The Complete Guide To: Patagonia

In Patagonia?

Yes, but not necessarily in the well-trodden footsteps of Bruce Chatwin. The author's travelogue, In Patagonia, first published in 1977, was once regarded as the defining work on this far-flung area of South America. However, far from being the essential travellers' companion, it has, in more recent years, been lambasted as more fiction than fact by those he immortalised (somewhat unflatteringly) between its pages. But then Patagonia, a land woven from myth and mystery, lends itself rather well to works of the imagination. Indefinable, raw and bleakly romantic, it is in many ways as much a concept as a destination, shrouded in wild mythologies and legends. In Patagonia dinosaurs once roamed; their bones still litter the land. The native Indians were nicknamed Big Feet by 16th-century Spanish explorers and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid hid out in the hills. And today, St David's Day, there will be singing in the valleys, where Welsh is still the native tongue.

So, tell me the real story...

Well, first came the dinosaurs ­ about 230 million years ago (but more of Argentinosaurus and his mates later). Then came the ice. People arrived around 12,000BC; the Mapuche and Tehuelche were the most successful groups. The first European to set foot in what is now Patagonia was the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1519. He discovered the strait (named after him) between Tierra del Fuego and South America's main landmass, opening up important trade routes.

On meeting the Tehuelche tribe one of the first things that he noticed about them was their big feet and so he nicknamed them Patagones or Bigfeet. (Bruce Chatwin gave an alternative explanation for the region's name, claiming that it came from the 16th-century chivalric romance, Primaeleon, which featured a dog-headed monster called the Grand Patagon.)

Hot on Magellan's heels came the Dutch, French and British (including Sir Francis Drake), keen not to miss out. And, after the explorers, came the missionaries ­ although the Mapuche gave the Jesuits short shrift. This was an impenetrable land and the indigenous people were less easily conquered than those further north. In fact, what settlements there were, were situated on the coast to service those plying the sea routes. Colonisation of the interior (spearheaded by the newly independent Argentine and Chilean nations) took place far later. It was not until the 19th century that, enticed by the offer of free land, large numbers of Germans arrived in the Chilean Lake District, the Welsh (see box) pitched up in Argentina, and settlers from France and England headed across the Atlantic.

Define the indefinable

Geographically, Patagonia is a vague territory, sprawling across the southern part of Argentina and Chile, the Andes wiggling down the western side, forming a natural barrier between the two. Roughly speaking, Patagonia stretches south from the Rio Colorado all the way down to Tierra del Fuego, the last chunk of land before Antarctica. It covers a vast 900,000sq km (almost two times the size of France).

I sleepily watched the rags of silver cloud spinning across the sky, and the sea of grey-green thornscrub lying off in sweeps and rising in terraces and the white dust streaming off the saltpans, and, on the horizon, land and sky dissolving into an absence of colour.

­ In Patagonia

The traditional image of Patagonia is of a vast, barren, windswept land, where winds whip the dust into swirling clouds across ruler-straight roads to nowhere. However, that's only part of the picture. Although the Patagonian steppe, with its low-lying scraggy bushes, is virtually devoid of vegetation, in the west the foothills of the Andes are cloaked in swathes of beech trees, rivers gush through steep gorges and glaciers shed large slabs of ice into turquoise lakes.

Natural highlights include the Moreno Glacier, a massive creeping monster of jagged icy peaks 35km long and 4km wide, the Torres del Paine National Park with its giant granite massifs, the stunning 110km-long Seven Lakes drive which weaves its way through thick forest, and two national parks (Nahuel Huapi and Lanin) from San Martin de los Andes to Villa la Angostura, and the mysterious islands of Chiloe. Man-made highlights are few and far between; this is still one of the world's emptiest regions ­ there are more sheep than people.

Sounds like a big place. how can I get around?

Unfortunately, not on the Old Patagonian Express. Although it sounds impossibly romantic, the train (known in Argentina as La Trochita) now only goes one stop, from Esquel to Nahuel Pan. Originally the tracks were laid to transport wool from the estancias to the markets. The engine was built in Philadelphia in 1922 and as parts are no longer in production, mechanics at the workshop in El Maiten, forge every spare part themselves to the original blueprints.

Patagonia is vast, and although you can take a 16-hour train from Bariloche to Viedma, a fly-drive is a good option to consider. Sunvil (020-8758 4774, www.sunvil.co.uk) offers set itineraries as well as tailor-made options.

These boots were made for walking

And hiking through thick beech forest, trekking across glaciers and climbing active volcanoes. This is the big outdoors, and in Chilean and Argentinean Patagonia there are 30 national parks to play in ­ thanks in part to explorer Francisco Pascasio Moreno who donated the land for Argentina's first national park in 1922, Nahuel Huapi. Over the Andes a similar situation saw the creation of the Vicente Perez Rosales National Park.

Some of the best trekking is around the Argentinean and Chilean Lake District. In Argentina most walkers head to the area around Bariloche and San Martin de los Andes in the national parks of Lanin and Nahuel Huapi, the Los Alerces National Park near Esquel and the Fitzroy National Park. Nahuel Huapi, at 705sq km (that's bigger than the Isle of Man), sees the most visitors and incorporates the buzzy little tourist town of Bariloche. Independent hiking trips are easy to organise from here.

In Chile, the Torres del Paine National Park is one of the most popular, while for general outdoor activities Pucon is an outdoor enthusiast's paradise. From this little lakeside town, you can organise trekking in the national parks of Huerquehue and Villarrica, climb the active volcano Mount Villarrica, go mountain biking and horse-riding and, in the winter, skiing.

Alternatively, there are a number of UK companies which offer trekking trips to Patagonia. Journey Latin America's (020-8747 8315, www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk) Active Adventures programme features a 15-day group trekking trip, "Fitzroy" with seven days hiking in Torres del Paine and Los Glaciares National Parks. It costs £1,466 per person including accommodation, guide, meals, camping equipment and transportation, but excluding international flights.

I want to ride withthe gauchos

Patagonia is real frontier-land, South America's Wild West, and the gauchos are its cowboys. Ride World Wide (01837 82544, www.rideworldwide.com) offers riding holidays to both Chilean and Argentinean Patagonia. In Argentina, the rides are based on a working estancia or ranch in the northern Lake District. The first few days are spent exploring the area on horseback, after which there is the option to join a trip into the Lanin National Park, riding among snow-capped volcanoes and ancient monkey puzzle forests. Accommodation is under canvas, and meals are cooked over a campfire with the gauchos. If you travel in March or November you can also take part in a working cattle drive. The season lasts from November to April, and the tailormade trip costs £125 per night including transfers and full-board accommodation but excluding flights.

Where can I bed down?

There are a scattering of luxury hotels such as Explora (00 562 206 60 60) in Torres del Paine National Park, and camp sites in the most idyllic locations, but the most traditional option is to stay in an estancia. At the end of the 19th century, the Argentine and Chilean governments gave out large chunks of land to sheep farmers in order to extend some semblance of law and order to this under-populated and increasingly lawless region. Today, estancias are, by and large, still working ranches, in the hands of the families who built them, although many have diversified into tourism. They usually have only a handful of rooms so it's advisable to book ahead. In the north, the ranches mainly raise cattle, but in the south, where the grass and climate are poorer, sheep provide the main livelihood.

Estancia Alta Vista is a 60,000ha sheep farm, 30km west of Calafate on the road to the Perito Moreno glacier. The ranch, a single-storey building surrounded by poplars, was built at the beginning of the 20th century. Three night's full-board accommodation including transfers from Calafate costs £515 per person through Last Frontiers (01296 658650, www.lastfrontiers.co.uk).

Outdoor activities are the main reason for choosing an estancia holiday (as well as soaking up some of the history of the region). At Alta Vista riding, walking and fishing are offered. Fans of fishing should also try the Estancia Arroyo Verde (00 54 11 4807 5535, www.arroyoverde. 8m.com), an hour from Bariloche,which overlooks Traful Lake ­ and what some rate as the best river for trout fishing in South America.

Where else can I cast my line?

With all those rivers (over 5,000 in Chile alone) and lakes it's not surprising that the fishing here is world class. It's also in some of the most spectacular surroundings. Keen anglers head to the self-proclaimed trout capital of Junin de los Andes in Argentina. Other key centres are Esquel and Alumine, Rio Grande in Tierra del Fuego, and, in Chile, Coihaique.

Go Fishing Worldwide (020-8742 1556, www.gofishingworldwide.co.uk) offers trips to Estancia Despedida, a ranch on the Rio Grande, and Estancia Los Morros on the Rio Gallegos in southern Patagonia where you can catch sea trout of up to 8lbs. An 11-night trip to Estancia Los Morros costs £2,950 per person including flights to Buenos Aires from London, two nights in Buenos Aires, transfers to the estancia, full-board for seven nights and six days fishing and guiding. The price for Estancia Despedida is £4,600 per person. In Chile, a 10-night trip to the Patagonian Basecamp, a lodge in an evergreen forest valley on the banks of the river Palena, and an old cabin on the shore of Lago Verde costs £2,565 per person including flights, transfers, full-board accommodation, fishing and guiding. The rivers that feed the water from the Andes into the region's lakes provide wild trophy fishing for brown, rainbow and brook trout.

Can I pick up a penguin?

A whole colony. Peninsula Valdes on Argentina's Atlantic coast is a vast nature reserve and Unesco World Heritage Site, covering 3,625sq km (that's bigger than Luxembourg). The area is the breeding ground for thousands of elephant seals, sea lions and Magellanic penguins while the southern right whales breed off the coast. The best viewing season is October to April.

And the ones that are as dead as a dodo?

Bruce Chatwin's interest in Patagonia was sparked as a child by the piece of brontosaurus (a chunk of skin covered in coarse reddish hair) in his grandmother's cabinet. It turned out to belong to a giant sloth; however, his fascination with Patagonia as a land where dinosaurs roamed was no fantasy. Neuquen in Argentina is a real fossil cemetery with finds from the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

In 1993, the remains of a Giganotosaurus Carolinii (named after the palaeontologist who discovered them), the world's biggest carnivorous dinosaur at 10,000kg, were discovered in Villa El Chocon, now known as the Valley of the Dinosaurs. Its bones are displayed in the local museum. The bones of the largest dinosaur to ever walk the planet, the Argentinosaurus, a herbivore measuring 42m long and 22m high were also found here. Then there are the huge footprints of the herbivorous Iguanodon by the lake in the Parque Cretanario just a few kilometres away and a batch of dinosaur eggs near the Auca Mahuida volcano...

So who else can take me there?

For flights your best option is to buy a ticket via the specialist agencies such as South American Experience (020-7976 5511, www.southamericanexperience.com), Journey Latin America (020-8747 8315, www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk) and Last Frontiers (01296 658650, www.lastfrontiers.co.uk) which also specialise in tailor-made trips. Trips Worldwide (0117 311 4403, www.tripsworldwide.co.uk) also offers tailor-made itineraries.

For overland trips and group adventures contact Dragoman (01728 861133, www.dragoman.co.uk), Exodus (020-88772 3822, www.exodus.co.uk), Explore Worldwide (01252 319448, www.exploreworldwide.com), Travelbag (01420 541007, www.travelbag-adventures.com) and Guerba Expeditions (01373 826 611). I took an overland tour with Tucan Travel (020-8896 1600, www.tucantravel.com) which also organises local transport trips. High Places (0114 275 7500, www.highplaces.co.uk) specialises in trekking and hiking while Naturetrek (01962 733051, www.naturetrek.co.uk) offers birdwatching and natural history trips.

Where can I find out more?

The Latin American Travel Association publishes a Guide to Latin America, available free on request from 020-8715 2913 or www.lata.org. It features information on each of the 25 Latin American destinations, including Argentina and Chile, plus contact details for airlines, tour operators, guide books, tourist boards and hotels. A good guidebook is the Time Out Guide to Patagonia (Penguin, £12.99).

As far as safety is concerned, Chile and Argentina are two of the most Westernised countries in South America and most travel is trouble-free. The Foreign Office advises, however, that "Argentina is going through a period of severe economic hardship and political change. There are occasional outbreaks of social unrest and demonstrations, which are, at times, violent. You are advised to be alert, avoid demonstrations and public gatherings, watch the news and keep in touch with events." For more information, visit www.fco.gov.uk

'A country uncontaminated by englishmen'

Why welsh immigrants fled to Patagonia

In 1865, after a Welsh independence movement had failed and the English parliament banned Welsh from being spoken in schools, a group of 153 immigrants took up an invitation from the president of Argentina and set sail from Liverpool in search of a new life, halfway across the world.

"Their leaders had combed the earth for a stretch of open country uncontaminated by Englishmen. They chose Patagonia for its absolute remoteness and foul climate."(In Patagonia).

The first settlers landed in the Golfo Nuevo on Argentina's Atlantic coast, where they founded the little seaside town of Puerto Madryn (after the leader John Parry's hometown). After a few weeks they headed inland to the Chubut river valley which became the heart of Welsh Patagonia. Today, excursions inland to Trelew and the Welsh villages of Gaiman and Dolavon are popular trips from Puerto Madryn. Trelew still has an Eisteddfod (Welsh literary and music festival) each spring. Although Spanish is widely spoken here, Welsh can still be heard in small pockets.

Gaiman, to the west of Trelew, is the most typically Welsh of the villages. In the Museo Historico Regional there are photos of the original Welsh settlers, while the Welsh heritage is visible in the architecture of the houses. The area's Welsh chapels, scattered around the valley, can be tracked down with a map from the tourist office (00 54 2965 491152, www.cpatagonia.com/gaiman).

A land fit for outlaws

The legend of butch and sundance

"I visited the best parts of South America till I got here. And this part of the country looked so good that I located here, and I think for good, for I like the place better every day."

So wrote one Robert Leroy Parker, better known as the outlaw Butch Cassidy from his ranch in Patagonia in 1902.

His band of bandits, the Wild Bunch, were responsible for a series of train robberies in the United States at the end of the 19th-century. As the Pinkerton detective agency turned up the heat, the call of the wild, frontier lands of South America cast their spell. After meeting the Sundance Kid and his girlfriend Etta Place in New York, the three decided to head south. They settled in the Cholila valley, between the towns of El Bolsen and Esquel, on a 12,000-acre sheep, cattle and horse ranch, where they led a peaceful existence from 1901 to 1905.

You can follow in their footsteps with Outlaw Trails (01892 515612, www.outlawtrails.com) which specialises in horse-treks along the trails used by Cassidy and Sundance some 100 years ago.

Simon Greenwood

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