Porto Jofre, Brazil

Want a 99% chance of seeing jaguars, giant river otters, caiman and other gorgeous creatures in Northern Pantanale, Brazil? Go to Porto Jofre. It's expensive, but you get what you pay for.

Porto Jofre may only be a small settlement on a wide river but it is special. The wildlife here is comfortable sharing their pristine habitat with tourists, and come out to pose. Jaguars swim and fish, giant river otters play and massive grasshoppers from Jurassic world fly at night. This is a pure adrenaline rush for the wildlife junkie, photographer and videographer. Boat drivers choreograph the fauna ballet, and ensure an unforgettable experience.

There are two videos about Porto Jofre:

Wildlife galore... Porto Jofre, Brazil. S American extrav 16 - our journey down the Transpantaneira Highway from Aymara Lodge, and the morning of our boat ride and wildlife encounters
Jaguars and more... Porto Jofre, Brazil. S American extrav 17 - the afternoon of our boat ride and wildlife encounters, and our trip back up the highway to Cuiaba.

Getting to Porto Jofre

Porto Jofre is at the end of the Transpanteira Highway, itself a wildlife paradise, in the Northern Pantanale.

To get here, you either go on a guided tour, or hire a car in the city of Cuiaba and drive. From Cuiaba to Porto Jofre in a car would take you practically a day with not much time to navigate the dodgy bridges and gawk at the wildlife. Not recommended. Having said this, we did drive back to Cuiaba from Porto Jofre in a day and didn't find it too arduous. It takes about six to seven hours.

The Transpanteira Highway is itself an amazing wildlife habitat. Its wetlands and swamps are a great place to watch birds and animals. Caiman. capybara, kingfishers and a myriad of other native creatures live here.

The highway also has very dodgy bridges in a bad state of repair. Some, but not all, have roads detouring around them. You need to be constantly alert to drive across these.

We stayed a few nights in one of the lodges down the highway before we drove the final distance to Porto Jofre. There are several lodges here that you can look up on the internet. We stayed at Aymara Lodge which offered an all-meal, all-activity option and was fab. We walked through the bushland, went wildlife spotting in the grounds and on the back of the van and kayaked down the gorgeous creek. We saw crab eating foxes, red-brocket deer, hyacinth macaws, black howler monkeys and heaps more.

Watch our videos:

Your Porto Jofre package

However you get to Porto Jofre, you MUST BOOK YOUR ACCOMMODATION IN ADVANCE. We tried to book in at the English speaking Porte Jofre Hotel but it was fully booked. Most other accommodation options in Porto Jofre only speak Portuguese. However, the people are very friendly and once you've booked using your Google translate and What's App apps, it's easy. You book your jaguar and wildlife trip at reception once you get there

We stayed at Santa Rosa Pantanal. Our hotel room was lovely, the food was great and the wildlife even around the hotel was amazing. Capybara, giant flying grasshoppers and cute guinea pig-like creatures abounded. I swam in the lovely pool and kept fishing little toads out of it and putting them on dry land. Not sure if they liked that!!!!

Most hotels like ours offer a two-night package with all your meals and a private boat for a half day or full day. Because of the language difficulties and the fact everyone else at the hotel was Brazilian and in a group, we inadvertently booked a private boat. In hindsight we were glad about this as our lovely boatman was totally dedicated to ensuring we got the best views. He did everything he could to ensure we saw heaps of wildlife including lots of jaguars swimming, mating, hunting and sleeping. Given we were videographers and photographers, he took us to where there were few other boats to get amazing footage of other wildlife. Fully recommended.

We booked the full-day package and did not regret it but to be honest most of the wildlife viewing occurs in the morning. Depends on your budget.

Watch our videos:

Your Porto Jofre wildlife

Get ready to wake up at dawn. This is not a bad thing as lots is going on along the river in the early morning. We saw all sorts of birds calling and capybara bathing in the river. After breakfast, we went off in our private boat to try and find wildlife. Our boatman who only spoke Portuguese but was great at sign language, was in contact with other people via radio. As soon as a jaguar was sighted, we went off down a gorgeous tributary of Porto Jofre river .

It was a wonderful exercise in diplomacy to see all the boat drivers jostling to get their clients in the best place to see jaguars. Matt and I were so excited when we briefly saw a jaguar strolling along a river bank among pink and yellow wildflowers before disappearing into a tangle of shrubbery. The next thing we heard was the call of the male jaguar after he'd successfully mated. Next we saw the male and female jaguar emerging from the bushes and basically lazing around.

When jaguars mate, the male jaguar sticks to the female for a few days to ensure he's impregnated her. This can be a nuisance for the female. We watched her plan her escape up a hill, come back, then take off down the river bank. The male, having patiently waited for her, checked there were no competitors then stuck to her like glue.

We caught up with them further down the river bank. the lady lying on her back to maximise chances of pregnancy before moving off to be shadowed by her faithful Romeo.

Our wonderful boatman also got us next to giant river otters. The world's largest otters. these amazing animals have strong family ties and we were lucky enough to see adults lazing, juveniles playing and the whole family bonding. Fantastic.

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Why go?

Jaguars. This is the best place to see jaguars interacting naturally in the wild. They're generally undisturbed by all the tourist boats and even pose for photos. We saw jaguars mating, fishing, foraging, grooming themselves and sleeping. Bloody wonderful.
River otters and other wildlife. We saw a family of giant river otters and it was gorgeous. From youngsters playing and fishing to adults relaxing on a fallen log, this was a great spot to watch these beautiful creatures interacting.
Birdlife and animal life. There are lots of birds here like kingfishers and toucans as well as other animals. This place really is wildlife-central.
Wildflowers plus. If you love wildflowers, there are heaps here.
Good sustainable management. The place is kept free of rubbish and there is only one place on the riverbank to go to the toilet.
Heaps of fun. There's no way you'll have this place to yourself but all the boatmen know each other and successfully get their clients good viewing points without disturbing each other. It's actually lots of fun watching other tourists' excitement and finding out who has the most massive camera lens.
A nice relaxing stay, Most places to stay, including where we stayed, have swimming pools, all inclusive meals and river views. Stay an extra day just to swim, bird and animal watch, and stroll around the area.

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I honestly have to say this is one of the best places in Brazil to see native wildlife in its natural habitat. It's spellbinding, and I thoroughly recommend it.

Be aware

Porto Jofre is literally a pristine river flanked by hotels. Each place to stay has a rudimentary store selling sunscreen, deodorant and toothpaste but it's best to bring everything you need with you. This is not the place to run out of medication or other essentials.
Try and have at least rudimentary Portuguese so you can communicate with your boatman and with hotel staff. At most hotels people do not speak English. Many of your fellow tourists will be Brazilian or from non-English speaking countries.
All hotels offer three meals a day packages, and your boatman will bring you back to your hotel for lunch. Your meals are often buffet style or if they are not, menus are in Portuguese. Advise of any dietary requirements in advance. Your hotel will accommodate your needs if it is informed of them before you arrive.
This is Jurassic world. It's a wild place. I loved it. If you are not a fan of sharing your swimming pool with frogs or walking round with massive flying grasshoppers whirring about, don't come. Having said that, hotels are spotlessly clean and if you keep the screen on your doors and windows shut, your room will be insect free, as was ours.