Just as we decide to call it a day, Ailton suddenly shouts: “There he is!” We look in the direction Ailton is pointing at, but see nothing. “Look there!” Ailton says, while pointing at the skies above the forest. “What are you pointing at?” we ask, “a flying jaguar?” “The sun has done more damage to your brain than we thought!” we laugh, “there are only birds up there”. Ailton changes the direction of the boat and looks at us like a schoolteacher would. “The birds you see circling up there are vultures, they feed on the carcasses of dead animals.” “The Jaguar has made a kill!”

1. Hunting a jaguar in the Pantanal
We arrive in Cuiabá in the late afternoon where
we meet Ailton Lara at the airport. Ailton lived
all his live in this area and has become a
wildlife specialist. “Tomorrow we have an early
start” he tells us when he drops us off at our
hotel. “Don’t forget: long sleeves, a hat and
mosquito repellent.”
It’s 6 AM when we drive out of town in the
direction of the Pantanal, a wetland with the
size of England. The road is straight and the
traffic is almost non-existing. After a 2 hour
drive we make a stop in a small town called
Poconé where Ailton stops the jeep near the
market place. “Here we will buy food and water
for the coming days” he says when we stroll
over the local market. “One day we will eat
beans, rice and meat, the next day it will be
meat, rice and beans”. We laugh, but at the
look at Ailton’s face, we see he’s not joking.
But then again, we never expected this to be a
five star culinary journey.

2. Back in the jeep we drive through wet lands with thousands of birds and we cross
bridges over ponds, infested with crocodiles. “Can we stop to take some pictures of
the crocodiles?” we ask. Without slowing down and without looking up, Ailton replies:
“They’re caimans and not crocodiles”. “There are 32 million of them in the Pantanal
and you will see lots of them in the coming days. Huge ones, which will make you
regret that you took pictures of some miniature specimen at the roadside.”

3. It’s 5 in the afternoon when we arrive at the end of the road. “This is it!” Ailton says cheerfully. We
look around but all we see is a river in front of us and forest on the sides. “This is what?” we ask, as
we get out of the car. “This is the end of the road, from here on we will take the boat” Ailton replies.
“Over there is the Puma lodge, where we will stay overnight” he continues, pointing in the direction
of the woods. There are several lodges around for birdwatchers, fishermen, nature lovers and people
like us, in search of a jaguar. “Let’s prepare our dinner. Today it will be beans, rice and meat”, Ailton
says with a big smile.

4. The next morning at sunrise we’re navigating a small boat
upstream in search of a jaguar.
From the big river we take a left into a smaller river, then a
right into a creek and then a right again where we find
ourselves in the middle of nowhere.
“The first thing we have to do is look for footprints on the
river beds”, Ailton says with a low voice, as if he thinks a
jaguar will hear us.

5. Just as we decide to call it a day, Ailton
suddenly shouts: “There he is!” We look
in the direction Ailton is pointing at, but
see nothing. “Look there!” Ailton says,
while pointing at the skies above the
forest. “What are you pointing at?” we
ask, “a flying jaguar?” “The sun has done
more damage to your brain than we
thought!” we laugh, “there are only birds
up there”. Ailton changes the direction of
the boat and looks at us like a
schoolteacher would. “The birds you see
circling up there are vultures, they feed
on the carcasses of dead animals.” “The
Jaguar has made a kill!”

6. Zigzagging through the labyrinth of rivers and creeks we approach the crime scene. Slowly we
scroll the coast line, peering into the forest. “After dinner, he probably heads for the river for a
drink and some sunbathing”, Ailton says. A joke about beans, rice and meat, pops up in my mind.
Then there is this shadow moving in the woods. And disappears again. We stop the motor and the
boat comes to a standstill. We scan the edge of the forest in complete silence, but see nothing.
Suddenly there he is, 150 kilos of muscle and teeth staring at us. In amazement we stare back at
him. “Wow! This is a very special moment” I say softly. “It sure is” Ailton replies, “but shouldn’t
you take a picture?”

7. Zigzagging through the labyrinth of rivers and creeks we approach the crime scene. Slowly we
scroll the coast line, peering into the forest. “After dinner, he probably heads for the river for a
drink and some sunbathing”, Ailton says. A joke about beans, rice and meat, pops up in my mind.
Then there is this shadow moving in the woods. And disappears again. We stop the motor and the
boat comes to a standstill. We scan the edge of the forest in complete silence, but see nothing.
Suddenly there he is, 150 kilos of muscle and teeth staring at us. In amazement we stare back at
him. “Wow! This is a very special moment” I say softly. “It sure is” Ailton replies, “but shouldn’t
you take a picture?”