These three eco-lodges are leading preservation efforts to help the animals make a comeback.
Our little boat was like a time machine, the millennia falling away beneath the bow.
This must be how things were at the beginning, I thought, before the arrival of mankind.
A bird’s-eye view of the Cristalino River, in the southern Amazon.Credit:Carmen Campos
Birdsong rang from the jungle.
A giant river otter surfaced with a half-eaten fish.
Spider monkeys, dancing through the trees, suddenly stopped to gaze down at us.
Taking in the Cristalino River, in the Amazon rainforest; webs woven by social spiders in the Cristalino Private National Heritage Reserve.Carmen Campos
Amazonia, the famed 2.5 million-square-mile rainforest, is never just a destination.
In the popular imagination, its an image of prelapsarian wilderness and the manifestation of our environmental nightmares.
Amid vast skies and limitless horizons, empty sand roads run mile after mile.
The lounge at Pousada Trijunção, in the Cerrado savanna; on an evening game drive, guides at Fazenda Trijunção scan for maned wolf tracks.Carmen Campos
But there is nothing bleak about the wildlife in this remarkable environment.
Only about a fifth of the Cerrados original area remains intact.
Some experts fear the grasslands may disappear completely in the coming generations.
Enjoying a swim in Pousada Trijunção’s outdoor pool.Carmen Campos
One leader of the conservation efforts here is Fazenda Trijuncao.
The most iconic and elusive star of the Cerrado is the maned wolf.
Pousada Trijuncaos clay airstrip can be reached by an hourlong flight directly from Brasilia.
A guide at Fazenda Trijunção preserve scans for birds in the Cerrado savanna.Carmen Campos
The rooms are quirky decorated with plants and art by local artisans yet still feel luxurious.
The propertys hot water is heated by solar energy.
But the most iconic and elusive star of the Cerrado is the maned wolf.
Sundown at Caiman, an ecological reserve in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands.Carmen Campos
The primary threat to their survival is shrinking habitat.
They are generally solitary creatures, Meniz said of the maned wolves.
And when they mate, both sexes are monogamous.
Guests at Casa Caiman take a sunset canoe tour in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands.Carmen Campos
She has taken at least three partners that we know of, Couto smiled.
A stygian owl perched on a branch, waiting for dark.
Nhorinha trotted ahead of us: long-legged, elegant, slender, her tail a flash of white.
Scouting for wildlife in the early morning atop Cristalino Lodge’s observation tower.Carmen Campos
In that gray, uncertain twilight, she might have been a ghost.
She stopped in the track and turned to look over her shoulder.
For a long moment, those haunting eyes looked straight at our vehicle, assessing us.
Surya, a female jaguar in the Caiman ecological reserve, wearing a GPS tracking collar.Carmen Campos
And then she disappeared, the road suddenly empty.
Several months after my trip, I received tragic news from Couto and Meniz.
Nhorinha was gone; she and two of her pups had drowned in a drainage ditch on neighboring farmland.
From left: Locally sourced açaí bowls by chef Fábio Vieira at Cristalino Lodge; horseback riding at Caiman, an ecological reserve in western Brazil.Carmen Campos
The Oncafari team was devastated.
But that same month, the researchers made a new discovery.
On their usual rounds, they spotted Savana, Nhorinhas two-year-old daughter, with three new cubs.
A walk amid ancient Brazil-nut trees in the Amazon rainforest; spider monkeys in the treetops at the Cristalino reserve.Carmen Campos
The wolves teach us to be resilient, Meniz said when I spoke to her on the telephone.
And to never lose hope.
Their work at Pousada Trijuncao feels more vital than ever.
Turquoise-fronted parrots soar above the Cerrado.Carmen Campos
The waters surface shone in the bright sunshine and trees threw intricate shadows on the ground.
The day felt fresh and full of promise.
Threaded by meandering rivers, the Pantanal is a wetland thats 16 times larger than the Florida Everglades.
unesco has declared it a Biosphere Reserve.
But curiously, the Pantanal is also ranching country.
Sand-yellow walls and rust-red rooftops help the buildings blend naturally into the surrounding landscape.
Then we gathered our binoculars and cameras and headed out.
A 1967 ban on hunting initially did little more than convert hunters into poachers.
But half a century on, jaguars are now seen as contributors to the local economy.
Wildlife tourism has brought quality jobs, infrastructure improvements, and funds for education and health facilities.
A compensation program run by Caiman helps mitigate livestock losses.
Some poachers in the Pantanal have opted for a career change: now, theyre sought-after guides.
These efforts come at a much-needed time for the cats.
But there are approximately 3,000 to 5,000 jaguars in the Pantanal a relatively high concentration.
We left the road and drove through yellow-green grass toward the birds, scanning the horizon with binoculars.
Before us, pink clouds were rising like loaves in the late-afternoon heat.
Four balletic rheas South American cousins of the ostrich passed, their feathers flouncing like tutus.
Then, through the vegetation, the silhouettes of jaguars appeared.
We approached downwind, gradually bringing the vehicle closer.
A mother and two cubs were feeding on the carcass of a cow, probably killed earlier that day.
The guide knew them.
After a rest, they returned to the feast, ready for the next course.
Eventually the rickety ranch houses and agriculture fell away and trees began closing in on all sides.
At the Teles Pires River, there was a small boat waiting.
But it was the river I loved, the boat excursions upstream and down.
On my last morning, I headed upriver with a guide.
We passed capybaras standing belly-deep in the shallows.
Through the leaf cover, I spotted a tapir, almost twice the size of a pig.
In the trees along the banks were families of white-cheeked spider monkeys.
Endemic to Brazil, they are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The monkeys swung down through the branches like a circus act, their tails acting like a fifth limb.
A tiny youngster gazed wide-eyed at us through the leaves, his brow knitted in an expression of puzzlement.
We were almost certainly the first humans he had ever seen.
Thoughtfully managed travel helps preserve animal habitats for future generations theirs, and ours.
The six-bedroom villa, Baiazinha, is an option for those who want more space and privacy.
At the restaurant, splendid meals incorporate local ingredients like acai, banana leaves, and cassava.
Wildlife abounds on the daytime excursions, from spider monkeys to river otters.
