Explore the real-world places that appear in In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Buenos Aires, Puerto Madryn, Trelew, Gaiman, Trevelin and 7 more.
Capital of Argentina — Chatwin's departure point
Chatwin begins his journey south from Buenos Aires, heading toward Patagonia. The trip is inspired by a piece of skin from a giant sloth, the mylodon, once kept in his grandmother's cabinet by his relative Charley Milward. Chatwin sets out to find the source of this scrap of skin.
Buenos Aires was founded in 1536 and re-established in 1580. It became the capital of Argentina and the main gateway for European immigrants, including many who settled in Patagonia.
Buenos Aires is a vast cosmopolitan capital with museums, cafes, and historic neighborhoods. It remains the main entry point for travelers heading to Patagonia.
Chubut coast — Landing site of the Welsh settlers
Chatwin visits the Chubut coast, where Welsh settlers from the ship Mimosa landed in 1865 seeking a new Wales. He recounts the hardships of the early colonists on this arid shore, and the history of their settlement in the Chubut valley.
The Mimosa arrived in 1865 carrying about 150 Welsh settlers who founded a colony in Patagonia. The town of Puerto Madryn was named after Love Jones-Parry, Baron of Madryn, who had scouted the area.
Puerto Madryn is a seaside city and a base for whale watching on the Valdés Peninsula. The Welsh landing is commemorated by a monument on the waterfront.
Visit: Monumento a la Llegada de los Galeses (Welsh Landing Monument) (monument)
Chubut valley — Welsh chapels and tea
Chatwin travels the Chubut valley, meeting descendants of the Welsh settlers who preserve the language, chapels, and tea-room traditions. He listens to their family stories of drought, flood, and isolation.
Trelew was founded in 1886 around the Central Chubut Railway and named for Lewis Jones, a Welsh colony leader. It became the commercial heart of the Welsh Valley.
Trelew is a regional city with the Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, which displays Patagonian dinosaur fossils. Welsh heritage remains visible in the surrounding valley.
Visit: Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio (museum)
Chubut valley — Welsh tea houses
In Gaiman, Chatwin visits Welsh descendants in a village of chapels and tea rooms. He encounters elderly settlers who recall the early days of the colony and keep their traditions alive in the Patagonian desert.
Gaiman was founded in 1874 by Welsh settlers along the Chubut River. It became known for its Welsh chapels and tea houses.
Gaiman is a tourist town famed for Welsh tea houses such as Ty Te Caerdydd and its small historical museum. Visitors come for the tea and the Welsh culture.
Visit: Ty Te Caerdydd (restaurant)
Andean foothills — Welsh colony of the Cordillera
Chatwin travels to the Welsh settlement in the Andean foothills at Trevelin, whose name means mill town. The settlers there pushed west from Chubut in search of better land and have their own tales of exploration.
Welsh settlers founded Trevelin in 1888 after exploring west from the Chubut valley. A flour mill built in 1918 gave the town its name.
Trevelin is a small town near Los Alcerces National Park. The old flour mill houses the Museo Molino Viejo.
Visit: Museo Molino Viejo (museum)
Chubut — Butch Cassidy's cabin
Chatwin searches for the log cabin built by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, who lived in the Cholila valley with Etta Place around 1901–1905. He explores the story of the outlaws who found welcome in Patagonia.
Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, and Etta Place settled in Cholila in 1901 and built cabins there. They left around 1905 after being pursued by Pinkerton agents.
The cabin ruins and a restored cabin remain near Cholila and can be seen by visitors. The area is a rural valley with a regional museum nearby.
Visit: Cabin of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (historic site)
Santa Cruz coast — Port on the Atlantic
Chatwin passes through the Santa Cruz coast of Patagonia, a region of sheep estancias and wind-scoured steppe. The area ties into the history of European settlers and adventurers who arrived by sea.
Puerto Deseado is a natural harbor on the Deseado estuary visited by Thomas Cavendish in 1586 and later by Darwin and the Beagle in 1833.
The town is a fishing port and a base for visiting the ría and the Isla Pingüino penguin colony.
Visit: Ría Deseado Natural Reserve (park)
Última Esperanza, Chile — Home of the giant sloth
The quest at the heart of the book leads Chatwin to the Milodon Cave, where the skin of the giant ground sloth was found. He sought the origin of the scrap of skin his grandmother kept, and reflects on Charley Milward's connection to the discovery.
In 1895 Hermann Eberhard discovered mylodon remains in the cave, including skin and dung. The find caused a sensation and prompted expeditions to look for living giant sloths.
The cave is part of the Milodon Natural Monument, with a life-size sloth replica and walking paths. It is a major visitor attraction near Puerto Natales.
Visit: Monumento Natural Cueva del Milodón (monument)
Última Esperanza Sound, Chile — Home of Charley Milward
Chatwin visits Puerto Natales, near where his relative Charley Milward lived after his shipwreck and settled as a British expatriate. He pieces together Milward's life and his link to the mylodon skin.
Puerto Natales developed in the early 20th century as a port for sheep farming and meat packing. German and British settlers arrived in the area from the 1890s.
The town is a tourist gateway for Torres del Paine National Park. It has a waterfront promenade and a regional museum.
Visit: Museo Histórico Municipal de Puerto Natales (museum)
Strait of Magellan, Chile — Southern port city
Chatwin visits Punta Arenas, the southern Chilean port with a history of wealthy sheep barons and foreign adventurers. He recalls the city's days as a stopover for ships and explores its cemetery and wool-era mansions.
Punta Arenas was founded in 1848 as a penal colony and grew rich from wool and shipping before the Panama Canal opened in 1914. Its sheep barons built grand mansions.
The city has the Palacio Sara Braun and a notable cemetery with sheep-baron tombs. It is a hub for Antarctic expeditions and Tierra del Fuego travel.
Visit: Cementerio Municipal Sara Braun (historic site)
Santa Cruz, Argentina — Southern Patagonian town
Chatwin passes through Río Gallegos in southern Patagonia, a wind-blown town of sheep ranchers and travelers. The town reflects the sheep-farming economy and the immigrants who shaped the region.
Río Gallegos was founded in 1885 and developed around the wool trade. It became the capital of Santa Cruz province.
The city is a regional commercial center with a small museum and the Río Gallegos estuary. It serves as a gateway to southern Patagonia.
Visit: Museo de los Pioneros (museum)
Tierra del Fuego, Argentina — End of the world
Chatwin reaches Tierra del Fuego, the southern limit of his journey, reflecting on the vanished Indigenous peoples and early European missionaries. The far south closes the book's wide arc through Patagonia.
Ushuaia was founded in 1884 as an Argentine outpost and mission site, later becoming a penal colony. The Yámana people had lived in the area for thousands of years.
Ushuaia is a tourist city and departure point for Antarctic cruises. The Museo del Fin del Mundo and the former prison, now a museum, tell its history.
Visit: Museo Marítimo y del Presidio de Ushuaia (museum)
More by Bruce Chatwin: All Bruce Chatwin books