Torres del Paine, Chile

About the trip

This trip requires a minimum of 5 days in Torres del Paine area. The days are short but we will be walking and looking for Pumas all day, every day, with a break for a box lunch.

We will arrive to Punta Arenas airport, one of the Southernmost cities in the world. Depending whether your arrival is prior to 1pm we could go straight to the hotel close to Torres del Paine National Park, where we can have a short conversation about a few things to consider when we walk with wild pumas. We recommend an early dinner so that we can get ready for the next day which starts very early in the morning.

The everyday routine is to have breakfast at 7 and leave the hotel before sunrise as we have a 40/60 minute-drive to Torres del Paine National Park and surroundings.
We’ll be walking on private farms and in the National Park as well.
Three of our trackers will be looking for cats in different areas, so that we’ll cover as much terrain as possible. Once we find a puma we’ll stay with it all day, photographing its behavior such as hunting, feeding or with its cubs if we find a female!.
We will return to the hotel right before sunset (6pm at this time of the year). However, we will stay as much as we can when in the company of an animal.
On the last day we return to Punta Arenas airport to fly back home.

You are probably wondering why going on this trip in winter?
Pumas are active at dawn and dusk. At this time of the year, daylight hours are approximately 8 hours and a half, with a late dawn and early dusk. It means that there are no early mornings or late dinners, and from a photographic point of view, the light is always great. Temperatures are usually around 15°C / 59 °F, and pumas are comfortable in these temperatures basking in the sun. We might also have some snow, and although it is not usual, we might run into blizzard conditions.