Jaguar spotting tours in Brazil
| country: | Brazil |
| location: | Pantanal |
| departures: | 2009: 3 Nov |
| price: | From £3495 (12 days), excluding flights. Price based on two people sharing |
| more info: | Price includes: roundtrip local flights from Cuiaba to Alta Floresta, accommodation, ground transportation, most meals (see itinerary), activities and guide. Private departures available, enquire for details |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
The jaguar is one of the most elusive big cats and one which few people have the privilege of seeing. However, on this group tour sightings of wild jaguars are virtually guaranteed.
The key to the tour’s success is that it visits a very remote and jaguar rich area of the northern Pantanal and employs a team of trackers to locate jaguars, study their ecology and direct the group to areas with the best sightings. Over the last two years our clients have seen more than 100 jaguars!
Greater in area than Belgium, the vast seasonally flooded plain of the Pantanal is justly famed as being the most impressive wildlife location in South America. In addition to jaguars, the Pantanal has much to interest to the wildlife enthusiast: ostrich-like rhea, jabiru stork, capybara, coatimundi, crab-eating fox, burrowing and pygmy owls, coatimundi, puma, tamandua and giant anteater among others. Birds such as the toco toucan and the highly endangered hyacinth macaw (the world’s largest parrot) are generally seen in good numbers, making perfect subjects for colourful pictures.
The tour visits a habituated family of giant river otters and also offers very good chances of seeing tapirs at close quarters. Viewing towers are positioned close to fruiting trees giving good sightings of fruit-eating birds and primates including Brown Capuchin Monkeys, Black and Gold Howler Monkeys, and Silvery Marmosets.
The open landscape of the Pantanal is complimented with the Chapada dos Guimaraes National Park and southern Amazonian rainforest which will also be visited.
Chapada dos Guimaraes National Park is a sandstone plateau with a spectacular series of escarpments, waterfalls and jungle filled valleys. During a two night stay here there will be an opportunity to see the spectacular landscape and spot cerrado species such as red-legged seriemas as well red and green macaws in the forests below.
The southern Amazonian rainforest is an area of staggering biological diversity with over 500 species of birds and an estimated 2000 species of butterflies. Mammal sightings are also common here; the lodge has its own tapir clay lick and 12 species of primates can be seen including the endemic Red-nosed Bearded Saki Monkey. This is also jaguar country; the animals are much harder to see but many have been lucky.
The variety of wildlife seen on this tour plus the potential of seeing some of South Americas most elusive big mammals makes this tour ideal for general wildlife enthusiasts, wildlife photographers and big cat aficionados who have been frustrated in the past.
The key to the tour’s success is that it visits a very remote and jaguar rich area of the northern Pantanal and employs a team of trackers to locate jaguars, study their ecology and direct the group to areas with the best sightings. Over the last two years our clients have seen more than 100 jaguars!
Greater in area than Belgium, the vast seasonally flooded plain of the Pantanal is justly famed as being the most impressive wildlife location in South America. In addition to jaguars, the Pantanal has much to interest to the wildlife enthusiast: ostrich-like rhea, jabiru stork, capybara, coatimundi, crab-eating fox, burrowing and pygmy owls, coatimundi, puma, tamandua and giant anteater among others. Birds such as the toco toucan and the highly endangered hyacinth macaw (the world’s largest parrot) are generally seen in good numbers, making perfect subjects for colourful pictures.
The tour visits a habituated family of giant river otters and also offers very good chances of seeing tapirs at close quarters. Viewing towers are positioned close to fruiting trees giving good sightings of fruit-eating birds and primates including Brown Capuchin Monkeys, Black and Gold Howler Monkeys, and Silvery Marmosets.
The open landscape of the Pantanal is complimented with the Chapada dos Guimaraes National Park and southern Amazonian rainforest which will also be visited.
Chapada dos Guimaraes National Park is a sandstone plateau with a spectacular series of escarpments, waterfalls and jungle filled valleys. During a two night stay here there will be an opportunity to see the spectacular landscape and spot cerrado species such as red-legged seriemas as well red and green macaws in the forests below.
The southern Amazonian rainforest is an area of staggering biological diversity with over 500 species of birds and an estimated 2000 species of butterflies. Mammal sightings are also common here; the lodge has its own tapir clay lick and 12 species of primates can be seen including the endemic Red-nosed Bearded Saki Monkey. This is also jaguar country; the animals are much harder to see but many have been lucky.
The variety of wildlife seen on this tour plus the potential of seeing some of South Americas most elusive big mammals makes this tour ideal for general wildlife enthusiasts, wildlife photographers and big cat aficionados who have been frustrated in the past.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrive Cuiaba and transfer to Chapada dos Guimaraes. Overnight Pousada do Parque. |
| Day 2: | Full day guided visit of National Park. Overnight Pousada do Parque. (B,L) |
| Day 3: | Transfer to airport. Fly to Alta Floresta and transfer to lodge. Overnight Cristalino Jungle Lodge. (B,D) |
| Day 4: | Guided rainforest activities. Overnight Cristalino Jungle. (B,L,D) |
| Day 5: | Guided rainforest activities. Overnight Cristalino Jungle. (B,L,D) |
| Day 6: | Transfer to Alta Floresta and fly to Cuiaba. Met on arrival and transfer to lodge. Overnight Pantanal Wildlife Centre. (B,L,D) |
| Day 7: | Full day guided activities. Overnight Pantanal Wildlife Centre. (B,L,D) |
| Day 8: | Transfer to tented camp. Afternoon jaguar spotting. Overnight Jaguar Research Centre. (B,L,D) |
| Day 9: | Full day jaguar spotting. Overnight Jaguar Research Centre. (B,L,D) |
| Day 10: | Full day jaguar spotting. Overnight Jaguar Research Centre. (B,L,D) |
| Day 11: | Transfer to lodge. Afternoon activities. Overnight Pantanal Wildlife Centre. (B,L,D) |
| Day 12: | Transfer to airport for onward connections. (B) |
B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner
small group adventure holiday
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends its good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as seeing new places. how this holiday makes a difference
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For twenty years our philosophy has been to take small numbers of sympathetic, like-minded people to areas of unspoilt natural beauty, thereby demonstrating to the local population the economic advantages of preserving their natural heritage rather than destroying it for short-term gain.
Cristalino Jungle Lodge is located within a 24,000-acre private rainforest reserve which is connected to other conservation areas, forming a large conservation corridor of millions of acres. This protects against the ever-increasing ‘arc of deforestation’ to the south. Included in the cost of a stay at the lodge is a $50 per person wildlife preservation fee which is paid to the Cristalino Ecological Foundation to support education, preservation and research projects in the Cristalino region. In order to minimise impact the lodge has implemented a number of measures including the composting of all organic waste, the recycling of non-organic waste, solar water heating for all rooms, and the use of biodegradeable cleaning products. Visiting the Pantanal Wildlife Centre (PWC) and Jaguar Research Centre (JRC) supports the first systematic attempt to secure a safe future for wild jaguars through visitation. These big cats are still killed by some ranchers because of the damage they cause to their cattle. However, it should be possible for jaguar-friendly ecotourism to make these cats worth much more alive in the Pantanal than dead. PWC has a new, state-of-the-art gravel and stone filtration system to treat wastewater. All materials are recycled whenever possible. Free mineral water is available from large water coolers, thereby eliminating the refuse problem caused by small plastic water bottles. To help train the next generation of Brazilian environmental professionals, students from the master’s program in ecology from the Federal University of Mato Grosso are hosted on a regular basis. In order to restrict the impact of the camp, JRC has large tents sitting on wooden frames that are not dug in to the ground – there is no concrete and no permanent structures. No trees have been cut down. Rather the tents are nestled in to the natural clearings in gallery forest along the Pixiam River. In addition all refuse is removed from the area. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |