Rated with 5 stars
The Jaguar Ecological Reserve is situated in the Northern Pantanal and is 110km doen the Transpantaneira road. It is situated in a remote area and there are great chances to see wildlife. We stayed there for 5 nights and we enjoyed every minute of it. We arrived in Cuiaba airport after a 26 hour journey from London and were picked up by Eduardo Falcao, the owner of the lodge. He was extremely friendly and took us to lunch before starting the 3 to 4 hour journey to the lodge. The first hour or so is on a “boring” asphalt road, but after you get to the small town of Pocone, you start driving on the Transpantaneira road. This is a dirt road that cuts through the Pantanal and it abound with wildlife. Every other fence post had a Snail Kite, Savannah Hawk or other bird of prey sitting on it. Jabiru Storks, Ibises and Spoonbills waded in the fields. We stopped to take photos so many times that it soon started to turn dark. It was during this time that we saw the first Tapir of the trip, swimming in the water as we crossed one of the many bridges. Unfortunately it was too dark to get a picture, but it was a memorable moment. The accommodation itself was more than adequate considering its location (no mains electricity and has to run on a generator) and we were pleasantly surprised to have an air conditioned room. The food is somewhat buffet style, but was always excellent. All the staff were very helpful and would alert you if there was anything interesting in the area (like a Tegu lizard stealing eggs). There were many activities, the first few days we mainly did hiking to try and see birds and monkeys. We also did 3 trips to the river, which offer the best chance to see Jaguars. The trip to the river is amazing as well. The Pantanal seems to open up even more and there were Capybara’s everywhere. We sometimes had to get out of the car to chase them from the road. Eduardo did everything he could to help us see a jaguar and he finally managed it on the last day. We were able to spend a minute or two watching this beautiful animal as it was dozing by the side of a river. I would definitely recommend this place, it provides a great chance of seeing jaguars and there is also plenty of other wildlife to fill up your memory cards.
http://www.jaguarreserve.com/index.asp
Jaguar, Pantanal. Brazil
Capybara, Pantanal. Brazil
Tags: 5 stars. jaguar ecological reserve, Brazil, jaguar, pantanal
