Chile - Day 5 - Torres del Paine

Today the hotel had a treat planned - a gaucho BBQ. We left after breakfast and walked in a beautiful area looking into the mountains with lakes in the foreground. Our guide was very knowledgeable -  we found a fossil which was exciting and we saw the rocks which contain Cyanobacteria which apparently is where all life started. We were picked up by the minibus after our walk and were driven to the lunch venue. On the way we stopped as there was a puma sighting, and although it could be clearly seen it was too far away to get a decent photo as I was not hiking with a heavy long lens. Then just before we arrived at lunch we saw some pro photographers with huge lenses watching something - it was another puma. This time it was a female and two cubs and the photographers had seen her earlier but now she was hiding in a culvert under the road. She came out fleetingly and although we got a wonderful close up sighting of her it was too quick for me to take a photo. The photographer showed me a photo he had taken earlier of the one cub which was so cute! The guanacos in the area were making their peculiar warning sound and were very agitated, as that knew they could be their lunch! 

We got to the gaucho ranch and lunch was in a wooden house with the BBQ being cooked in the centre of the house. It was a little smoky inside but very authentic! There were 3 whole lambs on the spit, beef, chicken, trout, empanadas and many salads and vegetable dishes so the vegetarians did not go hungry. 

After the lunch we did another 3 mile walk back to the waiting minibus to take us back to the hotel. On our drive back to the hotel we passed by the place where we had seen the puma earlier, and she was sitting with her two cubs. We watched her for a while, it was such a treat to see the cubs too. 

Tomorrow is meant to be our last day but as we are loving this area so much we have decided to stay an extra night instead of having two nights back in Punta Arenas which is not really that interesting. We were able to get an extra night’s accommodation as the hotel is only 70% full due to Chinese guests having to cancel travel plans due to the Coronavirus and we also suspect another reason is due to the political unrest in Santiago.


The main image today is a beautiful area we walked through with all the yellow flowers of the barossa bush, the main food for the guanacos. Some extras of the mountains, a gaucho, a guanaco in the daisies, and the puma and her one cub.