Jaguar Tours
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The most fascinating animal of the Pantanal fauna is the Jaguar. We offer several options for jaguar tours. While tracking the jaguars, you can see other interesting wildlife such as monkeys, Giant river Otters, and numerous bird species. Because the Porto Jofre area we go to for the best chance of seeing the jaguars is so far from Cuiaba, we suggest staying at least 1 night before and after at another lodge along the way. This will allow you to see more animal species and do other things too.
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But if your main interest is to see jaguars, you can get by without staying at other lodges. The excursions to try to find the jaguars are done by boat, with morning and afternoon excursions. We think that at least 3 excursions offers the best chance of seeing a jaguar, but more is better. Best time to see them is normally about July through September, when the river levels are down and they have to come out of the brush to get water.
All jaguar tour packages include transfers, accommodations, meals and excursions with an English-speaking guide. Drinks are not included, , except coffee and fruit juices at breakfast. Our normal guide for this has been a guide for more than 30 years and has trained guides that work for other companies.
All jaguar tour packages include transfers, accommodations, meals and excursions with an English-speaking guide. Drinks are not included, , except coffee and fruit juices at breakfast. Our normal guide for this has been a guide for more than 30 years and has trained guides that work for other companies.
3 Days / 2 Nights at Porto Jofre
If you don't have much time and are only interested in seeing jaguars, you could just go to the Porto Jofre area for 3 days/2 nights and do 2 boat excursions on 2nd day and 1 in morning of 3rd day. Arrive to Cuiaba in the morning on day 1 and depart from Porto Jofre in the afternoon on day 3 for an evening flight or hotel night in Cuiaba. Pricing with Hotel Berco Pantaneiro. Can price with more expensive Santa Rosa. 2024 price per person in US$ :
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1 Night at Mato Grosso +
2 Nights at Porto Jofre Add a night at Mato Grosso lodge so you can do an afternoon excursion there to see wildlife, then leave the next morning so that you can arrive to Porto Jofre in time for an afternoon excursion. Do 2 excursions on the 3rd day and then depart in the morning on the 4th day to get an afternoon flight. Pricing with Hotel Berco Pantaneiro. Can price with more expensive Santa Rosa or Porto da Capivara (which is 1 hour by boat from Porto Jofre, inside the park). 2024 price per person in US$:
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2 Nights at Piuval Lodge
+ 2 Nights at Porto Jofre Day 1 - Pick-up at the airport and immediate transfer to the traditional town of Poconé with introduction to the geological formation and flora characteristics, then to the lodge, arriving there after a brief safari along the Transpantaneira park-road with many stops to observe its rich fauna. Dinner and night safari - a night-time drive using a vehicle equipped with a flashlight for highlighting nocturnal fauna, with the chance to observe crab-eating foxes, ocelots, and many caiman's eyes! Day 2 - In the morning is a hike through one of the many mound-hills, which attracts a lot of mammals among many birds nests. In the afternoon is a horse ride through the flooding fields. The horse is the most versatile means of transportation, allowing both the crossing of the flood plain and access to the distant forests. The 'Pantaneiro' horse is extremely docile. Other animals are so used to it that they don't perceive the rider on the horse. Day 3 - morning transfer to Porto Jofre in time for an afternoon excursion to try to find jaguars. Day 4 - JAGUARS
Departure by boats equipped with radio-communication for navigating the rivers Cuiabá, São Lourenço, Three Brothers and Piquiri, seeking Jaguars hunting Caiman or simply resting on the banks. On the journey can be observed many other species of the rich fauna such as the Giant-river Otters, Tapirs among hundreds of birds including the Black-skimmer. During these days, expeditions would be done in varied times of the day (some tours in the early morning or late night) on a way to maximize the chance to see the largest cat in the Americas. Day 5 - depart in morning to arrive to Cuiaba in time for an afternoon departure flight. 2024 price per person in US$ : Pricing with Hotel Berco Pantaneiro and standard room at Piuval. Can price with more expensive Santa Rosa or Porto da Capivara (which is 1 hour by boat from Porto Jofre, inside the park) and upgraded rooms at Piuval. We are showing high season prices (July-Sept.). Might be lower at other times
"It was great- 5 jaguar sightings, 4 different one day, including 20 minutes watching one. 120 different birds, great photos- all worked out. thanks." Robert
"Thank you, thank you thank you for organising Munir to look after us for the ten days. He is an amazing guide/person and could not do enough for us (on top of having the most incredible knack for spotting wildlife). We cannot sing his praises highly enough. Charles will email you when we get home next Friday (at the moment, we're still recovering in Manaus from our disastrous three day trip to see the pink dolphins - we should have listened to you, sorry!!!!!!!!) Again, many thanks for all your organisation - we couldn't have wished for a better experience. Regards" Jennie "We had a great trip. We saw a jaguars on 4-5 times, including swimming in front of us & attempted mating which was fantastic. Hyacinth macaws & lots of other birds & animals. Really enjoyed it. The boat driver/ guide JD was excellent. Thanks" Donna "We had an excellent time in Brazil. Thank you for organizing all the details. Everything went like clockwork except when the airlines messed it up. We specifically want to call out Munir. He was excellent, easily the best guide we have ever had. His deep knowledge, experience and continued passion is what made the whole trip special. Apart from showing us so many species of birds and animals, some relatively hard to be seen, he also made our trip more comfortable by arranging comfort food for the kids such as Pizza and Pasta in Porto Jofre. We highly recommend him and we would want him as our guide if we go back to Brazil. We wish him the very best and hope his dreams are very successful. Cristalino was excellent as expected. Everything went well and it was a very good experience. In Pantanal, we specifically liked Piuval Lodge. The open areas filled with birds and other animals made it very special. We wished we had more time in Piuval lodge. In Porte Jofre, we saw jaguars in every boat trip including once a jaguar in a tree and a jaguar eating a caiman. As you must have heard, we did not care for Rio Claro. I will add a referral for you in tripadvisor, yelp and google. Overall, we had a great time in Brazil!" Regards, Raj & Subha. "The trip was fantastic, it was our favourite part of our 18 day trip. We loved the lodges and food. We were hoping to see at least one jaguar at Porto Jofre but ended up seeing 11 including a mum and cub, we saw a tapir on a night drive and even an anaconda sun bathing in the morning. What was lovely to see was Munirs excitement at viewing the wildlife and because he likes taking photos too, he would make sure that we were positioned to get clear shots. We were sad to leave the pantanal to continue our trip we enjoyed it that much." Kirsty "We had a fantastic time! Munir was a wonderful guide and we really enjoyed the experience and learned a lot. Thank you for all your assistance in coordinating such a large group!" Brittany "We had a wonderful time! 8 Jaguar sightings of 7 different jaguars. Munir was really helpful and knowledgeable and we had some great experiences with him. Including rescuing an injured Potoo. Thanks for all your help in the booking process, you made it very easy for me." Christina "The Pantanal: what a wonderful, almost overwhelming semi-wilderness—including the ranches we saw, which appear to have left the natural environments in the region largely intact without all the overgrazing, wetland draining, forest clearing, riparian trampling and overgrazing by too many cattle, etc that seems to characterize too many ranchlands in our American West. The animals there were stupendous; their relative tameness suggested rancher respect for their wildlife. We saw a single adult male jaguar up close and quite personal. Sharp-eyed Alfredo alerted us as it swam ashore and climbed the bank. It disappeared behind a screen of vegetation on the raised bank then walked fully into the OPEN and proceeded to show itself off (seemingly ignoring us, and brandishing some battle scars) before finally disappearing. We learned of no other group that matched that experience during our stay. But, the BIRDS. Pantanal is a supreme bird experience. I ended up with close to 150 species. We had representatives of most of the regional groups, from rheas, seriemas, sunbittern, sungrebe, to Hyacinth Macaws, Toco Toucans, other parrots, nightjars, nighthawks, to small forest species that I was able to identify, etc etc. The trip went smoothly with no glitches that I was aware of. Thanks to you for putting together a deeply rewarding experience. My sense is that all members of the group truly enjoyed themselves. The two pousadas and the hotel at Porto Jofre were really great, each complementing one another with different landscapes and experiences. They were charmingly rustic and very comfortable, great food, and friendly, supportive people. As naturalists, we could not ask for more." Jon "We had the most wonderful time and saw 5/6 individual jaguars. We saw mating, swimming, sleeping and even one hunting and catching a caiman. Plus all the other wonderful animals we saw. Our guide was great and the accommodation was lovely too. The boat we stayed on went to the trouble of getting us soya milk and soya protein so we were really pleased. Thank you so much for arranging it, I managed to get some pics I’m really pleased with and had a fantastic birthday while there. Great end to my 3 months travelling." Gaia "We had a great time on our trip. Richard shared a lot of his knowledge on area wildlife and local history. He ( and driver Nate) were very attentive to our needs and quickly picked up on activities we liked to do. At Porto Jofre our boat driver/guide (Alex) got us to all the right locations.......seeing 8 jaguar in one day and some close up visits to a couple families of otters , plus much more. The food and accommodations met and generally exceeded our expectations. " Pat and Jerry "It was incredible. We had a fantastic time and saw so much wildlife. We saw 3 jaguars on our boat tours with one less than 10 feet away! We saw a tapir, giant anteater, giant river otters, porcupine, caiman, monkeys, capybara and so many beautiful birds. We had super guides Munir and Joseph who were so enthusiastic about nature and finding animals for us. We loved all the lodges we stayed at as well. We were also blessed with great weather and no crowds. Overall an A+ trip. Feel free to us my comments on your website. thanks again." Doug |
2 Nights at Piuval Lodge + 2 Nights at Porto Jofre + 1 Night at Mato Grosso Lodge
We think this offers a good balance of time to see other animals in the Pantanal and time for 3 boat excursions to see jaguars. Day 1 CUIABÁ/ PANTANAL dynamic high LD Pick-up at the CGB airport or hotel and immediate transfer to the traditional town of Poconé, with lunch in a barbecue restaurant and introduction to the geological formation and flora characteristics, then to the lodge, arriving there after an overland safari along the Transpantaneira park-road with many stops to observe the first Egrets, Storks, Rheas, Toucans, Capybaras and Caimans of its rich fauna among 700 species of birds, 120 of mammals, 80 of reptiles...Arrival to the lodge in time to have the first activity: a boat trip on the Claro/Pixaim river, with a change of environments and possibility of seeing the Giant-river Otters, Agami heron and many other animals that, especially in the dry season, has there their only water resource within a large area. Night safari through the Savannah – a night-time drive using a vehicle equipped with a flashlight for highlighting nocturnal fauna, with the chance to observe Crab-eating Foxes, Deer, and many Caiman’s eyes and, with a bit of luck, Ocelots or Jaguars! Day 2 PANTANAL dynamic high/ JAGUAR seeking' BLD In the morning we depart for a terrestrial safari along the whole Transpantaneira park road until its end on the Cuiabá river banks at Porto Jofre, arriving to the lodge for lunch after many stops to observe rich and most rare fauna. In the afternoon, there is a boat ride - the first opportunity to observe the elusive Jaguars in their natural habitat, resting on the riverbanks or playing on the beaches. Day 3 JAGUAR seeking BLD Departure in boats equipped with radio-communication for navigating the rivers Cuiabá, Three Brothers and Piquiri, seeking for Jaguars while they are hunting Caiman or Capybaras or simply resting/ playing on the banks. During the journey can be observed many other species of the rich fauna such as the Giant-river Otters an Tapirs among hundreds of birds including the Black-skimmer. 2 Boat rides are available for the whole day in order to maximize the chance to see the largest cat in Americas. Day 4 JAGUAR seeking/ PANTANAL dynamic low BLD In the morning we depart for a terrestrial safari along the Transpantaneira until another lodge, with lunch on the way and arrival in the middle of the afternoon, in time to enjoy a coffee-break and leave to an overland safari through forests and fields until the Piuval lake, where we do a walking above the aquatic plants to reach a canopy tower which provides us a gorgeous view of the landscape, including birds colonies on the horizon. Return at dusk, with the flocks of birds and possibility of seeing some nocturnal behaved animals. Day 5 PANTANAL dynamic low BLD In the morning, there is a walk through one of the ‘islands of vegetation’ locally known as capão - (portion of non-flooded land that concentrate large number of mammals such as the Black-capped Capuchin Monkeys and Agoutis - among many birds' nests, like the Hyacinth Macaws and Jabiru Storks). In the afternoon, if at the dry season, we do an Overland safari in vehicles that can reach a remote stream inhabited by the agile Giant-river Otters and bordered by a large birds (storks, herons, ibises and cormorants) colony, what attracts many other birds including the Boat-billed Heron. After dinner we depart for a night safari through the fields – a night-time drive using equipment as a flashlight for highlighting nocturnal fauna, with the chance to observe Crab-eating Foxes, Deer, and many Caiman’s eyes and, with a bit of luck, Ocelots or Jaguars! Day 6 PANTANAL dynamic low/ CUIABÁ B In the early morning, we observe the spectacle of the awakening of nature with some walks through a region that offers the best opportunity to see the Giant Anteater. Breakfast and departure to the CGB Cuiabá airport or hotel with drop-off at the convenient time. 2024 price per person in US$ : Pricing with Hotel Berco Pantaneiro and standard room at Piuval. Can price with more expensive Santa Rosa or Porto da Capivara (which is 1 hour by boat from Porto Jofre, inside the park) and upgraded rooms at Piuval. We are showing high season prices (July-Sept.). Might be lower at other times
JAGUAR SAFARI & ARARAS ECO LODGE 7 DAYS/6 NIGHTS PROGRAM
Day 1 CUIABÁ - PANTANAL LOWLANDS - PORTO JOFRE REGION Arrival at Cuiaba airport. After a briefing on your trip and itinerary, departure at 1:20pm to the Porto Jofre region in two different stages. The first is a journey on a paved road past farms and cattle ranches. After reaching Poconé – a small mining town and the gateway to the Northern Pantanal, we take the Transpantaneira Park Road at km “0” (108 km / 67.1 mi. from Cuiaba). This is a park road at its best, allowing us to drive above the water level, watching the flora and fauna of the Pantanal ecosystem – a photo safari along 146 km of dirt road with several stops along the way for photos and information. Arrival at your Hotel in Jofre Region for dinner and accommodation. ( D) Day 2 & 3 PANTANAL LOWLANDS (SAFARI ALONG CUIABÁ RIVER AND MEETING OF THE WATERS STATE PARK) The area between the Cuiabá, Piquiri and Three Brothers rivers holds the Meeting of the Waters State Park - home for a high concentration of jaguars (over 60 individuals). After early breakfast, depart for a morning river safari on motor boat along bays and channels of Cuiabá River and tributaries. This area is home of great wildlife, such as Caimans, capybaras, giant river otters without mentioning the hundreds of birds and of course the jaguars. Returning to the hotel for lunch and rest, and restarting later in the afternoon searching until sunset. Dinner and overnight. (B,L,D) Day 4 TO PANTANAL LOWLANDS (ARRIVAL AT ARARAS LODGE – A WALK TO KNOW THE CONCEPTS AND PROJECTS SUPPORTED BY ARARAS) Breakfast at the hotel. Possibility of joining an optional morning river safari (at additional cost) Departure along the Transpantaneira Park Road to Araras Eco Lodge, on a photographic safari. Accommodation and lunch. Later, you will be guided on an introductory walk through the surroundings of the lodge, as far as the Great Egret Lookout, a 12 m / 39 ft. high observation tower. After dinner, night walk under the Southern Hemisphere sky. (B,L,D) Day 5 PANTANAL LOWLANDS - CANOEING AND TREKKING After breakfast, take a photo safari on private dirt roads towards the Clarinho River. Reaching its banks, board a canoe and paddle down the river, exploring the forest that grows by the riverbanks and mangroves. Here lives a colony of “ariranhas” – giant river otters. With some luck, you may spot a family playing with their babies and teaching them how to swim and fish. Chance of fishing for the elusive piranha, not an easy task, but fun. Enjoy a barbecue lunch under the shadow of the trees (*). Hammocks are slung to enjoy a “siesta”. (*) If the Sentinela Camp is not accessible (depending on the weather and terrain conditions), this canoeing tour will take place on the Corixo River. In that case, we will return to the lodge for lunch. Return to the Lodge in time for the afternoon tea. Later on, trek the Howler Monkey trail to the Howler Monkey Tower, the highest observation point – 25 m high -, for a magnificent view of the sunset. After dinner, join a night drive in search of nocturnal animals. (B,L,D) Day 6 PANTANAL LOWLANDS (HORSEBACK RIDING & HIKING) Full day dedicated to observing the Pantanal’s flora & fauna at the Araras Eco Lodge private reserve. After breakfast, the guide will lead you on a 2 to 3 hour horseback ride through the pastures, woods and wetlands. Lunch at the lodge. In the afternoon, you will go on a hike in a different area of the private reserve, allowing you to observe and learn more of the local environment. Overnight at Araras Eco Lodge. (B,L,D) Day 7 PANTANAL LOWLANDS CUIABÁ Sunrise walk to witness the awakening of the Pantanal. Departure after breakfast (07:30) or after lunch (12:30) – depending on your flight. (B) Note: The order of the activities may be modified according to the program at the lodge and weather or terrain conditions. Our team commitment is for a full enjoyment of the Pantanal Flood Plains, making it an unforgettable stay. Shared activities as per program with naturalist English speaking guide for max. 8 guests - Other languages on request
2024 Rates per person in US$:
Rates will go down with more people.
Included:
Transfers (Regular/ shared basis):
Meals as per program (Lunch on the arrival day NOT included) Add SGL Sup if unaccompanied Not included: Air tickets to/from Cuiabá. Beverages. Medical expenses and hospitalization. Any type of insurance. |