Day 10 - last day with jaguars in Porte Jofre

I was late for breakfast as woke at 3am and could not get back to sleep until 440am. Made it onto the boat in time though.... just! The heat yesterday and the sheer thrill of the Jaguar sighting, made for an emotionally draining day.
The cameras first came out shortly after leaving the jetty where there were a large flock of skimmers feeding and washing in the lovely low and warm early morning light. Gorgeous, but a bit quick for me at that time of day - I had not woken up at all!



Throughout the day we were lucky enough to see two jaguar, but both were in such poor photographic situations, that we spent most of the day trawling up and down other smaller tributaries for hours and hours looking for a better one instead; how spoilt are we! (well actually, it's probably more accurate to say that I was mucking about on the back of the boat with Leanne and Ricardo for most of the day), but thankfully the constant movement and lower temperature made for a much more comfortable day.

Our last night at Porte Jofre, the most luxurious lodge (actually it's a Hotel this one) on the Pantanal and so Leanne and I decided it was time to empty her bottle of vodka, that is until she knocked it off the bench and smashed it on the floor - thankfully though a good volume had already been consumed by then and so the pool beckoned us for a spot of moonlit swimming - now I'm not one to condone water sports being mixed with alcohol - but swimming in that pool, which must have been 25-30 degrees, lit only by the moon after a long and exhausting day on the river was another memory I will never forget - thanks guys. Going to be really hard to leave this place.

Day 9 - 12 hours in a boat!!!!!

Another 5am start to maximise our time on the river in search of Jaguar - can't say I'm getting used to it at all, but it's certainly interesting to see how little sleep I can survive on when I really need to. I am however getting used to drinking Brazilian coffee in the mornings - it's incredibly strong, very bitter and comes in tiny shots, but by having it in a larger cup filled with hot sweetened milk it's actually quite bearable. Not yet missing my earl grey as haven't touched the emergency supply I brought with me.

The boat started out with the sun cover down and the wind in our hair which was absolute magic, but by 8am we were begging JD to put the cover up. However, as soon as we stopped to shoot a cat, the rules of the river dictate covers come down to ensure everyone gets a reasonable view, so within minutes of arriving at a Jaguar sighting, we were all drenched in sweat again. By lunchtime the temperature had reached 42 degrees and in full sun with extremely high humidity we became a floating sauna. Thankfully, we were rewarded for our suffering every 30 minutes or so when the Jaguar also decided he was too hot and came out of the bushes, down the bank and into the river for a quick swim and a drink - awesome - the size and power of these beautiful cats is immense. Lunch was a simple affair, rice and catfish, washed down with yet more water whilst remaining on the boat of course. After lunch, for a good hour, the Jaguar had not moved much other than the odd flick of a tail or turn of the head. The cooler was emptying fast, rounds of water being called for every few minutes. We were filling our hats with the melted ice water which pretty much evaporated as soon as it was placed back on our heads. Never known heat like it. In light of my history of feinting in strong heat, I was getting concerned and struggling to breathe properly. We had been stationary, in full direct sun for a good few hours before we decided it was best to move ourselves.
This prompted a high-speed trip downstream for another "bio break" - quite unnerving waiting for David and Ricardo to check the chosen riverbank for any signs of Jaguar before disembarking for the fastest pee on record. We got off the boat and stepped over Jaguar prints to get to the nearest cover (of which there wasn't much - but to be honest we didn't really care) Kim had remembered to bring her she-wee so would be first back to the boat if sprinting were needed. This meant I only really had to be quicker than Leanne who was, like me, going for the traditional squat, in tick-infested grasses! Strangely though there is something quite liberating about peeing in broad daylight, on open ground, facing a massive river, whilst keenly looking out for cats that have been recorded at over 170kgs!

By 4pm the water situation had become a concern for Leanne, so Ricardo obtained 4 more bottles from a passing tourist boat giving us at least another hour on the water.
Thankfully we had all remembered to grab beers from the fridges in our rooms when leaving and so we were able to enjoy a cold one as the sun set during our high speed journey back to the hotel. There's nothing else on earth better - and the moment will forever bring a smile to my face. Who needs more than one wild large male Jaguar happily cooling off in front of you in a day.

Day 8 - Transfer to Porte Jofre

The drive along the final section of the Transpantaneira to Porte Jofre ... long, hot and very very bumpy. It was mine and Leanne's turn in the back of the truck too which made for a horribly queasy journey for me and a pee stop half way which resulted in me being trouserless in the back of the truck trying to remove a biting critter from my thighs. Not comfortable at all.
Arrived mid morning and settled in, gorgeous place - middle of nowhere. Had a lovely lunch before setting off in our boat at 130pm with our boat driver, JD - within an hour we were shooting a Jaguar on the river bank as a result of a radio call from one of the other guides - awesome!!!
By the end of the afternoon we had seen 3 different jaguars; the last one having "words" with two giant river otters before frightening the Capybara half to death.. and in their haste to get away one of them unfortunately clonked its head on the underside of our boat in a panic resurfacing! Funny but not funny at the same time. I happened to be sitting in the belly of the tin boat at the time and felt the force that the poor rodent hit it with. And when I say rodent, we are talking rodent the size of a large dog or small pig, not a rat-sized mammal at all. Capybaras are a Jaguar's staple prey. Really difficult conditions to shoot though - I really struggled - not only was the boat moving up and down with the passengers moving and the waves in the water, but it was drifting with the current too - image stabilisation can no way compensate for these aspects as well as camera shake, low light level blurring and my hideously bad focusing ability! Still is was an awesome experience and with any luck I will improve with practise over the next couple of days.

Amazing sunset too, immediately followed by a spectacular full moon rise - but since we were still a long way from home at this point, (and ended up returning at high speed in the dark on the boat) I was not able to film it. Such a shame as it really was stunning; because the sun had only just set, the full moon was a vivid golden colour and reflected in the water for miles.

Day 7 - Transfer to Santa Tereza

So last night I went to bed immediately after dinner at 830pm - in preparation for a hide session needing a 4am start. David has never shot Toucans at the nest before and so it was an opportunity not to be missed. High discipline throughout a 3 hour session, in high heat, wouldn't be most people's idea of a holiday, but it was fantastic. I learnt all about approach, behaviour, recognising a Toucan alarm call as well as what constitutes skittish bird behaviour. But above all, patience. We had to refrain from shooting for a good while to get the birds used to us being sat in our canvas hide watching them first, then using single-shot firing before progressing to high-speed motor drive once they were ok with it. Thoroughly enjoyed it, despite being in such close proximity to at least 5 mosquitoes and not being able to do a thing about it. Still haven't mastered coughing silently though - much to David's annoyance!
Ricardo came to collect us at 730am in the truck to return us to the lodge for breakfast and a lesson in exposure - which didn't actually go so well - not sure how many people have ever used "manual" before, but in such stupidly sticky heat and severely sleep-deprived, no-one really got to grips with what was being explained, so David reverted to a simpler task and eventually got everyone on the same page (I think!?!).

T

We then got to practise our new found knowledge shooting Jacare (Caimen) out the front of the lodge as the staff threw chunks of dead fish at them... hectic, a little unnerving and very difficult given the speed these creatures move. But I think we got there in the end.
We arrived at Santa Tereza in time for lunch and a talk about boat photography and preparation for our river search for Jaguars - starting to panic a little as apparently it's common for tempers to fray on the water as boats jostle for the best position. As the "Delta Squad" we are duty bound to behave with pure decorum, patience and professionalism under all circumstances. Hmmn, we shall see.
A quick swim to cool off before setting off on a magical boat trip at 3pm to see the Giant River Otters.
Bit of a meltdown with the auto-focus on my lens right at the point of the river otter turning up, but sussed it may well be due to condensation --- stupidly had my camera in my air conditioned room with me and so as soon as I left the room it must have steamed up somewhere inside and decided it wasnt going to play ball when I needed it too. Most frustrating when you have a Giant River Otter eating fish only feet from the boat! Better luck tomorrow. Shattered.

Day 6 - Monday - Paso Da Ema (Araras Lodge) - a tad grumpy!

Gonzalez bringing our horses over

With only 4 rooms it was suggested yesterday that Ricardo and David either sleep outside at Paso da Ema, or travel back to Araras - leaving us with no Portuguese speaker on site - not something I was particularly comfortable with, especially as beers flow, people get brave and Caimen are VERY close. So I opted to move in with Leanne and give them my room last night, which she happily accepted. So this morning when I got up I was conscious of letting Leanne get ready in her room on her own - however, as it turns out my phone had not updated its time zone automatically on arriving in Cuiaba and was still on Sao Paulo time, which meant I had gotten up at 4am instead of 5am and after the 1am finish last night I wasn't feeling too clever. I knew this trip would mean enduring sleep deprivation, but I hadn't banked on it being quite so hot and sticky as well - seriously draining. I think everyone was suffering today.

Capybara at Araras Lodge

The waterside hide I was in was not a great success for me either; pretty much facing into the rising sun when the horses got in the water to drink so I have a few backlit images and not a lot else. No natural perches in my line of sight and the floating water hyacinth had floating off overnight since the hide was placed! oh well, what's a little backache and a few more mossie bites eh?!?
After sweating profusely for a couple of hours crouched on a dust-bank by the water's edge in a canvas bag, we had some breakfast and headed straight out into the burning heat for a horse ride with Gonzalez - one of the most famous and impressive Brazilian "Pantaneiros" (cowboys) - award winning in his field and on the cover of a book about the area. Although there was little breeze and more flies, it was a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours - we saw Redbrock deer, and a couple of Great Rheas, one with a broken wing.
Today's lesson when we returned, covered composition, backgrounds and shooting sunsets - which was great except we haven't actually had any sunsets yet - endless cloud cover - fingers crossed for the next few nights.
After lunch I attempted a siesta (3 hours sleep a night is really not working for me), but the temperature is ridiculously hot - as soon as you step out of a cold shower, you are drenched in sweat again and the mosquitoes are relentless. I've had to buy another bottle of the local repellent as mine appeared to be doing very little. I'm massively tired, bitten, swollen and quite uncomfortable, so despite loving this place, I'm actually really looking forward to moving on to Santa Tereza tomorrow and their small swimming pool - and AIRCON!!! YAY.