Departure from Fiumicino Airport
I am used to having my friends drive me to the station in my city of Chieti where I catch the bus to the airport.
I remember my first adventure trips where during those hours before departure I would stare out the window at the scenery and more often than not I would be gripped by unmotivated states of almost anxiety accompanied by restlessness.
Despite the fact that this will be perhaps one of the most challenging trips of my career as a photographic traveler and I am carrying some very expensive and important photographic equipment, I do not have in the least that cocktail of euphoric emotions that have always accompanied me in the past.
In fact, I actually feel very calm and serene, and I don’t know whether this comes from the fact that I am used to certain experiences or simply because over time you change and become more calm. I don’t know honestly.
The only fear I had at the airport was for my carry-on luggage whose weight could not exceed 8kg and I had 16kg but as is often the case (especially for big companies), they don’t even check your carry-on luggage.
At check-in they inform me that my flight was going to leave an hour late but honestly it wouldn’t have made any difference to me, I had a 14-hour leg anyway and an extra hour honestly wouldn’t have hurt my sleep.
It was dinner time, and I sat down at an upstairs restaurant in the many corridors of Fiumicino to spend the last liquid euros I had and decided to treat myself to a slightly more expensive dinner: a nice cut of beef with a side of vegetables.
As soon as I ordered, I heard a boy with a thick English accent ask the waiter if there was an outlet available to charge the phone but the waiter’s expression indicated a blatant no.
“If you want I can give you my powerbank, I have my phone fully charged,” I tell him, turning to face him.
His name was Buda, he was from England and had just been in Salerno for a business meeting.
We end up sharing the same table since if he had lined up for the seat it would have taken a good half hour and I was alone and had room in my table.
We chat casually, as you do with strangers you know will only be passing through. Then he gets up, thanks me for the powerbank and the place at the table, pays his bill, and leaves. Honestly? I would have expected a complimentary coffee but that’s okay.
The airport displays indicate to me that my gate number had gone out so I slowly get going.
I was convinced I was going to find my plane semi-deserted, how many people will ever go in September from Rome to Buenos Aires, and inside I was already anticipating the comfort of a nice row of seats all free where once in the air I could stretch out exactly as I once did on the Sydney – Dubai route but instead…the plane is packed. And guess what? I get seat 60B, the middle one.
The worst…
14 hours squeezed between a woman who slept the whole time without ever eating anything and never getting up to go to the bathroom and a guy who didn’t utter a word the whole trip.
Buenos Aires
If Morocco was the country that most of all gave me peace of mind and confidence in wandering around keeping my camera exposed, I certainly cannot say the same about Argentina.
Of course, it has only been 24 hours since my arrival, but if I tell you that the weather is not the best, trust me that it is.
In any capital city in the world (Lisbon, Warsaw, Bern, Vienna, Oslo, Helsinki, Bratislava, and even in Bucharest) I have never had the slightest fear of going around taking pictures.
Well, here the situation is quite different and it is enough to think that at every corner of the city’s checkerboard, traffic lights and intersections there are armed guards and police, and these only photos taken with the camera I took all of them by staying within a few meters of them, as if I wanted to be under their view.
As I walked to the “La Boca” barrio to get to the infamous “Bombonera” there was a beautiful park overflowing with green-colored parrots that I couldn’t have photographed with a wide-angle lens anyway, and for a moment the idea of going back there in the afternoon with a telephoto lens was buzzing in my mind.
They would have been relatively simple shots, beautiful and peculiar at the same time, but to take big risks is honestly not the case and in any case I am not here for the parrots that I could see elsewhere and more calmly.
When I arrived in the barrio I kept my pace quick and my head down, as if I wanted to give the impression of someone who knows the area and was going somewhere specific, and I never looked up to admire where I was.
The Boca Juniors museum opened at 10 a.m. and in that hour of waiting I jumped inside a café sipping coffee but never arousing the suspicion of being a photographer-traveler but simply remaining casual.
Obviously it was not all like walking around with a blindfold on and if I had to go outside to see nothing and have the feeling of being watched by everyone it would have been better to stay in the hotel but that was not the case of course. Even the taxi drivers advise caution because we are in a big capital of South America but in the end you just have to observe all the precautionary measures and go about your own little ways inconspicuously.
Tomorrow a first internal flight south to Patagonia.
One last total check and then I’m in.
ADELANTE…
Viedma
Before I began my photographic adventure in this part of Patagonia, I was told (first by a lady on the plane and then by other local people) that for the past month several dozen sea lions have been dying from avian fever.
Beaches in direct contact with towns and villages have been closed to avoid potential contact between the decaying animals and people who often walk their dogs on the beaches. It is not yet clear whether this disease may be transmissible to humans or other animals, but it still appears that the situation is gradually improving and that the beaches will be accessible again within a few days.
In the months leading up to my departure, I had been thoroughly documenting everything I might encounter in these vast areas of Patagonia, and most of all I had been impressed by the fact that this area is home to the world’s largest colony of “Loro Barranquero”.
Now, imagine a cliff that stretches 70 km along a coastline and that the entire cliff is overflowing with parrots from start to finish. Of course, I brought my entire photographic arsenal with me.
Although we are still in the Northern part where the region begins, it is already beginning to take on its typical Patagonian appearance: arid steppes, jagged cliffs, dirt roads and the strong wind that I believe will be the perennial companion of this adventure.
A few months ago I had made a list of photographic targets for this Patagonia mission (kind of like I had done with Costa Rica, only there I had set myself only 5), and after only two days I can already get out my pen and start shortening the shopping list.
Of armadillos I had already seen several on the first day as well but all photographed from behind as they were fleeing and instead yesterday I caught him standing still beside a shrub, thinking he was blending in.
The best encounter, however, was definitely the one with the Patagonian Fox (el Zorro, as they say here) who crosses in front of me almost unexpectedly as I was there attempting to photograph running nandos trying to get a shot worthy of these sceneries that deserve to be told along with the subjects in question. A golden opportunity that I absolutely could not miss and in short, in two minutes I brought home two images that will be iconic of this trip.
Today one last photo hunt and then continue the journey south, entering more and more into the heart of Patagonia.
The journey is still long, the territory is huge, and there is plenty of time. Let’s move on at a leisurely pace.
“Enjoy it,” was the watchword of the trip.
Adelante.
There was only one possible way: risk.
The sea lion colony was about 13km away and the tide had to be monitored, which rises and falls every 6 hours and has different times each day.
Pablo (my trusty assistant for the first few days) and I had two options: drive up to a certain point with the pickup and then walk several kilometers or venture out with the ATV and try to get as close as possible.
Go for the quad.
There was only one point where we had to stop for half an hour and wait for the tide to go out but then apart from a few meticulous slaloms between the rocks we went as fast as ever.
I arrive and there they are: an impressive colony of sea lions.
An absurd mess between verses and fights that I managed to document well by taking shelter between the rocks and I had the first specimens less than ten meters away.
E’ stata forse l’ora di wildlife photography più bella della mia vita. Un posto totalmente sconosciuto alle persone che solamente i pescatori (amici di Pablo) potevano indicarci ed infatti se non fosse stato per lui e per loro, non lo avrei mai potuto trovare.
Ah, not to mention the dozens of whales we saw from the beach and there was one that greeted us before leaving again.
All simply absurd that yesterday while I was on the bus I could hardly absorb all the cocktail of emotions I felt.
Adelante.
Patagonia
Leaving Rio Negro province behind after three magnificent and intense days marked by so many encounters, I begin to descend further south into Chubut province.
I had a Facebook contact for quite some time who in turn gave me other contacts so that I could get more information about the area that will see me as a visitor for the next ten days, an area exploding with nature as never before.
During the bus ride I book accommodation, it seemed quiet and most importantly not very expensive.
I arrive, set up the room, go out for dinner and start making first contacts, but the most important thing was to rent a vehicle so I could move around freely.
As luck would have it, I find an agency that had one last vehicle available after there was a cancellation and here is my duster 4×4 for the next few days with which I will venture.
The first day starts with a bang: 500km of road including 120km over land and stone in order to go in search of penguins, guanacos and elephant seals.
The penguin found in this area of the world is one of the 18 existing species on planet earth, and we are talking about the “Magellanic Penguin” which goes up the coast to nest in this part of the year, and flocks of them can be seen.
On the way back from the colony I manage to spot several guanacos, a deer-sized ungulate, among the steppe, but the most spectacular encounter was with elephant seals.
I drove down to the beach directly by car and from there I started my work by being only a few meters away from them.
The road was a tad dangerous after the rain of the past few days, and my Duster had become one with the ground, and even this makes my exhilaration skyrocket because it tastes like adventure.
The footage I was able to shoot was unprecedented-I had never made such spectacular videos, and I felt like I was shooting a documentary for National Geographic.
There I was, alone on a huge, deserted beach shooting elephant seals on a beach in Patagonia-I couldn’t believe my eyes.
The austral spring decides to debut with sunshine the likes of which we have not seen in quite some time, and in the small fishing harbor my day begins with the coursing cry of sea lions who now seem to have taken up residence in the village, and along the river mouth the eternal struggle for fresh fish between seals and seagulls never seems to have a respite.
It was ten o’clock when we left the harbor behind to jump into the open sea in search of Commerson’s Cephalorhinches, and a mile from the mouth of the harbor channel a southern right whale celebrated the start of the new season by highlighting its majesty.
Ocean paths become accessible and coastlines teem with life.
A female elephant seal tries hard to ruin the one landscape photograph I wanted to take, oystercatchers manage every way to sneak into the frame, and snakes emerge from hibernation stunned by their long months of inactivity, heedless of my crossing.
I was sure that my day had come to an end but I had not counted with the guanacos who forced me out of the car in order to make room on the road.
It is not a dream, it is Patagonia.
It’s my journey.
It’s my opera.
It’s Adelante.
Chubut
I was aware that I was about to enter the vividness of the journey (not that I haven’t so far, but this area is particularly rich) and mentally prepared myself for everything: the very long dirt roads, the endless hours of waiting, the deserted spaces with no connection.
Leaving the small harbor where I admired the Commerson’s Cephalorhinches and the small colony of sea lions I go up to Puerto Piramides, a small village with a few businesses and lots of “avistajes” (sightings) for whales.
Puerto Pyramides is world famous because its waters at certain times of the year are teeming with whales and you can see them from the shore, and I am not talking about hundreds of meters from the shore, but about ten.
The one that comes to visit these waters is the “southern right whale” and she seems to like to entertain people with her spinning and jumping on the surface.
The first day I arrived in this area after leaving the province of Rio Negro where I was at the beginning of the trip, I had met a girl I contacted through another contact I had on facebook.
So far I have been amazed by everything in this country but what really impressed me was the openness and helpfulness on the part of the people : Nani, this girl I met, in half an hour sitting at the bar called for me the chick from the accommodation I am in now (and what an accommodation), she called a contact who gave her the number of the agency so I could rent the car which at first had no availability but then there was a cancellation and that was how I got my Duster 4×4.
È stata una concatenazione assurda, quasi magica, di eventi.
My car took me everywhere and without too much trouble (although in a few days I took it to the wash no less than 3 times for all the land taken but it was wonderful to venture out among the deserted roads) and to think that the agency did not ask me for a deposit as international agencies do or even insurance. I just paid the rental cost with the option to keep the car for a few extra days with advance notice and Martin, the guy from the agency, often writes me to see how it is going. All unbelievable.
During these days on the peninsula I saw many interesting things and experienced incredible emotions, but two are the ones I will always remember: the mirador (lookout) on a beach where you can see a colony of elephant seals that are breeding at this time, and the whale beach where they came practically under my nose approaching 10 meters from the shore.
In the mirador I stayed for three days in a row for one reason: orcas.
There is a family of killer whales that for generations has handed down a hunting technique that can only be admired in this part of the world: the beaching technique.
Killer whales here come to hunt for baby elephant seals directly on the shore, as if they want to beach themselves on the sand, truly risking being stranded on the sand given the animal’s mightiness.
The first day I was able to see two of them from the mirador but they were really far away while the other days I was admiring the elephants in their courtship and male-on-male confrontations.
On the way to and from the mirador I would often stop to photograph guanacos and other animals that would accidentally cross the road and then disappear into the endless surrounding steppe without giving me a chance to photograph them.
The whale beach was a thrill that cannot be described: the whales I always imagined them miles and miles off the coast while here they really came ten meters from shore and when I sent photos and video
On this trip for the first time I am also doing a lot of filming, and the whales I will have taken dozens and dozens of films as well as photographs, but the films convey different emotions because you can see them playing on the surface of the water.
I knew that this trip would bring me excitement and great surprises but I did not think at all of such intensity.
Rio Gallegos
The journey started off immediately with some incredible and seems to want to continue on this path and again, the interesting things are always the unexpected ones.
The idea was to take two days off before the cold weather that awaits me in the Andes but then things turned out differently and apart from the 19-hour bus transfer that turned into 22 because of the late departure, the rest flows by itself.
In the 1950s/60s, a sister of my maternal great-grandfather moved to Argentina, and through other relatives I came in contact with one of his great-grandsons (so a cousin of I don’t know what degree) who is a peer of mine, a nature photographer as well, and he is a wildlife guard, kind of like the forest ranger in Italy.
He lives in Rio Gallegos, in the south, and we are not far from Chile and the land of fire, the extreme tip.
The bus arrives by lunchtime. We go to his house, meet “the relatives,” have lunch and off to see the wreck.
A forest ranger and photographer knows just where to take you, and when you shoot close-up bursts at a bog owl in broad daylight or a Patagonian fox, you realize that this trip is exactly what you wanted.
There is another crazy place that is iconic to this area and today we are going to visit. It is called Laguna Azul and it is a puddle formed on an inactive volcano in the middle of nowhere.
I wanted two days off I had said, sure.
Believe it.
The Puma
All wildlife photographers dream of extraordinary encounters with unique creatures, and felines have always held an irresistible fascination for humans. The cougar, also known as the “Mountain Lion” bears striking similarities to lionesses and is distinguished by the absence of sexual dimorphism, making it difficult to discern sex, unlike lions with their distinctive manes. These animals, usually solitary, occasionally congregate in groups of 3-4 individuals, a phenomenon found recently in areas of Chile.
The vast Patagonian steppe on the edge of Torres del Paine National Park in the south of the country is home to a high concentration of pumas, attracted by the abundant presence of guanaco, their main prey. For a week-long wildlife expedition, I worked with Cristina, an experienced Puma Tracker and international wildlife photographer. Her expertise not only in identifying and creating ideal conditions, but also in selecting the best locations for shots, made the experience extraordinary.
Searching for and spotting these felines on the vast steppes present unique challenges: pumas are predominantly active at night, and observation through binoculars is complicated by the wind.Observing guanacos’ behavior is critical, as their alarm may indicate the presence of pumas nearby. The first encounter occurs after 4 hours of scouting, when Cristina spots a puma enjoying the sun on a cliff, followed by a second a short distance away.
Approaching cougars requires full equipment, considering the variables of weather and the duration of the encounter. However, by maintaining a respectful distance,cougars usually do not feel disturbed and offer numerous photo opportunities. A memorable moment is the interaction between three cougars on the cliff, followed by the sighting of a mother and cub on a nearby steppe, the cub shy but intrigued by our presence.
An extraordinary scene occurs when the mother protects her meal, a guanaco hunted the previous day, from a bird of prey. The images captured in this context, with the natural colors of the puma in its environment, evoke deep emotions and make for a unique experience.
Subsequent sightings do not reach the intensity of the first day, until, on the fifth day, an adult cougar is observed in a sheltered position from the wind, accompanied by new carcasses hunted by the same feline.
The experience culminates with an adult cougar approaching the cameras, creating a moment of enchantment and challenge. Wildlife photography takes on a profound meaning, conveying the essence of a dedicated passion and the privilege of living such an extraordinary experience. The click of the shutter becomes the symbol of an unforgettable chapter, closing the week that will be etched in memory forever.
El Calafate y El Chalten
After the beautiful Chilean interlude (although I can’t say I knew Chile), I take a new bus back to Argentina.
Again customs and its controls and an acceptable leg that this time will be very short, about 3 hours, heading for El Calafate.
I had a strong need to rest and unplug for a moment after the very intense week dedicated to felines so I decide to do nothing at all but enjoy the town with its lagoons and its prized piece: the world-iconic Perito Moreno Glacier.
The glacier’s fame is due to the fact that it is, I believe, the only glacier found in the temperate belt of the globe, in addition to being objectively beautiful to look at with its many bright colors that entices photography, and although I am not a landscape artist, I couldn’t help but take a few pictures, if only to be able to say someday that I have been there.
The other days I took a few quiet walks in a lagoon around the town, coming across a few raptors giving their flying shows during their hunting sessions. The strong wind helped me quite a bit in taking photos since it kept the subject still while gliding against the wind and it was relatively easy to shoot.
After a few days I reached El Chalten, known in Argentina as the trekking capital.
I didn’t have too much energy to come across the infamous Fitz Roy, the iconic mountain that is mirrored in the crystal blue lagoons so even in El Chalten I limited myself to a few easy but still satisfying trails: I encountered “El Huemul,” an ungulate very similar to the deer, and since there are not so many living specimens, these were important shots that I then shared with the reserve that manages the park and keeps track of all the specimens and in fact they had me fill out a form where they asked for all the info about the location where the animal was encountered.
Then came the day to take the first plane back after more than a month.
The first and only plane had been the one from Buenos Aires that took me to the Rio Negro.
Ushuaia (El fin del mundo)
After a very short one-hour domestic flight, I finally arrived at the extreme tip of South America, Ushuaia.
There was a very long line to get a cab and finally after a good half hour in line I manage to get mine that takes me to my lodging, a few kilometers away.
As lodging I had found a single room in an apartment slightly out of the way but the good thing was that I basically had the whole apartment to myself because the other room was empty. And I paid very little.
I do my shopping, fix everything and go out.
I arrive at the marina, take the classic tourist photo with “Ushuaia” written on it (this is a must) and start scanning all the little kiosks in the marina offering the various excursion activities and Beagle Channel crossings.
I had previously photographed Magellanic penguins in Chubut but was not very happy with them because I was looking for photos with the subjects in contact with the water while the ones I had taken further north were photos of penguins coming up the coast for nesting.
I find my activities: an afternoon outing sailing along the Beagle Channel with visits to the various islets where there are huge colonies of pelicans and sea lions. The latter I had photographed by now a thousand times but each time it changed context and light so it was as if it was always a new situation.
I was also planning to devote myself to raptors, and you know what I did? I asked the taxi driver to take me to the dump. Why? Because there is easy food in the dump and Patagonia has many species of necrophagous birds, such as the Carancho Caracara, vultures and Chimango.
I was in the southernmost part of America in a landfill looking for birds of prey to photograph. And yes, exactly like that.
The surprise was the beautiful bluish Chile Eagle that I never expected to encounter. Majestic and beautiful.
Then there was a new navigation dedicated to penguins.
I had the opportunity to admire them in courtship, during mating and even while swimming a few meters from the shore in search of food.
The final gem was meeting the Papua penguin, which is not at all obvious and unlike the Magellan, has orange legs and beak.
On the last day, I devoted myself to searching for the famous red-headed woodpecker, the carpintero, always accompanied by my trusted taxi driver to whom I also left a nice tip for helping me in the search for my subjects.
Five beautiful days, now we start the ascent.
Return to Chubut
A direct domestic flight from Ushuaia to Trelew to give a second look at the places already visited the previous month. In wildlife photography everything changes in a second and one can always find oneself in unexpected situations.
By September, I had befriended the owner of the agency that organizes the boat safaris and also the organization’s official photographer, and having kept in touch in the meantime that I was venturing to Southern Patagonia, we met again to do some photography outings together.
We first went to visit a colony of sea lions living permanently near a marina and witnessed a spectacular scene: a very strange interaction between a young sea lion and a seagull. At first I thought it was predation but it turned out not to be. And it wasn’t a game either. A really strange behavior but one that gave me some beautiful photos and a very special document.
In addition, there was the alpha male of the colony who courted the females.
The next morning I go on the boat safari and a new surprise comes up: in addition to the Commerson’s dolphins, we are visited by a very rare southern dolphin that starts jumping up and down a few dozen meters from the safari raft. A truly crazy and spectacular encounter.
For a whole week it went almost every day like this: morning boat safari and afternoon shooting and photos of sea lions.
Between Rio Negro and Neuquèn
In the 1950s one of my maternal grandfather’s sisters emigrated to Argentina and still lives in the province of Neuquèn.
I still had a good week before I left the country, and I just really wanted and needed to rest and disconnect for a moment after the two very intense months.
I am hosted by this aunt of mine and her daughters who are my mom’s carnal cousins and they introduced me to their area by taking me to visit several places, including “Pellegrini Lake.”
Here, too, I had a very fortunate encounter with a burrowing owl, which they call “la Lechuza” in these parts, and it was staying in a small field that lined abandoned houses, an ideal place for owls.
Actually, I didn’t feel like shooting anymore, but I couldn’t pass up such a great opportunity.
The day comes to leave the country, but beware, for the journey is not yet over.
On to the next chapter starting in a couple of days.
