Expeditions BEYOND Alaska
In Patagonia I sat on the ground in open tundra, somewhere on a private ranch bordering Torres del Paine, and a female puma named Escarcha walked past me at five yards. Not past the vehicle. Past me. I was sitting in the grass with a 400mm pointed at her and she couldn’t have cared less.
That was Day 5 of what was supposed to be a scouting trip for a new photography tour – Pumas of Patagonia. By Day 3, I already knew we’d be coming back.
Back to Patagonia for Pumas
I first went to Patagonia in 2006. Spent four months on the Futaleufu River in central Chile, working with an international crew of guides. Rafting, kayaking, and photographing some of the most dramatic river landscape on the planet. It was one of those stretches that stays with you. Patagonia gets into your head. The scale of it, the light, the wind. It doesn’t feel like anywhere else.
I always wanted to get back to Chile and Patagonia particularly. Last year I finally did.
Five Days Photographing the Pumas
I brought three photographers with me: Tim, Sharon, and Seb. We spent a week based out of a lodge near Torres del Paine, tracking wild pumas across private ranchland with Jorge, one of the most experienced puma trackers in the region. Jorge knows these cats individually. Their habits, their territories, their personalities. When he says a cat is nearby, you set up and wait. He’s rarely wrong.
We saw four different pumas over five days. Escarcha, a wandering female. Dark, a collared male we found tucked into black scrub. An unhabituated female with a yearling cub in the north zone. And Danya, a mother with two six-month-old cubs.
One day we got skunked. That’s wildlife photography. You go out, you look, sometimes the cats aren’t where you need them to be. Every other day we had sustained time with the pumas of Patagonia, sometimes hours at close range.
The proximity is the thing that’s hard to explain until you’ve experienced it. These pumas are remarkably tolerant. They approach you. You find a position, sit down, and they walk past. Escarcha came within five yards of us on the ground. No fence. No vehicle glass. Just open tundra and a cat that’s completely unbothered by your presence.
Everyone came away with strong work. Tim, Sharon, and Seb all shot images they’re proud of. For me, after thirty years photographing Alaska’s bears and wolves and everything else that moves through the north, pumas were something completely different. Quiet. Deliberate. They don’t announce themselves. One minute you’re scanning empty granite and yellow grass, and the next, a cat is right there. It requires a different kind of patience and a different kind of photography.
Expeditions BEYOND Alaska
We’ve spent twenty-plus years building Expeditions Alaska into what it is. Small groups. Wild places. No trails, no buses, no nonsense. Alaska is home and it always will be. The backpacking trips, the photo tours, the packrafting, all of that continues.
But the world is a big place, and we’ve been quietly exploring what else is out there.
Earlier last year I was in India, photographing tigers in Bandhavgarh and shooting in Ladakh near Leh. Rhane, one of our guides, is in New Zealand and Tasmania right now scouting backcountry trips. None of that is ready to announce. It’s research. But it’s the kind of research that gets us out of bed in the morning.
Patagonia is the first step. It’s ready. The logistics work. The local outfitters are excellent. The pumas are extraordinary. And the photography is world-class.
The Photo Tour
We’re running a dedicated Patagonia Puma Photography Tour in November 2027. Five photographers. Five days tracking wild pumas on private ranchland in Torres del Paine. Lodge-based. Expert trackers. Condors, guanacos, and Patagonian landscapes when the cats are resting.
Five spots. One departure.
If you’ve been on one of our Alaska photo tours, you know what to expect from us. If you haven’t, this is a good place to start.
I’ll be writing more about pumas, Patagonia, and what’s next in the coming months. For now, the trip page has everything you need.
Cheers
Carl
