Patagonia Trekking Expeditions
Patagonia the word is derived from "Patagon". Patagon was a giant savage creature from The Primaleon of Greece, a book written around 1512 about exploring. When Ferdinand Magellan left to travel around the world he took with him a chronicler named Antonio Pigaffeta (one of the few survivors of the trip). As Antonio Pigaffeta explored southern South America he referred to an indigenous group, the Tehuelches, as Patagon. The Tehuelches were exceptionally large in comparison with the other native people that Pigaffeta had seen through his extensive travels. Today, the region where Pigaffeta found the "Patagon" is now called Patagonia.
There were more than just the Tehuelches in the southernmost part of South America, despite the harsh climate and difficult life. The Tehuelches (Anonikenk) were nomadic, collecting fresh fruits and hunting guanacos. Another two groups that lived in the area were the Yamans (Yaganes) and Onas (Selknam); they spent most of their time in the fjords traveling in canoes catching fish and sea lions, which was their main food source. These three groups made up the ethnic diversity that historically populated Patagonia.
At the beginning of the 19th century the colonial people in Patagonia had declared independence. By the end of the same century, the government of Chile and Argentina decided to draw their boarders into Patagonia. Explorers traveled to Patagonia in order to study the topography and draw up official maps. During this same time, immigrants from Europe settled towns in remote places in search of wealthy for their futures; they began ranches on the ample land in Patagonia; this activity is still maintained as one of the most important industries in the region. In the middle of 20th century different types of explorers arrived in search of adventures in the extreme south. The impressive granite formations that emerged out of the mountains drew climbers and adventurers to Patagonia. These granite formations are products of an intrusion of granite between sedimentary rocks in the Paine Massif 12 million years ago. Later the granite chilled and was covered with ice, that in its recession was molded into singular and erratic formations.
Today we call the formations that the explorers found "Torres del Paine". The National Park Torres del Paine was named Reserva of the Biosfera for UNESCO in the year 1978 and contained 597,999 acres (242,242 hectors) administrated by The National Forest Corporation (CONAF). A The National Forest Corporation (CONAF).
