Jaguars of Pantanal

A female jaguar with her cub. Photographed By Percy Fernandez

It is the vines that set the stage for the rosettes.

It was our first day on the Cuiaba River in Porto Jofre, a crowning jewel in the Pantanal and the world's largest freshwater wetlands. We were in search of the largest cat in South America. Just before we drove into Porto Jofre, the previous evening, we spotted a puma, somewhere in Pouso Alegre the second largest one in the continent.

The afternoon was mildly warm, cloudy and still. Roberto, our guide, killed the engine and meandered his way into the shallows to find a place between boats in a row. There were many. Tourists, travellers and photographers were waiting for the afternoon to unfurl.

We were told that Patricia, a female jaguar and her two cubs were having an afternoon siesta. I could see her rosettes, not very far. The beauty of the Pantanal is its setting. The Cuiaba River is dotted with sandy beaches, grasslands and the wooded Savannah, called Cerrado in Portuguese. The shallows are covered with hyacinths that provide perfect cover for the caimans. The jaguars tenderly stalk these shallows. Suddenly, Patricia’s cubs, still not christened, came out of the hiding to present themselves.

The afternoon unfurled itself.