I have created individual pages for the first 9 days of this amazing adventure. You can get to any of these pages using the links you will find if you CLICK HERE. That page also has a link that will take you to a page showing the numerous species of mammals and birds I photographed in the Pantanal of Brazil.
The remainder of this post gives a very brief summery of each of the middle 4 days. These were the very exciting days with Jaguars.
Day 6
This was a transition day when we moved to Porto Jofre where we would spend three full days viewing Jaguars. After breakfast we hiked through the small wooded area along the river at our lodge, stopped at a hotel for lunch, and then paused along the Transpantaneira for some photography before arriving in Porto Jofre,
I photographed a Jabiru Stork nest before dawn.
In the woods we saw an Azura’s Capuchin monkey,
a Red-billed Scythebill,
and a Squirrel Cuckoo.
Late morning I caught a Nanday Parakeet in flight,
Blue-crowned Parakeets,
and a pair of Ferruginous Pygmy Owls. Here is one.
Along the Transpantaneira we photographed birds.
Day 7
Today and the next two days, we would spend more than 11 hours on a small boat, which is more than the daylight hours of each day.
Before sunrise I photographed a Toucan in the courtyard outside my room.
It is very rare to see more than one Jaguar at a time. During a half dozen trips or more, our leader had only seen two together a few times. But our first sighting was a family of three! The mother is walking in the back.
We saw a Capybara with a pup. These are the world’s largest rodents weighing in at around 180 lbs.
And Giant Otters.
A Neotropic Cormorant spent many minutes before it swallowed a Snow Pieco.
We found a very beautiful and cute pair of Common Tody-flycatchers along the shore.
A Green Kingfisher sat above a spider web.
Our fourth Jaguar of the day showed how well these cats can swim.
We saw a beautiful Rufous-tailed Jacamar.
Our fifth Jaguar of the day almost caught a Capybara. It was amazing that the Capybara managed to get into the river before the Jaguar could grab it. From the two photos here it looks like the Capybara had no chance, but it was underwater a split second later.
We followed our sixth Jaguar until it arrived on a beach as the sky turned golden just before sunset.
We photographed a tiny Green Kingfisher 15 minutes after sunset.
Day 8
A Southern Crested Carcara flew past our boat as we headed out at daybreak for more Jaguars.
After our trio of Jaguars the previous morning, I didn’t think this day could compare. But it sure did. Our first sighting was a Jaguar mom and cub. Look carefully.
We never got really great clear views but it was fun seeing the cub play with its mother’s paw as mom groomed.
Our third Jaguar was spotted up a small side stream.
It disappeared in the woods, but when we returned to the main river we spotted it again 30 minutes later. Jaguar spots are like fingerprints. The Jaguar ID Project has successfully distinguished hundreds of individual Jaguars by their spot patterns.
This Jaguar seemed to love the water.
We saw a strange-looking Boat-billed Heron.
I was very sad to see through my viewfinder that our fifth Jaguar of the day had an injured mouth.
I sent the photo to the Jaguar ID Project expressing my concern about this jaguar’s ability to survive. The next day I received a reply from the Director, Abbie Martin, who said in part:
“… she is doing well. The injury is actually an old one from 2020 … Since that injury, she has not only recovered but has also successfully raised two litters of cubs! Her name is Overa; she’s one of our stars!”
While we were with her we photographed her making a failed attempt to grab a Caiman.
Our sixth jaguar of this amazing day sat very regally on a bank after sunset.
Sadly, Abbie reported to me that,
“… I’m saddened to confirm that this is Kwang. We found him deceased in September. We were able to collect his body and perform an autopsy, which revealed that he had died from chronic pneumonia and kidney disease. It was quite a shocking discovery.”
Day 9
We found our first Jaguar of the day in a tree in the early morning light. Notice its very long tongue.
The Jaguar climbed down, walked along shore, then rested with crossed paws, just like one of our cats used to do.
The second Jaguar of the day showed how it could swim with it head out of the water.
Then it moved into the brush, but we found it again up a small side stream.
We photographed a Wattled Jacana in that small stream.
We found a Green Iguana along another small stream.
A Cocoi Heron stood tall along the shore.
A Black-collared Hawk caught a Snow Pieco.
We found a trio of Rufous-tailed Jacamars. One had an insect in its bill.
A Jabiru Stork gathered nest material along the shore.
Across the river from the stork, our fourth Jaguar of the day watched the action.
After sunset, dozens of Great Egrets flew into a distant tree. A wonderful way to end our time on the rivers near Porto Jofre.
I hope you will visit the pages that describe these middle 4 days, and all 9 days, in more detail. You can get to a page with links to see them if you CLICK HERE.