Sausalito, CA – Wildlife viewing specialist Wild Planet Adventures http://www.wildplanetadventures.com/ will take clients to Brazil’s little-visited Taiama Ecological Reserve in the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetlands, on its 15-day “On the Jaguar’s Trail; >From the Pantanal to the Amazon” wildlife safaris from June through October 2012. This region harbor’s the highest density of jaguars in the world. See:

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The program is $6,698 per person (flights not included), for expeditions scheduled June 10-24, July 8-22, Aug. 3-17, Sept. 2-16 and Sept 30-Oct 14, 2012. (For an additional $299, a minimum of two guests can go at a date of their own choosing.)  The experience is also available in a shortened 11-day itinerary starting at $4,998 (flights not included).

“We see on average 1.5 jaguars per day and sometimes as many as seven,” said Wild Planet Adventures’ founder and owner Josh Cohen. “Jaguars frequently hunt caimans along the riverbanks and are often seen at very close range for extended periods. Access to this sanctuary is by boat, which also allows intimate encounters with giant river otters that routinely approach within three feet of the boat, craning their necks in curiosity and snorting loud welcome calls.”

Cohen notes that Giant anteaters, tapir, puma and capybara are among 200 species of mammals densely concentrated here. There are 700 species of birds such as the Hyacinth macaw, and such rare reptiles as Anaconda that are tracked by boat.

This new itinerary executed by jeep, on foot, horseback and by boat showcases three distinct ecosystems spanning the Pantanal’s wetlands to the Amazon’s rainforests, both the largest in the world.

This program begins and ends in Rio de Janeiro. Overnights at private reserves include an authentic Brazilian cowboy experience in the Pantanal where guests visit a working cattle ranch on 8,500 hectares of wetlands, savannah and forest.

In the Amazon guests visit a remote eco-lodge built with sustainable practices on a private rainforest reserve of over 46 square miles of varied forest cover, lakes and micro habitats, supporting 600 species of birds and diverse neo-tropical wildlife.

“Exclusive excursions have been arranged to see some of the region’s exceptionally rare primate species, including the tiny endemic Emilia’s Marmoset. The lodge’s private location adjacent to Amazon-Cristalino Reserve near the confluence of white and black rivers offers a rich diversity of topography, trees, orchids and bromeliads, terrestrial mammals, monkeys, bats, birds, reptiles and fish, butterflies and other insects,” Cohen states.

After the expedition there are possible trip extensions to Iguassu Falls, the UNESCO World Heritage Site bordering Brazil and Argentina as well as Amazon and Rio Negro river cruises to the “Meeting of the Waters” and Anavilhanas National Park where pink river dolphins play.