Two days left, and we wonder if we will spot a jaguar in a setting to get the perfect shot. We motor through the lazy river branches searching for the sequestered cats. Then there she is — reclining like a queen on a bluff above the water. She scans the river below as though expecting the current to bring her lunch — an unsuspecting capybara or caiman. Not the slender cat I’m expecting, she is muscular. Her powerful limbs and shoulders and broad head remind me more of a tiger than a puma. Cloaked in the most stunning coat of spots and stripes, she eyes us. She appears undisturbed but aware of our presence. This is the prize — the shutters flutter. Each time she moves she grants a more beautiful angle.

caiman eating fish