Spotting jaguars in the Pantanal doesn’t need to be as expensive as you might think. We initially got a little scared off when requesting quotes from travel agencies, but then we discovered that it is completely doable to rent a car and self-drive the Pantanal. Which suddenly made this experience a lot more accessible. So if you want to spot jaguars in the Pantanal on a budget and you’re wondering how to do it, this is your guide!
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Table of Contents - Spotting jaguars in the Pantanal on a budget
What is the Pantanal
First, let’s start at the beginning. What actually ís the Pantanal? Pantanal translates to “wetland”, and that is exactly what this area is: a huge wetland full of wildlife. The Pantanal stretches over the Brazilian provinces of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, and Bolivia and Paraguay.
But not all of it is a protected area. In fact, most of the Pantanal is inhabited by people, and a tiny part of it is protected. One of these protected areas is the state park Encontro das Águas, which is where the jaguar population is at its densest. So this is where you’ll need to head if you aim to spot jaguars.
When to visit the Pantanal
The best time of year to visit The Pantanal is during the dry season, from June to November. The later in the season, the more likely it is to see jaguar cubs. But it also gets more humid and there will be more mosquitos and horseflies.
We visited in July, and got to see several jaguars during our visit! While it was certainly hot, it wasn’t as humid as expected. The heat was very much bearable, even in the middle of the day. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any cubs. The ones born were still too small and their moms kept them hidden.
Our guide told us that August and September are better months to see tapirs. It’s hotter that time of year, so they spend more time in the river.
How to get to the Pantanal
There are several gateways to the Pantanal, but if you want to see jaguars, you’ll need to head to Cuiaba and start your journey to Porto Jofre from there. This is where the boats to the Encontro das Águas State Park leave from.
There are a few car rentals available at the airport of Cuiaba, so you can get going right away if you don’t want to spend any time in Cuiaba itself. If you do, I highly recommend this AirBnB. The family is just lovely and so welcoming, you’ll feel right at home!
Self-driving the Pantanal
Self-driving is the perfect way to explore this region and to spot jaguars in the Pantanal on a budget. It’s not only more budget-friendly, but it also allows you to go at your own pace. While it is important to realize that visiting the Pantanal is never going to be cheap, by self-driving and organizing your accommodation yourself, you will be able to cut by a few hundred Euros/USD compared to the cheaper yet reliable tours. And by more than half compared to the more expensive ones.
Renting a car in Cuiaba
Most rental agencies are located at, or near the airport. We found the best deal on renting a car for a week with Localiza. The rates dropped by 50% when we selected one week compared to renting for 6 or fewer days! Other agencies didn’t give such a (big) discount, so we booked with them.
While the Transpantaneira (the road to Porto Jofre) is not sealed, it’s not necessary to rent a 4×4 or an SUV. At least not in the dry season. We rented a Renault Kwid for the week, which was perfect for the job. It’s not super low, which is important when driving on unsealed roads. It also has a small motor, meaning it doesn’t consume a lot of fuel, which is also important since there isn’t any fuel sold along the Transpantaneira road.
Fuel
In Brazil, ethanol is widely used as fuel. Most rental companies allow you to use ethanol instead of petrol, and it can even be mixed in the tank. It’s cheaper and less damaging to the environment than using petrol. The only downside is that a car will need more ethanol to drive the same amount of km compared to petrol. So you won’t be able to drive as far on a tank filled with ethanol as on a tank filled with petrol.
If you rent a car with a small motor as we did, you’ll be fine if you fill up to the max in Poconé (the last petrol station you will come across on your way to Porto Jofre). We filled up here and made sure we drove fuel-efficiently. We had enough for the trip there and back without needing to be worried at any time. We did stay at a lodge a few kilometers before Puerto Jofre which saved us some fuel, but even if you stay in Port Jofre itself, you’ll be fine.
Roads
There is only one road to drive on in this part of the Pantanal, which is the Transpantaneira. This is the unsealed road that goes from Poconé to Porto Jofre. So there is no way to get lost, which makes self-driving the Pantanal super straightforward.
The road was in a pretty good condition when we visited and they were doing repairs on some bridges as well (which we could drive around since it was the dry season). This doesn’t mean you should drive fast though. Not only do you want to maximize your chances of spotting wildlife on the way, you also want to make sure you don’t accidentally hit any animals.
If you stay at one or more of the lodges that have a lot of terrain, they will explain which are the best and most appropriate roads on their terrain to drive.
Where to stay in the Pantanal on a budget
There are several lodges in this area of The Pantanal where you can stay. To see the jaguars, you will need to hop on a boat from Porto Jofre, but there are other pousadas on the way where you can see a lot of other wildlife, which are also well worth a stay.
Pouso Alegre
Pouso Alegre is the most famous lodge on the way to Porto Jofre. Staying here is cheaper compared to the lodges in and around Porto Jofre and there is plenty of wildlife to be found here. They have a huge terrain with several roads you can drive and a short trail that you can hike without a guide. For longer trails, you will need a guide, which you can hire on the spot.
We saw deer, caiman, agouti, coati, monkeys, peccaries (similar to wild boars) and lots of birds, including toucans, rhea, and macaws during our stay here. Some people were lucky enough to see tapirs, but we were at another waterhole at that time and unfortunately missed them.
Pousada Piuval
I had not heard of Pousada Piuval until we were already back in Poconé for our last night. Pousada Piuval is similar to Pouso Alegre, in the sense that you can also see a lot of wildlife on their terrain as well. It is one of the best places to see Giant Anteaters. Pousada Piuval is a little more expensive than Pouso Alegre but offers a little bit more luxury.
Porto Jofre
There are quite a few accommodation options in Porto Jofre. From luxurious lodges with a private airstrip to campsites. Generally, all accommodation is full board, since there are no places to buy food. The cheapest option would be a campsite. But we found the campsite quite expensive in comparison to other options and knew it would be uncomfortable with the heat. So we decided to pay a little bit more and stay at the Jaguar Ecological Reserve, which is a great option if you want to spot jaguars in the Pantanal on a budget.
Since this lodge is about 1-hour drive from Porto Jofre, it is cheaper compared to the lodges right at the port. Their price included accommodation, full board, transport to Porto Jofre, and a river cruise looking for jaguars each full day we’d stay and the deal we got was considerably better than the price of lodges closer to the river and a much better deal than the campsite.
Do take into consideration that you’ll arrive later at the river than the people staying in Porto Jofre, and that you will stay out on the boat the whole day. If you stay in Porto Jofre you often get the choice to come back to the lodge for lunch and head out again in the afternoon. Since the Jaguar Ecological Reserve is too far away to go back for lunch, you won’t be offered this choice. You’ll have lunch at the boat and start heading back in the afternoon, generally a bit earlier than the other boats as well.
For us, this was no problem, but I do think it is important to be aware of. We still managed to see 9 jaguars over 2 days, so we were super happy with that. And in July the heat and humidity weren’t unbearable either, and there were no mosquitos or horseflies. So we had no problem staying out all day. It was actually quite nice to be out at lunchtime since there were fewer boats out. But if you visit later in the season when humidity levels rise, you might want the option to head back to the lodge for lunch and rest before heading out again.
What other animals can I see in the Pantanal
I have already mentioned some animals you can see at the lodges along the way, like deer, giant anteaters, toucans, macaws, agouti, tapirs, coati, and monkeys.
Along the river, you will also see caiman. Lots and lots of caiman. You might also see giant river otters and anaconda. Seeing capybara is less common here than you might expect since they are the favorite prey of the many jaguars who inhabit this area. But we had seen so many at El Palmar already, and also quite a few in Los Esteros del Iberá, that we were not particularly sad about that.
As for birds, it’s likely to spot roseate spoonbills, birds of prey, egrets, herons, kingfishers, and Jabiru.
What to bring on your self-driving Pantanal-on-a-budget-trip
The most important thing you will need to bring is water! At Pouso Alegre you can fill up your water bottle for free, but not all lodges offer this opportunity. We got water offered during our river cruises from the Jaguar Ecological Reserve, but at the lodge itself we would have had to pay for drinking water if we hadn’t brought our own.
It’s also very important to bring sunscreen and protective clothes, you will spend a lot of time in the sun. Some boats have roofs, but not all of them. And the rule when observing a jaguar is that boats with their roof up have to go in the back. So most boats don’t have it up when they know there is a jaguar close by and you will be in full sun. And even with the roof up, you will probably still catch some sun somewhere, especially if you’re in the front seat.
Of course, you will also need to bring your camera. The bigger your zoom the better. Sometimes you might be lucky and animals might be close enough to film or photograph with your phone, but this is certainly a location for which you want a camera with a zoom lens. Since we only had one camera we swapped it between the two of us, and so at times we’d only have a GoPro or a phone and the footage just does not compare.
Cost-breakdown of our budget Pantanal trip
Prices vary a lot between accommodations and agencies, but visiting the Pantanal is never going to be cheap. Even if you want to travel the Pantanal on a budget, you will still need to count on spending about 200 EUR/USD per person, per day if you are traveling with two. Lodges will charge a single-person supplement if you are traveling alone, a room for three people will be cheaper.
Below is an overview of what we spent during our 6-day self-driving Pantanal itinerary to give you an idea. These prices are based on a 2-person occupancy of the rooms.
- 1 week Car rental Localiza: 191 USD (95,50 per person)
- 1 night at Pouso Alegre (incl. 3 meals) – 218 USD (109 per person)
- 3 nights at Jaguar Ecological Reserve (incl. 2 river cruises, 8 meals, a night safari) – 1416 USD in total (708 USD per person)
- 1 night in Poconé – 40 USD (20 USD per person)
- Fuel (ethanol) 27 USD (13,50 UD per person)
- Water and snacks for the road: 10 USD (5 USD per person
Total cost for our 6-day self-driving trip to the Pantanal: 1902 USD for two people (951 USD per person).
Note that we did not do a guided hike at Pouso Alegre, nor did we buy any drinks at the lodges. We did the short trail on our own and brought our own drinks.
This was: Spotting jaguars in the Pantanal on a budget
