Brazil - Pantanal 010524 224 Seiten final lowres - Flipbook - Seite 13
P R E FA C E
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It had almost gotten dark as we walked along the banks of the Pixaim River and a faint
In 2018, I started working on my projects in the South American continent, where I had
cracking sound in the undergrowth on the other side of the river caught our attention. At
previously already spent over a year working on various projects in several different re-
that moment, I did not anticipate that what was about to happen on that day in September
gions. In the past years, travel had become increasingly dif昀椀cult due to the coronavirus
2011 would become a seminal encounter for me. We watched the spot from where the
pandemic. Several regions were no longer accessible or only with signi昀椀cant, sometimes
sound had emerged for some time, and just as we were about to continue walking, somet-
unreasonable restrictions. And thus, I was forced to postpone the 昀椀rst part of my Panta-
hing began to slowly emerge from the thicket into the last daylight. We could not believe
nal expedition, which I had initially planned for August 2020, by one year because of the
our eyes; it was a jaguar, a big, strong male. It stopped and curiously glanced over at us.
restrictions that were in place at the time. My plan was to explore the Pantanal over two
I knew that the Pantanal was home to a large population of these big cats, but there had
six-week tours at the end of the dry season and at the end of the rainy season. The dry
been very few sightings lately in this area compared to the area around Porto Jofre. We
season is perfect for photographing wildlife, because as the wetland dries up, numerous
kept quiet and held on to our breaths. After all, there was only a 40-metre distance between
birds, mammals and some reptiles start gathering at the remaining waterholes and rivers
us and this imposing cat. Though we had the Pixaim River between us, the water level had
to drink water and hunt. During the rainy season, I would focus on the landscape of the
gotten quite low at the end of the dry season, making it easy to cross for a water-loving
now 昀氀ooded wetlands and the contrast with the dry season. Amphibians and reptiles are
cat. However, the jaguar, unlike us, looked very relaxed and took notice of us only brie昀氀y.
also easier to track at this time of the year because of the humid climate.
After a few seconds, it turned away from us, went its own way and immediately disappeared back into the thicket. We, too, returned to our accommodation and continued talking
about our encounter late into the night. That is why I started to dream about visiting and
researching these graceful and imposing wild cats and the wetland again. 10 more years
would pass before I returned.
