Within the southernmost a part of South America, Patagonia occupies 260,000 sq. miles that span Argentina and Chile. The area is understood for dramatic mountain peaks, an abundance of glaciers and an array of distinctive wildlife.

1. Los Glaciares Nationwide Park

The Upsala Glacier in Argentina’s Los Glaciares Nationwide Park is understood for its speedy retreat and is called for Sweden’s Uppsala College, which sponsored the primary research of glaciers within the space.

2. Magellanic Penguins

Present in Patagonia, the Magellanic penguin was named after Ferdinand Magellan, who documented seeing the species in 1519 on his first voyage across the tip of South America. Although hundreds of thousands of particular person Magellanic penguins dwell off the coasts of Argentina and Chile, this penguin species is taken into account “threatened” due to how massively weak it’s to grease spills; round 20,000 adults and 22,000 juveniles die yearly off Argentina on account of them.

3. El Calafate

El Calafate, Argentina, was named after a southern Patagonian thorny bush of the identical title. It blooms within the springtime with small yellow flowers and produces bluish-black berries in the summertime. In accordance with legend, those that eat this fruit will at all times return to Patagonia; it’s usually made into jam.

4. Perito Moreno Glacier

Argentina’s Perito Moreno Glacier, which comprises the world’s third-largest reserve of recent water, is one in every of simply three glaciers in all of South America that’s rising. This phenomenon baffles scientists, as many of the world’s glaciers are shrinking due to local weather change.

5. Marsupials of South America

Two uncommon opossums—the 4-inch-long dwarf mouse-opossum and the uncommon Patagonian opossum—inhabit the Patagonian Steppe. The latter is the southernmost marsupial in all of South America and is occasionally seen.

6.  El Chalten

The small Argentine mountain village of El Chalten—a local Tehuelche phrase which means “smoking mountain” as a result of the clouds that sometimes envelope the peaks usually resemble smoke—is dwelling to Mount Fitz Roy within the Andes. It’s named in honor of Robert FitzRoy, who captained the HMS Beagle that charted massive swaths of the Patagonian coast.

Be part of WWF and Nat Hab in Patagonia.

By Janet Joiner