JPG: Stories: Photo Essay: A Portrait of Patagonia

A Portrait of Patagonia

By Wesley Neill

28 Jun 2008

Some places cannot be described with the written word. Patagonia is one such place. I will do my best, and let the photographs I brought back do the rest.

I began my journey in Bariloche, in the Lake District of Argentina. It is a small town famous for its opportunities to backpack some of the most pristine landscapes in the world. For those less inclined to the challenge of trekking through the mountains in often snowy weather, Bariloche is also home of some of the world's premier skiing attractions. Whatever your choice of activities, there is one guarantee: you will be surrounded by beauty.

Bariloche is also where I met the companions who I would travel with for the rest of my time in Argentina: Felix and Broos. They are two Dutch medical students with the craziest sense of adventure I've encountered outside myself. Together we ascended an 1800 meter mountain in a snowstorm, staying the night in La Frey Refugio. That night we decided to journey to Ushuaia, the southern most city in the world.

We began a few hours southwest of Bariloche. There you will find Rio Manso, running under the shadows of the Andes along the Chilean border. We rented a small cabin from a farmer for a very meager price and immediately jumped into the icy river for a quick dip. After standing in front of a blazing fire until the chill wore off, the farmer and his wife brought us fresh fruit and milk straight from their single cow.

Thus began our journey to icy Ushuaia. We pretended that our rented Renault was a 4x4 Jeep Wrangler, taking it off road, up mountains and 160 kilometers an hour down iced over southern roads. When we returned the car, it was covered from top to bottom in mud, power steering was gone and fifth gear no longer worked. But we survived, making it to Ushuaia in one piece. Along the way we stopped to see Glacier Moreno outside of El Calefate as well as passing by Puerto Natales on the outskirts of the Torres Del Paine National park in Chile.

When we finally reached our frigid destination, we were exhausted. That didn't stop us from seeing the sites, trekking and skiing on the fresh fallen snow. It was a fitting end to a great adventure, with great friends. My only regret is that I could not stay longer, and that I could not fit more photographs into this article. I encourage those of you with adventure in your soul to one day visit this beautiful place. And I encourage those of you missing that adventure in your soul to dig deep and find it. You don't know what you are missing.