Once relatively obscure
Argentina's Patagonia

region is vast,
empty and windswept.

I know there are condors
around here because we

could see em from
the distance.

And until recently international
tourists only trickled in.

Now they're flocking south
to see the best glacial

landscape in the world.

Funding for
The Desert Speaks

was provided by
Desert Program Partners,

representing concerned viewers
making a financial commitment

to the education about and
preservation of deserts.

And by the
Stonewall Foundation.

♪ music ♪

Over the last couple of
decades increasing number

of Europeans have been
stopping in Buenos Aires,

not just to see the
sophisticated city but as

a starting point to visit
the greatest glacial

landscape in the world.

It's part of Argentina's
vast Patagonia.

Buenos Aires is probably
the western hemisphere's

most European city,
as sophisticated and

cosmopolitan as it gets.

One of every three Argentine's
lives in and around the city.

There is a old opera house
that has been remodeled

and turned into
a bookstore.

We may have to walk awhile
to find it but its said to

be the best place in all of

Buenos Aires to find
wildlife guides.

And certain Buenos Aires
is full of wildlife,

beginning particularly
after about 10:00 at night

and running til about
3 or 4 in the morning.

But the book I'm
looking for has mammals,

birds and fishes in it
and that's a little bit

different from the
wildlife in Buenos Aires.

It's gotta be
here somewhere.

It's on the
Avenida Santa Fe.

[Spanish]

Well, I'm finally here,
El Latinejo.

Oh, I see why they do call
this a former theater.

It actually is.
There's the stage.

Great idea for a theater,
turn it into a bookstore.

Now if I can find
a wildlife guide.

This is the one
that I want.

This is really good,
Guide to Patagonia.

Patagonia begins
about 700 kilometers

south of Buenos Aires.

It accounts for nearly 1/3
of the area of Argentina

but only a tiny fraction
of the total population.

But Patagonia is dry, cold
and windswept and in the

west lacking in roads,
rugged and pock-marked

with glacial lakes.

Many of the people there live
onestancias, huge ranches.

The nearby mountains where
horses take us are home

to the Andean condor.

One of Argentina's Patagonia
experts is Maria Jose Figerero.

For some of us who are
skinny the hard saddle

takes a little bit of
doing, getting used to.

What's yours named?

Juan Perres.

Juan Perres. John Smith.

Rabicano.

So the dog's
name is Caramba,

he's just a puppy and he'll go
all day without getting tired.

Come on, Caramba, move.

Vamos pues.

Lagos San Martin was
created by a galacier

that came off the
continental ice field and

carried on many kilometers
beyond the point where it

ends right now and the
land all around it has

been smoothed by the great
mass of ice crushing the

surface and rounding all
the rough edges left by

land forms created by volcanic
action many years ago.

In the desert you
can remember your name,

cause there ain't no
one for to give you no pain.

You know, that volcanic
plug out there,

that must have been huge.

But imagine all the ice
going over it because it's

been rounded all
over by the ice.

Yeah.

So this had ice
a kilometer deep?

Yes, at least.

There's even a kilometer
deep in the ice hill right

now so coming down at
that time at the glacial

maximum it would have been
about this deep at least.

Life here is, is hard.

You're far from, all these
lakes are at least between

90 to 70 kilometers
of the main road,

which is usually a place
where you use to get to

another crossroads or the
settlement and maybe then

many hundreds of
kilometers more until a

big city where
you get supplies.

So you live
pretty isolated.

You see
I've been through the

desert on a horse
with no name.

It felt good to be
out of the rain.

So how much rainfall do
you figure they get here.

We have around about 400.

About 16 inches.

Yeah.

Maybe that 16 inches of
rain is diminished by the

constant wind evaporating
and sucking the moisture out.

All these plants are
adapted to whenever the

rain comes down to
make the most of it.

All right, pick it up,
that's right, up the hill,

up the hill.

Let's see what's
on top of the mesa.

So it, now is that
Chile over there?

Right, that's it.

That's the beginning of
the western margin of one

of the Lakes of Martin.

So we're looking on Chile
now surrounded by these

two mountains here.

I know there are condors
around here because we

could see em from
the distance.

If you concentrate
over there,

there's a cliff
face there,

they should be flying out
around about this time.

You can see the, the
feathers on the tips of

their wings as
they use em.

If you see the underside is
black, it's, it's a condor.

Usually the size of them
is a dead giveaway but

just to make sure.

What about the
whiteness on the head,

when it turns
you can see that.

There's an adult, which is
the one that you saw

with the white ruff.

Yeah.

And if you keep
an eye on it,

when it turns it'll show
the whites on the back but

the other one is darker
and I'm guessing it's one

of the juveniles.

There's two more,
there's two more.

This is training flights
for, for the young one.

Well, it's surrounded by
a whole lot of cliffs and

the temperature of the
lake is surely creating

differences in the air
temperature so probably

the right conditions for
them to swirl around and,

and practice flying with
the thermals going up and

then going down.

So, this is a prime area
for watching for condors.

Now their wingspan
is 3 meters?

Yeah.

That's a very large bird.

10 feet.

That's a huge bird.

It's very hard to get a
real dimension of it when

it's kind of black
against the sky,

you think it's
kind of small.

Yeah, you can't, there's
nothing to compare it with.

If you don't test it there
with their wings spread

out and their flight
feathers at the end just

like fingertips and they
move maybe just very

certainly a few feathers
and they kind of soar

around one direction
and maybe another,

it's amazing the grace
with which.

Very sensitive control,
flight control, yes.

But you, you can
tell that they,

that's the sheer
pleasure of flying,

especially on very,
very windy days.

I mean, you're sure to
see condors out high.

There are some that
must be two miles away.

Yeah, the tip of the,
the plateau there.

And they just went down
below the tip of that ridge.

These glacial lakes always
seem to be just a little

bit cloudy.

Yeah, well, it's from the
sediment that collects

from the base of the
glacier, it's ground rock,

and so it doesn't allow
the sun to reflect the deep blue

that we're accustomed from
still sitting lakes

while all the sediment has
gone down to the bottom.

This is kind of greenish.

The lighter color it is the
nearer is to the glacier.

I see. Well, this, one
thing I can do here,

which I could do in no
lake in the United States,

cause I know this
water is pure, mmm, oh.

There's some evidence
that people who drink only

glacial melt
water live longer.

So maybe I'll move here.

Yeah, we should.

Say, this is L'agua San
Martin in Argentina and in

Chile it has a
different name. Right.

Bernardo Higgins, they're
named after the two great

leaders of independence
here in both countries.

When you get to the
border the name changes.

Right, exactly so.

But this great lake was probably
even greater in the past.

We can see behind us old
terraces that indicate,

you know, a higher
level of the lake.

So it was that, at that
height within the last 15,

20,000 years.

Well, at least during the
Halocene so it must have

been that or then maybe
less within the last

10,000 years.

So the terrace
would have had,

would have this mix
of finer sediments,

the sand and the fine, the
small rocks that we have

here, not the big mix of
rocks that would be pushed

forward by the glacier
like a bulldozer which

mixes everything
up of any size.

You look at this you
want to go swimming,

from a picture.

Oh, yeah, definitely.

But the temperature
is probably, what,

maybe 3 or 4 degrees
above freezing?

Uh, yeah, something
like 4 degrees,

can't be any
warmer than that.

The vegetation here shows
the adaptation to the cold.

And to the wind, right?

And to the wind of course,
you musn't forget the wind.

We have these cushion
bushes that accumulate on

the landscape here and
we have yellow flowers on

this bush which
is quite spiny.

Oh, my god, somebody had
a weird sense of humor

there,I don't wanna
sit on that.

And you have other things
growing out of it like

these grasses and the
white flowers over there.

Oh, so they're
protecting, they are,

they're a medium for other
plants to come out of.

Right, yeah.

You find them along the
ground and also in fields

where there's been a
lot of overgrazing.

And the other plant that
we have here is this

coiron which is a
grass that you

find on the Pampas of Patagonia.

Coiron. Mm mm.

That's big, big
clumping bay.

The leaves of the
coiron are very spiny.

They end up in a sharp
point and there's a new

broad surface open to moisture
loss through evaporation.

Don't want to
fall on those. No.

Here we have the siete
camisas. Pretty flower.

Seven shirts.

Yeah, well, it changes
colors every time from

pinkish to more reddish.

Oh, I see, as a change
of shirt, that's good. Yeah.

This is the star
bush in Patagonia.

This is the Calafate bush.

Named after the town. Right.

Wait, the town was
named after the bush. Right.

And look here.

Oh, there's the flower,
there's the flower.

So it's a yellow flower. Yeah.

And we don't get to see it cause
that's a few months earlier.

And here we have the
berries already ripening

into that deep blue color
that makes it so delicious

to eat in the summertime.

So these are edible,
you guarantee me.

Yes, and you should. Okay.

I'll tell you
why in a second.

A little bit dried,
feels like a raisin.

Well, it's still got a few
weeks to go for it to

be really ripe.

You said delicious?

Give it a few weeks.

Well, by that time it'll
be well, well on its way.

I can see that they're
not poisonous immediately.

No. But now you are going to
come back to Patagonia

because the story says
that once you eat a berry

from a calafate bush
you'll come back to Patagonia.

It wouldn't take all that
much for me to come back.

That's good.

Between the calafate bush
and the town of Calafate

there's a lot of
road to travel.

500 kilometers of
mostly empty land.

And these hills
are all scoured,

just flattened out
by the glacier.

I think the last time it rained
here was four months ago.

Hey, a road sign.

Look ahead, you can see
the first of the ice

coming out on the lake.

My first
freshwater iceberg.

Oh, and it is that
iridescent blue.

Oh, great.

Maybe we, if we go on
we can see some more.

So this is Calafate.

Yeah.

You know, it's not the
prettiest town I've ever

seen but maybe you can
tell me why I should like it.

Well, they have every
amenity you can think of.

Lodgings, restaurants,
but you also have call

centers, ATMs, banks,
exchange shops, internet.

Okay, good, there.

Even bars with WiFi.

They have WiFi in
Calafate in Patagonia.

Exactly, that's
what I mean.

That's great.

Over here you can come
with your trip already

planned or you can
start planning it here.

There are any number of
. There's 37 different

travel agencies that are
willing to take you off in

a trek, a climb, a
ride, an exploration.

Yeah, however adventurous
you are or however laid

back you are.

I tried to come to
L'agua Argentino, gosh,

30 years ago and the guide
book described it as a

tiny little town that might
or might not have services.

So it's changed.

And the big change has
come about as a local

airport that built in
a lot of international

tourism and really made
this place the gateway

into the glaciers.

I mean, we have
anywhere from over 1, 000

people coming into the town
and the glaciers. Every day.

Every day during
the season,

anywhere from October to,
through to Easter in, in April.

It's a boom town.

For better or for worse.

Yeah.

[drums]

With increases in
tourism the locals have

seen opportunities to
showcase their traditional

music and dance before you
take a walk on the glacier.

[music]

So what kind of
a name is A la. Caloof.

That's the, the name of
an Indian group of canoe

Indians who lived in
Tierra del Fuego, so,

I mean, we're ca. not
canoeing out but at least

sailing out to
the glacier. I see it.

They've become a bit
more sophisticated.

The glacier Benita Morena
is named after Francisco

Moreno, a famous naturalist
who lived in the 1800s.

As a very young man he
came to this part of

Patagonia trying to
emulate the explorations

of Darwin and Fitzroy and
discovered the lake that

feeds off this glacier.

Look at the glacier.

You can see all the
pictures in the world but

the reality is
something else. I know.

There's nothing that transmits

the emotion, the
wind, the cold in

the scale of what we're seeing.

The mountain go, peak goes
down and suddenly it's,

it goes straight down.

Yeah, it's a glacial
valley, yeah.

Marks the point of how
deep the ice once was.

My god, that was deep.

This is a very important
water reservoir and the

fact that this originated
a million years ago and

continues to this day is
a source of interest to

glaciologists because
especially at the end of

the Ice Age they believe
that any changes in the

weather patterns here
could lead to us knowing

how contemporary weather
patterns could be affected

by changes on
a global level.

So studying a phenomena
of glaciations 11 to 15,000

years ago is
especially important.

So the origin of a very
interesting phenomena is

originated in southern
Patagonia and that is

known as the
Patagonian ice field,

the continental ice field,
which is the third largest

in the world after
Antarctica and Greenland.

Looks to me as though
a glacier's been here.

Yeah, well, this
scoured bedrock,

it's probably not been
uncovered that recently.

But look, it's all rounded
and gouged out by the ice.

Look what the
glacier left behind,

another completely
different rock here.

Oh, yeah, that's from
way, way far away.

Aya ta ta ta ta.

You look up there and
it's psychedelic.

So this is something
out ofDuneor,

it's not even
Lord of the Rings.

So have you ever been so
close to the edge of a glacier?

I never have.

And I can't, I still can't
tell how high that really is.

It could be 100 feet,
it could be a mile high.

But still, I wouldn't
go any closer.

I don't think
it's too safe.

It's not fun when
you're hit by a calf

falling off and crushed
by a million tons of ice?

We're getting up to the place
where we fit on our crampons

God, these are almost
medieval devices.

So they're really
heavy gauge steel.

They're, they're
serious footwear.

Well, we need them to
be a little bit heavy.

So the people can't run.

The reflection on the
ice is also pretty bad.

Oh, we gotta put, we
gotta put goggles on

our sunglasses, okay.

Yes, something, because
it kinda finds you but.

I feel like I'm gonna
walk like a duck.

Part of the technique
is like that.

To walk like a duck.

Like a duck.

Well, I have plenty of
practice walking like a duck.

Okay.

I think Carlos knows
where he's going because

I probably don't.

And the glacier isn't
flowing that quickly.

So we're moving
even as we speak. Yeah.

Every snow field or
glacier is advancing,

sliding down hills
because of gravity,

their own weight of the
ice or the snow is enough

to make it move.

So glaciers move at higher
speed than snow fields.

The dimensions of
everything are different

here and it looks as
though it's a hundred

miles away to the very
highest point I can see.

Or maybe it's just
200 yards, 300 yards,

quarter of a
mile, ten miles.

Well, the crampons

make you feel so safe you
feel you could go on for

those ten, hundred miles.

Que hondo?

The waterfall over there.

It's almost as if you're
in Venezuela at Angel

Falls, the same formation.

But they don't have
glaciers underneath them there.

No, or condor flying. Or
condor flying up above.

The sky's so blue it looks as
if you could even dive into it.

I don't think you should
try but somehow the,

the blue of the glacier
and the blue of the sky

just seem to merge.

And the white of the
clouds and the white of

the glacier merge, you
can't tell which begins

and where the other ends.

The snow accumulates over
the southern Patagonia ice

field very constantly
along the year,

more or less 9,000
millimeters of

precipitation accumulate
in the shape of snow.

The fact that the ice
field is not under

extremely cold conditions
and because of this it is

possible for the vapor
to move through the snow.

The snow crystals freeze
vapor and vapor moving

through the snow will
remodel the snow crystal,

making them get fat and
the more fat and dense

they are, more
close to be as ice.

So that's the way the
snow turns into ice.

The ice on the surface,
about 300 years old,

400 years old, the
ice of the base, the basal ice.

Cascada.

Amazing.

How deep do they go, do they
go all the way to the bottom?

All the way to the
bottom, not always,

because sometimes they
connect with the gallery

that would be more or less
parallel to the surface.

The easiest way out
is what they'll find. Yes.

Sometimes many kilometers
the water travels inside

the glacier until finding
next hole that will

connect the
water with the bedrock.

It's a labyrinth.

It's just like that
limestone up there.

Yeah, like vines. Yeah.

Sometimes the movement of
the glacier don't let the

water be flushed
toward the bedrock.

So the crevice is going
to like a pool keeping

the water inside.

And then the pool makes
it deeper, huh, itself?

More or less.

The bad thing about pools
is after a very cold night

they can get frozen on the
surface and if it snows

there's nowhere to hide it.

Oh, so you can't tell that
it's under there. Yes.

I hate falling into those.

So this whole mass
we're walking on,

how much is it
moving a day?

About one and a
half meter per day.

So it's moving
about 5 feet a day.

I like these nice little
steps you're making, Carlos.

It just makes
life much easier.

So why do we have
a valley here?

Well, because crevices are
remodeled by the elements,

the wind, the
rain, the heat,

the radiation of the sun
will remodel the lift of

the crevices and they'll
begin to take these

shapes, they start
change their shapes.

It's like the
badlands in Utah.

Look at the pool.
by the pool.

That water is amazing.

What do you call these
formations up here?

The big chunks of ice.

in a precarious
balance are sarocks.

Sarocks.

These ice pinnacles

that as the elements erode
them they start to become

weak and they can
fall down eventually.

Ooh, collapse.

You don't want to go
running around them in circles.

No. Okay.

That is the Matterhorn
there is it not?

More or less.

Many shapes are like matterhorns
here in the glacier.

I think we better continue
in that direction.

Okay. Yes. You lead the way.

I hate it when those
sarocks fall and crush us all.

Not so often
inside the glacier,

more often at the front
where the glacier is

pushing against the water
and the water affects the

front of the glass here to
make it have the shape

of the cliff.

Now the highest
point up here,

how high is that above
the L'agua Jintino?

90 meters. Okay.

About 300 feet.

That's, that's
a long way up.

A lot of ice. Yes.

It's a lot.

Also, if you consider that
under the water level

more ice is present.

A don perito Moreno.

Salud.

300 year old ice.

You know when you get to a
place on the glacier where

you get this itch
in your stomach,

this stuff gets right down
there and scratches it for

you, after a tough
day on the glacier.

Buenos tardes.
Buenos tardes.

Visitors now throng
to Patagonia,

mostly to see the
Andes, the lakes,

and above all
the glaciers.

As sensational
as these are,

they constitute only
a small portion of Patagonia.

The rest remains pretty
much as it was a century ago,

a vast, empty land.

Next time onThe Desert Speaks.

Throughout Argentina's
Patagonia region there's

evidence of human
habitation for thousands

and thousands of years.

.we're in, even in a transition
sounds cold but we also have.

The land is
daunting but not without

its beautiful side.

Current residents are proud of
historic roots.

and are not above
good old fashioned rodeo.

The last time I visited
Buenos Aires in 2001 the

Argentine economy
took a severe hit.

There was a massive
devaluation of the

currency which resulted
in huge unemployment,

loss of pensions and a
disruption that caused

many people to think
they would never recover.

But they love their
country and somehow they

kept working and today
it's almost back to where

it was in those very
happy times of 2000, 2001.

Funding for
The Desert Speaks

was provided by
Desert Program Partners,

representing concerned viewers
making a financial commitment

to the education about and
preservation of deserts.

And by the
Stonewall Foundation.

Copies of the Desert
Speaks are available from KUAT.

To order, call 1-800-841-5923

and please be sure to mention
the episode number.

For more information
visitThe Desert Speaks
on-line at this address.