Fåglarnas läten tilltar i styrka och när solen stiger över den väldiga vildmarken Pantanal i Brasilien befinner vi oss mitt i. Från vårt flytande hotell i jaguarernas land gör vi dagliga utflykter på floden i mindre, öppna båtar. Varje deltagare har sin egen ”stolsrad” för optimala fotomöjligheter åt alla håll! Vi spanar efter jaguar, kajman, kapybara, jätteutter, neotropisk flodutter och mängder av fåglar. Med oss har vi den erfarna naturfotografen och filmaren Annelie Utter och lokala naturguider. Djuren här är inte skygga och det är lätt att komma mycket nära. Under resan får vi också möta några riktiga cowboys och deras boskap. Pantanal är vildare än västern!
Förläng resan med några dagar i Rio de Janeiro och ett besök vid the Golden Lion Tamarind Project som syftar till att bevara den starkt utrotningshotade lejontamarinen.
Pantanal i Brasiliens inland är vilt, varmt och väldigt. Till ytan är denna vidunderliga våtmark ett par hundratusen kvadratkilometer stor och artrikedomen är världsunik. Ingen annanstans på jorden kan du möta och fotografera jaguar på så nära håll!
Hela fem dygn ska vi tillbringa i den så kallade jaguarzonen i Pantanal för bästa tänkbara fotomöjligheter. Med ett flytande hotell som bas gör vi utfärder längs floden Cuiabá där vi får möta och fotografera djur som jaguar, kajman, kapybara och jätteutter. Fågellivet är fenomenalt och under resan spanar vi efter exotiska arter som den sällsynta agamihägern, båtnäbb och den ovanliga större poto.
The end of the road is in fact on the southwestern tip of “Jaguarland”, which is the name that our ground operators first coined in 2008 to describe the uniquely-Jaguar-rich one half of one percent of the Pantanal that has 75 Jaguars that have lost their fear of motorboats and are possible to see and photograph. So even as you get out of your van to then get into the Jaguar search boats, there often is a Jaguar visible, hunting on the opposite bank of the 200-meter-wide Cuiabá River.
Head upstream 17 km into the heart of Jaguarland to reach the ship, and check in and the do a four-hour, afternoon boat outing in search of Jaguars, Giant Otters, and other iconic wildlife of the Pantanal.
At dusk, arrive back to Naturezas ship for a shower, cocktail hour, and buffet dinner in the air conditioned, panoramic dining room of the ship. At some point during the day or evening, enjoy your first wildlife lecture at the ship, as our Jaguar Naturalist delivers the first our four different custom-designed scientific lectures about key wildlife species of the Pantanal. After dinner, off to bed in the well-designed cabins at Naturezas ship. Each of the guest cabins has a private, hot-shower bathroom and split air conditioner.
Enjoy two boat outings of four hours each to search the 100 km of river channels of Jaguarland for Jaguars and Giant Otters. In fact, the relaxed Jaguars of Jaguarland do a lot more hunting in front of our guest boats than do any other large cats anywhere else on Earth. That’s because the main prey of these Jaguars are Caimans and Capybaras, both of which are found right along the riverbank in the daytime.
Also note that on most evenings, between sunset and 9 pm, at least one Brazilian Tapir also arrives, as it comes to lick a bit of salt from a salt block that the private lodge owner has put out for them for years.
Then at some point after 8 or 9 pm, slowly, slowly, boat safely downstream on the river, which has NO logs, and back to Naturezas for the night. Going slowly and calmly, it might take 2:15 h to 2:45 h to boat back to the ship. If you are warmly-enough dressed, the cool night trip is delightful.
Morning Jaguar boat outing, and then Lunch at Naturezas ship, and then check out at 1 pm and boat for 45 min to Porto Jofre, where you board the closed van for the drive 80 km back north on the Transpantaneira Road to check in at our comfortable, stylish SouthWild Pantanal Lodge (also called by its older name, “Santa Tereza”), famous for Ocelots, the world’s best Howler Monkey viewing, the world’s best Jabiru stork viewing from the tower near the nest and also on the ground, and boat rides on the narrow Pixaim River channel.
The dining room at SWP has floor-to-ceiling glass on three sides, and unique, soft, bouncy, bird-friendly screening placed 15 cm outside the huge expanses of glass so that birds bounce harmlessly off the glass. We have not seen a similar, bird-friendly design anywhere else in the world, but it should be standard design on buildings that are near trees and that have a lot of glass.
Arrive to SWP by the late afternoon, in time to start photographing around the lodge. If an Ocelot has been visiting the viewing blind for 5-10 minutes per evening in many evenings of the last weeks, wait for the Ocelot. If an Ocelot has not been visiting often, then do a night spotlighting drive of 1 hour duration right after the large buffet dinner. Overnight in your air conditioned guest room with private, hot-shower bathroom.
Buffet Breakfast and bird photography right around the lodge and then at 730 am, walk for 15 minutes on the flat to a spot 900 m north of the lodge to enjoy the finest viewing of howler monkeys in the world. There are 15 species of howler monkeys in the world, and the best photographic opportunities with any of those species is at our special Howler Experience platform, which is five-meters high, easy to walk up, and gives you perfect viewing of a family of Black-and-Gold Howler Monkeys at 5 m from you in natural trees in the forest. It took our team three years to gain the complete trust of this family of howlers, and now it is so much fun to see them so close on most mornings. Brown Capuchin Monkeys also often appear at this spot, and the reason that all the monkeys appear is that we give them a modest, fresh fruit snack that they adore. Then after 15 minutes, they leave the location and go on their rounds through our tropical forest.
Then photography around the lodge and then Buffet Lunch in the air-conditioned dining room at the lodge, surely the most beautiful dining room in all the Pantanal, both for style inside the dining room and for the view of nature on three sides of the room.
Rest after lunch, and then an afternoon safari truck outing or boat ride on the intimate Pixaim River.
A possible visit to the Ocelot viewing blind from 15 min prior to sunset until one hour after sunset (if a cat comes, it stays only 5-15 min), and the buffet dinner and overnight at SWP.
Same plan as the day before, but well worth working on the photography of the very tame, wild Jabiru Storks visible on the riverbanks and land near the lodge. Those are the most cooperative of any wild Jabiru Storks on Earth in terms of their happily posing with the background that you choose with the lighting that you choose and prefer.
The boat rides on the narrow Pixaim River normally produces excellent opportunities to photograph several of the five species of neotropical kingfishers—even on some days, all five of the five species.
Black-collared Hawks also are very easy to photograph on that river.
Same plan. There also normally is a Great Potoo available to photograph. Such a strange and wonderful bird.
After some early photography right at the lodge and the buffet breakfast, leave at 7 am to drive in the van back to Cuaibá Airport to then fly at 1 pm to São Paulo to then connect out to Europe.
Tillval – utöka resan med fler upplevelser
Förläng resan med några dagar i Rio de Janeiro och ett besök på The Golden Lion Tamarin Project.
Jaguar Flotel (Norra Pantanal)
Båt tillika flytande hotell som är förtöjd mitt ute i jaguarzonen. Lyssna till ljuden av det vilda i världens största träsk och spana efter djur från däck! Här kan du boka en lyxhytt mot extra kostnad. Alla hytter har egen dusch, toa, eluttag och luftkonditionering.
South Wild Pantanal (Norra Pantanal)
Boskapsranch nära floden med gott om vilda djur som kapybara inpå knuten. Ta en paus i hängmattan och lyssna till vrålaporna helt nära. Fin fågelfotografering i trädgården. Liten pool. Alla rum har egen dusch, toa samt eluttag.
Det fungerar med svenska laddare så länge laddaren slutar upp i en platt stickkontakt med två piggar.Valutan i Brasilien heter Real. Växla uteslutande till Real då det har visat sig att växling via USD inte längre är lönsam i Brasilien.
Obs! Alla kläder och utrustning ska ha färger som smälter in i naturen. Löst sittande kläder pga varmt klimat.
