‘Wild Patagonia’ Recap: ‘Fire and Ice’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the series premiere of ‘Wild Patagonia’.
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One thing that we can all agree upon, is that the planet we call home is as gorgeous as they come. For everywhere you look, there is something wonderful to see and if by chance you decide to leave home to explore it, you can see just about every single climate imaginable since our biosphere is full of diverse and magnificent environments that take our breath away. But what’s truly fascinating about our world, is that it is so unique and so dynamic, that there are actually places where you can experience and explore every climate known to man with minimal travel, and one such place where that is the case, is Patagonia.
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Which is a stretch of unique land in South America where the ocean and the Andes Mountain range, collide. And having the water and the mountains strike one another in this manner, allows for unique climates and biospheres to exists in close proximity, and it just so happens that a brand-new documentary on BBC America is going to spotlight this wild land over the next few weeks. And to properly introduce us to this fascinating part of our world, the series premiere of Wild Patagonia thought it was best to take us on a grand tour the ever-changing environments present here and that made ‘Fire and Ice’ quite the beautiful and fascinating tale.

One that took the time to show us, that the Ring of Fire plays a big part as to why this section of the world is so diverse. For the volcanoes on the north side are active and are consistently building more mountains that can trap moisture and create basin environments. The kind that are nearly untouched by humanity and that’s allowed for prehistoric plants to thrive and unique ecosystems to come to life and beyond those pockets are tundra and glaciers, the kind that feed freshwater south and create green and lush landscapes and even the parts of Patagonia that should be arid and desolate still support beauty and life. But while it was wonderful to experience the majesty of Patagonia and the Andes, it is the life that thrives in this wild environment that stole the show.

Simply because the creatures that populate this place, have in fact… adapted to their respective part of the world. For instance, there are birds and marsupials that have roamed those pocket environments for ages on end, courtesy of the specially created treats it has to offer them. And those waterways are filled with ducks, whose webbed feet have evolved to help them navigate brutal white-water rivers and of course… there are predators in the arid parts of this land that hunt with impunity and thrive and even humanity has found its place in Patagonia. For there are Gauchos that live off the land and well, all of these elements and visuals made for a breathtaking introduction to a segment of the globe that isn’t highlighted enough.

But it should be. For it is indeed gorgeous and thriving and it clearly harbors wonders untold for us to explore and that’s why this documentary needs to be celebrated. For already, this series has offered up a bevy of facts for us to chew upon and stunning visuals for our eyes to feast upon and truly, this opening chapter and the wonderful worlds and wildlife that it introduced us to… is so compelling and so powerful that we will undoubtedly be counting down the minutes until next week’s entry. So, we can see what other ancient creatures and wildlife live here and to learn exactly how they thrive in a place where every environment on Planet Earth, is but a stone’s throw away. Until next time.

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