Breakfast is served outdoors this morning at the kitchen where the cowboys eat before working with the cattleThere are real live cowboys there to give us a presentation about their lives and workEven before we leave the ranch to go on safari we begin to encounter beautiful birds such as this lineated woodpeckerCrossing the bridge over a small lake by our lodge as we start our morning safariThe call has gone out on the radios that a jaguar has been spotted, and we race with both our vehicles to find it.Our first sighting is a young one answering the call of its mother to come.After much maneuvering and jockeying for position with other vehicles, we are in place to view the mother jaguar resting in a tree.We find another one of her cubs crossing a fieldRemains of a kill from just one week agoHyacinth Macaws were once on the verge of extinction before they developed this project to save their eggs from ocelots and other predators. The band on the tree beneath the constructed box nest prevents cats from climbing the tree.Closer image of the Hyacinth Macaws, happy in their wooden homeAfter a great morning of wildlife viewing, we head back to our gorgeous lodge (which we exclusively occupy) for lunch, swimming in the pool and other forms of relaxation.
No sooner did I hit “publish” for this blog post, we get the call that a jaguar has been spotted right near the lodge. We quickly load into our safari vehicles and head out to enjoy another amazing jaguar sighting.
Female jaguar resting near our lodgeShe’s very sleepy, but every once in a while she raises her head to snap at a fly or mosquito bothering herThis big girl weighs about 100 kilos, and her territory includes our lodge so she is a frequent visitorOur wildlife tracker, Sammy, is a delight!This evening we attend a presentation about the local project to habituate and protect the jaguars. It has had great success and their numbers are increasing
