Land excursion to Chile's Torres del Paine: "distracting" scenery and a puma sighting

The morning of Monday, February 3rd arrived early. We were up at 5 AM to make sure we were set, done with breakfast, and organized to make the bus shuttle across a new region of Patagonia to Chile's iconic Torres del Paine.

Rise and shine! Uh, well maybe just rise. Puerto Natales was the furthest north we had been in a while. Honestly this morning was the first time we saw darkness in a couple weeks. With it being summer near the south pole, we had close to 20 hours daylight for most of the journey.

Why not have a look at what a protected dark sky environment looks like. Light pollution next to 0.

A little bit later, we were ready to roll. When our excursion group, "the Albatross," was called, we disembarked the ship and loaded into the tour bus.

Even my camera was still bleary-eyed. Okay, everyone, it's all business—load up! Except, well, check out the soft early morning coloring in the clouds and have a look at those mountains in the background!

Over the last weeks, we have become used to tracking whales, dolphins, penguins, and seabirds as we cruise. Today, we made several stops to ensure we met some local wildlife on the way to Torres del Paine. We were now situated east of the first ranges of the Andes mountains. Given our location, the climate of this area of Patagonia was arid compared to what we saw last week.

We saw plenty of sheep, guanaco, and rhea on the way.

After about a two-hour bus trip that navigated both highway and dirt roads through winding passes and hairpin turns. We arrived. The Paine Massif does not disappoint, regardless of cloud cover:

And we arrived! Not a totally clear day to view the iconic horns but we will certainly take it! The clouds added to the mystique!

We took our time scoping out the scene before moving along for the start of the first hike of the day. The combinations of glacial water, rolling hills, and jagged mountains nearly overloaded our vision. What a beautiful place!

Have a closer look

And an even closer view. The peaks in this weather are a place that just seems to have a magic spell on them.

We took our time enjoying the views, taking plenty of photos before embarking on a series of hikes through the park. The first one was set to be between 3-4 miles and followed the foothills around a portion of the Massif. Each new angle on the scene gave us a new highlight to enjoy. It was very difficult to take our eyes off the mountain views during the hike.

Layers and layers of light, color, formations to absorb.

And then, OOOOOOOUCH! AAAAAAGH!

Out of nowhere, Beth screamed in pain and hit the ground. I freaked out because of how sudden it was. A crew huddled around her to make sure she was okay.

As we were having our hike, Beth smacked her foot against a larger rock on the trail, lost her balance, fell, and then had the rock roll over her foot. It took a few minutes for her to get reset, back up, and into the hike. She really toughed it out for the last 1.5 to 2 miles to get back to an area where our transport was.

We were a few hours away from the ship. No ice available, but frozen broccoli at the cafe would do for now.

Unfortunate that the injury happened, as Beth for sure needed to sit out the second hike to limit any other damage. At the same time, it was lucky as this was the very last excursion on our voyage. So, there would be opportunity for plenty of rest as we began to make our way home.

After making sure Beth's foot was stable enough, Chris was able to catch up to another group taking a second hike that day, enabling a few other views in this absolute gem of a park.

Below is a panoramic video from atop a local foothill. Pardon the pun.

A small clip of incredible views with the ever-present winds.

With frequent changes in cloud cover, a few other angles of stills of the serene scene.

Vertical view to take in the full effect of the blue sky.

What an incredible place. More than enough to inspire dreams of returning to Torres del Paine. Taking the "W" hike that zigzags between the horns would be awesome.

Second view with the breadth of the horns.

After the quick hike, we went back to the cafe to check on Beth. The expedition doctor was able to come by for an evaluation, and though painful, the injury was assessed to be not major. A good thing was that we would be starting the journey home on the next day.

We boarded the bus with the rest of our excursion group and headed to our lunch destination. On this short ride, we saw a puma in the open and incredibly close to our tour bus! After the hikes, we were certain we would not see a puma on this visit, but we really lucked out! I'm not sure that nearby guanacos felt the same way.

A puma was kind enough to display itself for us!

Okay, that is not a bad day trip to this iconic park. We can't wait to figure out a way there again and next time for longer. We barely scratched the surface of this magical place.

Until next time, Torres del Paine...

View of Torres del Paine as we were leaving from Villa Rio Serrano.

We got through the two-hour ride back to the ship, where Beth could begin recovering more comfortably. What an unbelievable day!

Back in the ship, Puerto Natales provides another rainbow. After the good fortune of a puma sighting, why not a leprechaun, unicorn, and a pot of gold, too?