Patagonian Pumas Photography Trip

After meeting your guide at your hotel or at the airport, you will be transferred in a private vehicle to the village of Cerro Castillo. During our journey to the park, we will look for guanaco, southern grey fox, and Patagonian skunk while enjoying our first views of Southern beech (Nothofagus) forest. While visiting the valleys we will be given a geological interpretation of the origins of the dramatic backdrop of Torres del Paine, one of the finest natural spectacles in Patagonia. Drive from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales (3h) and then drive to Cerro Castillo (45 minutes).

We have organized a busy schedule of outings for pumas in the area from days 2 to 5 (four full days). We will inspect the puma hunting grounds located in the eastern flank of the park and throughout the property of Estancia Laguna Amarga, where we have special granted access and an excellent relationship with the owners. The area comprised by the northern coast of Sarmiento Lake, Laguna Amarga and Laguna Azul is well known for holding one of the largest concentrations of pumas in the wild.

There are two daily puma sessions, one in the morning and one in the evening. In-between, there is time to explore some parts of Torres del Paine NP, searching for other interesting mammals such as the Andean Deer (or Huemul), Patagonian Hog-nosed Skunk and Patagonian Hairy Armadillo.

Overnight at Cerro Castillo, Torres del Paine.

A typical day in the field starts quite early and this depends on the season of the year. We have to remember that Patagonia is a high latitude location (51°S). We will have longer daylight hours during the spring and summer and much shorter field days during the autumn and winter.
We will have an early breakfast and will drive right after for approximately 30 minutes, from our hotel at the village of Cerro Castillo to the puma search area at Estancia Laguna Amarga. Beforehand, your guide will have coordinations with the puma tracker in order to determine where individual pumas are concentrating.
Our puma tracker will patrol puma corridors by car and on foot, and using this information we will plan our movements inside the ranch, where we will have flexibility and freedom to walk off-trail, looking for pumas.
Overnight at Cerro Castillo, Torres del Paine.

Pumas are normally quite active at night, early in the mornings and late in the evenings. Our activities will gravitate around these preferred times by cats, when they are usually patrolling their territory, hunting guanacos and other prey, interacting with their offspring or commuting from their hunting grounds to their dens. We will have two sessions each day, a morning session and an evening session (app. 4 hours each). During the middle of the day, we will not be watching pumas in order to avoid disturbance at a critical time, when they are resting, sleeping after a long night hunting elusive guanacos. Normally and depending on the light and condition of the day, we can continue photographing other wildlife in the park or provide our guests with some time to rest, charge batteries and get ready for the evening puma session.

Overnight at Cerro Castillo, Torres del Paine.

Estancia Laguna Amarga model is very good in preventing overlapping among different groups of puma enthusiasts as they limit the number of visitors on a daily basis. We will investigate our own designated areas of the ranch (which will shift every day) and concentrate on individual pumas.

If we have time, we will also take the opportunity to look for other wildlife species including Andean Condor and Chilean flamingo. We will have great opportunities to photograph the ubiquitous Guanaco; the local Andean Deer or Huemul, Patagonian Hog-nosed Skunk and the two canid species are also present in the park, Chilla and Culpeo foxes.

Overnight at Cerro Castillo, Torres del Paine.

During the morning we will continue our exploration in different areas of the park. A sensational vista from Laguna Azul on the eastern side of the park will be a superb grand finale to this exciting journey of discovery among the natural wonders of the end of the world. Later, we will be transferred to Punta Arenas or Puerto Natales where our trip ends. We can arrange your transfer to El Calafate, southern Argentina, if needed.