28 October. By 7 a.m. we’re up, fed, and loaded into the boat, ready for a full day in search of jaguars. The river is perfectly calm; the cool morning air is delicious, skimming over the milky brown water we ask ourselves again in sheer amazement “Where are we?!”
Remote? Very. We are about as far from civilization as we can get.
Our skipper, Pyte, fully covered against the sun, sits at the back of the flat-bottomed aluminium boat, hits the gas, it takes roughly 15 mins to get out to where the cats are. Turning down one of the Cuiabá River’s tributaries, we slow down, scanning the banks as we begin to explore parts of the Three Brothers, Black, or Piquiri rivers. It isn’t long before the radio crackles with rapid, indecipherable chatter. Pyte swings the bow and opens the throttle.
Jaguar Sightings on the Cuiabá River
Remote yes, but we’re certainly not alone. We arrive and join a cluster of boats gathered together just meters from a female. We get our first sight of these majestic creatures. We arrive and join a cluster of boats gathered together just metres from a female jaguar. Cameras with foot-long lenses snap thousands of photos; ours looks tiny in comparison. She’s poised on a branch, scanning the shallows for breakfast.
I’m amazed at how close we are, maybe ten meters. Totally focused and completely unfazed by our presence, she doesn’t even glance our way. We sit quietly, watching for half an hour before she moves along the bank and disappears into the long grass.
eyes on the banks
The boats then all spread out. With so many eyes scanning the banks the radio cracks in just 20mins. Again we turn and race to join the next flotilla that quickly amasses to a dozen boats.
It takes me a moment to spot him — camouflaged perfectly among the dry brown grass. A magnificent male, all muscle and stealth. We follow him for a few minutes as he strolls along the bank upstream before melting into the brush.
The next two sightings appear in quick succession, 500m apart, both swimming downstream, no doubt in search of food. Caiman are at the top of the Jaguars menu, and there are plenty of them. Talking to an English couple from another boat, told us of a hunt they’d seen the day before, a jaguar catching and killing a caiman then dragging it up the riverbank. That would be amazing to see, fingers crossed.
Lunch for us and a piranha
Lunch is beneath an overhanging tree of beef, rice, beans and pasta salad. Heavy carb lunch, in the heat left me feeling drowsy – until the commotion next to us, a boat of men in their mid 30’s is having a laugh, they’ve been drinking beer all morning. After lunch, one of them offered to push the boat from the bank, ignoring the captains decline of assistance. Stepping into the water for just a moment to push off he climbs aboard quickly, screaming. There’s blood everywhere, in that moment a piranha latched onto his big toe, tearing into the flesh. What a mess, the tip of his toe is shredded as the rest of the boat are rolling in laughter. The captain just shook his head.
River Birds
It’s getting hot — by 3 p.m. I’m guessing it’s around 37°C. We spend the rest of the afternoon cruising up and down the river, scanning for more jaguars and watching the endless birdlife — giant jabiru storks, kingfishers, cormorants, herons, hawks, parrotlets, and more. Along the banks, capybaras graze lazily while caimans bask motionless in the shallows. Cormorants hang their wings to dry, kingfishers perch patiently, and herons expertly pluck piranhas from the water.
I can hardly believe where we are.
The water level is at its lowest, concentrating all life into just a couple of feet. A few times we scrape the bottom — hopefully, the rains will come soon… though preferably after we leave.
the worlds largest rodent
The afternoon drifts by, the radio quiet. Around 4 p.m., we turn for home, pausing to watch a family of giant river otters tumbling through the branches of a fallen tree. Still no sign of our elusive macaws, but plenty of capybaras grazing along the river’s edge. They’re funny-looking creatures — endearing, in their own way.
life on the river
We love watching caimans bask motionless on muddy shores, mouths gaping, or just their eyes peeking above the surface. Pendulum nests dangle from trees that cling desperately to the eroding banks. Everything here depends on the river.
Hot, happy, and tired, we return home to Bruce and an ice-cold beer. Another epic day of adventure — easily one for the top 10 (though by now, we might need a top 20!). In all, we spotted four jaguars — we went from hopeful to absolutely thrilled!