Overview

This is the finest jaguar photography experience, bar none.

Excellence is in the details.

“To see this iconic species hunting, stalking for yacarés, capybaras, is one unforgetable experience. During the trip, every day got better, lots of excitement, amazing photos, opportunities like no other place in the world for Jaguars.”

-Alwin v.d.H., 2016 Jaguars of the Pantanal participant

It was once inconceivable that there could be a place where one could reliably photograph wild jaguars in their home habitat, and better yet, in the open along a river bank and in great light. Incredibly, such a place exists in the Pantanal wetland of Brazil, at an inland river delta where at least 47 individual jaguars presently hunt along 70 miles of riverbank. Years of research have proven it to be by far the world’s most productive location for photography of wild jaguars. On all of our prior trips here our guests have enjoyed multiple jaguar sightings each day, lasting anywhere from five minutes to seven hours (most sightings are typically in the range of twenty to ninety minutes). On a previous trip, we have discovered a mother and daughter that had not been known to local biologists, and members of our group got to assign the nicknames that biologists will use for reference. We were also very fortunate to see one of our favorite cats, an-year-old male nicknamed “Mick Jaguar,” stalk and take down a 200-pound, eight-foot-long caiman in the open and from close range  (see photos in the gallery and link to the video at the bottom of the page). Rivers and channels provide easy access for our customized photo boat – a state-of-the-art aluminum speedboat with revolving centerline camera mounts – to locations frequented by the big cats in the dry season. This may be the closest thing to an African photo safari in the New World.

Justin Black and Morgan “Mo” Heim will provide first-class photo instruction and guidance throughout the itinerary. Justin returns to lead his seventh expedition in the Pantanal for Visionary Wild. Mo comes to photography with a background in wildlife ecology and environmental journalism, bringing years of experiences as a scientist and photographer. Her wildlife photography has been featured in BBC Wildlife, Smithsonian, and National Geographic, ranging from mountain lions to monarch butterflies in Iowa to elusive fishing cats in Thailand. To get the best sense for Mo, we highly encourage you watch this one-minute film, An American Icon, about her recent adventure to photograph bald eagles in Alaska. As Mo puts it, this film reveals her heart. They look forward to sharing their experience, expertise, and good humor on this expedition for just six passionate photographers.

The small group size ensures ample space to maneuver for photography from the boat, and a great deal of time one-on-one with the instructors. The video below shows the brilliant design and construction of the boat we will use for photographers:

SouthWild Photoboat on Vimeo.

The Brazilian Pantanal, the world’s largest continental wetland, is a luxuriant forest-savannah mosaic in central-western Brazil that is home to the highest density of jaguars in the world. It is also simply the greatest wildlife spectacle of Latin America. In addition to its jaguars, it harbors the world’s largest parrots (hyacinth macaw), the world’s largest snake (anaconda), the world’s largest otter, and many other species in astonishingly high densities.

We will spend a total of three nights (the first two nights, and the final one) at the Pantanal Wildlife Center’s Fazenda Santa Tereza, an intimate and comfortable lodge located on an expansive estate on the banks of the wildlife-rich Pixaim River. Our floating hotel for the other six nights of the trip is the spacious Jaguar Suites, offering the finest guest rooms in all the Pantanal, purpose-built to support serious photographers in comfort. Moored to the riverbank where the Piquiri and Cuiabá Rivers meet in the heart of the best jaguar action, when compared with other accommodations in the area this privileged location on the water permits us to spend an additional two hours per day with the cats, and at the best times of day for quality of light, comfortable temperatures, and scenic beauty in the Pantanal.

This trip coincides with the surreal magenta bloom of numerous large Tabebuia or “Ipê” trees on the lodge grounds and across the Pantanal landscape. Unique wildlife observation towers include one located just 16 meters from an active nest of habituated Jabiru storks – perfect at first light in the morning – and a second one in gallery forest along the banks of the river. Virtually guaranteed wildlife sightings here include giant otters, ocelots, capuchin monkeys, numerous bird species including toco toucans, hyacinth macaws, rufescent tiger heron, anhingas, crested caracaras, various fishing hawks, stunning yellow-billed cardinals, an the extraordinary great potoo. Jaguars and tapirs are sometimes seen at the Fazenda Santa Tereza as well.

Click “read more” below right for the itinerary, photo gallery, and more information…

ITINERARY

This itinerary is all-inclusive from pickup to drop-off at the airport in Cuiabá, packaged as single-occupancy by default (double-occ saves $975 per person)

August 9 – Arrival day in Cuiabá: Land late morning in Cuiabá, Brazil, flying in from São Paulo International Airport. Lunch in Cuiabá before driving to SouthWild Pantanal Lodge, across the Transpantaneira highway, photographing as opportunities present themselves along the way. Arrive to SouthWild Pantanal in late afternoon. Overnight at SouthWild Pantanal Lodge – Fazenda Santa Teresa

August 10 – Pantanal from SouthWild Pantanal Lodge: Morning and afternoon excursions at SouthWild Pantanal. We’ll make one boat excursion on the river as well as one safari drive. We’ll also see the wildlife observation towers and a number of species of habituated large vertebrates such as Marsh Deer, Jabiru Storks, hawks that take fish from the water’s surface, Ringed Kingfishers that do the same, and Brown Capuchin monkeys and Great Potoos in the forest trails at the lodge.  Overnight at SWPL – Fazenda Santa Tereza.

August 11 – Arrival day at SouthWild Jaguar Suites: After an early morning excursion on the Pixaim River followed by breakfast, we transfer by comfortable air-conditioned bus two hours to Porto Jofre and load into speedboats that will whisk us a half hour up the  Cuiabá River to our floating hotel – the Jaguar Suites.

August 12-16 – Pantanal from SouthWild Jaguar Suites: Morning and afternoon boat outings (a total of 8 hours of boat outings per day during the period between 6:00 am and 6:00 pm) in search of jaguars, giant otters, tapirs, caiman, macaws, and other fauna.  Overnight at the Jaguar Suites.

August 17 – Return to SouthWild Pantanal Lodge: After morning jaguar excursion, depart Jaguar Suites by boat to return to Porto Jofre, and board our bus for the transfer back in time for lunch at Fazenda Santa Tereza. Relax until the afternoon outing starts at 2:30 pm.  Overnight at SouthWild Pantanal – Fazenda Santa Tereza.

August 18 – Departure day from Cuiabá: Early morning photo excursion by boat on the Pixaim River, breakfast, and out to drive back to the Cuiabá Airport by noon to catch flights home.

PLEASE NOTE:

• VISA: It is required that your passport is valid upon the date of entry, in addition to a visa; please obtain your visa in advance from the Brazilian consulate that has jurisdiction in your state of residence in the United States.
• TRAVEL INSURANCE: We always strongly recommend arranging travel insurance. Travelguard.com is excellent.
• FLIGHTS: No flights are included. Please contact us if you would like recommendations regarding flights to and from Cuiabá, Brazil (airport code: CGB)
• GRATUITIES: Baseline tips are included. Our local guides, boat drivers, and lodge staff work very hard to make our experience in the Pantanal the best it can be, and Visionary Wild budgets for a healthy group tip in recognition of their services. Guests are encouraged to tip additionally if they would like to recognize exceptional service.