Transpantaneira to Porto Jofre

July 9, 2024

Porto Jofre has the best sightings of jaguars! You are on a boat and they are on the banks of the river. They are absolutely stunning!

It was our last morning at Pousada Puival. Brent got up early for some coffee and a beautiful sunrise.

We bid farewell to the capybaras and made our way to breakfast.

Our driver picked us up shortly before 8:00 a.m. and soon we began our drive along the Transpantaneira to Porto Jofre.

We stopped frequently for pictures. Several woodstorks and roseate spoonbills had gathered together. Many were getting ready for the day by preening their feathers and some had flown to the tree tops to dry their feathers from the morning dew.

In a nearby tree, a pair of crested caracara searched for their breakfast. Although they are sometimes called "the Mexican eagle" and resemble a hawk, the caracara is actually a large falcon that is common throughout Brazil.

We also spied a grayish saltator in the grass.

A small butterfly or moth gathered nectar.

Just down the road across the street, many caiman were gathered together on the banks near the water. There are 6 different species of caiman. These are likely the yacare caiman which are common in the Pantanal. It is sometimes called the "piranha caiman" because it loves to gobble up that voracious fish.

A ringed kingfisher kept lookout on the telephone wire. Its beak has jagged edges that help it keep its grip on a slippery fish.

On the other side of the road, a jacana lifts up a lily pad in search of food.

A cocoi heron was looking fish or frogs in the water. Although it hunts on its own, it has also been known to steal food from other birds like wood storks.

The limpkin was named by European settlers who thought it looked like it was limping when it walked.

A black-collared hawk called from the tree above.

A rufescent tiger heron was waiting for food. They feed by standing a long time on the bank or floating water plants (as this one is doing) until a fish comes to them. There have even been reports of them using bread as bait to entice the fish.

Another cocoi heron was also searching for food.

A pair of plumbeous ibis were feeding in the water. Its favorite food is apple snails. It was once called the blue ibis - although they seemed to be more grey than blue.

Soon a young savannah hawk and a wood stork had joined them.

A little way on a guira cuckoo perched on a fence post above a kiskadee. Unlike many other cuckoos, the guira does not lay its eggs in a different bird's nest. However, they do have a communal nest where 3 to 4 different female cuckoos lay their eggs. Strangely, they are very competitive with these eggs. A cuckoo who hasn't yet laid her eggs, will toss other eggs out of the nest and in the first week of their life the babies may still be killed by other adult cuckoos.

We had to stop briefly when guachos (Brazilian cowboys) herded their cattle across the road in front of us. Fabi used to be a cowboy at the Caiman ranch that we will be staying at after Porto Jofre. When they became an eco-lodge he was interested in that aspect and made the switch to being a tour guide.

A pair of coatimundi were on Brent's side of the car. Although we saw a lot of them near Iguassu Falls and in Costa Rica, they have been harder to see in the Pantanal. Coatis poke their noses into crevices and under rocks looking for food. They use their claws to break open logs or termite mounds and to dig holes in search of prey. Like their cousin the racoon, they are omnivorous and have a very varied diet.

The cheerful pink blossoms of the paineira (silk floss) tree brightened up the landscape along the Transpantaneira.

The capped heron is one of the least known of the herons. Researcher are still working to find out more about it.

Our guide spotted a marmoset that Brent saw before it disappeared, but didn't have time to get a picture. I missed it which was too bad - marmosets are a rare sighting in the Pantanal - especially on the ground.

Driving on the Transpantaneira was a bumpy experience. There were many little bridges which required the driver to stop and then slowly pass over them.

Our next stop was at a stream heavily clogged with vegetation. A caiman peeked through, almost invisible in the murky water covered by green lily pads.

A tiger heron took flight.

Other caiman rested on the river bank still covered in green vegetation from their time in the water.

In one spot, a caiman and a capybara rested together - which was startling as a capybara can become caiman food. Perhaps this capybara was too large for the caiman.

An anhinga is sometimes called a snake bird because when it swims often only its neck and head are above water. This one was preening out of the water though.

Snail kites are aptly named as they mostly just eat snails. They prefer marshes and wetlands. This one is a female because it is brown. Males are grey.

We drove on and came to another of the little bridges with an egret standing sentinel.

Later we saw another egret striding past a large group of caiman.

The little blue heron can be found in both North and South America. Males and females work together to build their nests with the males finding most of the sticks and the females using them to construct the nest.

We did a special stop to see the great horned owl near a bee house, but it was sleeping.

Since this area surrounded a bee house, there were also bee hives in the trees. If you look closely, you can see the honeybees.

Although the owl was asleep, the ringed kingfisher was wide awake.

While exploring on his own around the bee house, Brent found the discarded shell of a channeled apple snail. The driver warned us it was dangerous to touch. Apple snails carry a parasites like rat lungworm that can infect humans just by touching the snail.

A little ways on, we spotted a kingfisher and egret among some pretty pink flowers. Although we had seen several, I thought it was a pretty scene and had us stop.

Our final stop was for a cocoi heron and a neotropical cormorant. They are very similar to the aninga, but they have shorter necks and don't swim completely submerged except for the head and neck.

After that enjoyable but long drive, we finally arrived at Porto Jofre. There was a crested caracara and a rufous hornero on the lawn.

After we checked in and had lunch, we had a brief time in our room before the first boat tour. The capybara were marching single file to the beach using the passage between our cabin and the next. They all sat there and watched the river for a short while and then all marched single file back. I made them nervous so they would stop and freeze and then rush ahead and then slow back to their steady march.

Did you know that in many places in Brazil, the sewage system is very delicate. You can not flush anything except for your urine or feces down the toilet- even toilet paper. They have little baskets by the toilet to throw your toilet paper in.

The most exciting part of the day was our first boat ride in search of the jaguar. As we left the dock, we passed the house boats that some guests stay in when visiting Porto Jofre.

We enjoyed the beautiful scenery, although it appeared in places that their trees struggled against a vine similar to the kudzu in Polynesia.

We had wonderful luck with the jaguar Marcela this evening. She came out from the undergrowth several times.

She then swam across the river to the other side in front of us and then swam along the shore looking for caiman.

She continued searching on land for her prey.

Finally she spotted a pair of capybara!

Marcela stealthily crept up on the unsuspecting pair.

Alas, the capybara spooked and fled into the water.

Marcela returned to the hunt.

It wasn't long before she had a caiman in her sites. She sped up to get in position to pounce.

Alas, the caiman slid into the water just in time.

After this disappointment, she climbed up the hill and with a last look out at the water, disappeared into the brush.

We did some bird watching. We saw the tiger heron.

An aninga was drying out its wings. Unlike the cormorants that they resemble, aninga's lack the oil glands that waterproof the wings. After swimming, they need to dry out their wings. Look at how flexible its neck is! It's no wonder it is sometimes called the snake bird.

A pandemonium of parakeets flocked to a tree in the distance.

A ringed kingfisher perched on a nearby tree.

Then we got the call that Marcela had reappeared. We got there as she was swimming across past the boats to the bank.

Soon though she turned around and swam back.

Only to turn around and swim past all the boats again.

She finally gave up, shook herself off and headed back into the underbrush.

We decided not to bother her anymore and left past the tiger heron and the ringed kingfisher who took flight.

We set out to see if we could find a different jaguar. We were in luck and got to see a young jaguar. Fabi wasn't sure of its name, but once I got home, I looked her up and compared her pictures to the 2024 Jaguar Field Guide put together by Jaguar Identification project (only $5 to download). After a lot of careful searching and comparison, I was able to identify her as Kyyavera, who was born to Ti just last year.

Jaguars in Porto Jofre are not collared like they will be in Caiman so they tell them apart by their unique markings. Just like every zebra has a unique stripe pattern, every jaguar has a different set of spots. Can you see the differences between Marcella on the left and Kyyavera on the right?

We watched the jaguar for a short while as she made her way down to the water and then back into the bush.

However, it was now time to head back as the sun would be setting soon. We enjoyed the beautiful sunset as the boat sped back to the dock.

A jaguar killed a capybara at the lodge just last night so we had to be careful walking the grounds.