Untamed Jaguars of Pantanal Expedition
- Brazil | South America
- 2027 Departures
The Untamed Jaguars of Pantanal Expedition takes guests deep into Brazil’s vast wetland wilderness.
The journey begins at Pousada Piuval, located on the drier outer fringes of the Pantanal, offering excellent birding and land-based wildlife viewing.
From there, the expedition continues to the famous Jaguarland in Porto Jofre, the undisputed jaguar capital of the world where guests spend five full days exploring the rivers and channels by boat in search of these powerful big cats, along with giant otters, caiman, and a spectacular array of birdlife.
The Pantanal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the largest tropical wetland on the planet. Located in western Brazil, this immense seasonal wetland offers wildlife that is both abundant and visible.
450
Species of birds
84
Jaguar Individuals
150
Species of Mammals
The Pantanal is the world’s largest fresh-water wetland, the vast majority of which is found within Brazil, but also Bolivia and Paraguay. It is a mosaic of grasslands, woodlands, rivers and standing water bodies, and each habitat is home to a different assemblage of wildlife. Whilst there are virtually no unique species found in the Pantanal, its diverse array is thanks to its neighbouring Amazonian and Cerrado biomes.
During the wet seasons, rivers burst their banks and inundate the woodlands and grasslands, leaving but a few places high and dry. During the dry seasons, water bodies dry up and the dwindling water sources draw the wildlife to them. Despite such a difficult environment for human settlement, over 98% of the Pantanal is privately owned by more than 2500 fazendas (ranches) and approximately 8 million head of cattle. This occupation has come with habitat alteration and conflict with the native wildlife, particularly the jaguar and other carnivores. Despite this, much of the native fauna continue to thrive and the Pantanal remains a wildlife paradise, hosting the highest density of wildlife found anywhere in South America.
Home of the Jaguars
The jaguar, a semi-aquatic feline, is superbly adapted to the Pantanal environment, hunting both in water and on dry land. It is here, in the Pantanal, where the largest specimens of their kind can be found, their powerful jaws making short work of large and heavily armoured prey, meaning few species are safe from their attention. They reign supreme.
Mammal Species
The Pantanal
Cuiabá is not a destination. It is a threshold.
Cuiabá is not a destination. It is a threshold. This sprawling city in western Brazil sits at the edge of one of the most wildlife-rich ecosystems on the planet, and tonight you are on its doorstep. Check in to Hotel Amazon Aeroporto, have dinner, get some rest. Tomorrow the Pantanal begins.
Overnight: Hotel Amazon Aeroporto, Cuiabá
The drive itself is a warm-up act for what lies ahead.
The Transpantaneira is less a highway than a statement of intent. A dirt road that stretches south from Poconé into the northern Pantanal, flanked by roadside ponds teeming with Caiman, wading birds and wildlife at almost every turn. It is not unusual to spot a Giant Anteater before you even reach the lodge.
Pousada Piuval sits within a vast private ranch on the outer fringes of the Pantanal, a landscape of open savanna, flooded grasslands and dense gallery forest that holds an extraordinary density of animals. Hyacinth Macaws, Jabiru Storks, Red-legged Seriemas, and dozens of species you will not have seen before announce themselves almost immediately. Check in, settle in, and listen to the Pantanal come alive as the sun goes down.
Overnight: Pousada Piuval
Before dawn, you are already moving.
Piuval rewards those who give it time. Before dawn you are already moving. The pre-dawn hour is when Giant Anteaters are most active, ambling short-sightedly between termite mounds with their extraordinary long snouts and barely believable tails. This is one of the most reliable properties in the northern Pantanal for an encounter with them.
As the sun rises, the birding shifts. Hyacinth Macaws, bare-faced Curassows, Sunbitterns, Chaco Chachalacas and a seemingly endless list of species reward patience and good light. Tapir sightings are possible, Caiman are constant, and Capybara, the world's largest rodent, move through the property in family groups. By evening you will understand why the Pantanal is considered the highest concentration of wildlife found anywhere in South America.
Overnight: Pousada Piuval
Today the expedition shifts gear.
Today the expedition shifts gear. The road south along the Transpantaneira takes you deeper into the Pantanal until the road ends at Porto Jofre on the banks of the Cuiabá River. Here you board a boat and transfer to the Panoramico, a floating hotel moored on the river in the heart of Jaguar territory.
This is your base for the next six nights. The Cuiabá River stretches out around you, Caiman line the banks, Giant Otters surface and dive along the margins, and somewhere in the dense gallery forest on either side, Jaguars are watching the water. Porto Jofre is the undisputed Jaguar capital of the world. You are here now.
Overnight: Panoramico Flotel, Porto Jofre
These five days have one focus and one purpose. The Jaguar.
These five days have one focus and one purpose. The Jaguar. Every morning before first light your guide is scanning the riverbanks, reading the signs. When a Jaguar is located, everything else waits. You position the boat, cut the engine and drift, cameras ready, as one of the most powerful predators on the planet goes about its life at the water's edge.
The Pantanal Jaguar is a different animal to any other big cat you may have encountered. Larger, more confident, more visible. You will see them hunt, rest, drink, swim and interact with one another across the course of five full days on the water.
Between Jaguar encounters, the river delivers constantly. Giant Otters fishing in groups, Giant Anteaters on the banks, Capybara families moving through the shallows, Roseate Spoonbills, Jabiru Storks, Kingfishers in six species, Osprey, Black-collared Hawks and the prehistoric-looking Horned Screamer. The evenings on the flotel are unhurried. Dinner on the deck, the sound of the river, the darkness beyond the lights absolute and total.
Overnight: Panoramico Flotel, Porto Jofre
The final morning always delivers something.
The final morning always delivers something. Your guide takes you out before breakfast for one last search. The river in the early light, the banks still cool, the Jaguars sometimes most active before the heat of the day builds. By mid-morning you are heading back to Porto Jofre, then north along the Transpantaneira to Cuiabá, the Pantanal shrinking behind you mile by mile.
Overnight: Hotel Amazon Aeroporto, Cuiabá
The Pantanal will stay with you longer than you expect.
Check out and onwards. The Pantanal will stay with you longer than you expect.
Inclusions
- 1 night at Hotel Amazon Aeroporto – Deluxe Room on a Dinner, Bed & Breakfast basis
- 2 nights at Pousada Piuval – Standard Room on a Full Board basis
- 1 full day activity at Pousada Piuval
- 6 nights at Panoramico floating hotel (flotel)
- 5 full days activity at Pousada Piuval + 1 morning activity
- 1 night at Hotel Amazon Aeroporto – Deluxe Room on a Bed & Breakfast basis
- Drinks - Piuval and Panoramico provide drinking water. Either from refillable stations or small cups of sealed drinking water
- Road & boat Transfers
- All airport and surface transfers as mentioned in the itinerary
Exclusions
- Tipping and Gratuities
- All expenses personal in nature
- Beverages not specified
- Laundry
- International flights and visas
- Comprehensive travel & trip cancellation insurance.
- Items not mentioned in inclusions.
Payment Terms
- 25% Non Refundable deposit to secure the trip.
- 75% Balance to be paid 120 days prior to date of arrival.
- 100% payment due if the start date of the tour is within or less than 120 days of booking
A photo odyssey with Sara Jenner
For as long as Sara could remember she has had a passion for travel and searching for the wildest and most remote places on earth. Back in the UK when she was only 10, she remembers trading in her favourite pink bicycle for the money to start her travel fund. Every birthday and Christmas she added a little more in the kitty and finally, at 18 she realised her dream of diving at the Great Barrier Reef!
Ever since Sara has been travelling the globe in search of wild and remote places and has spent many months volunteering on wildlife conservation projects in a bid to help endangered species. Sara’s love of wildlife and the great outdoors has taken her to all seven continents. Over the past decade she has travelled extensively in the polar regions working as an Expedition Leader on small vessels in the High Arctic, Antarctica, and Sub Antarctic Islands.
Sara’s love for the wild extends beyond icy landscapes. As a photographic guide in the heart of Botswana, the enchanting realms of East Africa, and the mystical landscapes of India, she truly leads a life of two wondrous halves. With each click of her camera, Sara weaves captivating tales of nature and its untamed inhabitants, crafting exquisite snapshots of life’s most precious moments.
Step into Sara’s world and let her lens transport you to the untamed, where the beauty of wildlife dances in every frame.
SARA JENNER,
Trip Leader
Tour Price
$11,000 USD
Per Person
To experience this safari with a group of like-minded travellers, select one of the departure dates from below.
Tour 1
31 Aug 2027 - 11 Sept 2027
( 2 SPACES AVAILABLE)
Tour 2
12 Sept 2027 - 22 Sept 2027
( 6 SPACES AVAILABLE )
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