Great trip organized by Doug — Pantanal is so worth it!
My fiancée and I were very impressed with the custom Pantanal trip we organized with Doug. Before the trip, he was very engaged in designing something to fit our timeframe and what we wanted to see. We stayed on the the boat Barco Aguape at his suggestion for three nights, in the heart of jaguar territory near Porto Jofre, and then a night at the Southwild Lodge to see the ocelot. Doug communicated well leading up, giving suggestions and answering all of our questions. From all the quotes that we collected, his was quite reasonable (roughly in the same range as the other smaller operators that we contacted), and great value for a private tour as well, dedicated guide, dedicated boat, very nice experience compared to some of the boats you see where there's 10-16 people all sitting together. Our actual guide for the trip was Fernando — what a great guy! So knowledgeable, decades of experience in the area, great eye for birds, great photographer too, sharing with us images he captured of the jaguars, birds, and other animals we saw. He picked us up from Cuiaba Airport in the morning 10 am, we arrived at Porto Jofre by 4 pm, and dropped us there on the last day. Staying on the boat was the right decision, because it meant you had more time to see animals and enjoy the early morning and late evening light on the river; if you stay in Porto Jofre, you have 15-20 more minutes of boating at the beginning and end of every day. It was loud at night on the boat because of the generator though, so noise-canceling earbuds were crucial. Good AC and wi-fi. Very nice staff aboard, and better food than one might expect. Simple but good fare. Make sure to have some reais (cash) on you at the start of the trip if you want to tip the staff (and your guide at the end!). It was very hot and dry when we were there (95-100F everyday), so we started at sunrise (630 am), boated around for 5 hours, broke for lunch and the heat, and then did an afternoon outing 230 pm until sunset. Fernando managed everything for us, all we had to do was dress appropriately for the conditions (light colors, sunscreen, wide-brim hat) and keep our eyes on the shoreline for animals. Bring insect repellent. Binoculars are a must! We didn't have fancy cameras, just iphones and figured out how to take photos through the binocular lens (see the macaws photo for an example). We saw many capybaras, caimans, macaws, storks, kingfishers, one sleeping anaconda (much smaller than the movies of course), one tapir, and of course, the jaguars, a few each day! Some walking the riverbanks, some dozing on a tree branch, one swimming. Beautiful, amazing creatures, that are often used to humans, so they don't run from the boats and the clicking cameras. Also several otters! A really memorable trip for us, facilitated very well by Doug and Fernando.