Southwild Pantanal Jaguar Special

7 Days/6 Nights

This Jaguar Special takes you into the heart of the Pantanal to find the largest feline in the Americas. This jaguar hotspot is the finest place to observe them in the wild, with naturalists, biologists, conservation projects and film crews all helping to preserve the habitat of this magnificent creature. Other Pantanal animals benefit from the jaguar projects too, and you will encounter many of them!

SouthWild Pantanal Lodge is now a world-leader in Jaguar Tourism, and this tour to the heart of 'Jaguarland' on the Rio Cuiaba takes you to the area with the highest jaguar population density on earth. Much of the ionic jaguar footage used in wildlife documentaries by specialists such as the BBC and National Geographic is filmed in Jaguarland, often with the help of SouthWild and its staff. Guests have also provided wonderful amateur films during their stay at the floating hotels, of jaguar hunting, feeding, procreating and relaxing. If you want to observe and photograph jaguar in the wild, there is no better tour than the SouthWild Jaguar Special.

The regular tour leaves on set dates in 2016, as listed. There is also the option of the private tour for those who prefer that idea or can't manage the regular dates.

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from $ 4,275 USD

7 Days/6 Nights

Destinations Visited

Pantanal Wetlands

Trip Style

Adventure

Activities Included

Wildlife Observation
Ecotourism

Tailor Made Tours

All our Brazil and South America Tours, are completely flexible with regards to dates, duration or the tours, activities and accommodation that we can include. All the tours featured on our website are our recommendations based on our experience of how to make the very best of your time in South America. We can adjust these details in any way that you wish. We are here to organise a tour that suits you after all!

Itinerary

Day 1

Arrive in Jaguar Territory!

Destination: Cuiaba to SouthWild Pantanal Lodge

After flying over the Brazilian interior, you arrive in Cuiaba, capital city of the Mid-West state of Mato Grosso and arrival point for journeys into the Northern Pantanal. After meeting at 2pm you begin the journey to the SouthWild Pantanal Lodge. The final part of the three hour drive is on the Transpantaneira Highway, a raised dirt road with excellent views over the surrounding savannah and wetlands. Your wildlife observation begins immediately, with numerous caiman and capybara along with possible sightings of other creatures and stops to photograph them all. On arrival at Fazenda Santa Teresa, you settle in and after dinner will be introduced to the SouthWild team.

Day 2

In Search of the Jaguar

Destination: SouthWild Pantanal Lodge to Jaguar Reserve

Your first Pantanal Dawn Chorus starts the day before your early breakfast at the lodge. At 7am, the group departs the lodge to continue further down the Transpantaneira to Porto Jofre, the end of the road. Transferring to small boats, the navigation on the Rio Cuiaba takes you 13km upstream to the Jaguar Research Centre Reserve. After lunch, an afternoon boat trip around the smaller rivers and shallower creeks gives you the chance to find the elusive jaguar on the muddy banks of the waterways. After dinner, you can enjoy a science lecture and a proper insight into the work of the SouthWild team in the foremost jaguar research station on the planet.

Day 3

Jaguar Hot-Spots

Destination: Pantanal Jaguar Reserve

When staying in the SouthWild Jaguar Flotel, the days include two four hour boat trips around the rivers and creeks of the area, with a decent break for lunch between them to avoid the heat of midday in the Pantanal. The Three Brothers, Black Channel, Cuiaba and Piquiri Rivers are all renowned hunting, breeding and relaxing areas for many jaguar, and site of many of the best jaguar footage recorded by experts from the BBC and National Geographic wildlife teams. Jaguar Extreme trips from SouthWild have a 100% success rate for sightings in the last four years, with a refund offer for anyone who has no luck. Increased sightings now average between 2 and 3 per day.

Day 4

Sightings & Scenery

Destination: Pantanal Jaguar Reserve

With three radio-equipped boats out on the waters at all times of day, sightings are common. Researchers have catalogued 96 different jaguars in the study area, using the unique patterns of spots on their foreheads and cheeks to distinguish them. The number of diffferent jaguar sighted per year in the research area has increased from a handful to almost 40, giving the area around the Three Brothers River the highest recorded density of jaguars in the world. As well as the wildlife, the scenery around the Rio Piquiri and the Meeting of the Waters State Park is wonderfully photogenic, with vegetation, waterways, clear Pantanal skies day and night, and spectacular sunsets.

Day 5

Pantanal Wildlife

Destination: Pantanal Jaguar Reserve

The jaguar is an umbrella species, so that when conservation projects preserve the habitat of the creature, many other creatures benefit as a result. This area of the Pantanal is one of the finest to observe other large mammals, reptiles and amphibians, and boats can approach to close distances without disturbing the wildlife. Giant otters are also increasing in number and families can be observed hunting in the rivers and playing on the banks. Tapir, giant and collared anteaters, armadillo, peccaries and coatis will all be trying to avoid your jaguars. Capuchin and squirrel monkeys, hyacinth macaws, toucans and the fabulous sloth spend their days high in the trees, avoiding the predators below.

Day 6

Return to the Lodge

Destination: Pantanal Jaguar Reserve to SouthWild Lodge

After a final morning boat trip, you leave the Flotel and the research area around 8am, returning the 13km downstream to Porto Jofre. The final road journey back to SouthWild Pantanal Lodge gives more chance to see and photograph the savannah animals. After lunch at Santa Teresa, an afternoon boat trip takes you to the wildlife-rich Rio Pixaim. A night-safari by vehicle to spot the nocturnal creatures of the Pantanal follows dinner. Your final night in the Pantanal brings the chance to enjoy one more night of clear skies and stars as abundant as the wildlife. Owls, night-jars and the smaller feline predators such as the ocelot are active in the dark hours.

Day 7

Jaguar Extreme

Destination: SouthWild Pantanal Lodge to Cuiaba & Away

Your Jaguar Extreme stay in the Pantanal comes to an end with one final chance to hear the dawn chorus, and observe the animals that are most active in the early morning. After breakfast you begin the journey up the Transpantaneira Highway, enjoying your last sightings before you arrive in Cuiaba around midday. Flights away from Cuiaba can connect in Brasilia, Sao Paulo, Rio or Manaus for your flights home. You can also combine this SouthWild Jaguar Extreme Tour with any of our other Brazilian ecotourism destinations. There are set dates and a set period for this tour, so please contact us first for further information on arrival dates and availability.

Day 8

Jaguar Special Dates for 2016

Destination: SouthWild Jaguar Special Dates

The fixed dates for this Jaguar Special Tour in 2017 are as follows: 11-17 June; 7-13 July; 13-19 July; 1-7 Aug; 11-17 Aug; 16-22 Aug; 7-13 Sep; 15-21 Sep; 2-8 Oct; 12-18 Oct; 20-26 Oct; 4-10 Nov, with private departures available outside these dates. The first and last nights are always at Fazenda Santa Teresa, the SouthWild Pantanal Lodge on the Transpantaneira, with the middle four nights at the Flotel. We can also combine your Jaguar Tour with more wildlife interaction in the Amazon or Atlantic Rainforests, or for other ecotourism destinations such as Chapada dos Guimaraes or Iguazu Falls. Please contact us with more details of your requirements.

Prices

* Domestic Flights Estimated Price
N/A

** Prices Per Adult based on two people travelling and sharing accommodation
Simple B&B
from $4,175 USD Request Quote
3 Stars
from $5,500 USD Request Quote
4 Stars
from $4,550 USD Request Quote
5 Stars
from $5,975USD Request Quote
* Prices vary depending on travel dates and flight availability. Peak periods in Brazil including Carnaval, public holidays and Christmas/New Year usually require a minimum number of nights, so in these cases itineraries may need to be changed. ** Domestic flight prices are estimated on typical values when reserved six months before travel. Prices can never be guaranteed until reservations are made, and do usually become more expensive closer to the travel period.

* Domestic Flights Estimated Price ** Prices Per Adult based on two people travelling and sharing accommodation

N/A

Simple

3 Stars

4 Stars

Luxury

from

$4,175 USD

Request Quote

from

$5,500 USD

Request Quote

from

$4,550 USD

Request Quote

from

$5,975 USD

Request Quote

* Prices vary depending on travel dates and flight availability. Peak periods in Brazil including Carnaval, public holidays and Christmas/New Year usually require a minimum number of nights, so in these cases itineraries may need to be changed.

** Domestic flight prices are estimated on typical values when reserved six months before travel. Prices can never be guaranteed until reservations are made, and do usually become more expensive closer to the travel period.