Patagonia Wildlife 2017
Day 13 - Punta Arena to Carlos III Island
We had breakfast and then moved our luggage to reception. This time we would be handing our bags over to Far South Expeditions to store them while we were away for the next two nights. A guy came in and went to reception so Alan went up to him to ask if he was from FSE, he said yes but he didn’t speak English. 15 minutes later the same guy finally approached us and asked us our name and yes, he was collecting our bags!
Another 20 minutes later Whalesound arrived, we were the first on the bus. We then called into several hosterias and collected another four couples (all in their twenties). After one last stop to load up food supplies we finally arrived at the Tanu (our boat) at 9:45am.
The youngsters filled the captains deck area so we made ourselves at home in the galley where snacks and drinks were prepared. We were continuously fed throughout the journey, which took longer than usual due to strong head winds.
10 hours later at 8pm we arrived at Carlos III Island. We were shown to our tents and dropped off our bags and were asked to meet up at the observation deck for a briefing, which to my surprise was a long old walk up many wooden steps and decking! It was going dark as we arrived, so not much observing to be done. Briefing done and it was now dark, fortunately we had taken our head torches up with us which helped our return.
They served drinks in the dining room tent just after 9pm and it was clear that dinner was some time away. I was starting to feel the effects of Alan’s cold that he had kindly shared with me and I decided to go to bed. The lead guide, Rodrigo, lit the stove in our tent and it became less damp in there and more like an oven.
Each tent had two single beds with a sleeping bag and duvet, a small bedside table between them with a low powered light and a stove. There were no other lights or sockets. The shower/toilet closet to us was shared between three tents.
Alan finally came back from dinner a little after 11pm.
Day 14 - Carlos III Island
The changes in temperature from steaming hot to very cold when we were due to get up resulted in a rough night’s sleep and I had a horrific sore throat, the worst I can remember. Breakfast was at 7:30am and we went out on the Tanu at 8:45am.
It was still raining and was another overcast day, which made for some very challenging conditions for photography. We did see plenty of sea birds, albatrosses, gulls and magellanic penguins. We also saw many sea lions and humpback whales and each time a whale was spotted we would head towards it so that the researchers could take photos of their dorsal fins and tales.
As lunch was served on the Tanu we arrived at a glacier, where we stayed for a while. It was still raining and the colder weather meant there had been no carvings, so no icebergs.
The rough waters and my cold were making me miserable so I slept while Alan braved the elements and photographed and even videoed more of the whales.
We arrived back at the island camp at 7:30pm and I was feeling worse so I skipped dinner again and headed for bed (after my stove had been lit). Alan went for dinner at 8pm (which wasn’t served until 9 pm), so it was another late night for him.
Day 15 - Carlos III Island to Punta Arena
It was a beautiful sunny morning for the start of our return to Punta Arenas, so wish the weather could have been like this yesterday! Breakfast was at 7:30am again and we left the island at 8:45am. We stopped briefly for some more penguins and a condor.
The weather closed in during the journey back, the sea got rougher and the rain returned. My throat was so painful I lay down again and slept the majority of the journey back.
We arrived back at the hotel at 7pm, slightly earlier than expected so our bags weren’t waiting for us. We ordered room service and had a snack meal in our room and waited for a call about our bags. It was just before 9pm when I decided to go down to reception to ask if they could contact FSE, when they admitted the bags had been delivered earlier in the evening but they hadn’t let us know! I took them up to the room and got the repacking done for our return journey home tomorrow.
Day 16 - Punta Arenas to Santiago
My cold was getting worse and I was fully awake at 5am so we decided to slowly get ready. We had our breakfast in the hotel before our transfer car arrived at 8am. Just a short 20 minute drive to the airport, check-in and through security quickly and before we knew it we were boarding and on our way to Santiago.
Our flight had a stop again on the way at Puerto Montt which all went smoothly and we arrived on time into Santiago. By the time we had collected our bags, checked in for our British Airways flight and had light meal it was time to board our plane.
This was a direct flight that would land the next day at Heathrow. I hardly slept on the flight due to my cold, fortunately one of the flight crew, Catherine, had noticed me struggling and she looked after me the entire flight ensuring I had plenty of fluids and making me lemon and hot water drinks. Even when she wasn’t on duty she asked other crew to check on me. What a star!
Day 17 - Home
We landed back at Heathrow, collected our luggage and the transfer bus to our car was waiting for us. We were soon on our way home up the M40 another adventure had come to an end.
Summary of Liz’s thoughts on the Trip
The main event, the ‘Just Puma’ tour was awesome, it lived up to my expectations and then some. The guide/tracker/driver were all friendly, knowledgeable and great at their jobs resulting in perfect wildlife viewing conditions where I never felt uncomfortable with our impact on the animals we were viewing or our safety. Five full days in the national park allowed for plenty of opportunities to look for puma and also get to see some of the fantastic scenery. There is no doubt having a tracker and guide greatly increased our chances of seeing pumas and if we should return to Torres del Paine we will spend at least a couple of days using their services again.
The extensions to the Just Puma tour however weren’t as good as the main event. The trip out to the condor roosting site was a bit of a time filler. I don’t regret doing it, if we hadn’t gone out we wouldn’t have seen the short-eared owl. However, even if there had been condors on the cliff, it must be understood they are a long way from you, so the chances of decent photos are pretty remote.
The king penguins were interesting to see and made for some nice photos, but one visit is enough, so if given a choice I would take the flight option where you fly out and return to Punta Arenas on the same day.
Had I not been ill and the weather had been better we would have enjoyed the whale watching trip more. As it was the weather but a dampener on the trip in every way possible!
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