Torres del Paine

We disembark in Punta Arenas at 11:30 and collect our luggage. Our bags are scanned and we say our farewells to our fellow passengers. Drivers are waiting in the entrance hall but our guide Victor is not there. We sit and patiently wait for him to appear. After half an hour he still has not shown up and security guards ask us, in very fast Spanish, who we are waiting for. We work out their meaning, they make a call and gesticulate to us that he is waiting somewhere outside. He is standing by the gates to the entrance of the port about 100 yards away. Bit of a communication error I think….. Anyway, we are now united. We introduce ourselves. Victor is going to take us to a local sandwich bar which he says is extremely good and where all the locals eat. It is actually more of a cafe. The only problem with his plan is that we cannot find anywhere to park. We drive round and round the centre of Punta Arenas and eventually find a spot close to the restaurant. The sandwiches are indeed excellent. We order beef, avocado and tomato,which is served in a cross between ciabatta and a doughnut. The beef is flash fried steak – tender and juicy – exactly what is required after a very long morning.

The drive to our hotel in Cerro Castillo just outside Torres del Paine National Park takes about four hours. I sleep for much of it but do see a large family of rheas, with probably 20 young in a nearby field. On arrival we have an early dinner and are very glad for our heads to hit the pillow. The hotel is cosily and imaginatively furnished in local style. Old sewing machines line the hallway and sheepskins cover the dining chairs. Our room is comfortable and far better than we had anticipated.

Well it’s another early start. It’s a 45 minute drive into the park and we need to be there at dawn so we are up for coffee at 4:45. Yes – you heard it right – 4:45! We are feeling pretty bleary eyed to say the least. When we leave the hotel it is raining. Our guide Victor says “ Do not worry. They say in Patagonia, that if you do not like the weather, just wait five minutes!” This indeed proves to be the case for the rain soon gives way to drier weather, which then changes during the course of the morning into bright sunshine.

Our guide is accompanied by a tracker, who turns out to be his wife called Nana. She heads out before us and has very sharp eyes. Consequently, it is not long before she calls us up on the radio with a puma sighting. We see her standing on a hilltop in the distance. Victor parks our vehicle and tells us to get out and walk across the scrub some 200 yards or so to join her. She points to the puma but initially we cannot see it. The camouflage is superb. I cannot believe my eyes. What luck on our first morning and she is close! Victor leads us at a smart walking pace so that we are in position ahead of the puma. She walks towards us. Wow! She saunters casually past without a second glance. She is so relaxed. What an absolutely fabulous encounter and what a privilege! Paul films the encounter on his phone and the footage is excellent. I have nominated him official trip videographer.

We stand in awe and watch her walk up the nearby hill and stand on the crest. There are dark skies and a rainbow. She looks magnificent standing against the brooding sky. This is Dania who is featured in the David Attenborough series Dynasties and daughter of Rupestre.

The trackers are brilliant and follow her to a bush where she settles down. We follow and park close by for a picnic breakfast. The vegetation is dense but we catch occasional glimpses of her licking her paws and lazing, whilst we explore the delights of our packed breakfast. It’s OK, a sandwich, banana, egg, snack bar and juice. I’m really not that hungry after all the food on the cruise. I settle for the banana and 3 bites of the rather dry door-step sandwich. The thing is that the trip is not about the food. It is about pumas and boy is it delivering on every level.

We spend the rest of the morning being shown around some of the parks landscape delights. The scenery is just stunning. We visit The Cascades below…

…and view Laguna Amarga.

Then it is back for lunch and a siesta, but not before seeing guanacos and condors.

In the afternoon the wind picks up and blows strongly. We hear it whistling and rattling our windows whilst we take our siesta. Clouds build once more, but thankfully the rain holds off. We set off at 16.30 for the 45 minute drive and have no sooner entered the private estancia, where we are tracking the pumas, than Nana calls us to say she has found another female – Sol. We park and walk to join her. She points at a bush 20 yards away. I see nothing. I look and look and eventually see a tiny bit of leg. Sol remained in this bush for the next 2 hours, only occasionally twitching an ear or raising her head slightly.

Whilst waiting Nana finds an old rhea egg. She explains that this is a sacrifice egg. The rheas lay extra eggs around the nest area as decoys for the real nest. This is in the hope predators will eat them instead and leave the main nest alone.

Sol then starts to move, stretch and yawn but promptly lays back down to tantalise us. We must be patient and hope she will eventually venture out properly.

Eventually she moves and we follow closely on foot. This is so exciting. Victor tells us to follow closely. He goes at quite a pace and the terrain is rocky and scrubby so we must watch our footing. Whenever we stop we lose sight of the puma, though Victor rarely does. But in case that should happen, Nana stays in position whilst we move. That way there is always a pair of eyes on the cat. If you zoom in on the first few shots below you will see how hard the puma is to see in the dense brush.

Finally we leave Sol to go about her business. She gives one final backward glance and is gone.