There is perhaps no area of the world as inspiring as the Patagonian Andes. A region divided between Chile and Argentina, its 400,000 square miles encompass lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, glaciers, deserts and steppes. Home to over 500 species of animals, the most admired include the puma, guanaco (a species of camel), huemul or south Andean deer, Andean Condor and the nandu, or greater rhea, an ostrich-like bird. The region has been inhabited by humans for more than 12,000 years, with the most prominent indigenous tribes including the Mapuche, Puelche, Pehuenche and Tehuelche. It wasn’t until the 1800’s that the indigenous people from Patagonia came face to face with Spanish colonists, and in an all-too-familiar story, faced near genocide through the possession of their lands, widespread illness and warfare. Some historians estimate that the Mapuche population was reduced from half a million to a mere 25,000 within one generation. Today the region is populated by a wide variety of European descendents and a small number of Mapuche people, however it is still very sparsely inhabited, with less than 2 million people total, or approximately 5 people per square mile. Among the dozens of National Parks throughout Patagonia, Torres Del Paine, Los Glaciares and Tierra Del Fuego are the most famous and each one draws thousands of international tourists every year.