Jaguar Research Center in Pantanal from Ronan Fournier-Christol on Vimeo.

The Pantanal is located in central-western Brazil and is a UK-sized mosaic of seasonally-flooded savannahs and tropical forests that offers the finest wildlife viewing in South America.  The variety of wildlife seen on this tour, plus the potential of seeing South America’s most elusive big mammal, the Jaguar, makes this tour ideal for wildlife enthusiasts!


The Jaguar Research Center is in the very heart of the Meeting of the Waters State Park. It is composed of five 12-by-14-foot, walk-in tents made of thick canvas.  The roof of the tents reach more than 8 feet high, allowing even the tallest guests to walk around most of the tent.  Each tent also features electric light, an electrical socket for charging cameras and other equipment (both 110 volt and 220 volts available), and a bathroom.

A small, well-equipped house boat is anchored in the Three Brothers River at the Jaguar Research Center and acts as kitchen, dining room, lounge, and electric generator to power the tents, which lie 100 yards away from the riverbank, in open forest on the edge of a large, African-like savannah.   The boat has air conditioning in two private cabins, each with private bathrooms. The Jaguar Research Center is the only lodging in the core of this enormous jaguar preserve.

Day 1 –Cuiaba to Jaguar Research Center
On arrival in Cuiabá at 8:00am, you will be met and driven an hour to the town of Poconé, the start of the Transpantaneira Highway. This is the only year-round road that penetrates the heart of the 50 million acres (20 million hectares) of the Pantanal, the world’s largest freshwater wetland.  The Transpantaneira is one of the best wildlife viewing areas in the world. As you drive along this famous dirt road you will have your first introduction to an incredibly rich area. Here, wildlife in found in abundance. You can admire the flora and fauna and make several stops to film or take photographs.  All parts of the Pantanal are exciting, but there is nothing that can compare with the wildlife pay-off on the Transpantaneira.  We will drive approximately 2 hours on the Transpantaneira until we reach the Pantanal Wildlife Center.

We will stop for lunch at the Pantanal Wildlife Center. After lunch we will drive for approximately 2 hours (nonstop) or 3-4 hours (observing wildlife) to the end of the 140-km-long Transpantaneira.  The road dead-ends at the Cuiabá River, where we board boats and navigate an hour upstream to our base at the Jaguar Research Centre.

Located in the Jaguar-rich 270,000-acre Meeting of the Waters State Park, the name of this park refers to the three navigable rivers that join inside this unique park. The Jaguar Research Center is in a location that has the highest density of jaguars and jaguar sightings in the entire Pantanal. This park contains some of the most pristine protected areas in the Pantanal.  The habitat along this river allows for numerous jaguars to roam the area hunting their favorite dry-season prey: the abundant 4-7 foot caimans and plump capybaras. We will stay overnight at the Jaguar Research Center. (Lunch, dinner)

Day 2-  Full Day Search for Jaguars by Boat
After an early breakfast, we leave the Jaguar Research Center for a full day boat trip to observe the diversity of the animals in the region.  We will watch for jaguars, tapirs, ant-eaters, giant otters, birds and other animals common to this region.  We’ll use small boats to explore narrow and wild rivers in the core of this huge park.  Recent guest have seen several of these huge predators, during the day, many of them at very close range for extended periods. Return to the Center at the end of the afternoon in time for dinner. Overnight at Jaguar Research Center. (Breakfast, lunch, dinner)

Day 3- River and Forest Explorations  
The Jaguar Research Center is a tented camp, as no buildings can be erected in the pristine core of the park.  It is located on a key piece of riverbank terrain in the center of the park, and that is where we anchor the house boat. In addition to the jaguars, there are two groups of Giant Otters. One group is near the mouth of the Piquiri River and the other near the 330-acre island that lies seven minutes by boat upstream on the Three Brothers River. Overnight at Jaguar Research Center. (Breakfast, lunch, dinner)

Day 4-  Return to Cuiabá After breakfast we will take a 1-hour boat ride and a 2-hour drive back to Pantanal Wildlife Center. This allows us another chance to spot wildlife along the edges of the Transpantaneira Road. After lunch there is a 1.5 hour drive along the Transpantaneira back to the town of Poconé, and then 1 hour and 15 minutes on asphalt to Cuiabá. (Breakfast, lunch)   Read the London Daily Telegraph's article "Jaguars in Brazil: Cream of the Cats"