Hiking in the magnificent mountains of Patagonia, where the pumas roam

Guanacos are common in Torres del Paine National Park. — Photos: MANUEL MEYER/dpa

It's just starting to get light when trail guide Jose Ignacio Roca reaches Lake Sarmiento in Chile with his group. Most are still a bit sleepy, no surprise since they had already left the Andes backpacking town of Ultima Esperanza Fjord at 5am.

But a warning sign jolts the hikers awake: The trekking trail could see a “potential danger of attack” by pumas. Roca immediately calms the group’s nerves. “We aren’t of any interest to the pumas. We don’t belong to their list of prey.”