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"Nature & Photography Tours in South America"
+55 65 9 99754406 | +55 65 996097994
THE TEAM
Our Office Team is highly proficient in orchestrating the complex arrangements that organized travelling requires. Questions are answered in a comprehensive manner and you will find that booking with us is nothing but a pleasure. We do our best to ensure that all our requirements and requests are met; whether before, during or after your tour with us.
Our naturalist guides are all wildlife experts, accomplished birders and tour coordinators. We only employ experienced guides with deep knowledge of the local fauna and flora as well as professional bird guides in our Bird Tours. Whilst we therefore guarantee that our wildlife and bird guides have unequalled skills, we also understand that the guide makes the difference in the quality of your tour. We believe that they need to be personable, professional, attentive, friendly, and dedicated to delivering the finest wildlife experience.
Pantanal Jaguar Safaris is a small scale specialist niche travel company priding itself on its client service levels and product knowledge. Please find information below on each of our team members, their travel experience and what they do for the company.
André Moratelli - General Director
André, co-founder of Pantanal Jaguar Safaris, developed a passion for wildlife whilst growing up in Mato-Grosso and later guiding in the Pantanal and the Amazon region. He has extensive experience in leading wildlife tours throughout Central Brazil. Time and great efforts have brought him to the scene as one of the most experienced wildlife guides in Brazil, traveling through most of the country leading filmmakers and wildlife photographers.
As wildlife Biologist he has co-authored the book on the biodiversity of the southern Amazon entitled “Discovering the Southern Amazon'': Biodiversidade da Fazenda Sao Nicolau (Peugeot)”. He also compiled inventories of rainforest mammals in the Pantanal and Chapada dos Guimarães National Park.
André's strong scientific background as a qualified wildlife biologist and his keen business sense, customer care and attention to detail has been a major factor in making Pantanal Jaguar Safaris one of Brazil's Premier Tour companies. André lives near Chapada dos Guimarães National Park with his wife and kids, he speaks English, Portuguese and Spanish.
Leen Gillis - Managing Director
Leen, co-founder of Pantanal Jaguar Safaris, fullfiled her passion for wildlife by guiding in the Pantanal and the Amazon Rainforest. After finishing her graduation, Leen decided she wanted to be a birder for a living instead of just on her holidays and weekends.
Leen was born in Belgium, graduated in bio-science engineering at the University of Leuven. She finished her master in "Ecology and Conservation of the Biodiversity" at the Mato-Grosso State University in 2011 where she studied ecology of birds in Chapada dos Guimarães National Park.
Leen’s knowledge, experience acquired in the field is essential in tailoring the ultimate safari experience. She is extremely talented in handing the complex logistic of running tours, with a keen eye for details and her commitment for service excellence. She has built a great relationship with our clients who have high praises for her handling of all the pre-tours support and communication.
Leen speaks fluently English, French, Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese.
Noam Salstein - Wildlife Guide
Noam Salstein is regarded as one of Brazil's finest naturalist guide . In the early 90's he packed up his scope, said goodbye to São Paulo, and headed out to Mato-Grosso Sate where he is been working as wildlife guide for more then 20 years.
Noam has a passion for wildlife that is surely met by only a few, he took part in the development of ecotourism in the Pantanal National Park, adding value to threatened species such as Jaguars and Giant Otters and benefiting local communities. This love inspired him to dedicate his life to Nature Conservation as well as spending every second of his spare time in the field. He is an excellent field guide and expertly leads many of our wildlife and bird tours. Noam speaks fluently French and English.
Fernando Frosini - Wildlife & Birding Guide
Fernando is a professional guide since 1998, he leads birdwatching and photography tours to several parts of Brazil, including the Pantanal, the Amazon, and the Savannas of Central Brazil. He started guiding hikers and photographers around Chapada dos Guimarães National Park, and about the same time he started birdwatching with his friends. His passion for wildlife made him one of the best guides and Tour coordinator of Central Brazil. Fernando speaks fluently English and Portuguese.
Tony Rodrigues - Naturalist Guide
Tony has extensive experience leading jaguar safaris and photography tours throughout Pantanal, he has an excellent understanding of neotropical wildlife and tropical plants. Besides being a keen wildlife photographer Tony is also blessed with a contagious sense of humor and a wonderful gift for sharing his knowledge in the field. All his experience and charismatic personality makes him a great tour leader. He lives in Cuiabá.
André Carcara - Wildlife Guide
Guiding since 1998, André (aka Zan) used to lead small ecotourism groups in Chapada dos Guimarães and Transpantaneira Road, mostly in his classic Bandeirante Land Cruiser, also supporting German and Finnish birdwatcher groups in Chapada dos Guimarães National Park and Pantanal. More recently, he started leading Jaguar Spotting Tours in Porto Jofre and Paraguay river. He loves sharing his passion for natural history, ecology, wildlife, and culture. His knowledge of Brazil economics, politics and history are remarkable.
All his experience, coupled with his friendly and charismatic personality, makes him a great tour leader and trip companion. André lives with his wife and 2 kids in Chapada dos Guimarães. Speaks fluenty English and Portuguese.
Arthur Keunecke - Wildlife Guide
Arthur Keunecke is undoubtedly one of Brazil's most experienced tour guide and wildlife photographer. He has been working as wildlife guide for more then 30 years throughout Pantanal and the Amazon.
Arthur lead our photography Tours, his passion for wildlife have led him to all corners of Brazil. His wildlife tracking skills are legendary and his sense of humor is a great asset. Artur lives in Chapada dos Guimarães with his wife and children, he speaks English, Portuguese and Spanish.
Marcos Ardevino- Naturalist Guide
Marcos was born and raised in the city of Cáceres in the northern Pantanal, and spent all his spare time surrounded by nature. Influenced by a childhood immersed in nature, Marcos made a natural progression to a degree in biology at the Federal University of Mato Grosso. He also had the opportunity to conclude
a project about the biodiversity of reptiles and amphibians in the northern Pantanal. His interest in herpetology and understanding of natural systems was ever increasing until in 2010 he entered the post-graduate Management and Environmental Expertise Course, which allowed him to work with mitigation of impacts in an area of riparian vegetation. In 2011, Marcos was able to register for a Master's degree in Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation, where he worked with environmental variables influencing the
biodiversity of amphibians. He concluded his tour guide course. His gentle nature and
exceptional knowledge of The Pantanal ecosystems make him an asset on any tour
Karen - Wildlife Guide & Biologist
Karen grew up in Minas Gerais sourrended by the country side, where her passion for wildlife began. In 2011, upon completion of a degree in Ecology she started guiding wildlife tours in the southern and northern Pantanal.
For more than 10 years nonstop guiding, she has guide many groups, what gaver her a lot of knowledge and experience in guiding birders and wildlife lovers in general.
She has great knowlodge abour jaguars and gian otter behavior, and since 2021 she is part of the Giant Otter Project and in 2023 she has started her masters to learn and help more the conservations on this animals.
She is a great trip companion that loves to share the culture of Pantanal e Brazil, with a great sense of humor!
Fernando Butura- Wildlife Guide
Fernando has a bachelor degree in turism and has been guiding over 10 years in the Pantanal. He came to us through an impeccable recommendation. His gentle nature, knowledge and professionalism makes him one of the finest nature guides in Central Brazil.
Mario Friedlander- Wildlife Guide & Photographer
Mario is Brazilian by birth (1960) with Teuto Brazilian nationality, he has lived since the early 1980s in a natural area in Mato Grosso, where he has developed environmental protects, wildlife surveys, archaeological and historical research, research of Brazilian traditional populations, indigenous and Afro-Brazilians, material and immaterial heritages and geographical explorations in the Amazon and Andean region.
He is a professional photographer, he also guides visitors, journalists and artists with interests in wildlife and ecotourism.
Nathalie Foerster
Nathalie is a nature enthusiast and, since she was a child knew that her passion and vocation were to work with wildlife. She’s a biologist with a master degree in Zoology (Herpetologist) and an expert on amphibians of the Atlantic Forest. In 2014, she started working as a naturalist guide in the Pantanal, where she was enchanted by all the animals and plants. She developed a special passion for the giant otters and decided that she wanted to know more about these incredible animals. Currently, she is a PhD student and is developing research on the Giant otters’ behaviour and vocalization and mercury contamination in the Pantanal. She is also a member of the Giant Otter Project and collaborates in several actions, including environmental education and the development of guidelines to guide tourist activities for giant otter observation. Fluent in English and Portuguese, Nathalie works in different regions of the Pantanal, where she loves to share her knowledge and passion for nature. Currently, she lives in Campo Grande, one of the gateways to the Pantanal.
Gilberto - Birding & Wildlife Guide
Gilberto is a Peruan Naturalist based in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso State. Gilberto grew up in the Amazon in Peru where he studied biology. Afterwards he finished successfully his master degree in Ecology and Conservation of the Biodiversity at the Federal University of Mato Grosso. Gilberto is a knowledgeable and informative person and appreciated for his ability in wildlife spotting. Herley is also bilingual speaking fluent English and Spanish.
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Henrique Olsen - Wildlife Photographer and Naturalist Guide
Henrique used to work as a tutor at the ESPM Photography Center, he was also responsible for the infrastructure and equipment of the university's studio, including cameras, tripods, flashes and all materials that involve photographic productions that would be taught by professors and experienced professionals from all areas of photography. In 2020, Henrique decided to focus all his efforts and direct part of his image authorship projects in The Pantanal, this unique and threatened biome, in order to encourage everyone to preserve what remains. Nowadays, he advances his conservation work by guiding photographic expeditions, selling fine art prints, and through partnerships with companies, brands, independent projects, and NGOs.
Henrirque speaks fluently Portuguese and English.
Alyson Melo - Birding & Wildlife Guide
Brazilian biologist with post-degree on Biogeography of Neotropical Bird. He has been working with conservation projects around Pantanal e Amazon and also as Naturalist Guide for over 18 years. As naturalist guide he loves to share his knowledge with people that appreciate nature. He is one of the pionner jaguar tracker, working on this activity since 2006. On the last 10 years he has been dedicating a lot on wildlife photography leading groups around Brazil. Despite of it, birds is his passion and even when he is on vacations he is birding somewhere, he had been learning a lot about the traditional knowledge with locals, which he believes are the best experts on nature. Nowadays, he mixes the traditional and scientific knowledge which makes a great differential on his skills. Besides, Pantanal and Amazon he also leads groups in Cerrado (Brazilian savannah), Atlantic Forest and Caatinga as well.Currently, he lives with his family in Bonito, a charming town established on the Cerrado area considering one of the best ecotourism areas in Brazil.
Regina Ribeiro - Birding & Wildlife Guide
Regina is a Brazilian Naturalist based in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State. Her great interest in nature and travel led her to get a first degree in Tourism Business then in Ecotourism and Biology. Her keen sense of observation and breath of experience has taken her to guide mammal, birding and photo tour groups with great reviews throughout Brazil as well as in neighboring countries as Argentina and Chile. She is a popular guide, a knowledgeable and informative person and appreciated for her ability in wildlife spotting. Regina is also bilingual speaking fluent English and Spanish.
Noah
Noah is our junior guide, and to be honest, he is a 24-hour job. He loves horse riding and boat trips. His favourite animals are Giant Otters which he can imitate quite well. We are looking foward to see him leading one of our Tours.
Luiza
Luiza is a new member to the Team. She loves taking care of animals and she is also a very keen painter. Her favourite animals are macaws and toucans.
Carla Verpoorten - Financial Advisor in the Acquisititons & Investments
Carla runs the accounts, manages operations and has a lot of knowledge and experience of travelling in South America, Africa and Asia. Always there for advice, help and support.