Today is devoted to exploring the wildlife of the Pantanal Wetlands - one of the last untouched wildlife sanctuaries in the world, stretching over 96,000 square miles (250,000 square km).
With early morning and late afternoon shared boat rides, we search for the wildlife and birds found along the riverbanks of the Cuiabá, São Lourenço, Three Brothers and Piquiri Rivers near Porto Jofre, renowned for offering the best sightings of the majestic jaguar in the wild.
Comprising a wide variety of habitats ranging from Brazilian savanna ('cerrado') and grasslands, to semi-arid woodland, Amazon and Atlantic rainforests, the Pantanal Wetlands offer much easier game viewing than in the dense jungles of the Amazon Basin. These vast tropical floodplains are home to an amazing diversity of wildlife including 159 different mammal species, 93 reptiles, 53 amphibians, 260 fish, over 1,100 butterflies. It is also home to over 650 different bird species including the spectacularly blue Hyacinth Macaw, a parrot cloaked in deep indigo plumage with yellow eye patches, and the Jabiru stork - the second largest flying bird in the Americas after the Andean condor.
Millions of capybara, the world's largest rodent, and Yacare caiman (similar to alligators) live here as well as the Brazilian tapir, one of the largest mammals in South America with a strange trunk-like nose. You can also hope to see the Crab-eating raccoon, South American coati (nicknamed the hog-nosed raccoon because of its pig-like snout.), Crab-eating fox, Giant anteater, Lesser anteater, Collared anteater, Black-striped capuchin monkey, Brown capuchin, Howler monkey, Agouti, Tayra, White-lipped peccary, Collared peccary, Chacoan peccary, Red brocket deer, endangered Marsh deer, the ostrich-like Greater Rhea and the diminuative Black-tailed marmoset. If you are fortunate you may see an Ocelot, a spectacular wild cat also known as the Dwarf leopard.
Along the waterways you can also hope to see vocal families of endangered giant river otters, anaconda and many other mammals, reptiles and birds. The riverbanks of the Pantanal also offers the best opportunity to see the apex predator of the region - the mighty jaguar, hunting capybara. Similar in looks to a leopard, but bulkier and heavier set, the jaguar is the most powerful of the big cats and the third largest in size after the tiger and lion. The best time to visit the Pantanal is during the dry season (June to November) when the wetlands gradually dry out, forcing the animals to congregate around the rivers and ever-diminishing lagoons. However a sighting of this magnificent creature in the wild is never guaranteed.
Bird watching is also outstanding with colourful species including the Hyacinth macaw, Roseate spoonbill, Southern screamer, Chestnut-bellied guan, Bare-faced curassow, Red-legged seriema, Chestnut-eared aracari, Blue-crowned parakeet, Orange-backed troupial, Barred antshrike, Blue-crowned trogon, Toco toucan, Black skimmer, Yellow-billed cardinal and the diminutive Rufous-tailed jacamar. You can also see several species of ibis, egrets, storks, herons, kingfishers, skimmers, terns, hawks, kites and a host of other raptors and passerines.
The flora is also astonishing, with over 3,500 different species including many aquatic plants, as over 80% of the wetlands are submerged during the wet season. In the evening enjoy star gazing in the clear night skies of the southern hemisphere.