All the wild horses - Patagonia

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I shot this photo just as we pulled back into El Chalten after 4 days hiking around the Fitzroy Mountains. I was fascinated to see the modern day Gauchos running their horses and cattle around the Estancia's. Although the Gaucho culture that Darwin and other early traveller´s experienced while visiting the Pampas has hasn't existed for many years, the modern day Cowboy seems to have a strong sense of history and pride in his occupation. The nomadic lifestyle the Gauchos lived was effectively destroyed the moment the land was divided and fenced in.

We finished setting up our tent in the free camping on the edge of town and watched the gauchos herd about 30 beautiful horses down the dusty road as the sun went down. They still had about 18km's to the Estancia.