Northern Pantanal

The Pantanal is one of the largest wetlands on Earth, a vast seasonally flooded plain in the upper Paraguay River basin that spans parts of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. The Brazilian portion lies in the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. For jaguar photography the focus is the northern Pantanal in Mato Grosso, reached from Cuiabá by road to the town of Poconé and then along the Transpantaneira, an unpaved raised road that crosses well over a hundred wooden bridges on its way south to Porto Jofre on the Cuiabá River.

Porto Jofre is the base for boat trips on the Cuiabá, Três Irmãos (Three Brothers) and Piquiri rivers and their side channels, an area partly protected within the Encontro das Águas State Park. Jaguars here have become accustomed to boats and are found hunting caiman and capybara along the banks, resting on sandbanks or swimming between channels. Giant otters, yacaré caiman, capybara, hyacinth macaws, jabiru storks and a long list of kingfishers and herons share the same waterways.

Photography is almost entirely from small open boats with a driver and spotter, typically running from first light through the morning and again in the late afternoon. The dry season, roughly June to October, concentrates animals along the shrinking rivers and makes the Transpantaneira passable; July to September is usually regarded as the peak for jaguar sightings. During the wet season, from about November to March, much of the plain floods, roads can be cut and jaguar viewing is impractical. Accommodation ranges from lodges along the Transpantaneira to floating hotels moored near Porto Jofre.

The great appeal is the angle: a boat puts the camera at water level, with a jaguar on the bank or swimming towards the lens and the far bank as a clean background. Light is strong and often from the side early and late; heat, humidity and spray are constant. A 100–500 or 200–600 zoom on a stabilised body is the standard combination, with a second body and a 70–200 for close passes and otters.