This is a post related to our Pantanal Trip.
As we prepared for our last boat safari of our trip, I couldn’t help but think I have already photographed my last Jaguar. The weather hasn’t improved, it only got windier and colder, the clouds were thick blocking the sun from shining through. I asked Marcos what he thought about the chances, and he too was not exuding confidence we would spot anything. We were on the boat for over an hour and didn’t see anything. Nothing was coming over the radio at all. No one was seeing any Jaguars this afternoon. But then I heard the call, the radio came alive, and we were picking up speed. Marcos said there was a sighting 10-15 minutes from us. I thought to myself, that’s an eternity. We will never make it in time to see the Jaguar. I thought we had already felt the max speed of the boat, but I was wrong. We were flying across the river faster than ever, and we made it!
A female Jaguar named Ti was posed perfectly on top of a little island of grasses and a dead tree branch. I knew the second I took the picture, this was the best one of the trip. This photo made my trip complete.
She stayed on the island for some time, eventually moving back inland and walking through thick grasses along the waters edge, occasionally coming into view.
As usual, all the boats followed. There were SO MANY BOATS. This was by far the most we have seen together at once, and still everything seemed calm and orderly.
I continued to photograph her until she moved on. I was so happy with this sighting, I could go home happy and satisfied with what we experienced. But there was more in store.
The sun was setting and we were headed back to the lodge. As I looked side to side (since I can’t keep my eyes open from the wind), I noticed a boat speeding past us. That has happened all the time throughout the trip as people have different agendas and locations to visit. But this was different. The passenger in the front was staring at me making excited hand gestures. I didn’t really understand it at the time, but then our driver talked to Marcos and we suddenly increased speed. We then passed the boat that just passed us and I could only think we were going to see another Jaguar. I was wrong, we would be seeing three!
The light was low and only getting worse. I could barely make out anything, but then I saw them. Two Jaguars were on the rivers edge lying there, motionless. It was hard to spot them as they blended into the environment. It was a male and female and they were about to begin mating. Big cats tend to get a bit aggressive after mating, so I got out my monopod to help stabilize the heavy camera. My back and arms were on fire from holding the camera for the past two days, and I knew I would have to hold it even steadier in the low light.
After they finished and laid down again, Marcos said “Oh my god, a third one”. A long way down the shore was another female Jaguar approaching. She was getting closer and closer, and didn’t realize the other two Jaguars were just beyond the brush.
Marcos said females will intensely fight, so everyone there was preparing for a show. Fortunately for the Jaguars, unfortunately for us, she turned away before crossing paths with the other Jaguars and nothing ever happened. At this point the light was far too low to have had a chance of a good photo anyway.
And just like that, our trip was over. We headed back for our last dinner and packed up. The next morning we had breakfast and began the long bumpy drive back to Cuiabá.
Along the way we spotted birds, a raccoon, and even a crab eating fox. They are typically nocturnal, but there was a small pile of trash it was foraging through. I was not able to get many photos as we were on a tight timeline. I did get some fun photos of the various warning signs along the road with different animal pictures on them. They reminded me of the Iguana sign we saw in the Galápagos Islands.
Once we were back in the city of Cuiabá, we stopped at the Aeroporto Grill, a Brazilian steakhouse. There was a large buffet area, but the main attraction is the various meats they bring around to your table and carve for you on the spot. The best part, Marcos said it only costs $10 for dinner, and it is all you can eat. Brazilian meat is so plentiful, prices stay low.
After we recovered from our food coma, we headed over to the domestic airport for our flight back to São Paulo. And from there, back to Newark. Even though this trip was quick, with only two full days on the river, we spotted 10 different Jaguars and had an amazing time. The only work that is left is to sort through the thousands of photos I took.