Landscape and Nature
The landscape of Patagonia is one which captures the imagination and has inspired writers and chroniclers since the first days of the Welsh settlers. It is a vast canvas of changing light and colours running from ragged coast to jagged mountains. Journey from the coast towards the Andes and you will experience the change in the very air you breathe. The coast is a jumbled collection of sloping cliffs and sandy dunes which slide into the crystal clear sea. The Southern Right Whales (so called because they were the 'right' ones to be killed for the by-products which could be extracted from them) come to the Bae Newydd, near Porth Madryn every year to the shallow warmer waters to mate and give birth to their bus-sized calves. Elephant seals snort and fight and mate alongside the more placid sea lions and penguins but watch out for the Orcas, the killer whales, who feed on careless young. The richness of bird life is astonishing and if you see the giant Skua gliding over the penguin colony at Punto Tombo you know he is looking for a quick snack!
As we leave the coast and travel westwards and inland you may think that they grey tussocky desert with its spiky bushes has nothing to offer in wildlife but look more carefully: you may see the ñandu an ostrich type bird native to Patagonia, the mara a kind of large native hare or a family of guanaco which belong to the llama family crossing the road in front of you.
At Los Altares we pass through some magical rock formations carved by the glaciers primarily and then by the River Chubut and the weather leaving the top-heavy towers resembling church altars. Pass in the morning light and the colours shine from reds to oranges through greens and white which if seen in the evening sunlight glow with a gentle warmth.
Climbing all the time, when we first sight the Andes we may be welcomed by the jagged peaks covered in early snow crisp against the backdrop of the azure sky. There is the home of the condor the largest bird in the world, the shy huemul a native deer, countless birds and mammals. The crystalline lakes of the Los Alerces National Park hold a wealth of fish and the needs of man and nature are in harmony.