Yes we were off to the river before 7am to search for jaguar......not before lying in bed and listening to a 5.30am serenade by 6 hyacinth macaws in the tree outside our room abley assisted by a plumbeous ibis, chachalacas and chestnut bellied guan - a sight to behold as was the chestnut eared aracari (small toucan) perched in a tree and not joining in.
It took about 45 minutes to get to the river; when we arrived and while waiting for the boat to be sorted out I was able to take some lovely shots of hyacinth macaws that had perched on a wire and then come down to drink from a small water source on the ground. There were also some very healthy looking black vultures along the shore line strutting about and occasionally eating dead fish.
The people who live along the river have lived for generations by fishing but that is now supplemented by acting as boatmen and guides to nature watchers and fishermen. Indeed Eduardo our lodge owner is trying to ensure they get a share of the tourism cake so they can raise their living standards.
We set off up the very wide and quite fast flowing Cuiaba river until we came to a junction of 3 rivers - we took the middle option leaving the main river. This tributary was not as wide - we were just looking at a hard to spot iguana - having eventually found it when a boat from Porte Joffre hotel passed us and said Jaguar had been spotted - these boats have radio contact - we didn't we relied on tip offs and our own sight. That said guides frequently spoke to each other and passing fishermen and exchanged information. We set off fast and furious - breeze in our hair - great ride - for about 20 minutes - we eventually came upon about 5 other boats hugging one bank with binoculars trained on the thick undergrowth on the other. Eventually I could see 2 jaguars - you only have two adults together when mating and this is clearly what these were doing ......standing up in the boat and using binoculars we got some relatively good views ( one on the blog) and I did get a couple of photos......we then sat in the boat waiting for them to reappear which they did fleetingly before the male followed the female into thicker undergrowth along the river. Another guide told us that there were 2 others similarly mating - which had been spotted a couple of days ago in a different part of the river - so we set off again to see if we could find them. The good thing with mating is they stay in the same area for 5-7days intent on one thing! We arrived to see several other boats lining the bank with big lenses, including a film crew from the BBC, trained on the other bank - again the 2 jaguars were in the undergrowth on the opposite side but you could hear occasional growls and movement from them. We now got to see and feel the rigours of what jaguar watching is really about! We were hopeful that at some point they would need a drink (which they do once a day) and come to the beach area infront of them to satiate their need - so we sat and waited - we arrived at about 11am and sat in the full sunshine for about an hour - but decided the jaguars had it right and retreated to the shade of some bushes where we could still see the other boats and the beach. Great shade but bad for bugs - horse flies and mosquitos - which had several small meals thanks to us - John was fully covered but came away with bites to his face and hands. We ate lunch and waited - luckily some birds were bathing and hopping in the bushes so watching them killed some time and added a few more new sightings - orange beaked troupial, great antshrike - taking a bath, white lored spinetail, epaulet oriole, rough winged swallows and on the way up the river we had also seen the yellow billed tern.
At about 2pm I saw movement in the boats, umbrellas came down and there was pointing - so we moved back to our original position but this time in a shadier spot - it was a false alarm no jaguars emerging. This however was a much better spot because once I found the jaguars with my binoculars we both could watch them moving about and lying down which was great - it also allowed me to get some good shots of one of the jaguars when it started to come down an incline immediately infront of us but it was too steep and it turned back. We waited until 4.30pm and they didn't emerge again - that's life - but we did fleetingly see a noisy group of 4 giant river otters come down the river, cross and disappear before I could take a photo - a couple of capybara floated past and then I spotted a cayman just behind us in the undergrowth. They don't eat humans only fish - apparently they react to reflections and if their young get in front them and move in the wrong light they can be lunch as their jaws open and shut instinctively!
It took a couple of hours to get back - one hour on the boat and one hour in the car - we only stopped twice on the boat trip once, for a very rare sun grebe and secondly to change petrol tanks as we ran out! On the car journey - we slowed only for a herd of buffalo on the road - they are domestic not wild and raised for beef and fattened on the Pantanal. We also saw nacunda night hawks - a type of night jar and pale coloured fishing bats swooping over a lagoon. At intervals we could see red eyes along the road - the ones that flew were pauraque night jars the ones that didn't were caymans!
Back for much needed showers and to tend to Johns now large bites and puffy eyes. We were tired so an early night beckoned.