TRAVEL FEATURE - PATAGONIO LEIGH WILKINS
IT MIGHT TAKE A LIFETIME
Patagonia . If someone tells you they ’ ve been there take it with a grain of salt , it ’ s a huge area encompassing the southern tip of an entire continent , in fact a quarter of that continent . Patagonia is a diverse region , as diverse as any region on the planet . To say you ’ ve been there is to say you ’ ve spent time in parts , it would take a lifetime to explore it all .
Reaching the bottom of the South American continent we quickly realised that Tierro del Fuego , the Land of the Fire , was vastly different to what we ’ d experienced the previous few days riding the east coast via the Ruta 3 . That windswept ribbon of tarmac that passes through vast steppe and rolling plains . Devoid of trees , the winds blow straight from the high reaches of the southern Andes . Straight roads and fierce winds , a motorcyclists dream .
Tierro del Fuego is divided between Chile and Argentina . To reach the latter by the Ruta 3 one needs to pass through the former , Argentina – Chile – Argentina , an inconvenience that can take all day , border crossings tend to slow things down but often offer a chance to interact with fellow travellers , often language barriers are a great way to start a conversation .
Human settlement of the region is said to go back 10,000 years , in fact artifacts confirm this and yet it was with European , the Portuguese , the Spanish , and the British , settlement some nine and a half thousand years later that came exploitation of the unique lands .
Precious metal discoveries in the mid-19th century fuelled a greed lead genocide of the indigenous peoples . Julius Popper , a Romanian entrepreneur , granted land rights by the then Argentine government exploited the local people and within 15 years almost the entire population of 4,000 Selk ’ nam people were
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