Fabricio is the best guide in the Pantanal!

20 years ago while working on the first ever Jaguar story for National Geographic Magazine I worked with Fiao who was the ranger for Pantanal National Park and Fabricio’s uncle. Now I came back to do the next NGM story and a TV show for NG Wild – who do I work with – The Man – Fabricio – 100% local Pantanero’s!! I always say in my big cat talks for NG Live – that local people need to benefit from living with Predators – so hire local operators – you cannot go wrong with Pantanal Safaris!

He always got me the best shot and knew how to maneuver thru the boats as everyone knows him and his family’s legacy in the area. Thanks so much Fabricio!!

Steve Winter on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb0lYAbFvqC/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb986kDFkiE/

Fizemos um safari fotográfico e confiamos ao Fabrício a tarefa de nos conduzir aos melhores lugares. Um profissional competente, que sabe posicionar o barco na hora certa, se preocupando com a luminosidade e com a melhor tomada. Profundo conhecedor do comportamento animal, sabe onde e quando as cenas de ação ocorrem.
Parabéns Fabrício, e contamos com você na próxima expedição.

Fernando Álvaro Pinheiro

We did the 16-day Pantanal trip with Pantanal Safaris and were impressed with all the lodges and the overall experience.  Fabricio tailored the trip to our interest in birds and photography and made some adjustments to the basic itinerary.  Our guide Tito knew all the properties very well and spoke with the guides at the properties to find out what was active at the time we were visiting.  The 16 days enabled us to work our way down the Transpantanal Highway to Porto Joffre and then back up to Cuiaba.  Everything was handled for us so we could concentrate on the experience.  All the lodges were very nice and the food was exceptional.  In addition to many bird species we witnessed jaguars capture caiman, mother jaguars with cubs, giant river otters, giant anteater and most of the iconic Pantanal species.  Every tour is different but the exciting part of this type of trip is that you never know each day what exciting things you will see.  In terms of photography this trip is highly productive for both quality and quantity of subjects and situations.  I highly recommend Fabricio, Pantanal Safaris, and all their excellent guides and drivers.  I am anxious to return.

Bill Pohley

My brother and I did the 5 Day Jaguar Tour with Pantanal Safaris, and it was the best wildlife trip I have ever taken. The service was excellent the entire time with Tito! From the moment we were picked up from the airport our adventure of seeing all types of wildlife began, the jaguars were just the icing on top! I was amazed at the vast knowledge Tito had on where to find these elusive cats. For me it was hard see them with their pattern and Tito could point them out in a second. That is a skill that one acquires from many years of travelling the Pantanal. Another thing to mention is how nice and genuine Tito, Fabricio, and the rest of the team at Pantanal Safaris are. At the end of every day my brother and I always enjoyed having our coffee break with Tito and shooting the breeze on what an awesome day it was. I could not be more pleased with the trip, I would do it again, and many of my photos are now hanging on the wall of my apartment!

Blake and Tyler Benbo

Wildlife photographer’s dream!

We had a great 8-night stay in the Pantanal last September. Plenty of jaguar sightings, great birding and all around amazing flora and fauna!

The guides are exceptional, trustworthy and very well educated. Our boat was always in the right angle to capture the moment.

Fabricio made the planning of our journey effortless and rewarding! Thanks for a trip if a lifetime, we will definitely return!

Best regards,

Stronly recommended!

Trustworthy, professional and flexible tour agency.
Was in Pantanal last September (2019) through Pantanal Safaris and the trip was totally worth it! Fabricio customized the trip according to our preferences very easily. We spent the first 5 days tracking jaguars and all other fauna & flora from the boat. The last 4 days in birding areas and ant eaters etc. Saw basically everything we had hoped for, puma was left for the next trip 🙂 The abundance of the jaguar sightings was surprisingly good thanks to the population booming at the moment.

Despite Pantanal being little remote and not that easily reached, the point is just that! The number of people is still quite limited and the area with everything it has to offer is above & beyond making the extra mile! Tour guides are professional, easy going and they know their stuff. So all things said, if you are planning your next trip to Pantanal, I can fully recommend Pantanal Safaris! If you want to check some photos from the trip, you can visit my Instagram @joonas_travels

Best,
Joonas

Our Pantanal Wild Life Tour

We have just returned after two wonderful weeks spent in Pantanal region with Fabrigio Dorileo as our tour guide and his very able and pleasant driver Pinta. It was a lovely trip of watching birds and all the other wild life in the region, Jaguars being the highlight of the trip.
This was our third trip with Fabricio Dorileo, the owner of Pantanal Safaris; https://www.pantanalsafaris.com/ .
We met Fanbrigio about six years ago, purely by chance, because our arranged guide was busy elsewhere and had sent Fabrigio along to replace him. This young man arrived, with his brand new Swarovski Telescope that he had just won in some competition in USA. He was so good that we have gone back to Pantanal three times with him now.

There is not a single bird or animal in the region that he doesn’t know or how to find them. We spent three days just looking for/at Jaguars with him. We had 20 separate sightings in that time, unbelievable! We saw jaguars walking, swimming, mating, hunting, dragging a dead crocodile across the river etc. etc. He knows their behaviour, when to wait and when to move on. At each sighting, he knew how to manoeuvre his boat just at the right place at the right time, without upsetting anyone, keeping a polite banter with other guides, giving them way when they need it.

Photograhy tours are his speciality, he has recently done a tour with National Geographic. If you are planning to go there, you couldn’t do better. If we go again to Pantanal, we will go with him, no question! I can’t recommend him more strongly than this.

Superb!

Travelling in the Pantanal with DJ and Pinta was magical. They were both so knowledgeable and passionate about their craft. Having traveled extensively, this is up there at the top of our wildlife experiences. We are on the older side and were a bit compromised during our trip. DJ and Pinta could not have been more caring and attentive to our needs. We saw everything we anticipated. Pantanal Safaris were brilliant at tailoring our safari to our needs. I would recommend them to anyone.

Of course, the Pantanal itself is the real star!

A trip of a lifetime

We did the 16 day Pantanal and jaguar tour with Pantanal Safaris and it was truly an amazing trip. This tour has a wonderful mix of walks, day safari drives, night safari drives and boat trips to give you a varied experience of the extensive and beautiful wildlife in the Pantanal. We were with Fabricio and Pinta for 8 days, Pinta on his own for 4 days and then Pinta and Juilio for the last 4 days.

Fabricio and Pinta are phenomenally good spotters and you will have excellent sightings with them. Hawks can only aspire to have eyes as good as Pinta’s. I would say Fabricio and Pinta were among the most likely guides to be the first to spot a jaguar, which means you are the only boat there until others arrive. Fabricio has an unbelievably good knowledge of the animals and this is especially good for all the birds you will see. They have a good understanding of the wildlife to be able to predict where they will be or how they will behave. They will patiently wait for certain behaviours from the animals, like hunting or fishing. The positioning of the vehicles for animal sightings and photography is excellent even when there are other boats around. On the walks, they know the best way to approach the animals so they are not disturbed by the group and you can get the best view of them. Safari is about giving yourself the best chances of sightings, animals are unpredictable in what they will do and where they will be, but I strongly feel that by going with Pantanal Safaris, we had given ourselves the best possible chance to see and, in my husband’s case photograph, the wildlife.

Fabricio seems to try to find out what other tour groups are doing so that we rarely came across other tour groups when on walks and safari drives, which is the best way to enjoy the wildlife. When we were on the boat trips specifically looking for jaguars, the group stays out all day so that when the other tour groups go to lunch you can stay out sometimes alone but never with more than 4 boats. Jaguar sightings at lunchtime are the highlight of the trip as the animals are more relaxed, you can get closer to them without disturbing them and you can stay with them over longer periods of time as there is no competition for getting good viewing spots. When you encounter your first jaguar viewing when there a lot of boats out, it is an eye opening experience, and makes you thoroughly appreciate staying out for lunch.

Both Pinta and Fabricio, make a note of who is on the tour to tailor the experience to your preferences whether that is photography or in a specific animal. They take the time to make sure all group members can see where the animals are even with the ones that are well camouflaged.

In Porto Jofre, we had unbelievably good sightings every day with the jaguars including a jaguar hunting a caiman in the reeds, a jaguar hunting capybara, a mother playing with her cub and later a mother accidentally knocking her cub out of a tree. There were between 2 and 6 different jaguars seen each day with long periods of time spent with the jaguars.

Throughout the trip, we also saw giant anteaters, a lesser anteater, 3 fleeting encounters with ocelots, giant otters, neotropical river otters, crab eating foxes, caiman, capybaras, coati, agouti, lizards, frogs, toads, deer, tapirs, peccary, monkeys, tayra, armadillo, snakes, bats, rabbits and of course plenty of insects. There are so many birds to see to and I would say we saw well over 100 types. I think the highlights for the birds were seeing great potoo, nightjars, agati herons and boat billed herons. We threw fish for kingfishers and hawks and one kingfisher even ate fish out of my hand.

It can be a bit daunting booking with a smaller local company but this company proved to be totally reliable and everything went incredibly smoothly. The guides were there and on time for every single meal, walk, drive, and boat ride and are easy to find when you need them. Transfers to and from the airport went without a hitch with Fabricio waiting for us at the arrivals area.

Accommodation is basic as it is throughout the Pantanal but the food is good and each lodge is very well located with plenty of wildlife in the grounds to see. I think the lodges you stay at varies, but you can be confident your itinerary will be excellent.

Overall this tour is amazing and I would thoroughly recommend this company for tours in the Pantanal. This is definitely the company to go with to get the best wildlife experience in the Pantanal. I wish we could do it again instead of going back to work.

Jess & Jim

Wildlife Adventure with Fabricio

Our highlights were watching close up the magnificent Jaguars strutting and mating and seeing how the family of giant otters played and learned together. However we also loved seeing the monkeys cracking nuts, watching the kingfishers catching their meals, animals we had never seen before like tapirs, tamanduas, capybaras, jacares plus all the hawks, eagles, storks, herons, toucans, macaws and other beautiful birds living their lives in the wild. We were so close to the action, that we couldnt help but take great photos, even sometimes with the iPhone.

Our group of 5 had a great time with Fabricio and Pinta, who were always able to find amazing sights in these wetlands and riverine areas. They made sure we were happy and were able to adapt the tour to the evolving conditions as well as to our preferences. They were informative and good humoured, and knowledgeable too, and especially had amazing local stories when prompted.

Game viewing was fascinating and comfortable from the boat, and also from the open-sided truck, though longer-distances on dirt roads could be a bit noisy and dusty. Accommodation was comfortable and food was surprisingly good for such remote areas of Brasil.
We liked using a locally owned tour company with experienced guides and family connections in the area. We had a great time and can recommend them with confidence.

Pantanal with Fabricio – Fantastic

In August we had a six day safari with Pantanal Safaris. Fabricio organised the safari around our other travel dates and was a fantastic guide ably supported by Mr Pinta. Fabricio’s knowledge of the Pantanal, the wildlife and his skill in putting us in the right place at the right time meant we had a fantastic experience.

Three days of extended jaguar sightings and observing as the jaguar just went about their business. And constant surprises as you came across giant river otters playing and hunting, caymin hunting and endless birds sightings.

We are keen photographers and have many stunning images to remind us of the trip.

Overall it was a fantastic trip, into a region that still feels fairly natural and undisturbed. Our daily trips on the river were in a comfortable boat and staying out on the river all day certainly made sense.

Fabricio – thank you for a great experience. Happy to recommend you and Pantanal Safaris to anyone who needs a very skilled guide with good english and the ability to optimise you wildlife experiences.

John and Margaret

Trip of a lifetime! One for the bucket list.

Fabricio – muito obrigado. I can’t thank you and your team enough for the outstanding service you guys provided over the last 7 days. Everything worked not only perfect – it was beyond that. The itinerary could’t have been planned any better and everything was executed above expectation. If you really wanna see not only the Jaguars – but also learn about the all other amazing wildlife – go with Pantanal Safaris. While there, you will notice pretty quick, why Pantanal Safaris is different from a lot of the local suppliers. English speaking guides and operators isn’t the majority here in Porto Jofre. And when it comes to quality of equipment – well not every boat out there in the Pantanal has a proper sun cover and comfortable seats. Almost all of the boats have to go back to Porto Jofre for Lunch. Pantanal Safari guests stay out in the wilderness for the full day and enjoy the lunch in the middle of the rainforest under a shady tree on the shores of the river. Its a lot of these details that make the trip better. BUT most important – its the people! Led by Fabricio all the boat and truck drives I met – JD, Pinta and Master of the River Mauro – they all the know the waters, trails and Transpantaneira for years. And guide Tim, who was my most ever present guide for the entire week, walked the extra mile. Every day. Nothing he didn’t have a answer for, not a single animal he didn’t know how to describe. The only think I regretted and the end of the trip: not spending more time with this amazing group of people in a very, very special place of the world. Go there and explore. Its worth it.

Pantanal safari

Fabricio amigo, excellent connection with the pantanal and its wild life, if you want to know the Jaguar and his magical world? pantanal safari and fabricio are the right people to look for, super recommended best experience for a good photography job.

Amazing trip

As wildlife enthusiasts, who have travelled widely in Africa, we know how important but also how difficult it is to find a good guide. Fabricio did a fabulous job and we are indebted to his patience, skills and knowledge. He knows the area and the animal like the back of his hand and puts guests in the right place to get the best possible view of the wildlife (which is important for those of us keen on photography).

Fabricio, thank you very much for your wonderful hospitality, your flexibility for adjusting our itinerary while on tour and the great experiences you gave us. We are very grateful to you and for the fact we chose to come with you! We are enjoying looking at our photographs and re-living the memories which will sustain us until our next visit.

Simply the best

Excellent Guide, pleasant personality, punctual, fluent in English.

Probably the best guide you will find in the Pantanal

We had an amazing time, Fabricio knows every single animal you will ask him about and is excellent in spotting. A caring, great guy, we can’t thank him enough! If you want to know more about the Pantanal than the other visitors and be with a truly knowledgeable guide- go with him. You won’t regret it.

Excellent Tour by Local Guides – The Real Pantanal

If you want an air conditioned, closed vehicle experience, go elsewhere. If you want the real thing, with Transpantaneira highway dust in your hair and teeth, the breeze whipping your face and the best people who know everyone (Fabricio’s primos are everywhere) and can spot the smallest marmoset sitting in the crook of a tree, go with this company. Fabricio and guide Max are the best. Muito obrigado!!

Jaguar photopgraphy

We had the pleasure to be Fabricio Dorileo`s & Pantanal Safaris` clients for 2 intensive weeks in November 2016. Our credits to Fabricio for excellent guiding, great knowledge & attitude and great Company. Next time we go to Pantanal we will definitely go with Pantanal Safaris again !! Arnfinn Johansen & Tom Dyring, Professional photographers Norway

Fabricio Best of the Best

We are obsessive wildlife enthusiasts and have done nearly 100 safaris to most of the Parks of the world and seen 95%+ animals in their normal habitat. We met Fabricio 3 years back in June 2013 when we were doing the Pantanal trip for the umpteenth time and our guide did not turn up and Fabricio came in his place. We had a fantastic time and wanted to show Pantanal ( and Fabricio ) to our family and friends. So we arranged a second trip for first two weeks of September this year ( Fabricio’s choice as best time to visit Pantanal ).
Fabricio was fabulous, even better than before. We saw 17 Jaguars in 4 days at Porto Joffre including killing of Caiman and mating. We saw Anteaters, Tapir, Tayra , Jaguarandi , Foxes, Racoons , Armadillo, Agutti, Bats, Capybara, Coati Mundi , Various Deers, Iguana, Snakes and Gaint Otters. Birds were too numerous to mention and I could differtiate 203 species.

Of the Thosand Plus Guides, I have met over the years, Fabricio is definitely in top three and probably the best I have met anywhere. It is a pleasure to write this about him and we hope to return to Pantanal in 2018.

An Incredible Experience with Pantanal Safaris

For the past 21 years I have been a full time freelance journalist. In that time I have travelled widely, always looking for experiences that surpass previous ones.

I had the good fortune to spend four days in the Pantanal with Fabricio and his team (August 2016) and must say this trip ranks up there with trips to Ethiopia, Lebanon, Peru and China. But in terms of wildlife experiences I have NEVER experienced such an incredible journey.

From the very first morning we had jaguar encounters including a sighting of two jaguar cubs with their mother along the river’s edge. Not only did Fabricio make sure I was where the action was but he knew instinctively where I needed to be for good light on the subject for the best pictures.

It was quickly evident that all the guides in this region have the utmost respect for Fabricio.

My only regret is that I didn’t stay longer and digest more of Fabricio’s vast knowledge of the Pantanal.

I would recommend Fabricio and his team for anyone who loves and cares for wildlife. Fabricio, Marcello, Mauro and Ethan – a hearty thanks from this photojournalist!

An Incredible Experience with Pantanal Safaris

For the past 21 years I have been a full time freelance journalist. In that time I have travelled widely, always looking for experiences that surpass previous ones.

I had the good fortune to spend four days in the Pantanal with Fabricio and his team (August 2016) and must say this trip ranks up there with trips to Ethiopia, Lebanon, Peru and China. But in terms of wildlife experiences I have NEVER experienced such an incredible journey.

From the very first morning we had jaguar encounters including a sighting of two jaguar cubs with their mother along the river’s edge. Not only did Fabricio make sure I was where the action was but he knew instinctively where I needed to be for good light on the subject for the best pictures.

It was quickly evident that all the guides in this region have the utmost respect for Fabricio.

My only regret is that I didn’t stay longer and digest more of Fabricio’s vast knowledge of the Pantanal.

I would recommend Fabricio and his team for anyone who loves and cares for wildlife. Fabricio, Marcello, Mauro and Ethan – a hearty thanks from this photojournalist!

Amazing experience!!

After being passed on Fabricio’s name by various tour guides we organised a private guide around the Pantanal whilst we were visiting Brazil for the 2016 Olympics. We met our guide Tito when we touched down at Cuiaba airport and from then on the adventure began.
Tito arranged everything for us and was able to communicate perfectly in English so we could always ask many questions. From Cuiaba we were taken to restaurants for lunch and driven all the way to Pocone for a vehicle swap to the safari jeep.

We were taken the whole length of the Transpantaneira Road stopping at two lodges, one at Rio Clara and the other Porto Jofre. The whole experience was amazing with numerous amounts of wildlife to see on the way down to Porto Jofre where we managed to see the jaguar for the first time.

Tito knew everything about the environment and the animals that lived there as he was originally from the area. The knowledge we gained from him was invaluable and it was always a pleasure to sit down with him for dinner and drinks after the long days we spent out in the wild.

We caught up with Fabricio whilst jaguar watching on the river who was pleased we had a good time and saw everything we wanted too even though our time was limited. We have to say that if we were ever going to visit the Pantanal again (which I hope we do) these guys will be our first port of call.

Thanks again Tito & Fabricio!!

Richard & Maria

Great trip, great guide

I have travelled several times in the rainforest, but this was the first time in Pantanal. It was cher luck that I found Fabricio through a friend of a friend and he proved to be a very cabable one. My wife (first time in SA) and I spent 7 wonderfull days with Fabricio. Not only does he know the ways of the animals and can place you in a good angle to get a good picture no matter wether it is a parrot or a jaguar – but he is also a friendly person, who listens to your wishes. Also being transported on a truck to Porto Joffre is a great opportunity se the wildlife, esp. birds. All the best.

Michael and Maimona.

Could not have been better

Fabricio, thank you for a great trip. we had a great time, saw amazing things including the Jaguar attacking the Caiman and lots of other good stuff. You picked good lodging for us and it was all great.

Also, you were right, the wildlife in the Pantanal is much better than in the Amazon. we should have stayed longer in the Pantanal.

Exceeded

This June we had a fantastic trip through the Pantanal and we would like to thank Fabricio very much for it. We are a family with parents of 56+ and 2 sons of 24+ and come from the Netherlands. Before we went it was very pleasant to customize our trip with Fabricio. From the very first moment we started our tour we felt very comfortable with Fabricio. During the 5 day tour he really impressed us by the amount of knowledge he has from the wildlife in the Pantanal. Although we were looking with 5 pair of eyes for wildlife, his were almost always the ones who saw it first. We saw more wildlife as expected like: jaguars, giant otter, giant anteater, probably at least 100 different bird species and we even saw a jaguar catching a cayman! It was Fabricio’s personality in combination with his skills which made it a fantastic trip.

We can very much recommended to visit the Pantanal with Fabricio!

Great guides and pantanal experience

I had a great experince. Pantanal safaris offered me a tailormade itinery focused on my bird and wildlife wishlist. The guide Fabricio is excellent and is very knowledgable on the Pantanal. The lodges where very nice and surrounded by nature.

Amazing!

In August we spent 3 days looking for jaguars around Pantanal with Fabricio and it has been a great experience. Fabricio is a great guy and a great guide, he has been a very good company, thanks to his skills we really enjoyed the pantanal’s wildlife and, of course, we saw jaguars! It has been one of the most amazing experiences in our life. We warmly suggest everyone to have this experience with Pantanal wildlife explorer… ENJOY!

Wonderful guide in an extraordinary place!

Could not have asked for a better trip. Had heard about the Patanal a few years ago and had yearned to go ever since. I was not disappointed! Fabricio was very knowledgeable and helped us find all the hidden gems of the area. What a dream to see jaguars and Hyacinth macaws!

Amazing wildlife experience!

During our 16-day safari we have seen 8 jaguars, Giant and lesser anteaters, tapirs, anaconda and a variety of beautiful birds. Fabricio is a very pleasant and knowledgable guide. We will definitely come back once more!

Thank you for your care and excellent guiding.

Mirte & Sebas