next to a habituated Jabiru nest. The main attraction here, however, is the purpose-built hide for viewing the elusive, and beautiful, Ocelot. We will spend both evenings in the hide, which has achieved extraordinarily high success rates... although there are, or course, no guarantees! The varied habitats around the lodge are also home to Black Howler Monkeys — whose sounds wake you in the morning — and Azara's Capuchins, as well as other mammals such as Capybara, Southern Tamandua and Brazilian Tapir, plus birds including Orange-backed Troupial, Agami Heron and all five of South America's kingfishers (Ringed, Amazon, Green, Green-and-rufous and American Pygmy Kingfishers).

From SouthWild Pantanal Lodge we retrace our steps back along the Transpantaneira to Cuiabá, from where we fly back to São Paulo and then home.