Patagonia Photography Expedition at the End of the World

After meeting your guide at Punta Arenas, we will sail to Magdalena Island in the Straits of Magellan, Patagonia. This protected area hosts over 28,000 Magellanic Penguins and various seabirds such as Imperial & Rock Cormorants, Dolphin and Kelp Gulls, Chilean Skua, and South American Tern. Arriving around 8:30 am, we will explore the island’s wildlife-rich cliffs for an hour, ending at a lighthouse turned ranger station. Penguins can be seen landing, preening, resting, and walking to their burrows. South American Sea Lions may also be spotted along the coast.
Around noon, we will transfer to Torres del Paine National Park, observing Patagonia’s wind-shaped vegetation and wildlife, including Andean Condor, Guanaco, southern Grey Fox, and Patagonian Skunk. In Puerto Natales, we’ll enjoy views of Chilean fjords and Black-necked Swans, along with the Paine Massif. We’ll also receive a geological interpretation of Torres del Paine and may have a sunset photo session.

Each day, we will start early to photograph the Paine Massif at dawn, focusing on the ‘Horns’ and Paine Grande peaks on its southern face. Today, we’ll explore the southern and western regions of the 600,000-acre (242,000-hectare) Torres del Paine National Park, dominated by the rugged granite and sedimentary peaks of the Paine Massif. Named by the long-gone Indians of Patagonia, “Paine” means “blue,” likely referring to its distant hazy appearance. We’ll explore the Southern Beech forest, looking for the Magellanic Woodpecker, Austral Parakeet, and the rare Huemul Deer. The park’s diverse landscape includes mountains, glaciers, wetlands, steppes, and forests.

A highlight is Lake Grey, where colossal icebergs rest on the southern shore. We’ll take a 3-hour boat excursion on the M/V Grey II to the actively calving front of the Grey Glacier, one of nearly 50 glaciers from the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. The glacier, flanked by the Paine Massif’s granite walls and the older Andes.

Again this morning we will have an early start in order to photograph the Horns with the first light of day. In the right light, the mountain base turns to orange colours and the scene becomes very dramatic with peculiar lenticular clouds moving fast above the peaks. We will explore the alkaline ponds and reed-fringed lagoons located in the eastern part of the park. There are approximately 120 species of birds and nearly 500 species of plants in the park and we we will see a considerable number of them, all very interesting subjects for observation and photography. During the southern spring and early summer (mid-October through late January), the myriad of flowers that bloom in these magnificent landscapes are an unforgettable sight. After our return to the hotel and enjoying our delicious dinner, we will have another chance to photograph the mountains and clouds, this time at sunset.

The lookout from the eastern corner of Sarmiento Lake offers stunning views of the towering peaks of Las Torres, the granite spires that name the park. Moving around, you may see herds of Guanaco, the Lesser Rhea, and the Andean Condor. In the morning, we will visit the park’s eastern side, enjoying views of Paine River’s waterfalls and the Paine Massif from Laguna Amarga.

In the afternoon, we will visit Mylodon Cave Nature Reserve. This cave, carved by ancient lake waves, was a shelter for Pleistocene mammals, including the Giant Ground Sloth, Mylodon darwinii. Our guide will provide fascinating palaeontological insights, both in the field and at the reserve’s interpretation center. We will also explore smaller caves at Benitez Hill, used by pre-Columbian inhabitants. The trail goes through Southern Beech woods, offering chances to see forest birds, raptors, and soaring Condors. We will also study the area’s flora, notably the Chilean Firebush (Embothrium coccineum)

We will leave Puerto Natales with rewarding memories of our Patagonian explorations and wildlife encounters. Driving east across the wind-swept steppes along the Argentina border, we’ll visit Pali Aike National Park, known for its extinct cinder cones and rich archaeology and paleontology. The area’s intriguing birdlife includes Least Seedsnipe, Tawny-throated Dotterel, Chocolate-vented Tyrant, and White-bridled Finch. A short ferry ride across the narrowest part of the Magellan Straits may allow us to see the local Commerson’s Dolphin.

We’ll then drive along the shores of Bahía Inútil (Useless Bay) to visit a private nature reserve with a King Penguin breeding colony. The reserve aims to preserve the small, year-round population attracted by the abundant sea. We’ll have ample opportunities to observe and photograph the penguins from a respectful distance as guided.

Tierra del Fuego, the ‘Land of Fire’ is another landmark coined by the skilled navigator, Ferdinand Magellan. In 1520, while crossing the seaway that now honors his name, he and his crew spotted a line of bonfires along the coast of a huge landmass. Tierra del Fuego is now a land of endless wind-swept steppes, rolling hills and lush temperate forests; sheep-farming stations, locally known as estancias, are interspersed amidst these picturesque and colorful landscapes dominated by dramatic skies. We will enjoy a leisure morning while exploring around the town of Porvenir to photograph and learn about the particular wildlife and history of this remote corner of Patagonia. We will visit its alkaline pools where there are large aggregations of migratory birds such as sandpiper and plovers, and our main goal here will be Chilean Flamingo. Later we will explore the coast to see some of the many shipwrecks that have made these seas infamous over the years. After lunch we will be heading back

After breakfast Complimentary transfer to the airport. End of the trip.