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This was a fantastic trip organized by Natural World Safaris, and managed in Chile by Quasar. My daughter and I went first way down south to Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales, and Torres del Paine National Park, then up to the Atacama Desert in the far north. Chile is an amazingly varied country, as you will see from the photos of just these two areas.
Probably the highlight of the trip was Puma tracking on a large ranch just outside of Torres del Paine National Park. That area has the highest density of pumas in the world, and we were fortunate to see many during our four-day visit. We had a great guide and fantastic tracker. We viewed pumas both from vehicles and on foot, often from very close range. We had one unforgettable experience which was to see a puma female kill a guanaco (relative of llamas - the main prey of pumas) very close to our vehicle. It was actually quite harsh to watch - hearts pounding! - but one of the most remarkable things I have ever seen. Nature in action, and the circle of life. The guanaco was probably more than twice the size of the puma.
You will see some shots of the kill in the photos below. In addition to the photos below, see also these video links. All the videos of pumas were taken by my daughter.
These ones are "peaceful":
#1 - puma drinking - https://youtu.be/0wEITFMF3uQ
#2 - pumas interacting- https://youtu.be/QcMJ5E-6FNs
#4 - Puma jumping - https://youtu.be/Mtd3IjGqWJA
This one below is of the kill, and be warned, it's not for the faint of heart. It shows the puma stalking and then killing a guanaco. At about one minute, you see the puma for the first time, slinking low in the vegetation. The chase begins at about 2 minutes:
https://youtu.be/okuY_y4xfQg.
Another nice "peaceful" video shows Black-necked Swans with cygnets - one cygnet riding on the back of the parent - https://youtu.be/N29NewKapHE
And as you can see, from bottom to top of the country, it is full oif beautiful scenery!!
This was a fantastic trip organized by Natural World Safaris, and managed in Chile by Quasar. My daughter and I went first way down south to Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales, and Torres del Paine National Park, then up to the Atacama Desert in the far north. Chile is an amazingly varied country, as you will see from the photos of just these two areas.
Probably the highlight of the trip was Puma tracking on a large ranch just outside of Torres del Paine National Park. That area has the highest density of pumas in the world, and we were fortunate to see many during our four-day visit. We had a great guide and fantastic tracker. We viewed pumas both from vehicles and on foot, often from very close range. We had one unforgettable experience which was to see a puma female kill a guanaco (relative of llamas - the main prey of pumas) very close to our vehicle. It was actually quite harsh to watch - hearts pounding! - but one of the most remarkable things I have ever seen. Nature in action, and the circle of life. The guanaco was probably more than twice the size of the puma.
You will see some shots of the kill in the photos below. In addition to the photos below, see also these video links. All the videos of pumas were taken by my daughter.
These ones are "peaceful":
#1 - puma drinking - https://youtu.be/0wEITFMF3uQ
#2 - pumas interacting- https://youtu.be/QcMJ5E-6FNs
#4 - Puma jumping - https://youtu.be/Mtd3IjGqWJA
This one below is of the kill, and be warned, it's not for the faint of heart. It shows the puma stalking and then killing a guanaco. At about one minute, you see the puma for the first time, slinking low in the vegetation. The chase begins at about 2 minutes:
https://youtu.be/okuY_y4xfQg.
Another nice "peaceful" video shows Black-necked Swans with cygnets - one cygnet riding on the back of the parent - https://youtu.be/N29NewKapHE
And as you can see, from bottom to top of the country, it is full oif beautiful scenery!!
