Pantanal & Amazon, Jaguars and Birds

• The holiday delivered a truly wonderful wildlife experience from start to finish. The sightings of the jaguars, tapirs, giant anteaters, giant river otters and hyacinth macaws will be etched in my memory forever! Our guide was excellent, his knowledge of the flora and fauna of the Pantanal was exceptional and his ability to spot a bird half a mile away never failed to amaze us. We loved our few nights at Cristalino Lodge, it provided just the respite we needed after a busy couple of weeks and was the perfect place to finish up with, so a great recommendation from you.

We went in the hope of seeing one, maybe two jaguars, but never did we expect to see eleven, staying on the flotel was definitely the right choice, we were literally surrounded by wildlife 24/7. The Pantanal completely exceed our expectations every day with an abundance of wildlife and incredible birding at every turn, the only thing we would change is going for longer, our 12 days just flew by unfortunately.

The highlight had to be our stay at Porto Jofre and seeing the jaguars but being bird watchers, we enjoyed everywhere. Iguassu Falls was stunning and provided us with just the relaxation we needed after our long haul flights. Really enjoyed the food and the mandatory caipirinhas!!!

Just got back from Brazil and I wanted to thank you all for putting together such a superb trip. This is the third time Christine and I have travelled with you and once again you have made an unforgettable time. As you can see the jaguars obliged (as did the anteaters, armadillos, monkeys, caimans, giant otters, marmots, ocelots, pumas and countless birds ). This is just one of the hundreds of photos (obviously not my national geographic front cover shot ! ). We enjoyed bragging to people we met about our superb travel company. I have referred several couples . Just think what I could have done with a Wildfoot T shirt? We very much enjoyed Iguassu for our first stop . Despite the cost of the hotel we could have stayed another night to get over the arrival from UK. We did the helicopter flight over the falls worth very penny and very good guide . Internal flights are “fun” especially three in a day. Cristalino is beautiful but the birding is challenging ( even for me!) Great guide and boatman. Our only hitch was the plane was delayed for three hours to Cuiaba and so our seven hour drive to Porte Jofre was in the dark. The guide and driver were up for it and I saw a Puma! Loved Porte Jofre .I would stay for 8 days as a photographer . The arrangements were brilliant . We had a fast boat (essential) and a really good boatman/driver who worked extremely hard to get me to the Jaguars .Saw them every day .Our stay at Pouso Alegre was “simple “ but the variety of wildlife was good ending with an anteater with a baby on her back (in perfect light) . Rio was an inspired suggestion -Christ the Redeemer statue (-good for birds too) hotel overlooking Ipanema beach, good tour guide and driver, and ate in the bar that the composer saw the girl from Ipanema walk by. Even bumped up to business class on our return. So a big thank you to you all . Just brilliant.