Ramirez pushes the herd of over 641 cows, calves, and bulls, attempting to avoid roads so as not to block traffic.
Nano prepares a serving of mate, a strong caffeinated herbal infusion, which is shared among the gauchos before they leave to work at the stables in Torres del Paine National Park.
Jose Kusanovic flags the winner of a race between the gauchos who work for Hotel Las Torres in Torres del Paine.
A wild bronco in a separate corral watches attentively while Micho readies his own horse.
Morocho selects a horse from the corral at Hotel Las Torres in Torres del Paine National Park.
Riders chase a horse into a waiting corral before being released for a lasso event at the Annual Rodeo in Cerro Castillo.
A boy prepares to tie his horse up on the inaugural night of the annual rodeo at Cerro Castillo, a small village located near Torres del Paine National Park.
Micho warms himself by the fire used to cook two lambs on spits after a brief snowfall in Torres del Paine.
Tomas Marusic gazes into the night while Rosita holds him at an outdoor midnight barbecue celebrating the rodeo at Cerro Castillo.
William Faulconer stands in thoughtful repose at a barbeque during the weekend of the rodeo at Cerro Castillo.
+ More info
Two years of living in Chile’s southern-most region in Patagonia opened my eyes to a frontier land as remote as it was when the Europeans first lay eyes on it. Between Coca-Cola signs and a seasonal flux of backpackers from all over the world, the region of Magallanes still holds on to its rural lifestyle and horse culture.
