Put the Bottom of the World at the Top of your Travel Wish List

I’ve just had the most extraordinary and diverse ten days, that even a few weeks ago it would have been almost impossible to consider. 

After arriving in Chile and flying down to Punta Arenas where I spent the night, I boarded an Antarctic Airways BAe146 for a flight across the Drake Passage - one of the most notorious stretches of ocean anywhere on earth - in order to spend a few days exploring the icy landscapes and learning more about Antarctic wildlife. It didn’t disappoint - and never does. Gentoo and chinstrap penguins swimming, playing in the water, sitting on their nests and feeding chicks, snowy sheathbills, petrels, cormorants, Weddell seals, leopard seals and impossibly beautiful scenery.

The reassuring sound of a humpback blow in the still, freezing air is a sound that I will never forget. And the minke whales swimming just below the surface of the water at the bow of our ship and turning to look up at us, is a sight that’s imprinted on my mind as is zodiac cruising around massive spearmint blue icebergs. 

The weather was unusual and exceptional - sunny, cloudless and still. Breathtaking. But this is Antarctica, and the weather can change at the click of a finger, and it did. So much so that we had to fly out a day early for fear of being stranded for a few additional days (not that any of us would have minded!).

Before leaving the ship I just had time to set up two days in Patagonia’s Torres del Paine area and have a crack at seeing pumas - a cat I’ve been longing to see for years. So shortly after landing in Punta Arenas I was met by a guide and driven the four hours or so to a beautiful estancia on the edge of Torres del Paine National Park where the sky is truly gigantic. 

At 0430 we headed towards the park in the hope of picking up a puma somewhere … and it didn’t take long. 30 minutes from the lodge we saw a 3-month old cub, and then another, and then their mother. What a sight - three pumas in the foreground and the rose pink rays of the rising sun gradually breaking the top of Torres del Paine’s highest peaks, and then we realised that there was a third, more timid, cub hiding behind a bush. My first encounter with pumas in one of the planet’s most spectacular places. 

My second morning was no less special and began with a pair of Chilla foxes and concluded with a whole hour on foot in the company of another puma and her two 5-month old cubs.

As we watched them play with one another, and play with their mother as the sun was beating down on us from above, I couldn’t help thinking of the almost impossible contrast of three days previously when I was photographing penguins and whales in Antarctica. 

The bottom of the world has gone racing up to the top of my list for more exploration next year! 

Contact our friendly team to talk about our trips to Antarctica and Torres del Paine in Chile.