PatagoniaWhy Go?On South America’s southern frontier, nature grows wild, barren and beautiful. Spaces are large, as are the silences that fill them. For the newly arrived, such emptiness can be as impressive as the sight of Patagonia’s jagged peaks, pristine rivers and dusty backwater oases. In its enormous scale, Patagonia offers an innumerable wealth of potential experiences and landscapes.

Though no longer a dirt road, lonely RN40 remains the iconic highway that stirred affection in personalities as dis-parate as Butch Cassidy and Bruce Chatwin. On the eastern seaboard, paved RN3 shoots south, connecting oil boom-towns with ancient petrified forests, Welsh settlements and the incredible Península Valdés. Then there is the other, trendy Patagonia where faux-fur hoodies outnumber the guanacos. Don’t miss the spectacular sights of El Calafate and El Chaltén, but remember that they’re a world apart from the solitude of the steppe.

Best National Parks & Reserves¨¨ Parque Nacional Los

Glaciares (p452, p464)

¨¨ Reserva Faunística Península Valdés (p406)

¨¨ Parque Nacional Torres del Paine (p479)

Best Places to Stay¨¨ Bahía Bustamante (p421)

¨¨ Del Nomade Hostería Ecologica (p409)

¨¨ La Casa de Paula (p412)

¨¨ Tierra Patagonia (p485)

¨¨ Nothofagus B&B (p449)

When to Go

Nov–Mar The warmest months, ideal for estancia visits and driving Ruta 40.

Jun–mid-Dec Right whales migrate to Penín-sula Valdés.

Mid-Sep–early Mar Coastal fauna, including penguins, marine birds and sea lions, abounds.

F DNOSAJJMAMJ

El Calafate°C/°F Temp Rainfall inches/mm

2/50

10/250

4/100

6/150

0

8/200

20/68

10/50

0/32

40/104

30/86

-10/14

Puerto Madryn ..........400Parque Nacional Perito Moreno ...........444El Chaltén ..................446Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (North)........452El Calafate ................. 455Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (South) ...... 464Punta Arenas .............468Falkland Islands.........486

©Lonely¨Planet¨Publications¨Pty¨Ltd

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