Wild cat COUNTRY

Already lauded for its ruggedly beautiful landscapes, Chilean Patagonia is attracting a new breed of traveller hoping to spot the area's once-elusive pumas, writes Sarah Reid.

- Sarah Reid

With my gaze lowered against an assault of icy Patagonian rain, it takes me a minute to notice the couple ahead of me on the trail, pointing into the misty valley sloping away from our route. Maybe some guanacos, I surmise, scanning the scrubland for the llama relatives. Then I see it: a puma – also known as a cougar or mountain lion – casually grooming its tawny coat with rhythmic strokes of its pink tongue. It knows we’re here but, to my relief, doesn’t appear to care. Tracing the foothills of the snow-laced Paine massif in southern Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park, the W Trek is one of the world’s most famous multi-day hikes. Walkers are immersed in a surreal sub-polar wilderness where glaciers seep into turquoise lakes and ancient forests creep along hidden gorges. And if you’ve seen Our Great National Parks, the Emmy-winning Netflix docuseries presented by Barack Obama, you’ll know this spectacular setting may also proffer a memorable wildlife encounter. For as vast areas of Chilean Patagonia are rewilded, narrates the former US president, wild pumas have rebounded. And it’s now easier than ever to admire them in their natural habitat.

A walk on the wild side 

Around 100 adult pumas are currently thought to roam Torres del Paine, and while sightings on the W Trek in the heart of the 242,242-hectare national park are increasing, the wild cats are more commonly spotted in the wildlife-rich grasslands east of the trail.