The Puma (or Mountain Lion or Cougar) is distributed in nine million square kilometers of terrain of all kinds from Punta Arenas in extreme southern Chile north continuously to just south of the panhandle of Alaska, the greatest latitudinal range of any terrestrial mammal on Earth. Yet in all this extensive distribution, SouthWild’s researchers have found that there is only one place in the entire world where travelers can see Pumas in the wild on 99% of days, and normally for hours each day: the 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) of open, rolling hills on the eastern edge of the Torres del Paine National Park and on the adjacent, private Laguna Amarga Ranch (LAR). The LAR boasts the lion’s share, namely 5,500 hectares of what we like to call “Pumaland”.
Since 2011, SouthWild has been guaranteeing Puma viewing, when we shocked the world (again) to be the first to guarantee seeing these big cats in the wild. From then until 2014, our work was entirely on the national park side of the fenceline with LAR. Then in 2014, SouthWild worked tirelessly to try to convince the owners of LAR to go completely “Puma-friendly”. Finally, our entreaties were successful, and since then, LAR has become the world’s most enthusiastic and successful protector of wild Pumas. LAR is now the envy of ranchers the world over, all of whom wish to know what is the “secret sauce” that makes it possible to walk for hours with wild Pumas.
SouthWild knows what the secret sauce is, and much of the secret has to do with having the most talented and experienced guides. Between 2011 and 2017, SouthWild selected, tested, and trained the most talented field guides and turned them into the world’s finest Puma guides. Our two core team members each boast more than 8,000 hours of walking with guests and wild Pumas. Famous photographers fight over the time of this team.
The experience of being on foot next to wild Pumas as they stalk, attack, and kill medium-sized, wild camels is simply unbelievable. These 250-pound (110-kilo) camels are called “Guanacos”, and they are the larger and meatier of the two honey-colored, native camels of South America. Walking with wild Pumas on LAR is the only experience in the world in which you walk safely near large cats while they carry out their lives right in front of you. These powerful hunters often saunter within 5-10 meters of you, ignoring you as if you were a rock or a tree, as if you were invisible!
Our repeat guests to Peru, Brazil, and Chile include Art Wolfe, Tom Mangelsen, and Frans Lanting (in chronological order by their first visits to Pumaland). These famous photographers said that the SouthWild experience of “Walking with Pumas” offers the only chance anywhere to walk with large cats in the wild, often for hours on end. It is a spine-tingling experience, definitely the best place to enjoy your vacation in South America.
Fortunately, there are several hotels of different levels within striking distance of Pumaland, and SouthWild designs and executes the finest Puma expeditions. Our favorite itinerary involves 4, 5 or 6 days searching for and watching Pumas. In the last 300 days of outings to search for Pumas in Pumaland, we found Pumas on all but five days, and often see 3-5 of the big cats in a single day. Talk with our team about the best options for your available time and physical condition, as the daily outings can include 2-5 km of walks on open, flat or gently rolling hills.
