Fire and Ice Patagonia: Earth's Secret Paradise


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In a far corner of the Earth

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is a South American wilderness.

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These extreme landscapes are home to strange and wonderful animals.

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From the rugged peaks of the Andes...

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..across the scorched desert steppe...

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..to coasts battered by some of the roughest seas on the planet.

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Living here takes guts and determination.

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There are incredible opportunities for some.

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For others, it's a battle to survive.

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A pioneering spirit

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unites them all

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under the spell of Patagonia.

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Patagonia is an uncompromising wilderness.

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It is the name given to the tail end of South America,

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straddling Chile and Argentina.

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Nowhere else on Earth is further south,

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except Antarctica,

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and it is dominated by the Andes mountains,

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which form a backbone over 1,000 miles long.

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Following these towering peaks, we'll travel from north to south...

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..where a clash between the elemental forces of fire

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and ice...

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..create dramatically different worlds,

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shaping the fate of all Patagonians.

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HIGH-PITCHED CALL

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A lone call is caught on the wind.

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A female puma.

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Like all settlers here, she must be resilient and adaptable.

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She's done well so far.

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Precious cubs, just six weeks old.

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All three still covered in spots.

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It will take Mum over a year to pass on all her skills.

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In Patagonia, the tiniest details mark the difference

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between success and failure.

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This secret den is their sanctuary,

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protected from wild weather and wandering predators.

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For now, it's all about play.

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The first step on a long road to become hunters.

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But in Patagonia, you can't hide away forever.

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Mum must lead her cubs to face the wilderness head on.

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In this elemental land, the very foundations are constantly shifting.

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Fire is reshaping and building the Andes.

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Eruptions spew out jets of ash at over 200mph...

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..blasting immense plumes ten miles high.

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Debris explodes from the crater with the power of an atomic bomb

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every ten seconds.

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In northern Patagonia, volcanoes are very much alive.

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Dawn reveals an alien world.

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It looks primeval, yet this landscape is only a few years old.

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This is a mountain still in the making.

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It looks like a snowscape, but in fact,

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it is ash over five metres deep,

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layered with lava and gases.

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These may look like stunted trees,

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but they are just the tips of a forest, buried alive.

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Yet Patagonia is full of surprises.

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Remarkable trees, from the time of dinosaurs.

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Their leaves, like spiky scales, grow in spirals.

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From the lava grow islands of monkey puzzles.

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They survive the intense heat radiating from the black lava,

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absorbing minerals from the parched ground.

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Their bark is fire-resistant,

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and holding their branches high once kept them out of reach

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of hungry dinosaurs.

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But now, these monkey puzzles are home to some of their descendants.

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SQUAWKING

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Austral parakeets.

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The most southerly parrot species in the world.

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They come for the huge cones.

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Weighing in at nearly 1kg,

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each is a feast over 200 seeds.

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It's a bonanza in this scorched land.

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But the monkey puzzles all produce their cones at once,

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so even a flock of parakeets cannot eat them all,

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allowing these ancient trees to be Patagonia's enduring survivors.

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This volcanic world is the northern gateway of the Patagonian Andes.

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A mountainous backbone,

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up to 4,000m high,

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almost 100 miles wide.

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The Andes are the weather-makers, trapping the moisture driving in

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from the Pacific Ocean.

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As they stretch south, they create increasingly remote worlds,

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with curious creatures.

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But the Andes sow the seeds of their own destruction

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in the moisture they trap.

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Millions of snow flakes build glaciers

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which cling to the highest pinnacles.

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And each summer meltwater unleashes its raw power.

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It begins with a drip.

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A trickle melts its way into the glacier's icy heart.

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It gathers pace and volume.

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Racing to the edge of these hanging glaciers.

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This water generates immense power as it falls...

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..pummelling the base rock below,

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drilling back into the cliff.

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These great thundering cascades sculpt a new world.

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To the west side of the Andes is a narrow green band of life

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hemmed in between the peaks and the coast,

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shaped not by fire but by water.

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Countless rivers carve their path through the rock,

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whipping up some of the best white water on the planet.

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For Diego Valsecchi and his team,

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this elemental challenge is irresistible.

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Dropping over 3,000m, the descents are rapid.

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HE SPEAKS SPANISH

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Round here they have names for torrents like these -

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la Garganta del Diablo.

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The devil's throat.

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Only the most skilful paddlers would risk a double waterfall.

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Two drops and the turmoil between them.

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The approach is everything.

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Diego is safely through,

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but for one creature, mastering the rapids is not a choice

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but a necessity.

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Torrent ducks who forage for insects living in this white water.

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They're experts with the right tools.

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Big feet create explosive acceleration.

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Stiff tail feathers brace against the force of the water.

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And they can always fly out of danger.

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But their chicks have none of these advantages.

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They're just a few days old.

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Yet Mum and Dad must teach them to master the rapids or they'll starve.

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Even in the shallows, these chicks look unsteady

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but there's a much greater challenge ahead.

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The aerated water of the falls creates prized feeding grounds.

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But the currents are fierce.

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Weighing little over an ounce, these fluffballs must learn fast

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or face being swept away.

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Mum leads them down the side of the falls.

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Their goal is a rocky island.

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Mum and Dad gather their chicks.

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And they're off.

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The ducklings' downy feathers trap air like a life-jacket

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as they bob across the surface.

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It's a good start.

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But one chick is swept away.

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Mum and Dad look frantically for their missing duckling.

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In the chaos, they have to make a difficult choice.

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Risk everything for a rescue, or keep their other chick safe?

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They push across the final current to the rock.

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Mum makes a break for it.

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One lone chick struggles through.

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Swiftly followed by Dad.

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The rock is a refuge, but the insects they eat

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live underwater, so this duckling has to go in again.

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Luckily, the island gives shelter from the full force of the torrents.

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Now its downy feathers make it too buoyant to dive.

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So in the shallows, it grips the riverbed with its tiny feet

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and drives its head underwater.

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Today, these parents have led their duckling

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through its toughest rite of passage.

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But other creatures avoid these perils

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and instead seek sanctuary in the rain-drenched forests

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that fringe the river banks.

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To the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda,

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this was a fragrant, silent, tangled jungle.

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Trees are ancient, slow-growing giants.

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These rainforests may look lush,

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but they are surprisingly cold and challenging.

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The water brings life, but also washes away crucial nutrients.

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So creatures here have ingenious solutions

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to a life of thin pickings.

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Welcome to the Patagonian forest of miniatures.

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It's a tiny world.

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These pudu deer are only the size of a small dog.

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And their newborn fawns would fit in the palm of your hand...

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..making their kind the smallest deer in the world,

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because building a small body is a smart solution to limited resources.

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But others go further.

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This minute Darwin's frog is just an inch tall.

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He's a strange dad, eating his own eggs six weeks ago.

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They became tadpoles in a pouch in his throat,

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where he secretes juices to feed them.

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Now up to 20 froglets are wriggling to get out.

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These newborns have had a uniquely Patagonian start in life.

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This Patagonian mistletoe, or quintral, is a parasite.

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Tendrils grow into its host tree to steal precious sugars.

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But how to spread and find new hosts?

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It begins with innocent-looking flowers laced with nectar.

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The quintral bribes the only creature up to the job.

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The green-backed firecrown hummingbird.

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These firecrowns, weighing less than a ten pence piece,

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rely on this nectar to survive, so they fiercely defend territories

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to protect their lifeline.

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At 40 wing beats per second,

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this aerial combat is exhausting.

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So they must eat up to four times their body weight in nectar each day.

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Then the quintral's pollen is brushed onto their feathers

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and carried away to complete pollination.

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At the end of each day,

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the hummingbird must go into torpor, a nightly hibernation,

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slowing its metabolism by over 80%...

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..while the quintral is only halfway through its mission.

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For the next step, it lures in a curious nocturnal specialist.

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Monito del monte - literally, "monkey of the mountain."

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The last of their kind, survivors of an ancient lineage,

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not of monkeys, but of marsupials.

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This family of diminutive climbers are ancestors of the kangaroos,

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but in the trees they use their grasping tails

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while looking for their favourite food.

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Quintral berries.

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The fruits are bitter with a sticky seed.

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But for the quintral, every seed thrown away is as good as dead.

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It needs to be swallowed.

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Some seeds are harder to get rid of than others.

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For the few seeds that do get eaten,

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success only comes when they have passed through a monito.

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The seed comes out much as it went in,

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trailing gluey string to help catch any branch.

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Finally deposited, the mistletoe has achieved its goal.

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Over the next two weeks, the seed will germinate

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and bore into its new host to begin its parasitic life.

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Hummingbirds, monitos and the quintral are an unlikely trio,

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now dependent on each other to survive in this cold forest,

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where otherwise they could not.

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Further south, the forests get colder,

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until they meet an impenetrable wall of ice.

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A perfect combination of high mountains and massive snowfall

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have locked the Andes in a frozen grip stretching west from the peaks

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to the rugged coast.

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The temperature drops to 20 below zero.

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It seems as if all life stops.

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These are the largest southern ice sheets outside Antarctica,

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covering over 6,500 square miles,

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locking up over three trillion tonnes of water.

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But astonishingly, beyond this wasteland, a new world is revealed...

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..where the ice has ground the Andes to their knees...

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..and shaped a final frontier.

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The mountains are fragmented and scarred,

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with only the granite towers of ancient magma standing tall.

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The locals call this region Ultima Esperanza, or "Last Hope".

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Yet the spirit of Patagonia is unbroken.

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This is a lost world of resilient and hardy souls.

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HORSES WHINNY

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Secretive and agile, wild horses roam the most remote valleys...

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..and Patagonian cowboys, or gauchos,

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ride out as a team to try and catch them.

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When these guys need a new horse,

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an arisco, or wild horse, is the best you can get.

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The ariscos are the descendants of escaped horses

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brought by European settlers over the centuries.

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It takes coordination to round them up.

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Vitito leads the drive to a remote corral.

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HORSES WHINNY

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TRANSLATION FROM SPANISH:

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With the horses, it's all about attitude.

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The gauchos have to catch

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and get a bridle on each horse they want to break.

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Lassoing must be done at speed,

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dropping the lasso just before the galloping front feet

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then snatching it tight as they step into the trap.

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But their raw strength tests the men.

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A kick from a hoof could be fatal.

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HE PANTS

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With the ariscos subdued,

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the gauchos make the day-long trek back to the main ranch,

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where taming can begin.

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From the wild herd, they have chosen just three.

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WHINNYING

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BIRDSONG

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Today, the focus intensifies.

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Vitito will face one arisco...alone.

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Each gaucho has his own style of taming.

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The mare has to decide whether to trust Vitito.

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He watches her ears, her nostrils.

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Patiently, he works his magic.

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In just three hours, this mare has gone from wild to tame

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as she begins a new life with the gauchos.

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To survive this far south,

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you need specialist skills,

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but they take time to learn.

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Wandering over these windswept, grassy plains

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are big herds of guanacos,

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wild ancestors of the llama...

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..and they are the favourite prey of Patagonia's biggest predator.

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Puma.

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Her snooze is interrupted by her boisterous sister.

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These two teenagers are just beginning life

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without Mum to provide for them.

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One is tailless, a defect since birth.

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Now 15 months old,

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they will have to turn their games into successful hunts to survive.

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Late afternoon is the time when pumas begin to feel hungry.

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Such open country means they can easily see their prey

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but in a land without trees there is nowhere to hide.

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A lone guanaco.

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Tailless joins her sister...

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..but isn't welcome.

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By hunting together, there's twice the chance of being spotted.

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But she doesn't wait.

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GUANACO BRAYS

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She's blown their cover.

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Ultimately, the sisters must become solitary hunters.

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Perhaps it is time to go it alone.

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But it won't be easy in this unpredictable world.

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THUNDER RUMBLES

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This far south, the weather is more treacherous.

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A snow flurry ramps into a blizzard in minutes.

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But with coarse outer hairs and warm under-fur,

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these guanacos cope with the cold.

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Andean condors,

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Patagonia's heaviest flying birds, must find a ledge while there is

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still enough lift in the chilling air to raise their bulky bodies.

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As the weather clears,

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the storm has claimed a victim.

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The guanaco carcass is quickly found by small falcons, chimangos,

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but their discovery won't go unnoticed for long.

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FALCONS SCREECH

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This young crested caracara has the advantage of being almost

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twice the size of the chimangos,

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and has come to stake his claim on this frozen buffet.

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But with all his posturing, he's too slow.

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Yellow-beaked adults are hard on his heels...

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..and he is pushed away before he can even get a bite.

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All he can do is watch

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while the grown-ups make the most of their opportunity.

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Another contender approaches,

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as much a predator as a scavenger.

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It's time for a sharp exit.

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A culpeo fox,

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the largest of Patagonia's foxes.

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He's an opportunist with a voracious appetite.

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Round here, they call him el zorro de los Andes.

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He's not one to be rushed.

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Time to clean up after a welcome meal, with a little snow bathing.

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Andean condors can spot a carcass from over a mile.

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As the main clean-up squad flies in...

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..the young caracara is back...

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..and this time it's a case of David and Goliath.

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He's faced with a wall of feathers three feet high.

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There seems to be no way through for the young caracara.

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A gang of condors can strip a carcass in a few hours.

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He looks for a way in before there's nothing left.

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Condors can gorge themselves on over 2kg of meat.

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The juvenile finally gets a chance.

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Hardly a feast but it'll be just enough.

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Growing up in Patagonia's far south,

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you have to keep your wits about you,

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but more than anything, you can never give up.

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This youngster is now alone,

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a step closer to independence.

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A herd of guanaco has many eyes on lookout.

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Even for one puma to get close takes great skill.

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The lead male guanaco walks ahead.

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The hunt is on.

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With only one ear, he is vulnerable.

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Perhaps a weakness the puma can exploit.

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Pumas need to get within 20m for a fighting chance...

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..and this hillside is practically bare.

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The guanaco will bolt downhill

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so the puma hunts from below.

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It freezes, exposed.

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Yet its coat blends impressively into the landscape...

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..almost impossible to spot.

0:45:390:45:41

In a long chase, the guanaco will always win,

0:45:430:45:47

so the puma needs an element of surprise.

0:45:470:45:49

Tense and focused,

0:46:000:46:02

the ambush is set.

0:46:020:46:04

After 40 minutes stock still,

0:46:220:46:26

the puma strikes.

0:46:260:46:27

Not fast enough.

0:46:430:46:44

But the puma's got the whole night ahead.

0:46:510:46:53

While a guanaco's eyesight weakens in the darkness,

0:46:530:46:56

the puma's vision could give her the edge.

0:46:560:46:59

Under the Southern Cross,

0:47:140:47:16

the winds race and the temperature plummets.

0:47:160:47:19

At dawn, the lakes are fringed with ice.

0:47:260:47:30

Condors are on the wing,

0:47:320:47:34

looking for fresh carcasses.

0:47:340:47:36

Overnight, the sister has finally made a kill,

0:47:510:47:54

disguising it from prying eyes with scrub.

0:47:540:47:57

She has come of age.

0:48:010:48:02

She can eat 7kg of meat at a sitting,

0:48:100:48:13

her teeth effortlessly slicing flesh from bone.

0:48:130:48:16

Her kill will give her enough food for the next few days,

0:48:230:48:26

but only if the condors don't find it first.

0:48:260:48:29

Her tailless sister has not done so well.

0:48:400:48:43

She looks small,

0:48:480:48:50

alone in this wide world...

0:48:500:48:51

..as she heads back to familiar territory.

0:48:530:48:56

After many days apart,

0:49:010:49:03

the sisters are reunited.

0:49:030:49:05

Their bond is proving hard to break.

0:49:130:49:15

It may take up to five months

0:49:190:49:20

for these siblings to permanently separate.

0:49:200:49:23

They'll take a little longer to master their realm.

0:49:270:49:30

Finally, at the tip of the Americas,

0:49:420:49:46

Patagonia fragments into windswept islands.

0:49:460:49:49

Here, the Andes are swallowed by the ferocious Southern Ocean.

0:49:500:49:54

Yet along their length

0:50:010:50:03

elemental forces have created contrasting worlds...

0:50:030:50:06

..sustaining a unique diversity of life.

0:50:090:50:12

Here, resourceful creatures learn the specialist skills

0:50:150:50:19

they need to survive in their own domain...

0:50:190:50:21

..so they can call Patagonia home.

0:50:240:50:28

Over a year, BBC film crews travelled the length of Patagonia

0:50:460:50:50

to reveal little-known stories.

0:50:500:50:52

The most captivating encounter of all

0:51:020:51:05

was in the Patagonian Wild West,

0:51:050:51:07

the world of the gauchos,

0:51:070:51:09

Patagonia's cowboys.

0:51:090:51:11

The remote estancia where they were headed was vast,

0:51:170:51:20

40,000 hectares of rugged country,

0:51:200:51:24

five hours from the nearest town.

0:51:240:51:26

Epa, amigo!

0:51:260:51:27

It's horses that make life possible here...

0:51:280:51:31

..and these gauchos are the master horseman of South America.

0:51:320:51:35

The team's challenge was to film them catching and breaking in wild horses.

0:51:380:51:42

Around a Patagonian barbecue,

0:51:460:51:47

the crew were welcomed with a special tradition.

0:51:470:51:50

I'm trying a bit of mate.

0:51:520:51:55

It's absolutely delicious. I really like it.

0:51:550:51:57

-Esta bueno, esta frio?

-What is it?

0:51:570:51:58

-No, no esta frio.

-Esta bueno, no?

-Si. Si, esta bueno.

0:51:580:52:02

So, it's a herb, or collection of herbs, that you put hot water on

0:52:040:52:08

and then you suck it through a straw and you pass it round.

0:52:080:52:10

Traditionally, it's a drink that everyone shares.

0:52:100:52:13

To find the elusive wild horses

0:52:160:52:19

meant a day's trek further into the wilderness,

0:52:190:52:22

and the only way to get there was to saddle up.

0:52:220:52:24

So, we'd heard about these wild horses.

0:52:250:52:28

People told us that they were in the most remote valleys,

0:52:280:52:31

that they were impossible to find,

0:52:310:52:33

and that, even if you got a glimpse of them,

0:52:330:52:35

they would disappear over the horizon,

0:52:350:52:38

so we knew it was going to be really tricky.

0:52:380:52:40

The wild horses originally came from Europe.

0:52:420:52:45

The gauchos, too, came here from elsewhere.

0:52:460:52:49

But they had fallen in love with this landscape and stayed.

0:53:020:53:06

We'd ridden for hours, we'd set up, we were super quiet

0:53:180:53:20

and waiting and then we finally caught a glimpse of the wild horses.

0:53:200:53:24

The whole herd thundering towards us and the ground was shaking.

0:53:240:53:28

LOUD RUMBLE

0:53:280:53:30

The gauchos push the wild horses into the corral

0:53:330:53:37

and then the team had to find their star horse.

0:53:370:53:39

DOG BARKS

0:53:410:53:43

One stood out instantly.

0:53:480:53:51

A spirited black stallion.

0:53:510:53:53

That black stallion was so proud,

0:53:530:53:56

he had such a raw power,

0:53:560:53:58

but it was really tense as Vitito tried to get a bridle on him.

0:53:580:54:03

The gauchos have great respect for these horses,

0:54:070:54:10

but there's no place for sentimentality.

0:54:100:54:12

MAN SHOUTS

0:54:160:54:17

Finally roped up, he was left to calm down.

0:54:340:54:37

That evening, Toby found out a little more about

0:54:430:54:46

how tough gaucho life can be.

0:54:460:54:48

How often do these guys get hurt?

0:54:480:54:50

Every once in a while. And when you get hit, you get hit hard.

0:54:500:54:53

Really? Cos it's so remote, if things go wrong, it's serious.

0:55:010:55:06

Yes, si.

0:55:070:55:08

THEY LAUGH

0:55:120:55:14

No-one left.

0:55:180:55:20

There's nothing to eat in him,

0:55:260:55:28

so they're joking.

0:55:280:55:29

Only bones! Only bones!

0:55:290:55:31

The next morning, the crew went ahead to film the gauchos

0:55:340:55:36

bringing the wild horses back from the mountains...

0:55:360:55:39

..and very quickly, it was obvious something was wrong.

0:55:400:55:44

They came down the hill, we were all looking for the black stallion

0:55:440:55:47

and he wasn't there.

0:55:470:55:49

And that was our key star character gone.

0:55:490:55:52

Alberto explained to us what had happened.

0:55:530:55:55

HE SPEAKS SPANISH

0:55:550:55:57

He was tied up and this got cut off and the horse got away.

0:55:590:56:03

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Did they try chasing him?

0:56:030:56:06

THEY SPEAK SPANISH

0:56:060:56:09

No, no time. It was in a very narrow place. They had no time.

0:56:110:56:15

Our star had escaped,

0:56:180:56:20

but on those narrow mountain paths you can't chase after them.

0:56:200:56:24

I mean, that would be almost suicidal.

0:56:240:56:27

So, we had to come up with a new story.

0:56:270:56:29

The team realised their focus would be less on one horse

0:56:350:56:38

and more on the connection between gaucho and wild animal.

0:56:380:56:42

What Vitito was about to show them was so dangerous

0:56:470:56:50

that everyone had to stay out of the corral.

0:56:500:56:52

Vitito's taming style is his own.

0:56:560:56:58

His technique captured the attention of the horse...

0:57:000:57:03

and the crew.

0:57:030:57:04

I mean, what we've got going on here with Vitito is...

0:57:070:57:10

he's walking up to this wild horse,

0:57:100:57:12

he's just managed to captivate her.

0:57:120:57:16

And you can see in the horse's ears, it's like,

0:57:200:57:22

"Do I trust him? Do I not trust him?"

0:57:220:57:24

He pulls her in and then pushes her back.

0:57:240:57:27

It's just an incredible connection to be a part of,

0:57:350:57:37

incredible to witness.

0:57:370:57:39

In a remarkable three hours,

0:57:410:57:43

the team had the conclusion to their sequence

0:57:430:57:46

and, along the way, learnt a little of what it takes

0:57:460:57:49

to be a Patagonian cowboy.

0:57:490:57:50

Next time, we travel across Patagonia's dusty plains.

0:57:570:58:00

To the east, the world becomes drier,

0:58:020:58:05

the creatures stranger...

0:58:050:58:07

..in their bid to survive these curious badlands.

0:58:080:58:12

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