Brazil 2025 part 3

    I always make notes in a journal at the end of the day, and this is what my first sentence was for today. Jaguar heaven this morning! Can it really be better than yesterday?

We have not gone far on the main river when we experience a phenomenon that I will never forget. Fish begin jumping out of the river and one of them lands in the lap of the Indian woman. She jumps up screaming and runs over to my side of the boat. I get down and while trying to capture the flopping fish I keep reassuring her, (okay I am laughing too), that it is just a fish. She finally settles down, and I manage to grab our uninvited guest and toss it overboard. In the meantime, several other fish have landed in our boat. A crewman that is with us this morning is busy grabbing them and tossing them back. I know I should not have laughed as the poor woman really was freaked out. I am fairly certain I was not the only one laughing at her expense.

   We have some good bird sightings this morning before we join a few boats watching Marcela as she is getting ready to cross the narrow tributary we are in. Holy smokes! No wonder Marcela slept all day, yesterday. Her belly is huge! This beauty is either very pregnant, or she stuffed herself to the point of bursting. It does not take Marcela long to reach the other side and then she disappears into the woods.

We continue exploring and twenty minutes after leaving Marcela we cross paths with Patricia and Makala walking near the water. Patricia soon vanishes into the brushy cover, but Makala decides to sit down and stare right back at us. He soon becomes bored and heads in the same direction Mom did. Well, that was cool.

Our driver turns down another channel on orders from Fred and in a few minutes, we find Marcela sleeping in a tree! I guess that swim and short overland hike wore her out. Fred tells us this is one of her favorite trees. The guides obviously know the habits of the individual jaguars very well.

This place is a labyrinth of channels off the main river, and I have no idea where we are or where we have been. I do know that we find two river otters in the offshoot of the main river we are exploring now. These otters are not cute in my opinion. To me they look flat out mean. This couple do entertain us with their playful antics. They crawl up the muddy bank and slide around in the mud, then go down into the river and splash around. Suddenly the otters go on alert. Fred sees what they are upset about as he spots Ousado emerging from some trees on the other side of the river. Ousado approaches the water and is preparing to cross when he espies the otters. He stops and intently watches the otters.

I think all of us are holding our breath as Fred quietly relates to us that jaguar fear river otters. A group of otters will not hesitate to attack a jaguar and if you could see their teeth, you would understand why. After what seems like an eternity, Ousado backs up and takes refuge on the riverbank. The otters seem to accept his retreat and start playing again. Eventually the otters swim down the river and we follow them for a while. They can stay under the water a long time and boy can they swim fast! What an interesting encounter.

    Our boat is speeding off again and this time we are taken to a pair of jaguars in mating mode. Typical cat romance, snarling, lashing out with their paws, nothing that would suggest they wanted anything to do with each other. We sit here with several other tourists watching the jaguars’ antics but the two do not mate.  Regardless, a great way to cap off the morning!

It is a relief to be back on the airconditioned riverboat as it is sunny and very hot today. We are served another great meal. These chefs are something else. Fred regals us with stories of things that have happened with other clients of his which is very entertaining. I wonder if the fish encounter will be told to future clients.

    We are off at three o’clock, but the Indian couple decide to stay on the boat. Maybe it is too hot for them, and it is stifling hot. I am wearing a neck cooler, and I am so glad I decided to buy one and give it a try. I have no idea how it works but after soaking it in ice water, it stays cool for about three hours. I do not deal with heat very well and this device has allowed me to stay comfortable.

We find a jaguar grooming himself on a sandy beach. It turns out to be Ousado. Fred says Ousado is about two miles from where we saw him this morning. Fred tells us that this makes him feel more positive about Ousado’s health since he has traveled that far in a fairly short time. My question is how the old jaguar can stand being out in the direct sunlight?

    We meander down different channels, some quite shallow. When we are in the shallow tributaries, Fred asks us to all to move to front seats so the motor will sit higher in the water. This will keep the motor from getting clogged with the water plants. We go back to check on the mating couple which have stayed in the same area we saw them at this morning. There is no shade for the boat, so we are at the mercy of the late afternoon sun. Yikes, have I mentioned it is really hot? The two jaguars move around some, still making threatening noises and gestures towards one another. We move on after twenty minutes giving up hope that the couple will actually mate. When the speedboat is moving the breeze helps tremendously in cooling us down, so we are all happy to leave.

Fred wants to check on Marcella again. I think Marcela must be one of Fred’s favorite jaguars. After we have been there a few minutes, Marcela sits up on the big limb she was sleeping on. Everyone, (a few other boats are here), watch intently in the hope we will see her ambush the caiman that poked his head up not far from Marcela’s perch. Marcela looks at the reptile and then lays back down. What a tease she is!

Another beautiful sunset, great meal, and entertainment from our versatile guide.