Patagonia
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Patagonia is the scene of the world's great adventures. Even
if we know little of the place, the name itself inhabits our subconscious,
whispering of an unknown finger of the earth, el fin del mundo. We picture
large silent spaces, tempestuous seas, windblown solitude.
The first Europeans to lay eyes on this landscape were led by
Ferdinand Magellan, who pioneered passage through the treacherous strait
that now bears his name. His expedition named the mainland 'Tierra de
los Patagones,' unwittingly spawning the myth of a race of Patagonian
giants. To the south, they saw the horizon darkened by smoke from the
natives' fires, and named the great island Tierra del Fuego. The legend
of Patagonia was set in motion.
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The indigenous groups who inhabited Tierra del Fuego deserved
to be legends, as these were the world's first and greatest adventurers.
In arriving on Tierra del Fuego they had completed the world's furthest
human migration, arriving finally at the very end of the earth, where
the Andes disappeared into the sea and glaciers flowed to the water's
edge.
With nowhere else to wander, they stayed and fished the
coast in canoes, collected shellfish, hunted guanaco and rheas on the
pampa. Photos taken at the turn of the century depict a stone age culture
where extremity had crystallized: the end of the road for the most restless
wanders in history.
To the east of the Andes, the Patagonian pampa is an immense
desert, by some accounts among the five largest deserts in the world.
Visit-Chile.org has also provided
a photo
gallery of over 90 of the most stunning scenic photos
ever published anywhere. |
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