Kmania

I am terribly late in posting this. We went last August and had a fabulous time. I am posting an article (and photos) I wrote for my local Patch website. We did see jaguars, but you will not read much about them here or see any photos (or maybe just one) because I'm writing a separate article that will be published later this year. I'm happy to answer any questions. Our guide, Julinho, was great, and we would definitely recommend him. Following is a link to the story and photos. Enjoy!

http://lakeforest-ca.patch.com/group...photo-11629786

live42day

nice little report and great pictures, thanks for posting.

Kmania

Thanks. Besides Pouso Alegre and Porto Jofre, we stayed at Rio Claro, and we camped for two nights at Carmindo and Maria's home. None of the accommodations could be described as luxurious (far from it), but they were fine and the food was almost always good. We still speak fondly of all the cheese bread and pastries we ate there.

Treepol

Thanks for the trip report and photos. I'm so pleased to hear that you had a great trip with Julinho and saw jaguars and an ocelot, that certainly was a bonus.
We leave in 3 weeks for South America and have 2 weeks with Julinho at Porto Jofre, along the Transpantaneira and then we head over to the Paraguay River.

Regards,


Pol

Kmania

Hi Pol,

Please tell him Kim and Jerry said hi. I will send a copy of the jaguar article when it comes out.

Treepol

Sure will!

IsabelaS

"there was not hot water for the shower"
Just curious.....did you find hot water anywhere in Brazil? I sure haven't and I have been traveling all over the country , staying in modest pousadas and also in private homes of friends for almost 2 decades. Hot shower water: A real necessity in the hot steamy Amazon.
No ice for the caipirinhas is a real tragedy though.

Note: I seem to see more complaints about Amazon and Pantanal trips posted on various Brazil travel forums than praise. Wonder why (poster says innocently)?

IsabelaS

This poster and his cohort have recently been spamming other forums with their negative posts about this company, joining solely to do so.

The guide with a top rep is Pantanal Trackers, with the rightly famous Julinho as guide and owner. www.pantanaltrackers.com.br
afai read Ailton Lara (Pantanal [email protected]) has, beside Julinho, one of the best reputations online and off as a guide for seeing jaguar.
Both are out of Cuiaba in the northern Pantanal.

It is a very serious thing to attempt to ruin the reputation of a legitimate operator such as Ailton with such spurious claims and tactics. (Note: I have no connection to any of these tour operators.)

Since the Pantanal and Amazon tour companies often have similar names, are you sure poster that you are posting about Ailton, and that on TA, in the correct place, the reviews section, and for the correct tour company/provider?

Also though, I can tell you that one-off posters with a grievance and wild wording, on any forum including this one, do not come over well as folks with a reasoned, credible approach to evaluating any service or destination.
Any subsequent readers should understand this.

live42day

I agree Isabela. The poor english is a give away as well. Probably a rival company.

IsabelaS

Yes, there's another spate of this ongoing, silly SPAM war(regarding Amazon and Pantanal tours) going around the Brazil forums right now. Readers beware.

birdybirdy99

Yes : english is obviously not my native language and it's not a sin. Fraud is unlawful and i consider there is fraud around that company and i will explain why.
Isabela S and Live42day are "bright" defensors of PANTANAL NATURE and WILDLIFE, but i confirm i met Ailton (an all unhappy passengers on the boat and we reports the same problems ) and i have been in contact with Vera - so no doubt it's the same and right company. You might be closed to this company because it's very rare to see so many "beautiful" comments from the same person, but it's not important.

And i am not a competitor , just a serious traveler for years, but i choose this company because Pantanal Nature and Wildlife is the 1st company on Tripadvisor for Pantanal with a certificate of excellence for 2013 and i wonder how they can get such award with so poor quality. And of course, i have been very disappointed by this trip.

I wrote one review on Tripadvisor and it has been erased without any notice ; i wrote a second one writing that the 1st one have been erased (and i get an email from another member which have the same case with the same company - i will copy it further) .
So TRIPADVISOR is manipulating the reviews and if PANTANAL NATURE and WILDLIFE is the 1st on Tripadvisor it's just because bad reviews are erased : you can check that they keep only "excellent " and "good" reviews.
So it's a "competition fraud" and i am not sorry for my bad english if it's not the right word - because I choose myself this company because there was only good reviews and they were number 1. And you can read that some people did the same than me and they have been disappointed as well and there also comments on Tripadvisor for a bad value for the price paid.
2 of my reviews has been erased by Tripadvisor probably on PANTANAL NATURE and WILDLIFE request , and i know another one has been erased because the member write to me : this is the mail exchange below - i just leave few letters for the name (PA) but he is a member of Tripadvisor.
---------------------------
"
RE: Pantanal
To: Paxxxxxxxx
Sent on 15 Aug 2013

14 août 2013 15:27, Paxxxxxx a écrit :
Hi, I also visited Pantanal with Pantanal Nature, wrote a bad review and they erased my comment, so I posted it again. Thanks for speaking the truth!

---------------

after few days : i realized they erased my comment and now i check it regularly and i will rewrite it. It's incredible that Tripadvisor accepted to erase bad comments . Most of tourists on the boat were unhappy with the value for the paid money, and Ailton - the manager - organized a meeting to fix it. He promised money for refund but i didn't ear about it anymore after my comment on Tripadvisor and i don't mind
This company is making easy money with rates without any link with the delivered services.
"
-----------
So today you can't trust Tripadvisor : my reviews were facts , even writen with mistakes, but it doesn't appears in the ranking because my reviews were destroyed.

In my country , we can report frauds and i consider there is a fraud when Tripadvisor refused to publish some true comments - and another member is in a same situation. Today in Europe , TripAdvisor is concerned by trials and audits for a lot of fake reviews and i will also report to them my story because i traveled with PANTANAL NAture And WILDLIFE because of their good reviews and the certificate of excellence - but it appears they aren't so good (there was so many problems for poor quality and high price), and also because the ranking has been "modified" by Tripadvisor when erasing bad reviews. So from the competition point of view : it's a fraud because Tripadvisor is advantaging this company against the others (and this company attracts most of the travelers) and the number 2 has no chances to become number 1.
I will publish also my problems with Pantanal Nature and Wildlife and the strange attitude of Tripadvisor on other forums . It's important for the next Pantanal travelers to understand this company is not the best (i don't recommend any other because i don't know them) , and also than Tripavisor is unfair and can advantage some companies.
I won't reply to your next posts and offenses. I told the truth and i don't mind if you don't believe me - i just hope other travelers will choose more carefuly their partner for Pantanal.

IsabelaS

The last post confirms without doubt that the wild accusations above is SPAM.
First of all, this is not the place to be voicing any opinions about other forums.
Secondly, most forums are private companies and can have any policy about posting that they wish. You the poster have no rights to post; it is their site and they, as this site as well, can remove what they see fit (and I certainly wish this site would, but the "report abuse" function seems not to work) at their discretion, whether any of us likes it or not. There is no fraud involved in doing that.
(Again, I have no vested interest in any tour company or any forum site, just in the fragility of a person's hard-earned reputation when attacked in a manner that s/he can't reply to.)

IsabelaS

Anyone considering a trip, please see this recommendation for Ailton, typical of what I read on various forums:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...to_Grosso.html

birdybirdy99

Dear Isabela.
For me there is no doubt you belong to Pantanal Nature and Wildlife.
Your reactions are significant and you are a relative, the owner or an employee of this company.
Your 1st post was even not a comment of somebody which have been in Pantanal, with this company or another one : but you are just defending this company against evidences : my post is not a spam and Pantanal Nature and Wildlife had other customers not satisfied for the value for their money - and i know now this company is requested the deletion of bad comments (under excellent and good level) by Tripadvisor : i have proofs for it.
So if your are a relative, the owner or an employee of this company : you can't honestly post a comment without mentioning you have a special interest with this company.
I wish you a good day and tell this company they have to spend their time making better value and quality tours, instead of spending their time after to deny the truth and real comments of customers.
This company requested the deletion of my comments 2 times : i will rewrite my comment and tell to Tripadvisor if they delete it again, i will complain in my country. In Europe, Tripadvisor is under supervision by autorities and new laws are under studies to have better on such companies. And i suppose if i give the proof they are advantaging a company when deleting bad reviews and just keep good comments, they will be interested. My comments have been done to Ailton directly and he knows my review is a true review and not a spam. Companies like Pantanal Nature and Wildlife make me sick : they invest more time and money in communication than customer satisfaction.