Puma
Our minibus slows to a halt. A man shushes the group on the bus and nobody knows why.
Then, suddenly, 100m from the minibus, which has just pulled up on the gravel roadside three graceful and powerful pumas target their prey. The grey blond haired predators move stealthily uphill, only in our view. A loud cry comes from a herd of guanaco that are further up on another hillside. At first they move slowly, but on sensing the imposing danger the herd moves quickly uphill, scrambling in gallops out of harms way. We had seen the muscular pumas before them.
The big cats stay for a while, still hidden from view; the guanacos can only sense the tension. They are athletes in this wilderness. It is their home and it is plainly clear that this is their territory and not ours.
Our eight hour hike to Torres del Paine has just finished in a Patagonian safari.
Everyone breathes in as the last vistas of the snow capped peaks of the national park fade into the late evening austral light.
Then, suddenly, 100m from the minibus, which has just pulled up on the gravel roadside three graceful and powerful pumas target their prey. The grey blond haired predators move stealthily uphill, only in our view. A loud cry comes from a herd of guanaco that are further up on another hillside. At first they move slowly, but on sensing the imposing danger the herd moves quickly uphill, scrambling in gallops out of harms way. We had seen the muscular pumas before them.
The big cats stay for a while, still hidden from view; the guanacos can only sense the tension. They are athletes in this wilderness. It is their home and it is plainly clear that this is their territory and not ours.
Our eight hour hike to Torres del Paine has just finished in a Patagonian safari.
Everyone breathes in as the last vistas of the snow capped peaks of the national park fade into the late evening austral light.
Torres del Paine National Park
martes el 8 de enero 2019
NB please excuse the screenshots of the original photos. Upload speeds in Patagonia are still from the late 90s.
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