Pantanal Jaguars 2026 Trip Report
Porto Jofre, Brazil
July 11 - 17, 2026
Wildlife Seen Today.
✔ Jaguar (Marcela)
✔ Capybaras
✔ Jacare Caiman
✔ Jabiru
✔ Water Buffalo
✔ Great Horned Owl
✔ Crab Eating Foxes
July 12, 2026. Day One
Our Pantanal adventure begins.
Four days ago I was in the Amazon searching for pink river dolphins and sloths. Today we're in the Pantanal, looking for jaguars, maned wolves, tapirs, ocelots... and whatever else this incredibly rich ecosystem decides to share with us.
We've got a great group this week. Everyone is excited about seeing it all… mammals, reptiles, and birds.
I always love when people appreciate the birds. It makes the whole experience here so much richer.
Let's see what today has in store.
Our first animal of the trip?
An anhinga enjoying breakfast.
Not a bad way to start.
9:00 AM. Our first jaguar!
Marcela was sitting high on the riverbank, scanning the shoreline for prey.
She has two new cubs this season, and we're all hoping to catch a glimpse of them sometime this week.
She got up and walked the river bank, then walked into the river and swam across it.
She climbed up the other side and sat down at another over look, searching for prey.
Then the rain arrived.
Marcela disappeared into the brush, looking for shelter, and the rain just poured down.
The first time this has happened to us here.
We have a canopy on the boat, but there's only so much it can do.
We tried to find shelter under a tree, but we were all drenched.
We tried to wait it out, but it wasn't stopping.
Eventually we called it a day and made a run for the dock through the heavy rain.
Ironically, by the time we reached port, the rain had stopped.
Waiting for us near the parking area was a huge family of capybaras grazing peacefully in the grass.
There were babies everywhere.
Catherine immediately started trying to figure out how she could sneak one of those cute "babies" home inside her purse.
I don't think Brazilian customs would believe it was a chubby puppy.
As we drove back to the lodge we discovered just how much rain had fallen.
Roads that were dry and dusty this morning had turned into deep mud.
After a few minutes the roads were a bit drier and easier to navigate.
Along the way we stopped to photograph a massive water buffalo feeding in a marsh.
They're impressive animals.
Years ago someone imported water buffalo into the Pantanal hoping to start a ranch. The business failed, but before leaving they released the herd.
Today their descendants roam freely throughout the region.
Many of the locals fear them. The bulls can be extremely aggressive, and they're considered an invasive species, so there is no limit on the number that can be culled.
3:30 PM
Somewhere between the Amazon and the Pantanal I picked up a flu bug.
Mari got it first.
Now it was my turn.
I felt completely drained and seriously considered skipping our afternoon safari.
But then I thought...
What if today is the day we find a black jaguar?
Or a bush dog?
I just couldn’t handle missing that. So I climbed up into the truck.
We didn't find any big mammals that afternoon, but we did enjoy photographing several beautiful birds.
Sometimes that's enough.
8:00 PM. I was back in my room working on this trip report when I heard an owl calling outside.
Camera in hand, I sprinted outside.
Jean, our local guide and passionate birder, was already there, spotlight pointed high into a tree.
There it was.
A great horned owl.
I raised my camera and fired...
"No card."
Damn it!
I’d forgotten to put the memory card back after downloading the day's photos.
I ran back to my room, grabbed the card, sprinted outside again, and managed three proof of life frames before the owl silently disappeared into the darkness.
Then Jean spotted something else.
A pair of crab-eating foxes wandering across the property.
We followed them until one caught a snake.
crab eating fox killing the snake. It was shaking his head violently and my camera’s shutter speed was 1/250, so the image is not sharp of course. But this is still fun capture.
I kept trying to photograph the fox picking it up, but every time I lined up the shot, it would drop the snake and disappear into the brush.
We waited, and waited.
The mosquitoes finally won the battle.
We headed back to our rooms.
It wasn't the easiest day.
The rain interrupted our search.
The flu drained my energy.
But we found our first jaguar, photographed a beautiful owl, watched a big family of capybaras, and ended the evening with some crab-eating foxes.
I'd call that a pretty good first day in the Pantanal.