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Day 1
Having flown from Johannesburg via São Paulo and Cuiabá, the first land leg of our much anticipated trip to the Pantanal began with the collection of 8 of us from our hotel near Cuiabá airport. Kirstin, one of our 2 group leaders, herded us expertly, ensuring all were ready, and breakfasted on time.
The excitement amongst us was palpable, despite a rather brain foggy morning affecting some of us who’d indulged in an outstanding dinner the evening before at The Churrarascaria Aeroporto Grill. Delicious Caipirinhas that accompanied the meal would prove to be the go to cocktails of the trip.
We headed for the TransPantaneira Highway after we met our guide Tito in Poconé (much more about him later).
This World renowned road delivered scenery, plenty of dust, some traffic and certainly some excitement. The landscape, at its driest now during late winter and following a Devastating drought, was all shades of “beige” away from the green belts of the rivers.
To our immense joy, dotted throughout this drought ridden area were explosions of pink blossoms, the Ipe trees had welcomed us during their very limited full bloom period of 10 days a year. Nothing short of extraordinary to be there at their peak and, for me, the flora highlight of our trip.
Along this route are a total of 122 bridges in varying stages of disrepair, many have been replaced with concrete which sadly takes away the charm but it is considerably safer.
While crossing one there was a unanimous scream of “ STOP”. Gigantic rafts of hundreds of Caimans lay basking in the sun, either side of the bridge in the dwindling river.
After a 3hr hr drive we arrived at Pousada Rio Claro, a very comfortable ranch accommodation on the Cuiabá River where we were to overnight. We met up with Lance, our group and photography leader. He had just completed leading the first of these two back to back safaris. There were bird feeders in strategic positions around the accommodation attracting a lot of birds, our first taste of the circa 140 species we were to see over the coming days.
Our evening was spent on a drive, guided by the gifted Tito, spotting large flocks of monk parakeets, kingfishers, numerous other bird species, crab eating foxes, Red Brockets, Capybaras and lots of Brahman cattle which are one of the largest sources of income for the many ranches in this region, outside of the National Park.
The anticipation was really building, what a wonderful introduction.
Day 2
We departed Rio Claro and set off for Porto Jofre after what was to become a familiar Brazilian buffet breakfast, fresh fruit, lots of pastries, crème caramel and the best coffee we’ve had in years which remained consistently excellent throughout this trip.
This was to be the last leg of the TransPantaneira before reaching our destination. By now the sight of exotic water fowl was becoming normal but nonetheless superb to see in the shallow pools and riverines' we passed.
It slowly became apparent that we were approaching the far more fertile and green area of the region of the Mato Grosso that is a peninsula surrounded by the Rio Cuiabá and the Rio Paraguai. The Santa Rosa was to be our home for the following 8 nights, situated directly on the Cuiabá River in Porto Jofre, it was a good place to settle in and to look forward to all the boat safaris to come.
The first boat trip took place that afternoon, departing from the Santa Rosa dock, with Tito at the helm, the boat housed 10 comfortable seats and enough space for our photographic equipment. We would soon realise the talent of Tito as a guide, from Cuiabá, he has been guiding in the Pantanal for many years. As well as being a superb game spotter, he is an expert birder, seeking and identifying every bird we came across, most of them new to us. That and his wonderful, patient and humorous character won us all over instantly, Tito was an enormous part of what would be a massively successful week.
Our very first Jaguar sighting was of a “courting” pair, lying peacefully under trees.
After a patient wait, not alone I may add….the word had spread. We had the prime spot to view and photograph the several “connections” that are so typical of large cat matings.
Days 3/4/5/6/7/8/9
I’m going to have to precis the following days as there was so much ….. I could write a book.
Our days lasted 10 to 12 hours sitting on our little skiff, loaded with gallons of drinking water, ice (to our delight) and insulated tiffins carrying our lunch. Kristin was our wonderful organiser, barmaid, server and general all round carer. Lance, our photo expert and rapidly becoming a South American wildlife expert, was our leader, always in good humour, these two make a terrific team.
We set off shortly after dawn and returned at dusk daily. Exploring the rivers and the by rivers of the Parque Nacional Do Panatanal Mato-Grossense, scanning the banks for the animals we were there to see. We were rarely left with nothing to view, not even for 5 minutes. Invariably stunning birds, beautiful river vistas, mammals and reptiles, were sights drawing gasps from us.
From that first sighting we were never far from a Jaguar. It’s extraordinary how many
Jaguars make their home in this stretch of the park. Habituated, they are comfortable with the boats and their life goes on as if they are they are alone. Hunting, swimming, eating, mating, moving and resting.
On our second day we followed one collared male that is in their research program. He was clearly on the hunt and after his 2nd failed attempt at catching a caiman, he succeeded. Stunned into silence, we all experienced this dilemma, do you just watch or do you shoot (camera) no, we’re here for our love of photography. He swam stealthily up to a half submerged, unsuspecting caiman. Snorkling underwater for the last few meters, the jaguar pounced and caught him by the back of the neck. This technique is the most efficient, these cats are able to crush the cervical vertebrae of the caiman, its relatively quick. We observed in awe as he dragged his prey into the reeds. THEN there was a lot of fist pumping and hollering in glee as we all managed to photograph this unique sighting. RIP caiman.
That same evening we had a great sighting of a pair of howler monkeys in the trees, the male black, the female golden brown.
Our days were filled with extraordinary sightings, often in the company of playful giant otters, we would sometimes catch them on a log, struggling to stay on as they dozed in the sun, endearing creatures. We came across water buffalo who are feral having been released or escaped and then multiplied in the National Park. Fabulous water fowl, such as the huge Jabiru Storks, herons and roseate spoonbills were everywhere. We even had 2 good Tapir sightings.
The Jaguars are the kings and queens of the Pantanal, in such abundance, they deliver wonderful photographic opportunities and sheer delight to their observers. It’s a precious haven for these magnificent, enormous felines.
We live in Africa with big cats but never have we seen so many in such a short space of time.
Many of our days on the water were exceptionally hot, we had a collapsible roof over our boat which was folded as soon as we got to a sighting. We seemed to forget the searing heat with the marvels before us.
Each evening as returned to the lodge in our boat, we would all sit there on the river in silence watching the sun forming a vermilion sky, reflecting on the magnificent day we had the privilege of being a part of. One important point, there were no bugs, winter is too dry for them.
Back at the Santa Rosa it was time for our daily dose of Caipirinhas. Dinner was at a group table where we served ourselves from the buffet, menus were a distant memory. The food was good considering where we were and how complicated the logistics are. Fresh salads and vegetables were harvested from their garden where a nearby bird feeder supplied the birds with left over fruit. Daily the Hyacinth Macaws would visit along with Toucans and an array of other species. Cappucin monkeys had taken up residence in the trees and were treated to a meal of a whole tray of raw eggs, I watched as the owner of the lodge individually rolled the eggs to the monkeys who had world class baseball catching skills.
Inevitably our time in the Panatanal was nearing its end.
We departed Santa Rosa, commencing our return trip on the TransPantaneira towards The Mato Grosso hotel where we were treated to one more night drive. We hit pay dirt, firstly Tito spotted a Great Potoo in a tree over the road, these nocturnal birds are so eerie to look at and rare to see during the day.
On our way back to the fazenda, in the dark, Tito heard a scramble in the bushes beside the road. Eureka…… something we’d been in pursuit of for days …… a giant anteater, so flabbergasted not one of us managed to get a decent shot of him, thanks to Louis we have video footage.
One last short boat trip before returning to Cuiabá the following morning had us working at our birds in flight photography while the boat driver threw fish for the passing kingfishers and hawks. Magic.
Day 10
All safely deposited at Cuiabá Airport we continued our travels to our homes in South Africa, Switzerland, Canada and the US.
Our immense gratitude and sincere thanks go to Lance and Kirstin van de Vyver of Panthera Photo Safaris. You really work hard to care for and to teach your guests.
Tito our superb local guide
Christophe, Martin, Lynne, Mike, Michael and Louis for being great safari companions.
Jenny x
