Bigfoot (Patagonia)

Today we are in Puerto Madryn, a coastal harbor with good natural attributes about halfway down the length of Argentina. I think Viking has done a good job of finding a reciprocal stopping point in Argentina to what we visited on the Chilean side in Puerto Montt. Where Puerto Montt was founded by Germans, Puerto Madryn got its foothold here on the northern edge of the Patagonian Pampas through the arrival of a large Welsh contingent looking for inexpensive land on which to start a new life. Unlike the Chilean side, which is dominated by the Andes and the alpine atmosphere, this side of Patagonia is much less rugged looking and more friendly in its rolling landscape and long beaches. Of course, we are here in good weather and I can imagine a mighty South Atlantic storm spanking this coast with its minimal protective geographical features. I recall thinking that Puerto Montt was a place I would consider living, mostly because of its European look and feel. I think I would even more likely find Puerto Madryn a nice place to settle based mostly on its pleasant and soothing look and feel. I don’t know that it looks particularly European or to what extent the Welsh influence prevails in the area, but it just looks like a pleasant seaside community that has a natural harbor of huge proportions (called Golfo Nueva) that looks to be able to accommodate both commercial shipping and touristic cruising.

We are one of two cruise ships docked here today (we’ve seen our shadow ship tracking us to port out at sea since leaving Port Stanley). Now that its parked next to us, I can see that it is a much larger liner that carries perhaps 3,000 – 4,000 passengers by my estimate. The good news is that unlike one of the many European river cruise ports that get overwhelmed with River Longships on any given day, having two ships in Puerto Madryn does not seem to make the system in this port go tilt. Back in Ushuaia, due mostly to the explorer ships heading off to Antarctica, the dock was much more crowded. I would argue that Puerto Madryn could handle four ships of our size on a given day since their pier is almost a kilometer long by my estimate.

Once again, the sights in this place are focused around local wildlife. The most prevalent wildlife draws are the penguins and sea lions. There is also a lot of whale and porpoise watching, seabirds of all sorts including the cormorant (hanging out amongst the rock coves) and a few stranger beasts like guanacos (like small llamas) and nandus (like ostriches).

Our particular shore excursion today was a 3.5 hour visit to Punta Loma to see the sea lions and cormorants in a series of beautiful high coves. Appended to that was a visit to the local Ecocenter where we got a particularly interesting lecture on Orcas, what they called the wolves of the sea. We all think of Orcas as killer whales, but they are actually the largest species of the porpoise family based on their teeth and diet as well as their dorsal fins. In fact, Orcas eat mostly seals, sea lions, whales and porpoises with a little bit of boned fish and shrimp/squid/octopus when all else fails. They have teeth like a porpoise but on a porpoise it is endearing whereas on an Orca it seems demonic, probably due to scale. We really learned a lot about Orcas and gained an appreciation for why these magnificent mammals are best not caught and put into captivity like the infamous Shamu. To hear a marine biologist speak about Orcas, these beasts compete against us humans for intelligence levels with them having a slight edge in brain/mass ratio. We might be wise to treat such an animal with respect. That said, I also don’t want to ever tangle with an Orca’s natural instincts.

Our last stop of the tour was at an overlook set along a cliff that hangs out over the harbor. There was a statue there of an indigenous man wearing a loin cloth and peering out at the vastness of the ocean (or gulf in this case). I am no student of Latin American anthropological history, but if I compare the way that Americans and Canadians treated the indigenous people they displaced as they settled these lands versus how the Latin Americans did the same, I sense that in Latin America more indigenous people were left alone and remain in tact with their customs even today. There was also more interracial mingling between Europeans and indigenous people. You can see it in the complexion of many Latinos and that seems all the more so in a place like this that is distant from the urban hub of Buenos Aires. While nature has its reasons for all the distinctions which flourish across our species, I find myself thinking that this blending is a better path for mankind than seeing the tensions that arise from racial distinctions.

On the bus ride out to Punta Loma, our guide mentioned that Puerto Madryn is the northern post of Argentinian Patagonia, much like the role Puerto Montt enjoys in Chile. She explained that the name Patagonia is somewhat contestable as to its etymology, but that the most popular understanding is that it comes from the fact that the indigenous tribesmen to the area would wrap their feet in hides and such against the cold and the roughness of the terrain even though they would warm the rest of their bodies with the use of animal fat. Consequently, these indigenous people had the look of men with big feet and the name Patagonia comes from that observation. Patagonia likely derives from the word “patagon,” a name given by European explorers (particularly Ferdinand Magellan and his crew) to the indigenous Tehuelche people they encountered in the early 16th century. The name “patagon” is thought to be related to the Portuguese and Spanish word “patón,” meaning “one who has big feet.” When Magellan’s expedition encountered the Tehuelche people in 1520, they were apparently impressed by their height and the size of their footprints or footwear. According to some accounts, the Tehuelche were significantly taller than the European explorers. The region itself, shared by Argentina and Chile came to be known as Patagonia because of this association with the “patagones” or Tehuelche people.

No one has ever proven successfully that one race is “better” than another or should be more dominant than another other than the notion that might makes right and that the mighty must be the better group. But history has proven over and over again that might is only one of the valuable components of a prosperous and flourishing culture. Right now, might seems to have taken the shape of economic strength, even more so than any military strength per se, especially given the changing nature of warfare as we see it in the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. We continue to avoid a nuclear confrontation, as we have for 80 years, but it is unclear how long that taboo will go until breached. But I like to think that Patagonia is a great example for mankind in several ways.

Patagonia, the outdoor clothing company, began in 1957 with a young rock climber named Yvon Chouinard who had a passion for the outdoors and a knack for innovation. By the late 1960s, Chouinard realized the pitons he sold were damaging rock faces. This environmental concern led him to develop and promote aluminum chocks that could be wedged into cracks without harming the rock. This early decision established the environmental ethic that would define the company. In 1973, Chouinard expanded into clothing and required a new company name, and “Patagonia” was chosen—evoking the wild, remote region that represented the adventurous spirit of their products. Patagonia’s commitment to environmental causes grew alongside its business success. In 2022, Chouinard transferred ownership of the company (valued at about $3 billion) to a specially designed trust and nonprofit organization to ensure all profits would go toward fighting climate change. The company continues to be a leader in both outdoor apparel and corporate activism, demonstrating that a business can be profitable while remaining committed to environmental and social responsibility. Now THAT may be the biggest footprint ever left by a single man.