The living Pantanal
Where the Piquiri meets the São Lourenço, nature gathers like nowhere else on the continent. Jaguars hunt in daylight, the rivers teem with fish and the sky is rarely without birds. This page is a dive into that world.
The biome in numbers
The Pantanal is the largest wetland on the planet and one of the richest ecosystems on Earth. Every flood redraws the map and redistributes nutrients, fish and seeds. The result is an abundance you can see from the boat window.
from the jabiru to the hyacinth macaw
dourados, pintados and pacus
and the highest jaguar density on Earth
from water hyacinths to flowering piúva trees
The pulse of the waters
The Pantanal breathes once a year. Keep scrolling and watch the river rise and fall, just as it does across the plain.
November to March
The rains overflow the rivers and the plain becomes a freshwater sea. Fish spread out to spawn, aquatic plants advance over the fields and life disperses across thousands of kilometres of water.
April to September
The water withdraws slowly and concentrates the fish in bays and channels. It is a banquet for the caiman, the egret and the jaguar, and the best time to see the animals gathered along the banks.
Expedition
Keep scrolling and drift from encounter to encounter, like a boat trip at first light. Hover over the photos to uncover a few curiosities.
01 of 07
Panthera onca
The largest cat in the Americas hunts here in daylight, right at the water's edge. The meeting of the Piquiri and the São Lourenço holds one of the highest jaguar densities on the planet.
Did you know?
A Pantanal jaguar can top 100 kg, nearly twice the weight of its Amazon cousins.
02 of 07
Caiman yacare
They number in the millions across the plain and anchor the food chain. A caiman lies motionless in the sun for hours and vanishes at the first hint of movement in the water.
Did you know?
In the dry season, hundreds gather in the last remaining pools, one of the largest crocodilian gatherings on Earth.
03 of 07
Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris
The largest rodent in the world lives in herds at the water's edge. Where there are capybaras, a jaguar is rarely far away.
Did you know?
An adult capybara can stay underwater for up to five minutes to escape a predator.
04 of 07
Jabiru mycteria
The Pantanal's emblem bird stands over 1.4 metres tall and builds giant treetop nests that are reused for decades.
Did you know?
A jabiru nest can reach 2 metres across and weigh more than 300 kg.
05 of 07
Megaceryle torquata
It dives at full speed to snatch a fish and returns to the same perch to swallow it. Its dry rattle gives it away before you spot it.
Did you know?
It sights fish through the surface and corrects its aim for the water's refraction.
06 of 07
Ardea alba
A patient hunter of the margins, it fishes standing dead still in the shallows and lifts off in a white line over the river at the slightest scare.
Did you know?
Its breeding plumes, called aigrettes, were so prized that they nearly drove the species extinct in the 19th century.
07 of 07
Galbula ruficauda
Small and metallic-bright, it hunts insects in short sallies from the same perch, always along sunlit forest edges.
Did you know?
It catches dragonflies mid-flight and beats them against the branch before swallowing.
Flora and landscapes
The Pantanal's flora lives to the rhythm of the water: hyacinths that become islands, fields that bloom in the ebb and the gallery forest that shelters the jaguar. Drag to move through the gallery.
Water hyacinths
Floating islands that shelter fry, young caimans and birds hunting from the leaves.
Flooded fields
At high water, submerged grasslands become fish nurseries and a larder for birds.
Gallery forest
The corridor of shade along the river, where jaguars rest and birds nest.
Dawn on the river
Mist lifts off the cold water as the first light sets the forest alight.
Golden dusk
Late afternoon paints the river in the house colours.
The river at sundown
The river's bends turn to mirrors in the last minute of light.
Our trips head straight for the channels and bays where the wildlife gathers. Tell us when you'd like to come and our team will build the itinerary on WhatsApp.
