Wild Patagonia (2015): Season 1, Episode 1 - Fire and Ice - full transcript

In a far corner of the Earth

is a South American wilderness.

These extreme landscapes are home to
strange and wonderful animals.

From the rugged peaks of the Andes...

..across the scorched desert
steppe...

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

Living here takes guts
and determination.

There are incredible
opportunities for some.

For others, it's a battle to survive.

The pioneering spirit

unites them all



under the spell of Patagonia.

Patagonia is an uncompromising
wilderness.

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

straddling Chile and Argentina.

Nowhere else on Earth
is further south,

except Antarctica,

and it is dominated
by the Andes mountains,

which form a backbone
over 1,000 miles long.

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

..where a clash between the elemental
forces of fire

and ice...

..create dramatically different
worlds,

shaping the fate of all Patagonians.

HIGH-PITCHED CALL



A lone call is caught on the wind.

A female puma.

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

She's done well so far.

Precious cubs, just six weeks old.

All three still covered in spots.

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

In Patagonia, the tiniest details
mark the difference

between success and failure.

This secret den is their sanctuary.

Protected from wild weather
and wandering predators.

For now, it's all about play.

The first step on a long road
to become hunters.

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

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

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

Fire is reshaping and building
the Andes.

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

..blasting immense plumes
ten miles high.

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

every ten seconds.

The volcano's ash cloud becomes
super-charged,

sparking dramatic bolts of lightning.

In northern Patagonia, volcanoes
are very much alive.

Dawn reveals an alien world.

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

This is a mountain still
in the making.

It looks like a snowscape,
but in fact,

it is ash over five meters deep,

layered with lava and gases.

These may look like stunted trees,

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

Yet Patagonia is full of surprises.

Remarkable trees, from the time
of dinosaurs.

Their leaves, like spiky scales,
grow in spirals.

From the lava grow islands
of monkey puzzles.

They survive the intense heat
radiating from the black lava,

absorbing minerals
from the parched ground.

Their bark is fire-resistant,

and holding their branches high
once kept them out of reach

of hungry dinosaurs.

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

SQUAWKING

Austral parakeets.

The most southerly parrot species
in the world.

They come for the huge cones.

Weighing in at nearly 1kg,

each is a feast over 200 seeds.

It's a bonanza in this scorched land.

But the monkey puzzles all produce
their cones at once,

so even a flock of parakeets cannot
eat them all,

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

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

A mountainous backbone,

up to 4,000m high,

almost 100 miles wide.

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

from the Pacific Ocean.

As they stretch south, they create
increasingly remote worlds,

with curious creatures.

But the Andes sow the seeds
of their own destruction

in the moisture they trap.

Millions of snow flakes
build glaciers

which cling to the highest pinnacles.

And each summer meltwater unleashes
its raw power.

It begins with a drip.

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

It gathers pace and volume.

Racing to the edge
of these hanging glaciers.

This water generates immense power
as it falls...

..pummeling the base rock below,

drilling back into the cliff.

These great thundering cascades
sculpt a new world.

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

hemmed in between the peaks
and the coast,

shaped not by fire but by water.

Countless rivers carve their path
through the rock,

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

For Diego Valsecchi and his team,

this elemental challenge is
irresistible.

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

HE SPEAKS SPANISH

Round here they have names for
torrents like these -

la Garganta Del Diablo.

The devil's throat.

Only the most skillful paddlers would
risk a double waterfall.

Two drops and the turmoil
between them.

The approach is everything.

Diego is safely through,

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

but a necessity.

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

They're experts with the right tools.

Big feet create
explosive acceleration.

Stiff tail feathers brace against the
force of the water.

And they can always
fly out of danger.

But their chicks have none
of these advantages.

They're just a few days old.

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

Even in the shallows,
these chicks look unsteady

but there's a much greater
challenge ahead.

The aerated water of the falls
creates prized feeding grounds.

But the currents are fierce.

Weighing little over an ounce,
these fluffballs must learn fast

or face being swept away.

Mum leads them down the side
of the falls.

Their goal is a rocky island.

Mum and Dad gather their chicks.

And they're off.

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

as they bob across the surface.

It's a good start.

But one chick is swept away.

Mum and Dad look frantically
for their missing duckling.

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

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

They push across the final current
to the rock.

Mum makes a break for it.

One lone chick struggles through.

Swiftly followed by Dad.

The rock is a refuge,
but the insects they eat

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

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

Now its downy feathers make it
too buoyant to dive.

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

and drives its head underwater.

Today, these parents have led
their duckling

through its toughest
rite of passage.

But other creatures avoid
these perils

and instead seek sanctuary
in the rain-drenched forests

that fringe the river banks.

To the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda,

this was a fragrant, silent,
tangled jungle.

Trees are ancient,
slow-growing giants.

These rainforests may look lush,

but they are surprisingly
cold and challenging.

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

So creatures here
have ingenious solutions

to a life of thin pickings.

Welcome to the Patagonian
forest of miniatures.

It's a tiny world.

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

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

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

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

But others go further.

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

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

They became tadpoles in a pouch
in his throat,

where he secretes juices
to feed them.

Now up to 20 froglets are wriggling
to get out.

These newborns have had a uniquely
Patagonian start in life.

This Patagonian mistletoe,
or quintral, is a parasite.

Tendrils grow into its host tree
to steal precious sugars.

But how to spread and find new hosts?

It begins with innocent-looking
flowers laced with nectar.

The quintral bribes the only creature
up to the job.

The green-backed firecrown
hummingbird.

These firecrowns, weighing less than
a ten pence piece,

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

to protect their lifeline.

At 40 wing beats per second,

this aerial combat is exhausting.

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

Then the quintral's pollen is brushed
onto their feathers

and carried away
to complete pollination.

At the end of each day,

the hummingbird must go into torpor,
a nightly hibernation,

slowing its metabolism by over 80%...

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

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

Monito Del Monte -
literally, "monkey of the mountain."

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

not of monkeys, but of marsupials.

This family of diminutive climbers
are ancestors of the kangaroos,

but in the trees they use
their grasping tails

while looking
for their favorite food.

Quintral berries.

The fruits are bitter
with a sticky seed.

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

It needs to be swallowed.

Some seeds are harder to get rid of
than others.

For the few seeds that do get eaten,

success only comes when they have
passed through a monito.

The seed comes out
much as it went in,

trailing gluey string to help catch
any branch.

Finally deposited, the mistletoe
has achieved its goal.

Over the next two weeks,
the seed will germinate

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

Hummingbirds, monitos and the
quintral are an unlikely trio,

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

where otherwise they could not.

Further south,
the forests get colder,

until they meet an impenetrable
wall of ice.

A perfect combination of high
mountains and massive snowfall

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

to the rugged coast.

The temperature drops
to 20 below zero.

It seems as if all life stops.

These are the largest southern ice
sheets outside Antarctica,

covering over 6,500 square miles,

locking up over three trillion tonnes
of water.

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

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

..and shaped a final frontier.

The mountains are
fragmented and scarred,

with only the granite towers of
ancient magma standing tall.

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

Yet the spirit of Patagonia
is unbroken.

This is a lost world of
resilient and hardy souls.

HORSES WHINNY

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

..and Patagonian cowboys, or gauchos,

ride out as a team
to try and catch them.

When these guys need a new horse,

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

The ariscos are the descendants
of escaped horses

brought by European settlers
over the centuries.

It takes coordination
to round them up.

Vitito leads the drive to
a remote corral.

HORSES WHINNY

TRANSLATION FROM SPANISH:

With the horses,
it's all about attitude.

The gauchos have to catch

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

Lassoing must be done at speed,

dropping the lasso just before
the galloping front feet

then snatching it tight
as they step into the trap.

But their raw strength tests the men.

A kick from a hoof could be fatal.

HE PANTS

With the ariscos subdued,

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

where taming can begin.

From the wild herd,
they have chosen just three.

WHINNYING

BIRDSONG

Today, the focus intensifies.

Vitito will face one
arisco...alone.

Each gaucho has his
own style of taming.

The mare has to decide
whether to trust Vitito.

He watches her ears, her nostrils.

Patiently, he works his magic.

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

as she begins a new life
with the gauchos.

To survive this far south,

you need specialist skills,

but they take time to learn.

Wandering over these
windswept, grassy plains

are big herds of guanacos,

wild ancestors of the llama...

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

Puma.

Her snooze is interrupted
by her boisterous sister.

These two teenagers are
just beginning life

without Mum to provide for them.

One is tailless,
a defect since birth.

Now 15 months old,

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

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

Such open country means they
can easily see their prey

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

A lone guanaco.

Tailless joins her sister...

..but isn't welcome.

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

But she doesn't wait.

GUANACO BRAYS

She's blown their cover.

Ultimately, the sisters must
become solitary hunters.

Perhaps it is time to go it alone.

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

THUNDER RUMBLES

This far south,
the weather is more treacherous.

A snow flurry ramps into
a blizzard in minutes.

But with coarse outer
hairs and warm under-fur,

these guanacos cope with the cold.

Andean condors,

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

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

As the weather clears,

the storm has claimed a victim.

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

but their discovery won't
go unnoticed for long.

FALCONS SCREECH

This is young crested caracara
has the advantage of being almost

twice the size of the chimangos,

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

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

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

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

All he can do is watch

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

Another contender approaches,

as much a predator as a scavenger.

It's time for a sharp exit.

A culpeo fox,

the largest of Patagonia's foxes.

He's an opportunist with
a voracious appetite.

Round here, they call him
El Zorro de los Andes.

He's not one to be rushed.

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

Andean condors can spot
a carcass from over a mile.

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

..the young caracara is back...

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

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

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

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

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

Condors can gorge themselves
on over 2kg of meat.

The juvenile finally gets a chance.

Hardly a feast but
it'll be just enough.

Growing up in Patagonia's far south,

you have to keep your wits about you,

but more than anything,
you can never give up.

This youngster is now alone,

a step closer to independence.

A herd of guanaco has
many eyes on lookout.

Even for one puma to get close
takes great skill.

The lead male guanaco walks ahead.

The hunt is on.

With only one ear, he is vulnerable.

Perhaps a weakness
the puma can exploit.

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

..and this hillside
is practically bare.

The guanaco will bolt downhill

so the puma hunts from below.

It freezes, exposed.

Yet its coat blends
impressively into the landscape...

..almost impossible to spot.

In a long chase,
the guanaco will always win,

so the puma needs
an element of surprise.

Tense and focused,

the ambush is set.

After 40 minutes stock still,

the puma strikes.

Not fast enough.

But the puma's got
the whole night ahead.

While a guanaco's eyesight
weakens in the darkness,

the puma's vision
could give her the edge.

Under the Southern Cross,

the winds race and
the temperature plummets.

At dawn, the lakes
are fringed with ice.

Condors are on the wing,

looking for fresh carcasses.

Overnight, the sister
has finally made a kill,

disguising it from
prying eyes with scrub.

She has come of age.

She can eat 7kg of meat at a sitting,

her teeth effortlessly
slicing flesh from bone.

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

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

Her tailless sister
has not done so well.

She looks small,

alone in this wide world...

..as she heads back
to familiar territory.

After many days apart,

the sisters are reunited.

Their bond is proving hard to break.

It may take up to five months

for these siblings
to permanently separate.

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

Finally, at the tip of the Americas,

Patagonia fragments
into windswept islands.

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

Yet along their length

elemental forces have
created contrasting worlds...

..sustaining a unique
diversity of life.

Here, resourceful creatures
learn the specialist skills

they need to survive
in their own domain...

..so they can call Patagonia home.

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

to reveal little-known stories.

The most captivating encounter of all

was in the Patagonian Wild West,

the world of the gauchos,

Patagonia's cowboys.

The remote estancia where
they were headed was vast,

40,000 hectares of rugged country,

five hours from the nearest town.

Epa, amigo!

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

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

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

Around a Patagonian barbecue,

the crew were welcomed
with a special tradition.

I'm trying a bit of mate.

It's absolutely delicious.
I really like it.

Esta bueno, esta frio?
What is it?

No, no esta frio. Esta bueno, no?
Si. Si, esta bueno.

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

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

Traditionally, it's a drink
that everyone shares.

To find the elusive wild horses

meant a day's trek
further into the wilderness,

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

So, we'd heard about these wild
horses.

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

that they were impossible to find,

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

they would disappear
over the horizon,

so we knew it was going
to be really tricky.

The wild horses originally
came from Europe.

The gauchos, too,
came here from elsewhere.

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

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

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

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

LOUD RUMBLE

The gauchos push the wild
horses into the corral

and then the team had to
find their star horse.

DOG BARKS

One stood out instantly.

A spirited black stallion.

That black stallion was so proud,

he had such a raw power,

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

The gauchos have great
respect for these horses,

but there's no place
for sentimentality.

MAN SHOUTS

Finally roped up,
he was left to calm down.

That evening, Toby found out
a little more about

how tough gaucho life can be.

How often do these guys get hurt?

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

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

Yes, Si.

THEY LAUGH

No-one left.

There's nothing to eat in him,

so they're joking.

Only bones! Only bones!

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

bringing the wild horses
back from the mountains...

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

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

and he wasn't there.

And that was our
key star character gone.

Alberto explained to us
what had happened.

HE SPEAKS SPANISH

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

Really? Yeah.
Did they try chasing him?

THEY SPEAK SPANISH

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

Our star had escaped,

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

I mean, that would be
almost suicidal.

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

The team realized their focus
would be less on one horse

and more on the connection
between gaucho and wild animal.

What Vitito was about to
show them was so dangerous

that everyone had to
stay out of the corral.

Vitito's taming style is his own.

His technique captured
the attention of the horse...

and the crew.

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

he's walking up to this wild horse,

he's just managed to captivate her.

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

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

He pulls her in and
then pushes her back.

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

incredible to witness.

In a remarkable three hours,

the team had the conclusion
to their sequence

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

to be a Patagonian cowboy.

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

To the east, the world becomes drier,

the creatures stranger...

..in their bid to survive
these curious badlands.