Northern Pantanal Iconic Wildlife - ESCORTED GROUP SEPTEMBER 2026

Starting in Sao Paulo on the 6th September 2026

A small group wildlife journey carefully planned and escorted throughout by Busanga Safari's  Lesley Pritt.

The Pantanal's 150, 000 square kilometres is the largest wetland on the planet.

Home to the greatest biodiversity and concentration of fauna and flora in the Americas, the Pantanal's waterways, grasslands and savannahs showcase breathtaking gatherings of mammals, reptiles and birds. 5, 000 jaguars live in the Pantanal. This journey is timed to coincide with the dry season when jaguars are drawn to permanent waterholes and along the river banks to take advantage of their unwary prey animals, such as caimans and capybara, that need the river system to survive. 
Accustomed to humans watching from boats, jaguar sightings range from a glimpse to several hours of observation.

While our safari's focus species is the jaguar, with a recorded  656 bird species, 236 mammals and 80 reptiles, our adventure in the Pantanal is about so much more. 

Also on our wish list are the world's largest rodent (Capybara) and parrot (the Hyacinth Macaw), and the anaconda, the greatest of all snakes. With luck, we also hope to see the continent's heaviest land mammal, the South American Tapir, and with a bit more luck, the Giant Anteater. 

 Trip highlights include:
- A lodge on the Paraguay River and Taiama Reserve. We will spend our days exploring by boat in this 11, 500-hectare ecological reserve
- Walking and jeep safari on the fertile lands of a traditional cattle ranch. During the night safari, we will look out for nocturnals 
- Four nights in a Floating Hotel in the heart of Jaguar territory. We will boat safari twice a day, searching the waterways and banks for jaguars, Giant Otters and myriad bird, mammals and reptile species that make this area their home