A UNIQUE ENCOUNTER with a Jaguar

Stories

A face to face encounter with a jaguar

The first time I put my feet on Madre de Dios was during the rainy season of 2014, to be precise on January 3rd.

 

The goal of that trip was to collect information about the “Castaña” (Brazil nut tree) production in the property of Refugio Amazonas Lodge, start my thesis to get the degree and also, try to graft mature Brazil nut trees with buds of productive trees from other parts of the region in order to enhance the production.

 

To start my work and accomplish the goals I needed to find “Castaña” buds from productive trees. Talking with people in the city I met a “castañero” known as Cachimba, a 65-year-old man who offered his trees so that I could prune the buds. His Brazil nut concession land was close by Valencia Lake. This lake is an oxbow lake that was part of the Madre de Dios River many years before.

Experience a Brazil Nut Trail and Camp at Rainforest Expeditions Lodges

The day I arrived everything ran perfectly; weather in the best conditions, no rain but cloudy. The tree that the worker showed me to climb for collecting the buds was only 10 minutes walking from the base camp. When I arrive at the base of the tree, I felt like being in the Avatar movie. That Brazil nut tree was considered the most productive of the land and with a longevity of around 1200 years.

 

This intimidating ancient tree was 55 meters tall, supporting a 30 meters wide crown. I spent the whole day climbing, collecting the buds, moving between branches. The most intense and gratifying day of work in my life. Then, with the buds in my hands, I only had between 3 and 5 days to graft them in the trees in Refugio Amazonas Lodge.

Brazil Nut Tree

Brazil Nut Tree – Photo by Varun Swamy

As soon I got back to Refugio, the buds were installed and the “castañeros” of the land arrived. Three men with their upper bodies armed as soldiers were collecting all the coconut-like fruits of the “Castaña”. Using machetes as blades, they opened the hard shells to get the seeds, in only three hits. My work was to count how many fruits were produced in each tree.

 

First, I helped them find the fruits on the ground by the tree base and stack them on a small hill. Some trees have 50 fruits but there could have up to 2,000 fruits. When they started breaking the fruits I sat down close to them and counted how many they opened.

brazil nut camp

 

Brazil nuts on a trail

 

One of the days I was counting, very concentrated, all the fruits, so that I wouldn’t miss a single one and be able to get the more precise results in my thesis.

 

Suddenly, they were looking at me with extremely afraid faces. Their faces made me freak out; they were acting as if they were seeing a ghost. I started to look at my body because I thought I had a viper on me but I didn’t, so I realized they were looking behind me.

 

I turned back and saw 8 meters away from me, a female Jaguar. She was curious about the sounds of the machetes hitting the fruits. Between her front legs was a cub, a small one, probably 2 or 3 months old. That scene lasted around 10 more long seconds, no one was moving, we were paralyzed, probably without knowing if we were in a dream (encounter with a jaguar).

Then, the jaguar turned to her left and started walking into the density of the forest. The cub took two more seconds to realize his mom was gone, made two jumps out, and disappeared. After that moment I spent two years without looking at a single Jaguar.

Jaguar in the rainforest

Jaguar (Panthera Onca) By Paul Bertner

Jaguars are solitary cats, they don’t live in herds like lions. Is easy to spot them nearby the river banks during boat trips. When you travel to the Amazon, in Tambopata, you have up to a 35% chance to spot one. The territories of females are associated with the surroundings of the rivers where they can find their favorite prey: capybaras.

Learn How To Identify a Jaguar in the Amazon Rainforest Here

Males use bigger territories, up to 300 square kilometers, and can get deep inside the forest for long periods following white-lipped peccary’s herds or Tapir trails. If you saw more than one jaguar together could be a female whit its cups, maybe a couple of young brothers that are still together before taking their own way, or maybe a male and a female during the breeding season.

The incredible thing about this story is the proximity that we can have with these activities. Within everyone’s reach…The Brazil Nut Trail and even the Jungle Jaguar Search. Definitely unforgettable experiences.

by Juan Diego

Do not wait any longer for a tour of the Amazon Rainforest!

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The lodge is located in the middle of the forest accessible only by boat. The experience was very unique and exciting. Service is great, and the fun part are the nature activities and tours the hotel offers for free. We had an amazing tour guide that had a lot of knowledge and was fun to spend time with. The rooms are totally open to the forest which is really cool the struggle is the there is no privacy at all in between the rooms, also food was pretty basic. All together a very unique experience. Read all

This hotel is the perfect blend of comfort and hospitality, with the natural experience. The hotel is reached by a hours boat ride from Puerto Maldonado, expertly organized and accomplished. Most staff are members of the local Esa Ejja community. The food is good and plentiful. Hot water is always available and lovely bedding features mosquito nets. There is of course no air conditioning (one side wall is open in rach room) and the electricity is off for a few hours at night affecting overhead fans, so I was glad to have brought a small battery powered fan for sleeping. But the best of the experience is the wildlife. Our expert guide Oscar Mishaja introduced us to nearly 100 bird species, along with caimans, river otters, poison dart frogs and capybara. A trip of a lifetime. Read all

Excellent experience overall— really kind and welcoming staff at every point of the journey. All transfers were well organized and smooth. Excellent and educational excursions all around the rainforest. Delicious food for every meal. We had wonderful guides- Freet and Alvaro. Enjoyed our time here! Read all

Unbelievable.... Magical Everything I have dreamed of since I was 8 years old but MORE Read all

We had a surreal experience at Refugio Amazonas. From the well organized transportation to the warm welcome, hospitality and the experience of living in nature - we loved it all. Huge shout out to our guide Boris who went out of his way to ensure we had a good experience and got to watch all kinds of wild life. The meals and cocktails were delicious. And even though this place is smack in the middle of the jungle there was super fast WiFi available. We made unforgettable memories. Read all

We had an amazing time in TRC. From the guide, tours, lounge staff, food and room, everything has exceeded our expectation and like an amazing dream came true. We highly recommend to directly book with the lounge website, so that you got a private guide for your group. Special thanks to our guide Saul, who made this experience extra special! We were so impressed by his knowledge about all the animals and the rainforest. Read all

We had an amazing time in TRC. From the guide, tours, lounge staff, food and room, everything has exceeded our expectation and like an amazing dream came true. This is the only lounge available in Tambopata national park, and this eco lounge takes environment seriously. We highly recommend to directly book with the lounge website, so that you got a private guide for your group. Special thanks to our guide Saul, who made this experience extra special! We were so impressed by his knowledge about all the animals and the rainforest. If you are a natural lover, you can’t miss this place Read all

Excellent and luxurious place, wonderful experience and our guide Boris was first class, he had a unique patience with my 8 year old son. An experience in the tropical rainforest that marks the life of its visitors. In addition to the scientific research that takes place in the place: a whole research center. Rooms: Very comfortable and luxuriou Read all

El mejor hotel para visitar la Amazonia peruana. Hotel eco turístico metido en medio de la selva, equipado para visitar y vivir la selva, su flora y fauna, en todas sus facetas. Todo incluido, con guías preparados y amables, resultó una experiencia increíble para mi familia. Dentro de las opciones no se debe perder el Canopy de 45 metros de altura para observar y escuchar la selva, así como el lago de las tres Chimbadas, lugar único para ver caimanes, nutrias gigantes, monos y aves exóticas. Recomiendo mínimo dos noches!!! Read all

Wunderbare lodge mit freundlichen Menschen. sehr persönliche guides, tolle Tourangebote und super kulinarische Verpflegung ! Wir wurden herzlichst von Caesar empfangen und unser guide JuanJo hat uns phantastische Dinge gezeigt. Wir können die lodge nur wärmstens empfehlen! Read all

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