Welcome to the tropical wetland where jaguars swim and anacondas hunt caimans.
Moments after our van passed an inconspicuous sign welcoming visitors to the start of the Pantanal—a 75,000-square-mile UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in southwestern Brazil—the wildlife sightings started coming thick and fast. Right at the roadside, on the muddy bank of a lake, my binocular lens landed on a monstrous yellow anaconda. In search of its next meal, the snake had wrapped its slick, muscular body around a large caiman, which intermittently thrashed and snapped its teeth, attempting to break free.
“I’ve never seen anything like it in years of doing this job!” said Lejania Malheiros (Lele), our guide for an 11-day small-group adventure through the Pantanal with eco-tourism company Natural Habitat Adventures. Witnessing this rare reptile battle felt like a good omen. If we saw something…
