Gabriel’s account of a few days spent in the Pantanal observing and photographing its wildlife.
A tailor-made journey for two, and one moment, one extraordinary encounter, he wanted to share with us:
“August 28th: we have finally arrived, after a morning walk to get the feel of the surroundings around Santa Teresa.
First photos, a try of the hammock… there are definitely harder moments!
For the afternoon, our guide had booked the electric boat for a ride on the river, just the three of us, me at the bow of the boat, my wife Anne with the bird identification books, and our guide at the helm.
Tiger herons, night herons, kingfishers… a world of birds just as we had dreamed of before leaving.
The river drifts lazily along. We say nothing, there is only the click of the camera, gestures to point out a bird we will identify later… a rare calm, an absolute serenity.
It is around 4:30pm and we are savouring every moment.
Then, suddenly, 150% adrenaline!
Three or four metres ahead of us, among the water hyacinths, a jaguar is swimming!
The scene lasts only five seconds, just enough time to take four photos.
No one speaks. We look at each other, not quite understanding what we have just seen!
The boat made no sound with its electric motor, and the animal was at least as surprised as we were.
I will have to go through the photos on screen again to be sure we did not just dream it…!”
Gabriel Leboff
One lesson can undoubtedly be drawn from this adventure: it is by respecting the environment in which wild animals live that one has the best chance of observing them in the best conditions, and of experiencing rare moments like this one.
