The end of the world: Patagonia

   It is not just the name of an outerwear company, this frontier of nature is as far south as you can go before a very expensive 8 day journey to Antarctica. Flat land and sheep extend for miles and are suddenly punctuated by sharp and awe-inspiring snow-covered peaks. Glaciers abound and the silt in the lakes causes the water to have a striking opaque green hue. Wild dogs roam in packs in the small towns around the area. Internet has just come to one town since last season. The wind whips by at 20 to 40 mph erratically. Patagonia is in fact the same latitude as Maine or London, but the weather is so spastic that glaciers form. Even the 100,000 person city feels like an old American city with an overly large downtown. Locals are friendly, but facial expressions on local busses are gruff, just like the climate. Sheep outnumber people 3:1, dolphins swim beside the ferries that shuttle boats across the Magellan strait, sea lions bask in the sun lounging beside lighthouses, and penguins walk in lines to tend to their eggs in burrows at the seashore. It is indeed most fortunate that, at this time of the year, the sun comes up at 5:30 am and goes down at 10:00 p.m. providing ample daylight to do what Patagonia was made for...hiking!