There seems to be a new fashion in natural history television for focussing on places and everything that lives in those places, including human beings. I approve. I like animals – apart from dolphins, obviously. But I think, with exceptions, people are probably more interesting. The interface between the two is often a good area to explore.
And so it is with Patagonia: Earth’s Secret Paradise (BBC2). The pumas are nice, except for the tailless one (Manx puma?) which looks ridiculous from behind, a bit like one of the guanacos it’s trying (and failing) to catch. I’m feeling the pain of the torrent duck parents, losing one chick to the treacherous white water, though could they not have done more to save it? A Darwin’s frog is a better parent, certainly the father is; he swallows his babies, up to 20 of them, and keeps them in a pouch in his throat.
Pudus – little bonzai deer – are cool. I’m pretty sure I want one, on a lead. A baby one would fit in your hand, or presumably your pocket. Pssst, wanna see my deer?
The condors are fabulous – from a distance anyway. Close up, they’re turkeys. And the scenery is lovely – glaciers and icy cascades, turquoise lakes, volcanoes spitting out fire and belching out clouds that are alive with lightning, islands of Araucaria (monkey puzzle trees) filled with squawking parakeets in barren lunar landscapes. I’ve always had a soft spot for the Andes.
And here’s a man named Diego canoeing down a waterfall. Also impressive, well done Diego. The best scene of all, though, involves animals and landscape and people. A posse of gauchos rides out into the wilds to capture wild horses, descendants of the ones that the conquistadors (boo) rode when they arrived in this part of the world. The gauchos chose the best three to keep, and then we witness the taming of one of them.
It’s a battle of wills, one man and one horse, in a ring. It’s both about gaining trust and about breaking spirit. In just three hours, the horse goes from wild animal to servant. It’s beautiful and moving and also sad. And that’s about right for Patagonia.
