‘Wild Patagonia’ Recap: ‘Heat and Dust’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Two of ‘Wild Patagonia’.
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When we last settled into discuss the wondrous new BBC America series, Wild Patagonia, we talked at length about the beauty and majesty that the series premiere sent our way. For we truly were able to see to how diverse and lush this unique part of the world truly is and how humanity and wildlife have figured out how to use the resources in this place to call it home. But what’s truly amazing about that premiere… is that it only scratched the surface of what it has to offer. For we only focused on the Western Slope and Patagonia has so much more to it than glaciers and lush environments. For the Andes have allowed for some serious changes to come to this part of the world east of the mountains, and that dynamic landscape served as the focus of last night’s episode.

For ‘Heat and Dust’ informed us of the fact, that the Andes rob the east of the lush landscapes we explored in the west, and they do this… by transforming the very air that sweeps toward the Atlantic Ocean. For all the moisture present in the Pacific winds is locked away by the glaciers in the West and since the wind has to travel incredible heights, it is thinned out and dried further and well, once it gets past the peaks… it harshly hammers the environment below. To the point where shrubbery and other vegetation have transformed to survive the battering winds and the animals in the foothills, have also figured out how to survive under such conditions so their respective species can survive and thrive in this harsh landscape.

Yet what’s amazing, is that the winds don’t stop impacting just the foothills of the east. For they also impact how life functions in the Patagonian Steppe. For these winds keep the area so dry and arid, that the plains here grow little else but specific types of grass and oddly enough people and animals’ flourish in this segment of the Steppe. For that grass and the dry air coming from the mountains, allows for the wool industry to thrive. Since the wool the sheep here grow is as clean and as pure as it gets, and an economy thrives because of that, and it was quite fascinating to see wool shearers traveling about this somewhat unappealing landscape to work on endless herds to sheep to get their gorgeous wool out to other parts of the world. Largely because it served to remind us of how well people adapt to difficult situations.

But of course, humanity isn’t the only species on this planet that is able to adapt to supremely difficult conditions, as evidenced by how things go in the desert portion of the Steppe. For at the end of this dry and arid place, where it seems nothing should survive… life thrives as always. For there are penguins that have figured out how to burrow into the landscape to create grand nests where their little ones can rest and grow while the adults hunt for food all day and that was, stunning to see. For there are genuine colonies of thriving penguins in the middle of nothing and while there is of course, great risk for the little ones thanks to birds of prey, this is a system that outright works since generation after generation of penguin is born here.

If anything, this was just a magnificent tour of a part of the world that is clearly forgotten more often than not. Since a fair chunk of documentaries tend to turn their attention away from the barren and the desolate and the harsh to celebrate beauty and traditional wildlife and this documentary proves… that every corner of our world should be documented and examined. Simply because life figures out a way to survive in the ugliest of environments and creates its own beauty in the process… as evidenced by the incredible sights we saw here and well… in the end, all this episode does is leave us hungry to see what other wonders await us in Patagonia. For it is quickly becoming clear that this contrasting part of our world is filed to the brim with surprise beauty and tenacious life. Until next time.

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