I am hoping to visit the Pantanal next year, chiefly to see Jaguar. Apparently Porto Jofre offers the best chance of sightings, but the only hotel there does not respond to my emails. I have also emailed the tour companies mentioned in L. P. which go there but they don't respond either.
I'ld appreciate any information from recent visitors to Porto Jofre Lodge or that area.
The important factor IMO is a skilled local guide with a good reputation for knowing the habits of the jaguar in the area, more so than where to stay.
I used Julinho of Pantanal Trackers, who is an expert at finding jaguars. He can arrange the hotel at Porto Jofre. He will also take you way up the river out of Porto Jofre, and you camp on the lawn of a subsistence fishing family. We did a couple nights of camping, and stayed at the Porto Jofre hotel on the way out. The jaguars were pretty far from Porto Jofre, by the way, so you need to arrange a boat somehow.
Thanks for the replies. Before posting here, I had actually emailed Julinho on julinho_andre@hotmail.com. I have no reply from him either. Do you have any other email address for him or info about his current activities ?
I really don't understand why no one is responding - except for the Cristalino lodge, which charges 390 US per person per night for a single room !
It's possible that the fact you are looking to go in over a year is causing the lack of replies.
The high season for animal viewing in the Pantanal starts soon and the establishments possibly need to focus on the upcoming customers, not the potential 2015 customers.
Also Julinho tends to be booked over a year in to the future, so he is very busy now.
Thanks, inkspot01,
The points you make seem very plausible. Unfortunately, if some correspondents are not now concerned with bookings so distant as 12 months hence, but others, such as Julinho, are booked over a year in advance and therefore not taking more bookings now; it is rather difficult to see how I can pursue my plans.