Read This Before You Book

The Pantanal is one of the greatest wildlife destinations on Earth. It is also one of the most remote. Before you book with Journey With Jaguars, we want you to understand exactly what this trip is, and exactly what it is not.

We would rather lose a booking than have the wrong guest on the boat. After years operating in the Northern Pantanal, we have learned that the best trips happen when expectations are completely aligned before anyone arrives.

If you want long days in the field, extraordinary wildlife, a brilliant team and as much time as possible on the river, you will probably love what we do. If you want five-star lodging, air-conditioned safari vehicles and predictable infrastructure, this is not the trip for you. We want you to know that now, not after you have paid.

What We Do

Journey With Jaguars specialises in jaguar safaris by boat on the rivers of the Northern Pantanal, based in the Porto Jofre region. That is our focus, and we do not dilute it with Transpantaneira add-ons or complicated combinations of tours.

We offer two ways to travel with us.

Private tours. We offer four private safari itineraries. From July through the end of October, all private tours begin on Sundays. Outside this period, arrival dates are more flexible.

• 4 Days / 3 Nights (2 jaguar safaris)
• 5 Days / 4 Nights (3 jaguar safaris)
• 6 Days / 5 Nights (4 jaguar safaris) (Our Most Popular)
• 7 Days / 6 Nights (5 jaguar safaris)

We don't offer anything longer than 5 river days, because it simply isn't necessary. We stay out at least 3 to 4 hours longer each day than operators who return to the lodge for lunch, which means 5 river days with us is the equivalent of around 7 with anyone else. Five days is more than enough to experience the very best of the Pantanal.

Group safaris. Our small-group safaris are 6 days / 5 nights with 4 full jaguar safaris, from US$4,390. They operate on specific published dates, and these dates are fixed.

• Jul 26 to Jul 31
• Aug 5 to Aug 10
• Aug 12 to Aug 17
• Aug 19 to Aug 24
• Aug 26 to Aug 31
• Sep 25 to Sep 30
• Oct 26 to Oct 31

For most guests, four full river days is the sweet spot and our most popular safari. It gives you enough time to experience different conditions from day to day without the trip feeling rushed. This is why all our group safaris are four river days. But whatever itinerary you choose, our philosophy is the same: maximise your time on the river.

Every Booking Starts With a Call

Before any guest pays, we require a 15 minute call with Journey With Jaguars founder Benjamin James. This is mandatory.

It is a fit check. We will talk through the itinerary, the heat, the long river days, the accommodation, the physical requirements, the bathroom situation and what you personally want from your safari. You can ask anything.

Occasionally we tell someone that Journey With Jaguars is not the right tour for them, and we are completely comfortable doing that. We would rather run fewer tours with guests who genuinely understand this kind of experience than try to be everything to everyone.

This Is a River Safari, Not a Lodge Holiday

You come here for the river. That is where the magic happens, and it is where we put everything we have.

We use excellent boats designed for long days on the water, with comfortable rotating seats, plenty of space and Starlink internet where conditions allow. More importantly, we have spent years building an exceptional team of guides and pilots. In the Pantanal, your guide and pilot make an enormous difference. They need to understand the rivers, the wildlife, the other boats, positioning, jaguar behaviour, and when it is worth staying somewhere just a little longer.

And there is one major difference in the way we operate: we do not go back to the lodge for lunch.

Most boats leave the river around midday. We stay. Some of the most extraordinary wildlife activity happens between roughly 11:30am and 2pm, precisely when the river traffic has disappeared. Lunch is delivered to us on the water and we keep searching. There are no guarantees with wildlife, and a jaguar does not care about anyone's itinerary. What we can control is how much effort we put in and how much time we spend in the field. We would rather be on the river when something happens than hear about it afterwards.

That Means Long, Hot Days

This part matters. A Journey With Jaguars safari is not an African safari in an air-conditioned vehicle followed by an evening at a luxury lodge.

Our safaris take place primarily from open boats. You may spend many hours sitting on a boat in temperatures above 30°C, with high humidity and strong sun. There can be wind, rain and insects, and the days can be long and physically tiring.

You do not need to be an athlete, but you do need to be comfortable spending full days outside in a hot, tropical environment. If that sounds like an adventure, you are probably looking at the right safari. If that sounds miserable, you are not.

World-Class Wildlife. Rustic Lodging.

This distinction is crucial. You are travelling with us for a world-class river and wildlife experience, not a five-star hotel experience.

Accommodation in Porto Jofre is basic and rustic compared with high-end African safari camps and luxury hotels. Do not arrive expecting luxury lodging. It does not exist here, from us or from anyone. Rooms are simple, with small bathrooms and there is air-conditioning.

Porto Jofre sits at the end of the Transpantaneira Highway in an extraordinarily remote part of Brazil. That remoteness is one of the reasons the wildlife is so incredible, and it comes with compromises. Electricity for the entire region runs along the Transpantaneira, and power interruptions can happen. Water can occasionally stop, sometimes for 30 minutes, sometimes an hour or longer. Internet and communications can drop. Equipment can fail. Weather can change plans.

Things sometimes go wrong out here. These issues are not unique to Journey With Jaguars, they are realities of operating at the end of a remote road in the Pantanal. Our team will always do everything within our control to solve problems quickly. What we cannot do is promise metropolitan infrastructure in one of the most remote wildlife destinations on Earth.

If a temporary power outage or an hour without water would ruin your holiday, please do not book this trip.

*Meals are buffet style. Rice, beans, fresh fish, beef and chicken. If you are expecting an à la carte fine dining experience, this isn't the trip for you.

Bathrooms on the river happen in nature

This is another reality that does not appear in the beautiful jaguar photographs.

There are currently no public floating bathrooms on the river system where we operate. We are working with a local NGO on an initiative to change this. Until then, bathroom breaks mean stopping the boat in an appropriate location, stepping onto the riverbank and walking a short distance into nature. And yes, this is jaguar territory. Our experienced guides and pilots manage these stops safely and discreetly, but there is no bathroom waiting around the corner.

We say this plainly because we never want a guest arriving and discovering something they were not expecting. If going to the bathroom in nature is a dealbreaker for you, we completely understand, but this is not your trip.

You Need to Be Fit and Capable

This trip requires a reasonable level of fitness, mobility and tolerance for heat. You must be capable of safely:

• Boarding and exiting safari boats without significant assistance
• Remaining seated on a boat for extended periods
• Spending long days outdoors in hot and humid conditions
• Walking on natural, uneven and sometimes slippery terrain
• Handling the physical demands of travel in a remote wilderness environment

If you cannot comfortably manage these conditions, this tour is not suitable for you. You are responsible for honestly assessing your own physical capability before travelling, and any medical condition or mobility limitation that could affect your ability to participate safely must be disclosed to us before booking.

A Note for Photographers

We love photography. Many of our guests are keen photographers, our boats are excellent platforms, and our guides and pilots understand positioning and light. We want you to come home with incredible photographs.

What we are not is a dedicated professional photography charter. Wildlife comes first. If the success of your trip depends on achieving a particular photograph, exclusive positioning, or having the boat operated entirely around specific photographic requirements, we are not the right operator for you. We can put you in the best possible position. We cannot direct a jaguar.

The Risks Are Real

The Pantanal is genuine wilderness. You will be travelling through habitat containing jaguars, caiman, snakes and insects, in an environment that involves extreme heat, sun exposure, storms, boat and vehicle travel, uneven terrain and the possibility of mechanical failures. Medical facilities that might be minutes away in a city can be several hours away here.

Our team has extensive experience operating in this environment and takes safety extremely seriously, but wilderness cannot be made completely risk-free. By choosing to travel here, you accept that these risks are inherent to visiting one of the world's great wild places.

The same applies to sightings. Jaguars, giant otters and everything else here are completely wild animals in an enormous natural ecosystem. Our job is to give you the best team, put you in the right places and work extremely hard. That is what we can promise. What a jaguar decides to do that day is up to the jaguar.

Before You Pay

Please read this page carefully before booking. You should be completely comfortable knowing that:

• The Northern Pantanal is extremely remote and infrastructure is limited. Power, water, internet and communications can be temporarily interrupted.
• Accommodation is comfortable but basic and rustic.
• Safari days are long and hot, spent mostly on an open boat, and we deliberately stay on the river through lunch.
• Bathroom stops happen in nature.
• You need reasonable fitness, mobility and tolerance for heat.
• Medical assistance may be several hours away.
• Wildlife sightings and specific photographic opportunities cannot be guaranteed.
• Our priority is the quality of the wildlife and river experience, not a luxury lodge holiday.

We would rather lose your booking today than have you arrive in the Pantanal expecting something we do not provide.

But if you have read everything above and thought, perfect, that is exactly the kind of adventure I am looking for, then you are probably our kind of guest. And the Pantanal might just give you one of the best wildlife experiences of your life.

What We Can Promise

We have been firm about what we don't offer, so let us be equally clear about what we do.

Seamless logistics from the moment you land in Cuiabá. Transfers, meals, guiding and every detail between arrival and departure are handled, so the only thing you think about is the wildlife.

The best boats on the river. Purpose-built, spacious, with cushioned rotating seats and Starlink on the water. You will spend more hours on a boat here than anywhere else you've travelled, and ours are built for exactly that. Fishing on demand.

** The premium boats, onboard Starlink, premium coffee, fresh fruit and fishing on demand are all part of our private jaguar safaris. On group safaris the boat is larger and still comfortable, but it's not the same premium setup — and Starlink, premium coffee, fresh fruit and fishing can't be guaranteed. We'll always do our best to accommodate.

The best guides and pilots in the Pantanal. We have spent years building this team, and they are the single biggest difference between a good jaguar trip and an extraordinary one. They read the river, the light, the other boats and the animals in a way that cannot be faked.

More time in the field than any other operator. We stay out through the middle of the day when the river empties, with lunch delivered to the boat. Every itinerary is built around one principle: maximise your river time.

Incredible wildlife viewing. Our guests typically see between 10 and 21 individual jaguars in a single trip, alongside giant otters, capybara, caiman, tapir, monkeys and more than 80 species of birds. We cannot guarantee wildlife. We can guarantee that nobody will work harder to find it for you.

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The next step is a 15 minute call with Benjamin. BOOK HERE. Let's make sure we are the right fit for each other.

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