Rocky Trip - The Route Of The Welsh In Patagonia

"After riding for just over a month, the party reached Cwm Hyfryd, the Pleasant Valley, today called 16 de Octubre –an area which now holds the towns of Trevelin and Esquel. It was the fertile, beautiful western land that the Welsh settlers had heard so often being praised by their “brothers of the desert,” the Tehuelche natives. As a reward for their endeavour, the Argentine government awarded a square league (6,250 acres) to each of the expedition members, which enabled each to bring their families from the east and start a new Welsh colony beside the Andes. It wasn’t long before this new settlement played a decisive role in settling the sour disagreement that Argentina and Chile were having over their border. It was agreed that the British Crown should arbitrate, and the dispute was resolved in 1902 by applying a “real occupation” criterion: the Welsh settlers chose to live under the Argentine flag, and therefore the land was awarded to Argentina."

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"For me, the trip was an unforgettable experience. I learned to appreciate the beauty of the high towers of multi-coloured rock and even the barren steppe, with the slow rhythm of the horse’s pace, attaining only one kilometre each eight to ten minutes. At that speed, as time passes by, one starts to feel as if, rather than a mere spectator, one is a part of the landscape itself. Las Plumas, Cañadón Carbón, Los Altares, Piedra Parada and the vast, lonely plateau assumed a new dimension, the very same one the pioneers knew more than a century ago. I also learned that nothing compares with sharing so much exertion with people if one wants to discover their true nature. And I was surprised at the love that slowly grows within oneself towards one’s horses. No matter how much one had sworn at them when they got skittish or stubborn on some difficult passages, they were always our noble and indispensable partners in this demanding trek. Tired as we were at the end of each leg, their welfare was always our first priority. Only after
ensuring they had drunk clean water and had enough grass to graze or alfalfa hay to eat, would we take care of ourselves. The gentle whicker they murmured when they saw us coming with a bale of green alfalfa was like music to my ears."