There were Giants in those Days

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"There were Giants, in the earth in those days." (Genesis 6:4)

Early reports from the first European explorers in the land at the end of the world, in the very south of the Americas suggested that there were giants.

It is these giants that gave Patagonia its name. The Tehuelches people, although not giants, were very tall and well built. It is the first meetings with these indigenous people that gave rise to the tales of giants. There is though, some dispute about the origin of Patagonia as the name for the province. Both versions though are about the Tehuelches.

One version of the story says that Patagonia owed its provenance to the fact that the early European explorers thought that the Tehuelches had very big feet. This might be more to do with the bulky moccasins that the Indians wore. The other more generally accepted story is that the word comes from Patagon, who was a character from a then popular novel "Primoken", a novel on which the explorer Fernando De Magallenes was keen. The Patagons of the cheap novel were fierce some monsters. So, Patagonia is the land of the Patagons. A people that were exterminated by contact with the ´civilizing´ Europeans.

Monsters

But there were, once upon a time, monsters in Patagonia. (Apart from the monsters from the Id of the European explorers imaginations!) In 1895 some remains were discovered in a cave near Puerto Natales. Upon analysis it was discovered that it was a type of giant Sloth, the Milodon. You can see its relative size from the photo of me standing next to a model of it. It shared the Patagonian steepe with other extinct animals like sabre toothed tigers. Modern analysis suggests that the Milodon became extinct about 10,000 years ago. (But then again, maybe somewhere in the remote mountains the decedents of the Milodon live on!) The first humans are thought to have reached these lands about 10000-12000 years ago.

I took the bus from El Calafate (Argentina) to Puerto Natalas (Chile) on the 29th of January. I broke the journey by booking into an hotel for $US60. I was going on to Punta Arenas the next day before returning to Puerto Natales for the trip to the National Park, Torres Del Paine.

Punta Arenas

So, the next morning I carried on to Punta Arenas. Punta Arenas is described as the capital of Patagonia by the Chileans. It is a sizable town, which means that it has decent internet connections. In Punta Arenas I first booked into the Hotel Tierra del Fuego for $US90 on the first night moving to the Hostal Calafate ($US30) for the next 2 nights. I needed a day to work on the last blog entry after which I visited the mansions that the wool barons left littered around the area. You will see pictures in this blog of a couple of mansions - Sociedad Menendez Behety and the Palacio Mauricio Braun. They are evidence of the huge fortunes that the elites in Punta Arenas made out of the wool trade in the late 19th century.

The Palacio Maurico Braun was the home of the Braun-Menendez family. It was designed by Antoine Beraulier, a French architect. It was built using Italian marble, timber fabrics and wall papers from France and furniture from London and Paris.

I also visited the municipal graveyard which shows more evidence of the wealth of the towns elite. The wool barons built huge tombs for themselves, overlooking the modest tombs of their workers, without whom they couldn't have become so rich.

Also, I visited the local museum, which had very good displays on the indigenous populations. Ironically the rise of the wool barons had a lot to do with the decline of the indigenous peoples. The various Indian tribes of the region were nomadic hunters. They ranged across the Patagonian steepe hunting Guanaco. It was their traditional land.

But, the European settlers didn't see it that way; to them the land was empty. Sheep were introduced in the 19th century from the Falkland Islands. In a short period of time the land was full of sheep, and the land was parceled up between a few large landowners. (Naturally the authorities didn't ask the Indians for permission). This created a conflict. The Indians naturally considered all these new animals on their land, the sheep to be a bounty they were entitled to hunt. The Estancia (large estate) owners considered the Indians a natural pest, that ate into the profits they could make from exporting wool to Europe. So, it was important to force the Indians into grubby, insanitary settlements, where many died from illnesses from which they had no immunity. But it didn't stop at that. The Indians were hunted down like animals. Many Estancia owners paid a bounty of one pound sterling for every ear of every Indian that was delivered to them. The message was clear, be forced into grubby settlements (often run by missionaries), or be hunted down like animals.

I didn't bother visiting the colony of Penguins, which is the reason most tourist end up in Punta Arenas. I saw tens of thousands of them in the Antarctic.

On the 2nd of February I caught the bus back to Puerto Natales, where I booked into the Hotel Centro. It was a shabby place, but it was only $US10 a night. It had everything I needed, a bed, a hot shower and even a TV with 13 channels. Positively palatial compared to some of the places I've stayed in, particularly in Africa.

Parque Nacional Terres Del Paine

The next day on the 3rd of February I went on a full day guided tour by bus of the Parque Nacional Torres Del Paine. It is one of the highlights of any trip to Patagonia. I flunked out of the 5-7 day hiking tour. Cumberland Sausage gives more details of that trail.

The National Park was created in 1959. It was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1978. The park is situated 145km north of Puerto Natales, has an area of about 242000 hectares and ranges from 200m to 3050m high. It is the stuff of picture postcards; of snowcapped peaks and glaciers and lakes the colours of aquamarine, emerald, turquoise, sapphire and lapis lazuli. It has to be seen to be believed.

It was a full day. I was picked up from the hotel at 7.30am returning at 9pm. During the trip I met a Chilean woman whose grandfather was from Wales.

Wales shall be King!

Many people have asked me by email if I've met any Welsh people in Patagonia. A group of Welsh settlers tried to set up a new Wales, their Utopia in Patagonia. I´ll be visiting the Welsh settlements soon. It will be one of the subjects of my next blog, the working title of which is; Wales shall be king!

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Photos

Spot the Milodon!
Posing with the statue of the Milodon, in the Milodon Cave

Sociedad Menendez Behety - Punta Arenas
Now houses the offices of Tourismo Compana

Grave of family of rich wool merchants in the Municipal Graveyard in Punta Arenas
The workers graves, which this overlooks; who made it possible for the wool barons to become so fabulously rich are somewhat less grand!

Entrance hall of the Palacio Mauricio Braun in Punta Arenas
Luxerious dwelling of the wool barons Braun-Menendez

Guanoco (Lama guanicoe)
It is about 1.10m tall and was the basis of subsistence (along with the ñandu) for the now extinct Tehuelches indians.

Parque Nacional Torres Del Paine
Note the hotel in the middle of the lake. Yours for a mere $US350 a night. I hope the taps are gold plated for that price!

Lesser Rhea or Ñandu (Pterocnemia pennata)
It stands up to 1m high. Although it looks like an ostrich its not. It has 2 fingers instead of 3. The males incubate the eggs for 40 days. Its meat was considered a delicasy by the Tehuelches.

Hotel Centro - Puerto Natales
My $US10 a night room in the tumbledown shack in the back yard.

Comments

[spidermiss]

Loved Torres del Paine
Took a day trip out there from El Calafate and had a wonderful time. One day, I would love to return and do the W Trek around the Park.