I was a lucky guy, I was told by a tour guide with more than 700 visits to Torres del Paine on his count. I had to pack my stuff and hurry to the closest casino to convert that luck to money. He never saw a puma before, on all his ranges, and I found one with barely 3 park-days. He had to thank me above all, because it was me who warned them to stop for the mountain lion in the roadside.

I was on my way back home to the hotel, the last five minutes in the park and with only a few minutes of battery left in my camera. The big cat was lurking in a ditch next to the road. It took him some time to adjust to the situation, enough time for me to stop and take a picture. He disappeared behind a bush, keeping a close eye on every of my movements.

I got one more chance as the puma quickly crossed the road to disappear in the yellow grass at the other side. A yellow cat in yellow grass, in less than 3 seconds, he was nowhere to be seen… I had to take a deep breath, and shout out my happiness all the way home.

— This post is one in a serie of posts on Torres del Paine in the Andes, the eight wonder of the world, where I spent an incredible weekend after my week of fieldwork in Punta Arenas. —