The Falling Sky
Patagonia
01 CHAPTER
PATAGONIA
When I first merged with Patagonia's vastness, I immediately felt the effect of the "falling" sky. Here it hangs very low. It seems that you can reach the clouds with the palm of your hand, and dive into it - from the bottom up, without any effort, as if it was a soft and giant pillow. I wanted to watch the sky endlessly, and felt the constant drama in the air, especially while trekking in the mountains. The ever-changing shapes of the clouds repeatedly rushed past me, and the sky was irreversibly troubled with clouds.
Fin Del Mundo
Fin del mundo: The idea to travel to the end of the world was born very spontaneously, during our unforgettable trip to New Zealand. As quickly as this idea came to our heads and found a positive response in our hearts, it began to suddenly materialize. Moreover, the next thing we knew, we were already standing right in the very Southern tip of South America. Further away is only Antarctica. Here, lama guanacos peacefully pace the pampas, the sun goes down closer to midnight, and we are surrounded by miles and miles of virgin nature, exactly as it was millions of years ago, and to this day almost intact.
Patagonia didn’t belong to anyone until 1881, and now this territory is divided between two countries: Chile and Argentina. Currently, the border between these two countries passes through the tops of the Andes. Many tourists who are visiting Patagonia, are in fact only passing by. The actual destination is Antarctica. From Ushuaia, a small city located on the island of Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire), in southern Argentina, is where most of the cruise expeditions start. The distance from Cape Horn, located at the very south of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, to Antarctica is less than 800 kilometers. Hence, after visiting Patagonia, you can safely say that you have been at the edge of the earth. Further away is only permanent cold and floating icebergs!
There is a theory that the famous French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was so inspired by the magical panoramas of Patagonia when, as a pilot, he often visited these lands, that they served as the prototype for the landscapes described in The Little Prince. Due to its intactness by man, Patagonia really looks like a different planet, poorly suited for human life.
El Calafate – Under the Wing.
The small town of El Calafate in Argentina is the gateway to Patagonia. It is located near a picturesque lake called Argentina. Here, I’ve experienced something very unusual, when I first interacted with the largest glacier in the world - Perito Moreno. I will share this experience in more detail a bit later. While now, I want to point out that the town itself is worth seeing, especially the bird park - Laguna Nimez. It is offering sanctuary to many indigenous bird species, including the rare pink flamingos. These birds gracefully glide over the water surface of the emerald lake. Without moving, you can observe this action for hours. When watching the birds, I very clearly felt the expression: “to take under the wing.” This touching act that I witnessed reflected the real universal care. Just one simple movement of the wing protected the little chick from all external dangers, concealed from the cold. My heart trembled at that moment. In this gesture, I felt unconditional love. For some reason, this observation, against the silence merging with the tweeting birds, and rustling of the trembling semi-dried grass, slammed into my memory very strongly; probably because at that very moment, I really wanted to be under someone’s strong, warm, cozy and large wing that was ready to protect me.
Patagonian Stray Dogs:
Perhaps the character of the country can be determined by the way the locals treat their stray dogs. In Argentina, similar to Chile (as we discovered later on), stray dogs are an integral part of everyday life. Here, they are big and fluffy, very kind and not at all dangerous. They continuously interact with humans, often following them on the street. The dogs also like to approach small children, and no one ever chases them away. The locals feed the dogs and do not try to obstruct their natural breeding process, so there are lots of them wandering around, looking alike, as though created from the same template. Each dog has its territory to guard. They run up to you, wiggling their tails and start relentlessly following your footsteps until the land that they protect ends. At that same instant, another fluffy friend appears to accompany you any further. If one of the dogs dares to cross its territory, it will unavoidably trigger a street fight with other stray dogs guarding that area. At night, you can often hear continues barking of different genres and calibers. The diversity of those howling sounds knows no bounds!
