Traveling Light

Travel guidebook of the month

Moon Handbooks: Patagonia, by Wayne Bernhardson

Patagonia is a vaguely defined yet wildly romanticized region that marks the beginning of land's end in South America.  Ever since the area was named by Ferdinand Magellan 500 years ago, Patagonia has been associated with the fantastic and the mythical.  William Shakespeare's The Tempest is thought to be influenced by Spanish trip reports from the region, and Jonathan Swift's Brobdingnag giants are said to be modeled on the Tehuelche Indians that once lived here.  English explorer James Weddell was convinced that the Fuegan Indians of Patagonia spoke Hebrew, and (as travel author Bruce Chatwin pointed out in his book "In Patagonia") Herman Melville used the term "Patagonian" as an adjective "for the outlandish, the monstrous, and the totally attractive" in the pages of "Moby-Dick."  Charles Darwin called the region "scarcely passable, and hence unknown," and rumors of living dinosaurs in the expanses of Patagonia abounded (with the help of credulous newspaper reporting) as recently as 80 years ago.

For travelers who've been there, however, Patagonia represents a sprawling frontier of unrivaled wilderness — an emptier, antipodean version of the American West, full of gorgeous dry plateaus, dense, temperate rainforests, and active glaciers.  In "Moon Handbooks: Patagonia," South America expert Wayne Bernhardson has compiled a savvy and comprehensive guide to exploring the rugged region, which stretches throughout the "southern cone" of lower Argentina and Chile. 

Curious for travel tips on Patagonia, I spoke with Bernhardson via e-mail.

Ever since it was first "discovered" by European explorers, Patagonia has had a reputation as a far-flung wilderness at the very end of the earth.  What first attracted you to this part of South America?

Wayne Bernhardson: The "southern cone" is the world's most southern permanently inhabited region. Just the thought of reaching the world's southernmost extremes excites your curiosity — when you reach South America's tip, the only thing left is Antarctica.

That's misleading, though. Because the northern hemisphere's land mass is so much greater than the southern hemisphere's, and because South America's tip points to Antarctica, people's mental maps place the region much farther south than it really is. This leads to many misconceptions.

In this regard, one of my favorite anecdotes concerns a 1953 article I read in London's "Daily Telegraph" that referred to the Falkland Islands as "a British colony near the South Pole." Fair enough, presuming you also refer to London as "a British city near the North Pole," as the locations' latitudes are almost identical. Nevertheless, Patagonia's image of romantic remoteness is undeniable.

Patagonia is a huge area, with countless natural attractions.  What might be a good starting point for the first-timer hoping to get a taste of the region?

WB: Patagonia is undeniably huge, shared by two or arguably three countries. East of the Andes and south of the Río Colorado, Argentine Patagonia is larger than Texas. Chilean Patagonia's boundaries are less precise, but as defined in my book they encompass an area a bit smaller than present-day Germany. Together, they're about the size of Texas and California combined.

Consequently, the choices are almost infinite, but I would say that first timers should sample the three principal environments — the wildlife-rich Atlantic coastline, the windy and seemingly endless steppe, and the ruggedly scenic Andes. The best, most accessible choice for the first would be Argentina's Península Valdés, which swarms with whales, penguins, orcas, elephant seals, sea lions and other South Atlantic wildlife.

Inland, on the vast steppe between the Atlantic coast and the Andes, the highway between the Chilean cities of Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales (the gateway to Torres del Paine) is good for a first-timer. The road from Natales to Paine, also through the steppe, probably has more wildlife, though.

For sampling wildest mountain scenery, and its forests and lakes, the usual suspects are the granite needles of Chile's Torres del Paine and the Moreno Glacier in Argentina's Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (they're close enough to each other that many people visit both). A more conventional choice is the more northerly area surrounding the Argentine city of Bariloche, in the so-called "lake district" that extends into Chile.

For the independent traveler, can public transportation suffice in Patagonia, or is a private vehicle necessary to explore the region properly?

WB: It depends on the time you have available, the season, and the degree to which you want to visit truly remote areas. If you have just a week or two, contracting a tour or hiring a car can simplify the logistics, but public transportation is improving. In 1991, when my wife, a friend and I first drove Ruta 40 (the "loneliest road") to the town of Perito Moreno in Argentina's Santa Cruz province, we were the only visitors to a spectacular national park in mid-summer. Now there are daily buses along this route in summer, though it's not exactly a traffic jam.

This would also be true for Chile's Carretera Austral, the penetration road on the Pacific side in the Aisén region. Backpackers with plenty of time can afford to wait, but people on short holidays should consider hiring a car.

When I think of classic wilderness areas in Patagonia, I think of the stunning granite needles of Chile's Torres del Paine National Park.  Might you recommend a lesser-known wilderness area that compares in beauty and scope? 

WB: The Fitzroy Range in Argentina's Parque Nacional Los Glaciares is scenically comparable and, in some ways, a better destination than Paine for hikers — nearly all the trailheads start from the village of El Chaltén, while at Paine they're scattered and more difficult to reach.

That said, I might mention two other choices.  Argentina's Parque Nacional Perito Moreno (no relation to the Moreno Glacier), west of Ruta 40 in Santa Cruz province, is Paine without the crowds, but it's hard to reach without your own vehicle. On the Chilean side, Doug Tompkins's private and controversial Parque Natural Pumalín — with its lush, temperate rainforests — is equivalent to Puget Sound, without Seattle or any other city nearby.

I like it that your book includes a chapter on the Falkland Islands (known in Argentina as the Malvinas), which I'd love to visit someday.  You once spent a year exploring the islands, but not every traveler will have that luxury.  Can a visit to the Falklands work as a quick side-trip from a mainland Patagonia sojourn, or do you recommend a self-contained trip to the islands?

WB: Either one is possible. For visitors who are truly fascinated with sub-Antarctic and Antarctic wildlife — penguins, albatrosses, elephant seals and other marine mammals — the Falklands can easily be a destination in itself. Commercial flights to the Falklands leave from the Chilean Patagonia city of Punta Arenas, so it's also possible as a side trip from the mainland.

These international flights are only weekly, though, and Falklands logistics are complicated — accommodations are relatively few (though their quality is high) and internal transportation involves expensive air taxis with limited passenger capacity. This means organizing an itinerary ahead of time is critical unless your time is as unlimited as mine was.

Moon Handbooks: Patagonia ($21.95) is published by Avalon Travel.

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