Day 11 – The sighting of a Mylodon

Puerto Natales is also called the gateway to the magnificent Torres del Paine National Park. The park consists of mountains, glaciers, lakes and rivers. The park is located 112 km north of Puerto Natales.
The park was founded in 1959 and got its current name in 1970. The park was in 1978 designated by UNESCO as a World Biosphere Reserve.
Lady Florence Dixie gave a description of the area in her book in 1880 and refers to the two towers after which the park is named as "Cleopatra's Needles".
The landscape of the park is dominated by the Pain Massif. To the east lie the peaks Fortaleza, La Espada (Sword), La Hoja (Leaf), La Máscara, Cuerno Norte and Cuerno Principal.
A large part of the Pain massif consists of granite and eroded cliffs. The national park covers an area of ​​approximately 2400 square kilometers and is a popular hiking destination with its incredible views.
We drive later to the park. First we stop at the Mylodon cave near Puerto Natales. In this cave  a long hairy skin was found on the ground by German immigrant Herman Eberhard in 1896. The following year, followed another piece, being the skull of a large mammal, a claw and a femur. Soon it was identified by science that these were parts of the so-called Mylodon. The Mylodon is a prehistoric giant sloth, which occurred on the South American continent. Afterwards a lot more bones were found of various mydolons. After the archaeologists assumed wrongly that the found skin was new and was of a recently deceased animal, anywhere sightings occurred of large hairy beasts. These sightings notwithstanding, a live specimen was never found. The only one we find is the mydolon in the form of a statue in front of the cave. We take a little walk through the cave.

Then it is time to drive to the Park, the wonderful, beautiful, impressive Torres del Paine. From a remote distance, we are treated to magnificent views.

You only hear the clicking of cameras ... and the whistle of the wind ... That sounds promising ... We eat our lunch with a magnificent view of the massif. The heavy cloud cover is broken and the sun comes peeping. It creates a brilliant atmosphere. This afternoon we drive through the park and take an occasional photo stop. A herd of guanacos is grazing along the roadside.

The guanaco is a wild llama, related to the vicuna and alpaca. However, the latters are living at higher altitudes. Here in the park they are not skittish and they pose willingly in front of our cameras. A little later it gets even better. A big stone that lies on a hill in the distance, appears to be a cougar. Cougars live here, but are usually difficult to spot because they are so skittish. Yet it is difficult to identify the animal with the naked eye, binoculars, photographic or video devices. But afterwards it is proven that it is one.
It has turned out to be a wonderful first day in the equally magnificent Torres del Paine.