This unique conservation focused itinerary allows you to accompany the Onçafari Association’s research team in their daily efforts to monitor one of South America’s most enigmatic big cats, a melanistic jaguar.
There are few places in the world that present the chance to observe a melanistic jaguar - jaguars are elusive enough to find in the wild, let alone an individual with a genetic mutation affecting its pigmentation.
In partnership with The Onçafari Association, the team who have pioneered jaguar habituation in Brazil’s Pantanal, we're delighted to be able to offer the opportunity to travel with their researchers in pursuit of this truly enigmatic beast. Whilst most jaguar viewing in Brazil takes place in the Pantanal, this project is located in the vast Savannah landscape of the Cerrado, based at the stunning Pousada Trijunção.
Each day you wake early to meet the research team and head off into the 33,000 hectare reserve on the fringes of Grande Sertão Veredas National Park, where the melanistic gene is incredibly prevalent. Estimates suggest that approximately 50% of jaguars are black in this area. One of these individuals has been collared for research purposes and habituation, and you travel in a closed 4x4 vehicle deep into the reserve, with the team utilising radio transmission from the collar to try and locate this mysterious male.
As the signal strengthens, you may be required to continue your journey via quad bike through the grasslands to bring you closer before approaching on foot where you and the Onçafari team can monitor the behaviour of this remarkable feline.
As the evenings roll around, elusive maned wolves become your target species, once again setting off with the Onçafari team, you patrol the grasslands searching for these crepuscular individuals.
Suggested Itinerary
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Day 1:
Depart UK
Depart the UK on an overnight flight to São Paulo, Brazil.
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Day 2:
Arrive in São Paulo, fly to Brasília & transfer to Trijunção
Following your international flight and subsequent domestic flight to Brasília, you're greeted on arrival by your driver before being transferred to your lodge, Pousada Trijunção near Mambaí - the distance is approximately 300 kilometres and will take roughly five hours.
Upon arrival at the lodge, you receive a welcome orientation prior to being shown to your room. After taking some time to settle into your new surroundings, embark on your first late afternoon come night safari in search of the elusive maned wolf, aboard an open-sided and roofed six-seater vehicle armed with a spotlight for when the darkness descends. Some of the wolves are collared and the antenna on the front of the car picks up a signal for them within a one-kilometre range, greatly increasing your chances of spotting these fascinating long-legged canids.
Setting out with the Onçafari team shortly before the sky's stunning soft orange hues give way to a star filled spectacle. You will learn about their research with the resident maned wolves and other threatened species found within the reserve as you scour the sprawling plains for sightings of the Cerrado’s nocturnal wildlife.
Whilst the maned wolf is the number one target for this evening, brocket deer, three, six and nine-banded armadillo, southern tamandua, striped hog-nosed skunk, white-lipped peccary and maybe even the hoary fox, a rare and local speciality of the Cerrado, are all possible species that could make an appearance.
As you return to the pousada, take a moment to freshen up in your room prior to heading down to the restaurant for a fantastic dinner, ready for the unique experience that lies ahead.
Accommodation: Pousada Trijunção, 7-nights
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Days 3-8
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Jaguar & maned wolf tracking
The next six days are spent waking early in the morning to the sounds of calling ferruginous pygmy owls, chopi blackbirds, chalk-browed mockingbirds and pretty scaled doves before enjoying a delightful breakfast and meeting up with the Onçafari team, ready for a day of jaguar tracking, equipped with a packed lunch. You depart the lodge in a close-sided vehicle, as you could be required to travel significant distances in order to locate the big melanistic male.
Jaguars are able to cover an immense amount of ground in a single night, and the cats here occupy far more expansive territories than those in the Pantanal due to the lower concentration of their prey species.
Setting off with the sky filled with pink and peach hues as the grass shimmers with a golden glaze, keep your eyes peeled for blue-and-yellow macaws soaring overhead and crab-eating foxes crossing your path. Making use of Onçafari’s telemetry set, the researchers will try to pick up a signal from the big cat’s collar, drawing you ever closer to the alluring individual. Once a transmission comes through, the researchers are able to fly a drone to try and pick up visual before deciding how to progress. It’s fascinating to watch the landscape unfold on video beneath the drone, and to discover the clear trails through the undergrowth utilised by the jaguars and other species that would be undistinguishable from ground level.
Once the team have decided on the next move, whether that be on foot or by quad bike, you begin to venture closer to the magnificent shadowy beast to assist in the habituation process, familiarising the jet black predator with the presence of both people and vehicles. Approaching at eye level provides a unique appreciation of the raw power that the third-largest big cat on our planet possesses, and doing so accompanied by the researchers is a truly special experience as you witness conservation in action.
As you return to the lodge, you’ll notice termite mounds of all shapes and sizes punctuating the landscape, some grey, some brick red, and others bleached white. Giant anteaters can occasionally be seen wandering through these areas; this area is a perfect foraging ground for them make use of their enormous claws to tear through the exterior of the mounds, before plunging their 60cm long tongue into the termites broken home and consuming up to 30,000 of the insects in a single day.
Shortly after you arrive at the lodge, venture back into the Cerrado on another maned wolf safari with the Onçafari team as the horizon begins to turn tangerine before giving way to night and with your remote location so far from any light pollution, you can take note of the spectacular constellations above as the evening darkens.
Arriving back at the lodge in time for dinner, order from the à la carte menu and indulge in another sumptuous meal before retiring to bed, drifting off to the sounds of the nocturnal wildlife all around.
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Day 9:
Depart Trijunção to UK via São Paulo
Begin your final morning with a game drive to search for any species you may have missed so far; perhaps you will be fortunate enough to enjoy a farewell sighting of secretive animals such as a tapir or even a puma.
This is a great time for some last minute birdwatching, with horned sungem, peach-fronted parakeets, South American great horned owl all possible, as well as numerous typical Cerrado bird specialities including the white-eared puffbird and red-legged seriema.
Following a delicious breakfast where you will be distracted by black-tufted marmosets in the garden, along with sayaca and palm tanagers, your transfer driver will be ready and waiting to transport you back to Brasilia in time for your onward travel arrangements.
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Day 10:
Arrive in the UK
Please note: This trip is fully customisable, and combines perfectly with Caiman Lodge in the South Pantanal, where the Onçafari Association carried out their first habituation programme. Due to this, the jaguars here are well accustomed to the presence of vehicles, resulting in relaxed and intimate encounters. Along with regular jaguar sightings, the inclusion of the Pantanal provides the opportunity to witness species specially adapted to their wetland environment, such as capybara, yacare caiman and a wide variety of aquatic birds.
Alternatively, if you’re looking for a more relaxed finish to your holiday, the beaches of Rio de Janeiro could be calling and any trip to Brazil would not be complete without witnessing the might of Iguazu Falls. With so much more to offer, Brazil is a land of limitless options.
