Recommended Reading
Uttermost Part of the Earth
This classic memoir chronicles the captivating Bridges' early life among the coastal Yaghan people and his later initiation into the more remote and fierce Ona tribe. Confronted with unfamiliar cultures and traditions, Bridges engages fully, committing himself to learning and participating in the ways of his neighbors, people he would proudly come to call his friends. As a respected equal, he learns to hunt, fish, farm, canoe, and live amongst them.
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Mischief in Patagonia
Mischief in Patagonia follows H.W. Tilman's voyage on his across the Patagonian ice cap. Filled with Tilman's characteristic wit, this recounts one of his most ambitious expeditions.
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Travels in a Thin Country
Squeezed between a vast ocean and the longest mountain range on earth, Chile is 2,600 miles long and never more than 110 miles wide, not a country that lends itself to maps, as Sara Wheeler discovered when she traveled alone from the top to the bottom, from the driest desert in the world to the sepulchral wastes of Antarctica. Eloquent, astute, nimble with history and deftly amusing, Travels in a Thin Country established Sara Wheeler as one of the very best travel writers in the world.
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The Voyage of the Beagle
When HMS Beagle sailed out of Devonport on 27 December 1831, Charles Darwin was twenty-two and setting off on the voyage of a lifetime. His journal, reprinted in a shortened form, shows a naturalist making patient observations concerning geology, natural history, people, places and events.
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This Thing of Darkness
Set in the period from 1828 to 1865, This Thing of Darkness is a historical novel telling the fictionalised biography of Robert FitzRoy, who was given command of HMS Beagle halfway through her first voyage. He subsequently captained her during the vessel's famous second voyage, on which Charles Darwin travelled as his companion.
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In Patagonia
An exhilarating look at a place that still retains the exotic mystery of a far-off, unseen land, Bruce Chatwin's exquisite account of his journey through Patagonia teems with evocative descriptions, remarkable bits of history, and unforgettable anecdotes.
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Recommended Viewing
Patagonia: Earth's Secret Paradise
A nature documentary series broadcasted in three parts, Patagonia: Earth's Secret Paradise uses the best ingredients of the classic BBC wildlife filmmaking recipes to showcase the harsh lifestyle of animals and people in the "Far South". A glimpse of rarely seen South American wilderness, including pumas, hummingbirds and orcas. This series is the best way to understand the complexity of Patagonia's peculiar geography, with spectacular shots of Patagonia's desert, ice fields and granite peaks. A must-see if you like BBC documentaries.
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The Pearl Button
The Pearl Button ("El Botón de Nácar") is an award-winning Chilean documentary film directed by Patricio Guzmán. It won the Silver Bear for Best Script at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival and the Lumières Award for the Best Documentary at the 21st Lumières Awards. It is an exploration of the historical past that focuses on the last surviving members of the Alacalufe and Yaghan tribes, with sequences featuring the sad history of the indigenous tribes of Patagonia under the Pinochet regime. It also tells the story of Jimmy Button, who was brought from Tierra del Fuego to England by British settlers. A fantastic film to understand the story of the indigenous people of Patagonia.
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180° South: Conquerors of the Useless
180° South is an adventure documentary that covers the journey of Jeff Johnson as he travels from California to Chile's Patagonia, both by sea and on land. It retraces the trip that Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia founder) and Doug Tompkins (The North Face founder) took in their Ford E-Series Econoline Van. This cool documentary features some exclusive footage of the inspiring 1968 trip Chouinard and Tompkins in Patagonia, both in Argentina and Chile. And the best of it, it underlines some important challenges of conservation of the region with interesting interviews and the climbing of the Corcovado volcano, one of Patagonia's most stunning summits. A breath of fresh air with lots of fun.
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