Patagonia

The Andean Mountain Range displays all its greatness in the Patagonian provinces. Thousand-year-old silent forests with native vegetation extend to the banks of the lagoons. On mountain tops, nature overflows in granite needles and icy fields brimming with glaciers in lakes of unique beauty. The paintings on the sides of the Cueva de las Manos (Cave of the Hands) have survived for about 10,000 years, and embody the oldest expression of the South American peoples.


Imposing mammals and sea birds go through some rough seasons on the Patagonian coasts where they spend part of their life cycle. Colonies of sea lions play and rest on small islands and sandbars. Southern elephant seals have their greatest continental station in the world on Península Valdés. Nuevo and San José gulfs, separated by Carlos Ameghino isthmus, bear witness to the arrival of the Southern Right Whale, which punctually gets there for giving birth and breeding. Creole hares, rheas and guanacos (a lowland relative of the upper-Andean llama) run through the plains, and in Punta Tombo the largest colony of Maguellanic penguins nests. The amazed look of the visitor beholds this cadence that has been repeating itself since time immemorial. 


Farther south, you should visit Tierra del Fuego and Ushuaia— the latter being the southern-most city in the world. They are both an open door to the immense solitude of mysterious Antarctica.