Join Wildlife Worldwide team member and wildlife photographer Ben Sutcliffe in the North and South Pantanal to capture images of wonderful wildlife ranging from hyacinth macaw and ocelot to jaguar.
This itinerary will provide countless opportunities to photograph some of the Pantanal’s finest wildlife and practice your photography skills.
We go in search of five of Brazil’s most sought-after species, seeking to observe these magnificent animals in their natural habitat, and with luck, capturing a stunning range of images for each. Brazil's big five include arguably the Pantanal’s most famous resident, the jaguar, the ever so charismatic and entertaining giant river otter, the Brazilian tapir - the largest terrestrial mammal in South America, the bizarre looking giant anteater and the iconic hyacinth macaw.
We begin with four nights at a charming lodge in the Southern Pantanal. This provides a perfect introduction to the wildlife of the region with a plethora of species that can be photographed even in the grounds of the lodge. With a greater extent of savannah here we focus much of our time on photographing the numerous giant anteaters, six-banded armadillos, pampas deer, collared peccaries, coatis and occasional southern tamanduas that roam the open pasturelands. Birdlife is everywhere too, from the majestic greater rheas, South America’s largest birds, to tiny hummingbirds and of course macaws including the iconic hyacinth and also blue-and-yellow and red-and-green.
From here we take a chartered light aircraft over the vast expanse of wetlands to the airstrip at Porto Jofre in the northern Pantanal and gateway to the best jaguar watching on the planet.
With our base for the next five nights on a purpose-built houseboat we will have outstanding opportunities to photograph the jaguars, giant river otters and tapirs of this region. Unique to our houseboat is a tugboat that enables us to moor/anchor in the very best locations for jaguar sightings whilst avoiding any busy areas each day. This will ensure we have the greatest flexibility over our day-to-day itinerary, putting us in the very best location possible to maximise the quantity and quality of our sightings as well as the lighting.
We then head to the gallery forests and waterways along the Transpantaneira, a favourite haunt for tapirs, a profusion of waterbirds, and an opportunity to photograph ocelot from a dedicated hide.
In our quest for Brazil’s Big 5 we can expect to encounter a wealth of other mammals, birds and reptiles, from crab-eating fox and howler monkeys to jabiru storks and toco toucans, every day will present an extraordinary range of subjects and with our exclusive vehicle and boat, we will endeavour to maximise the photographic opportunities at every turn.
Typical Itinerary
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Day 1:
Depart UK
We depart the UK on overnight international flights to São Paulo.
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Day 2:
Fly to Campo Grande & transfer Pousada Aguape
From São Paulo, we fly to Campo Grande where we continue by road, to Pousada Aguape stopping for lunch on the way.
After settling in at the lodge, we can enjoy our first photography session in the early evening with the exciting and abundant wildlife found close to the lodge. The grounds are a perfect introduction to the region and even here we can enjoy photographing six-banded armadillo, crab-eating fox, and capybara. Over 300 species of birds have been recorded here, and many such as hyacinth macaw and toco toucan are regular visitors to the lodge feeders.
Accommodation: Pousada Aguape, 4-nights
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Days 3-5
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Wildlife Photography from Pousada Aguapé
Over the next three days, we can enjoy exploring the patchwork of wetlands and grasslands and the abundant wildlife found here. Photographic opportunities present themselves around most corners and with plenty of freedom to explore the private reserve we can enjoy some close and intimate encounters with many of the wildlife highlights. There are excellent opportunities to practice your photography and be creative with the varied subjects.
During much of our time at Aguape, we focus our photography on giant anteaters. Also known as the ant bear, the giant anteater is one of four living species of anteaters. This species is mostly terrestrial, in contrast to other living anteaters and sloths, which are arboreal or semiarboreal. Their elongated snout, bushy tail, long fore claws, and distinctively coloured pelage makes them a unique subject to photograph.
Heading out in the late afternoon when the anteaters are most active, we hope to approach some individuals on foot, enabling some very rewarding photography. Found foraging in a wide variety of habitats but particularly fond of open grasslands with high concentrations of termite mounds, giant anteaters feed almost exclusively on ants and termites, using the powerful fore claws to tear open the mounds and then mop up their prey with an enormous 40-centimetre-long sticky tongue! It's a fascinating spectacle to observe and providing we're able to demonstrate a little guile in the field and remain downwind we should be able to remain undetected and capture some fabulous images.
Among the other wildlife we hope to see, and photograph are beautiful pampas deer, collared peccaries, neotropical otters and striped tufted capuchin monkeys. Birdlife includes toco toucans, red-legged seriemas, burrowing owls, roseate spoonbills and at night we may encounter a tamandua.
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Day 6:
Charter flight to Porto Jofre & afternoon jaguar photography
This morning, we say farewell to the team at Pousada Aguapé and transfer to Aquidauana airport.
We then take a charter flight over the wild landscapes of the central Pantanal to land at the airstrip in Porto Jofre in the North Pantanal. This is a very scenic flight, providing a unique perspective on the scale of the Pantanal that few get to see from the air. We then continue by boat to our next base, the Naturezas houseboat, purposely built and moored exclusively for our group in the most jaguar rich part of the Pantanal. There's an excellent chance of enjoying our first jaguar and giant otter sightings this afternoon.
Accommodation: Naturezas Houseboat, 5 nights
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Days 7-10
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Wildlife photography on boat safaris
Over the next four days, we follow a programme of morning and afternoon boat safaris, typically spending around eight hours on the river each day and returning to the houseboat in the middle of the day for lunch and some downtime. As we cruise slowly along the river, we scan the sandy banks and dense riparian forest in search of the Pantanal’s top predator and the chance of some wonderful photographic possibilities. Drawn by the high density of caiman and capybara in the area, jaguars are frequently seen stalking the rivers in search of prey, or resting in the shade of an overhanging tree. Previous groups have been treated to observing and photographing some exceptional jaguar behaviour.
While exploring the vast network of rivers and channels, we doubtlessly meet and capture images of a varied selection of mammals and birds. Giant river otters are another wonderful highlight of our time here and at this time of year, we hope to find tapirs cooling off at the edge of the riverbank. Birds are likely to include black skimmers, jabiru stork, coci heron, both large-billed and yellow-billed terns, maguari stork, blue-crowned parakeet and a host of different raptors and passerines.
During our stay we have the opportunity to explore a forest trail where we undertake some photography with the colourful forest birdlife, black-and-gold howler monkeys.
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Day 11:
Transfer to SouthWild Pantanal Lodge
Today we set out on our final morning of wildlife watching by boat as we depart from Naturezas and make our way back to Porto Jofre arriving there by mid-morning. We then begin our journey up the infamous Transpantaneira, a raised-dirt and gravel road that extends for approximately 150 kilometres through the North Pantanal. This journey is also excellent for wildlife-watching and photographic opportunities with many birds of prey and waterbirds perched at the roadsides.
On arrival at the lodge in late afternoon, we have the opportunity to freshen up, before photographing the myriad of birds found around the lodge grounds and nearby gallery forest. Later we reconvene to photograph the crab-eating foxes that regularly visit the lodge grounds and then wait at the nearby ocelot hide for a chance to photograph this elusive and beautifully marked cat.
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Day 12:
Boat trip on the Pixaim River & depart from Sao Paulo
This morning, we take a relaxing final boat trip along the wildlife rich Pixaim River close to the lodge, where we can enjoy close views and outstanding photographic opportunities with much of the water birdlife, caimans and capybara that can be very close to us.
Great encounters with kingfishers, boat-billed and possibly agami herons and black-collared and great black hawks offer us excellent chances to capture action images as they dive for fish.
After lunch, we transfer back along the Transpantaneira to Cuiabá airport to take our flight to São Paulo and connect with our onward flight back to the UK.
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Day 13:
Arrive UK
