Chilean Patagonia June 21st-30th, 2025

In June we traveled to Patagonia with Pantanalphotours to photograph pumas in the wild. The tour began and ended in Punta Arenas. Getting to and from Punta Arenas from Bermuda was quite a trip with long layovers in both Miami and Santiago, however the use of day rooms in Miami made it somewhat bearable. We were met by Larissa, Octavio and Suzanne (our local driver/guide) at Hotel Diego de Almagro on the morning of the 21st for the drive to El Ovejero Lodge in Cerro Castillo, where we would stay for 6 nights while searching for pumas on Estancia Laguna Amarga, an approximate 45 minute drive from the hotel. The drive took about 7 hours with stops for lunch at Hotel Rio Rubens and in Puerto Natales to fill 7 large gas containers, stored on the roof of the vehicle, as there are no gas stations in the National Park. El Ovejero Lodge is a family run hotel and pretty much the only place in town, nevertheless it is very comfortable and the staff are extremely attentive and friendly. Dinners are buffet style when the hotel is busy and a la carte when there are fewer guests. Breakfast was buffet style. As we would be out all day the hotel provided us with a very substantial boxed lunch. Access to the Estancia, covering some 6,500 hectares bordering the Torres Del Paine National Park, is expensive and strictly regulated. Moreover, recent restrictions regarding hours of operation, use of local guides/puma spotters and increased minimum distances from wildlife is making it both more expensive and more difficult for wildlife photographers to achieve the shots they aspire to. Indeed several of the groups we met restricted themselves to the main roads outside of the ranch, hoping to spot pumas on the roadside or crossing the road to Laguna Amarga. Not as crazy as it sounds as there were many puma tracks in the roadside snow. We, however, had access to the ranch and with two 4x4's, one with Larissa and Junior, our local puma spotter from Puerto Natales (who is originally from Pocone in the Pantanal and a longtime friend of Larissa), and one for ourselves, Octavio and Suzanne, we spent 6 days hunting puma.

Sunrise over Towers

The first few days the weather was what I would call bearably cold, with nice sunny spells and on our first morning we were treated to a brilliant sunrise over The Towers. However, later in the week the weather turned very cold. Our days were all pretty much the same, departing each morning at 8:45 am, in the dark, for the drive to the Estancia timed to arrive at sunrise. All that is except the last day when the temperature hit -4 Centigrade and it was snowing heavily. It was so cold that the diesel in Juniors car froze as it was being injected into the engine!

Pumas are mainly active in the morning and evening, the rest of the day seems to be for sleeping.

We had one active puma sighting on day one then basically nothing for the next three days. It was thought that perhaps there was a kill in the National Park outside of the ranch or it was just too cold and the pumas were lying low. Indeed we spotted one puma under a bush and waited for an hour or so to see if it would move, it didn't and remained there for the rest of the day! We also had a brief encounter with a puma in bad light late in the day but couldn't follow it in the billowing snow.

Brother and Sister

Our best sighting came on day 5. A cat had been spotted from the road by the Laguna and as we were deciding whether to search for it Junior came on the radio and told us to get over to his position as Larissa had spotted two young pumas, brother and sister, and they looked active. Luckily they weren't too far away and we arrived in time to get a good sighting and follow them for a couple of hours, which was quite hard in deep snow, until they too disappeared under a bush for the rest of the day! The next day, our last on the ranch, we returned to see if they had moved but they were still there, so with nothing else happening we waited from morning 'til late in the afternoon and aside from a couple of glimpses to keep us interested, they stayed put! So, having put our bags in the car in the morning, we headed into Torres Del Paine National Park, for a 2 night stay at Hotel Lago Grey. Despite the few sightings we came away with some great 'snowy pumas' on top of which the scenery is absolutely breathtaking and there were plenty of guanacos to keep the camera from seizing up in the cold! And, Suzanne's coffee was a godsend.

View from Hotel Lago Grey

To call Torres Del Paine National Park scenic does not do it justice. It is vast and absolutely stunning and Hotel Lago Grey is the perfect place from which to soak it all in. Normally a boat trip to the face of the glacier would be included in our tour but the boats were out of service (hence the extra time spent at the ranch). Sadly we only had 2 nights in the Park and it was absolutely freezing, hitting minus 14 Centigrade our first morning (and not much warmer the morning we left). Nevertheless we enjoyed our time there, taking in the scenery and spending time at the hotel. On the 29th we made our way slowly back to Punta Arenas, stopping in Puerto Natales for lunch and at Hotel Rio Rubens for coffee. Another night at Hotel Diego de Almagro before flying to Santiago and on to Miami the next day.

To sum up. Am I glad I went? Absolutely. Would I go back? Yes, but maybe at a different time of year, and spend more time in the Park.

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