Puma tracking in the wilds of Torres del Paine

Exhilaration and awe

 

Those are the feelings–at least, some of them–you’ll likely have on a Puma Tracking excursion with The Singular Patagonia. 

 

Those feelings can be connected, but are separate. Exhilaration often comes with pulse-quickening thrills; awe tends to come in moments of tranquil reverence.


Feeling the two of them together? It can make you feel truly alive. 

 

Imagine it: It’s early morning in Patagonia. The air is brisk, and the dawn is painting the sky in brilliant hues. All around you, the breathtaking and humbling grandeur of Torres del Paine unfolds in a prismatic panorama. 

 

An expert guide is leading you through this incomparable landscape in search of your elusive quarry—a majestic cat that has roamed this region for millennia, the Patagonian Puma (a.k.a., puma concolor). 

 

At a length of between 10-12 feet and weighing in at between 100 - 200 pounds, it is the largest carnivore on the continent. It stalks the mountains, steppes, and woodlands of this region in search of prey, which ranges from small animals like rabbits and rodents to larger ones like deer and guanaco.

 

Torres del Paine has the largest density of pumas in the world, and Chile is renowned for its conservation efforts in service of saving this iconic creature. So you’ll be well positioned to spot one of the notoriously shy creatures, which are a wonder to behold: sleek and muscular, pumas can jump as far as 40 feet (roughly 12 meters) and reach speeds in excess of 40 miles per hour (64 kilometers per hour). 

 

Your guide will provide more facts about pumas as you continue the “hunt” for the perfect photo (we are armed only with cameras). There is nothing quite like it,  the  adrenaline-kick that comes with exploring this way: With patience. Stillness. Most of all, quiet. You can feel your heart rate pick up in anticipation of a once-in-a-lifetime glimpse of Patagonia’s premier predator. 

 

Here, you aren’t just in nature. For a morning, you are a part of it—roaming free, connecting to a long-lost remnant of the human experience in the heart of one of its most rugged and beautiful regions. 

 

And if you are lucky, the guide points and… there it is. You look through your binoculars to see it gracefully moving across the landscape. And then maybe, just maybe, it stops and turns around, its eyes seemingly locking with yours from across the distance.

 

For a moment, you freeze. Goosebumps on your skin. Time stops, and instinct stirs within. You smile.

 

Exhilaration and awe.


 

 

Join us in Patagonia for this incomparable excursion. 

Click here to learn about the excursions we have available during the winter season.