Review: Brazil, but not just Jaguars!

My wife and I have done many safari type holidays in recent years, but this one with Naturetek was quite different and certainly one of the very best.

It was called ‘Just Jaguars’ but there is such an abundance of wildlife in the Pantanal that you could go there for the huge variety of birds, caiman, giant river otters, tapirs, anteaters, deer, etc, etc. Of course, the elusive jaguar is top of the food chain and when you finally see one, it can take your breathe away. They are like leopards on steroids!

The trip starts at Pousso Allegre where you view the Hyancinth Macaws and other birds, and yes, they are really big and beautiful. The owner here is a herpetologist and will happily introduce you to his wriggly friends … if that is your wont!

On to the Flotel, which is eponymous, it really is a floating hotel on the main river near Porto Jofre. There are twice daily options for boats trips out along the myriad of tributaries, and the guides and boatmen are linked by short waved radios with which they exchange jaguar sightings. When you hear ‘jaguar speed’ by your guide, you hold on to your hats and zoom off at a very fast rate until you arrive at a point along the bank where a jaguar has been spotted. They are rarely sit-up-and-beg type photographic opportunities, but just a sighting half concealed in the river bank undergrowth is still something special. You are not guaranteed, but over 3 days you would be very unlucky not to see at least one … we saw 8 different ones!!

On to the final destination, The Southwild Lodge, and here you see the wonderful variety of birdlife, the giant river otters, and the opportunity for some forest walks.
We set camera traps and registered an ocelot, which is very rare and we even had a night sighting of one which our wonderful guide, Marcus Felix, found for us. Oh yes, we did see tapirs, but no anteaters sadly.

All-in-all this was, and will be, a trip of a lifetime even for seasoned travellers and wildlife enthusiasts. It is not cheap, but there is nothing like it.

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This review is solely based on the opinion of a Silver Travel Advisor member and not of Silver Travel Advisor Ltd.