I’ve returned from my latest adventures in southern Chile. This marked my fifth Pumas of Patagonia tour, and my seventh visit overall to the areas in and around Torres del Paine. Every puma trip is different, but once again, this year’s tour provided lifelong memories for my group. It was, in fact, the quietest trip I’ve ever had if you go by the volume of cats we saw, but we still enjoyed sightings every day we went to look for them… and some of the encounters that played out will stay with me for some time.
As always, you can jump straight to the photo archive to see the full collection of images from this year’s trip. A short preview is below.
A day tour to the coast at the end of the trip gave me a chance to see the beautiful Inca Tern for the first time in over a dozen years.
This was my first time seeing the endangered marine otter. The species’ local nickname is Chingungo.
Our visit to the coast near Isla Chachagua marked my first time seeing Magellanic Penguins in the wild.
This cub showed a lot of spunk, holding off the advances of another adult puma at a carcass (which they eventually shared). Unfortunately, it was hit by a vehicle the evening after this photo was taken, and died the following day.
Those of you in North America may think this Austral Thrush looks a lot like our American Robin. That’s because our robin isn’t actually a robin… it’s a thrush!
Brother (left) and sister come together for a brief moment before the Andes Mountains.
This pair of Crested Caracaras was caught up in the throes of romance, all while they were waiting for pumas to abandon a guanaco carcass.
A pair of White-throated Caracaras ganged up on this larger Crested Caracara.
We spent a fair bit of time with this family during our visit to southern Chile. I first saw the mother as a newly-independent “teenager,” and have now watched her raise multiple litters of cubs. Here the mother stalks past her daughter.
It took some time before we found our first pygmy-owls on this trip… but once we did they appeared right at the hotel.
Normally we have several chances to photograph guanacos, but it wasn’t until our final morning that we were able to do so on this trip.
Not only did we score a sighting of my favorite woodpecker (the Magellanic), but we had well over an hour with them. This marked my first time ever seeing the red-headed male.
We were fortunate to see The Dark on our final day of the trip. I first saw him in 2017, and he remains the dominant male in the area. Sadly for us, he was trapped on a neighboring estancia and fitted with a radio collar by researchers.
Until next year…
See the full Patagonia 2025 gallery (79 images).
Want to join me on a future Patagonia trip? The 2026 tour is currently full, but I’m accepting waiting list requests. We may expand the ’26 tour, so do get in touch in case you want to hear when spots open up!
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2 Comments
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remarkable photos, congratulations. we too (my wife and I, with the group of wild whatching Spain) have just returned from Torres del Paine. We followed Dania for 3 days with her 2 cubs, unfortunately then died as you well know. we used the guides of Laguna Amarga, very good, but too expensive. who did you go with? could you leave the main road and follow the pumas? we would like to return, Chiara and I, if not next year the following year. can you give me a quote? thank you very much and greetings from Venice
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Author
Hi Matteo. You can find information about my puma tour here: https://www.maxwaugh.com/workshops/wild-pumas-of-patagonia-photo-tour/. Yes, we have permits to go off road and explore the estancia freely. I work with one of the longest-tenured and experienced trackers and guides in the area. Take a look at the information and do get in touch via the contact form (http://www.maxwaugh.com/contact/) if you have more questions or would like to get on the waiting list.