The Pantanal
Cuiaba and Rio Claro Lodge
On August 21, 2024 I enbarked on a journey to the Pantanal of Brazil to photograph some of the over 580 bird species, assorted reptile, anphibian and animals but in particular the Jaguars that inhabit this unique region. I was joined on the Van Os Photo Safari by 7 other intreped adventurers. We were led by two super guides, Wayne Lynch from Canada and Paulo Boute from Bazil. What follows are a small sample of the 11,400 images I captured, plus captions and comments.
The motley crew
(Left to right) (Back Row) Beverly Howes, David Bueker, Param Sandue, Wayne Lynch, Gil Williamson, Sean and Bo Wang, (Front Row) Laura Bueker,Paulo Boute, and Pat Wismer.
I arrived in Cuidaba a day early hoping to do some touring and take any flight delays out of the equation, no flight delays but temps over 100 degrees made touring not appetising. The good news was the hotel was nice:
We met for dinner, seemed like a interesting group, and we departed on the morning of August 24 for our first stop Rio Claro Lodge. We had our camera’s ready and were not disappointed. Lots of interesting things but the huge number of crocodiles (Caiman) got our attention.
There lots of birds so we take our cameras at every stop.
Posada Rio Claro is on a waterway right behind the lodge so the next morning we are out on the water, with plenty to photograph.
Capuchin monkeys entertain us in the tree’s by our rooms.
One of the interesting creatures we observed in the river is the Giant Otter. These super swimmers live in family groups and have voracious appetites’ for fish. They are curious and playful but unfortunately are endangered by poachers trapping them for their skins.
Another unique animal in the region is the Capybera, the worlds largest rodent. Adults average 53 inches high and weight178 lbs. They are vertually everywhere.
We also saw monkeys in all of the locations we visited. The tempeture each day would start out in the 50’s in the morning and by mid-morning would be in the 80’s plus. One early morning we observed this group of Howler monkeys huddled together against the cold.
It’s a good start to our journey, next destination Porto Jofre, with 90 miles of dirt road between us and Jaguar country.
Click on “Happenings” below and navigate to the next part of the adventure.