Departure from Madrid. The journey begins with your mind already fixed on the southern end of the world. Depending on your chosen connection, you will transit through Buenos Aires or Santiago de Chile before continuing toward the far south of South America. A long flight best spent resting — what comes next demands energy.

We land in Punta Arenas in the early morning — gateway to Chilean Patagonia. Rental vehicles collected and we drive to Torres del Paine National Park. The road itself is already a preview: the Patagonian steppe stretches infinite beneath a cinematic sky, and the first guanacos appear roadside as if welcoming us to the south.

On this drive we begin training the eye. The steppe holds a horizontal, clean light that invites you to stop the car and shoot. We are not in a hurry. We know exactly where to pull over.

Check-in at our accommodation inside the park. We review the gear, calibrate the tripods and walk through the plan for the days ahead.

En este trayecto empezamos a afinar el ojo. La estepa tiene una luz horizontal y limpia que invita a parar el coche y disparar. No tenemos prisa. Sabemos exactamente dónde parar.

Instalación en el alojamiento dentro del parque. Revisamos el material, calibramos los trípodes y repasamos el plan de los días siguientes.

The alarm goes off before dawn.
It will do so many times during this expedition, and
it will always be worth it.
We position ourselves on the shore of Lago Pehoé to capture
the reflection of the Cuernos del Paine in its still waters.
With good weather and calm winds —and at this time of year the odds are considerably better than in summer—
the natural mirror is of a perfection that takes your breath away.

Lo hará muchas veces durante esta expedición, y

siempre valdrá la pena.

Nos colocamos en la orilla del Lago Pehoé para captar

el reflejo de los Cuernos del Paine en sus aguas quietas.

Con buena meteorología y viento en calma —y en esta época del año las probabilidades son notablemente mejores que en verano—

el espejo natural es de una perfección que corta la respiración.

The alarm goes off before dawn. It will do so many times during this expedition, and it will always be worth it. We position ourselves on the shore of Lago Pehoé to capture the reflection of the Cuernos del Paine in its still waters. With good weather and calm winds —and at this time of year the odds are considerably better than in summer— the natural mirror is of a perfection that takes your breath away.

I have witnessed this reflection five times. Only twice did the wind leave it intact for more than ten minutes. Knowing where and when to position yourself changes everything.

In the morning we walk south along Lago Grey, where a cove receives icebergs calved from the glacier and stranded on shores of dark sand. The chromatic contrast between the blue-white ice and the grey-green water of the lake is one of those visual discoveries that are hard to forget.

We continue to the Grey Glacier viewpoints, eastern arm of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field — the third largest reserve of fresh water on the planet. From several vantage points we contemplate and photograph this tongue of ice in perpetual motion, with the Paine massif as a backdrop.

He visto este reflejo cinco veces. Solo en dos de ellas el viento lo dejó intacto más de diez minutos. Saber dónde y cuándo posicionarse lo cambia todo.

Por la mañana caminamos hacia el sur del Lago Grey, donde una ensenada recibe los icebergs que se desprenden del glaciar y quedan varados en orillas de arena oscura. El contraste cromático entre el hielo azul-blanco y el agua gris verdosa del lago es uno de esos hallazgos visuales que difícilmente se olvidan.

Continuamos hasta los miradores del Glaciar Grey, brazo oriental del Campo de Hielo Patagónico Sur —el tercer mayor reservorio de agua dulce del planeta. Desde distintos emplazamientos contemplamos y fotografiamos esta lengua de hielo en movimiento perpetuo, con el macizo del Paine como telón de fondo.

We sail until we are positioned right in front of the glacier face. Just metres from a wall of ice sixty metres high that thunders, cracks and collapses without warning. The water changes colour as we approach —from grey-green to deep blue— and the icebergs floating around us take on a scale that was impossible to imagine from land. The cold radiating from the ice mass is felt on your face. The shutter does not stop. It cannot stop.

It is one of those experiences that permanently changes the way you understand nature photography: when the distance disappears, the image takes on a completely different dimension.

Es una de esas experiencias que cambian para siempre la forma de entender la fotografía de naturaleza: cuando la distancia desaparece, la imagen cobra una dimensión completamente distinta.

Today we face the most demanding day of the Chilean section and the most iconic in the park: the ascent to the base lagoon of the Torres del Paine. A full trek —there and back— that lasts the entire day, climbing steep and rocky terrain to one of the most photographed panoramas in the world.

The path offers constant views of the peaks and sheer faces of the massif. We cross valleys, hills and glacial moraine boulders with the Torres appearing progressively on the horizon. The final stretch —a field of granite boulders— is hard, but the reward is absolute.

Arriving at the base lagoon, the Torres rise vertically above brilliantly turquoise water. This is the image that gives the park its name and that, nevertheless, only reveals itself in full splendour to those who arrive here on their own legs. We wait for the light, read the clouds and shoot with all the time in the world.

The Torres del Paine base lagoon is one of those places that justify an entire expedition. No photograph fully prepares you for it. And yet, I keep coming back.

El camino ofrece perspectivas constantes de los picos y las laderas escarpadas del macizo. Atravesamos valles, colinas y bloques de morrena glaciar con la progresiva aparición de las Torres en el horizonte. El último tramo —un campo de bloques de granito— es duro, pero la recompensa es absoluta.

Al llegar a la laguna base, las Torres se elevan verticales sobre el agua de color turquesa brillante. Esta es la imagen que pone el nombre al parque y que, sin embargo, solo se muestra en todo su esplendor a quien llega hasta aquí con sus propias piernas. Esperamos la luz, leemos las nubes y disparamos con todo el tiempo del mundo.

La laguna base de las Torres es uno de esos lugares que justifican una expedición entera. No hay fotografía que la prepare del todo. Y sin embargo, yo sigo volviendo.

We cross the border into Argentina and head to El Calafate, on the shores of Lago Argentino. The crossing landscape is breathtaking: condors circle above the lenga and ñire forests, and the Argentine steppe receives us with a silence and an amplitude that impress even those who have already travelled through the region.

El Calafate is the base for the Perito Moreno Glacier. Check-in at the hotel, gear review and planning for the following day — one of the most anticipated of the entire expedition.

El Calafate es la base para el Glaciar Perito Moreno. Instalación en el hotel, revisión del material y planificación de la jornada del día siguiente, una de las más esperadas de toda la expedición.

We dedicate the entire day —from dawn to park closing— to photographing Perito Moreno. One of the few advancing glaciers in the world, Perito Moreno is a spectacle in permanent motion: its ice walls sixty metres high thunder and collapse without warning, launching icebergs into the Canal de los Témpanos with a roar that resonates for kilometres around.

The park boardwalks offer different perspectives —frontal, lateral, elevated— and each demands a different photographic strategy. We work in small groups to move with agility, anticipate the calving events and maximise time in the best positions. Waiting is part of the technique: you read the ice, listen to its signals and be ready when the glacier decides to act.

Perito Moreno demands patience and anticipation. The best shot is not improvised: it is waited for. And on this expedition we have the entire day to wait for it.

Sunset over the glacier. The light falls raking and the ice turns orange, pink, golden. One of those ends of day that reconcile you with everything.

Las pasarelas del parque ofrecen distintas perspectivas —frontal, lateral, superior— y cada una exige una estrategia fotográfica diferente. Trabajaremos en grupos pequeños para movernos con agilidad, anticipar los derrumbes y maximizar el tiempo en los mejores emplazamientos. La espera es parte de la técnica: hay que leer el hielo, escuchar sus señales y estar listo cuando el glaciar decide actuar.

El Perito Moreno exige paciencia y anticipación. El mejor disparo no se improvisa: se espera. Y en esta expedición tenemos el día entero para esperarlo.

Atardecer sobre el glaciar. La luz cae rasante y el hielo se vuelve naranja, rosa, dorado. Es uno de esos finales de día que te reconcilian con todo.

We head north to El Chaltén, trekking capital of Argentine Patagonia and base for the Fitz Roy massif —a collection of granite needles that rivals any mountain on the planet for sheer spectacle. The drive from El Calafate crosses the steppe with views of Lago Viedma and the first glints of the massif on the horizon.

Check-in at the hotel. Detailed briefing on routes, photographic spots, expected weather conditions and contingency plans for the days ahead. In El Chaltén the weather decides, and I have learned to design the itinerary with enough flexibility to adapt. Possibility of night photography in the village surroundings and wildlife sighting at dusk.

Llegada al hotel. Explicación detallada de las rutas, spots fotográficos, condiciones climáticas esperadas y plan de contingencia para los días siguientes. En el Chaltén el clima manda, y yo he aprendido a diseñar el itinerario con suficiente flexibilidad para adaptarse. Posibilidad de fotografía nocturna en el entorno del pueblo y avistamiento de fauna al atardecer.

The trek to Laguna de los Tres is the great expedition of El Chaltén and one of the most breathtaking mountain treks in all of South America. We set off from the village and enter Los Glaciares National Park through lenga beech forests with progressive views opening onto the massif above.

The final section is the hardest: 400 metres of elevation gain along a steep, rocky trail that demands real effort. But when you crest the top and come face to face with Laguna de los Tres and the Fitz Roy with its hanging glacier, the effort dissolves. The reflection of the peaks in the turquoise water of the lagoon is one of those images that define landscape photography.

Fitz Roy is a mountain that enchants and frustrates in equal measure. It covers itself in cloud with ease and reveals itself with unexpected generosity. That is why you need several days here. That is why this expedition does not rush.

Cerro Torre is the other giant of the Chaltén massif, and in many ways the most dramatic: a needle of granite ending in a frozen summit permanently shrouded in cloud. The route to Laguna Torre follows the glacial valley floor with constant views of the peak and the Torre Glacier, which sends its tongues of ice down to the blue water of the lagoon below.

We walk through ñire beech forests already deep into their autumn colours —one of the most underrated visual spectacles in all of Patagonia— while Cerro Torre appears and disappears between ribbons of cloud. This too is photography: knowing how to wait for the moment the peak reveals itself, capturing the mist as a compositional element, working with uncertainty.

We rise early to reach a privileged position near Cerro de los Cóndores and capture the first light of dawn breaking over the Chaltén massif. The reddish granite of the summits catches the sunrise in a way that exists nowhere else on Earth: a progressive ignition, from blood red to orange to pure gold.

After breakfast we ascend to Laguna Capri —one of the park’s essential trails, with around 200 metres of elevation gain— to find the reflection of Fitz Roy in its waters with autumn painting the forest behind it. We continue to Arroyo del Salto and the Fitz Roy Viewpoint to multiply angles and compositions throughout the day.

This is a long, intense and enormously generous day for photography. The clouds play with the sharp peaks throughout —here the weather is a creative collaborator, not an obstacle— and the lenga and ñire forests in full colour change are a warm carpet of light beneath our feet.

In the ñire forests we have the opportunity to photograph birds unique to these ecosystems: the Magellanic woodpecker, the thorn-tailed rayadito, the dark-bellied cinclodes. The Patagonian forest in autumn is a complete photographic studio.

The huemul is the southern Andean deer of Patagonia, one of the most elusive and threatened animals on the continent. The trail that bears its name takes us along a low-difficulty but enormously beautiful path, with the Río de las Vueltas and the Chaltén massif as constant companions. At this time of year, with far fewer visitors in the park, the sighting possibilities are real.

In the afternoon we reach the Piedras Blancas Viewpoint, with views of the glacier of the same name. The contrast between the ice, the polished rock faces and the forest blazing with autumn colour gives us compositions of a chromatic richness that is simply not available at any other time of year.

Final dawn in El Chaltén. The mountains save their best cards for those who insist: we have reserved this second dawn in the massif precisely because Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre are unpredictable, and having two attempts on favourable weather days can make the difference between a good photograph and an extraordinary one.

These iconic summits are frequently covered by clouds rolling in from the Pacific. Having two dawns is not a luxury: it is a photographic decision. If the first morning was perfect, this one is confirmation. If the first was clouded, this is your chance.

At midday, the long drive back to Punta Arenas begins. The return journey, with fresh memories and a mind full of images, has its own quiet poetry. Night in Punta Arenas before the homebound flight.

Free morning in Punta Arenas to explore the historic centre, the Strait of Magellan, or simply to sit with the memories —and the photographs— of these extraordinary days. In the afternoon, return flights depart via Buenos Aires or Santiago.

End of an expedition that does not leave you easily.
Patagonia will have given you more than you expected and less than you will need to come back.
That, precisely, is what distinguishes a trip from an experience.