Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden - Patagonia: Peaks, Penguins & Pumas

Join Mark Fisher, Vice President of Facilities, Planning, and Sustainability on a wildlife expedition into the untamed heart of Patagonia, a landscape where raw beauty, abundant wildlife, and sweeping silence create one of the most powerful nature experiences on earth.

Trace the southern reaches of Chilean Patagonia from the wild shores of the Strait of Magellan to the granite towers of Torres del Paine National Park, with the rhythms of the natural world guiding each day.

We begin along the Strait of Magellan and the wind-scoured shores of Tierra del Fuego, where the Southern Ocean makes its presence felt and wildlife is woven into the landscape. Magellanic and King Penguins, condors, sea lions, and seabirds share a coastline that feels as remote and elemental as anywhere on earth. From there, the land opens into the vast Patagonian steppe, where guanacos move across golden hillsides, Andean condors ride the thermals above glaciated peaks, rheas thread through the grasslands, and foxes appear without warning along the ridgelines.

The centerpiece of our journey is Torres del Paine and the search for the puma. Spanning more than 560,000 acres of lakes, steppe, forest, and mountains beneath the jagged skyline of the Paine Massif, this is Patagonia’s premier wildlife destination and one of the most reliable places in the world to observe this apex predator in its natural habitat. Our days follow the puma’s rhythm, with dedicated wildlife sessions at dawn and dusk when activity is highest. When the cats retreat to rest, we explore lakes, waterfalls, and sweeping mountain vistas on gentle walks with expert naturalist interpretation — experiencing the full ecological story of this remarkable landscape.