Where is Patagonia at, anyway?

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It’s more than just a label.

The other day I was walking down the street and I asked this man for directions to Patagonia. He thumbed and said, “Two blocks that way and you’ll see it on your left next in-between the Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream and the new All Birds shoe store!

Just kidding. I didn’t do that, but that’s likely what someone would say to me instead of go get on a plane and fly to the bottom of South America because that’s really where Patagonia is, in case you didn’t know it.

The proper pronunciation is pataˈɣonja and it’s a southern region of Chile and Argentina. It’s basically the bottom tail of South America.

Maybe now there’s good reason to buy Patagonia parkas and jackets on sale at the mall if you plan on going down there on a NatGeo Expedition to see the ice melting in the South Pole.

Ferdinand Magellan made the name stick, patagónes, when he landed there in a boat in the spring of 152o. In his travel logs and his book it’s said there were a land of giants there and according to some YouTube conspiracy videos there were giants there, but that’s another story. Otherwise, it’s said they made this “giant stuff” up to sell books about the voyage.

Also, it’s believed the name patagonia came from a book entitled El Primaleón where a character fights a monster called Patagon.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patagonia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patagonia

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/9-ferdinand-magellan-granger.html

https://pedalchile.com/blog/place-name-patagonia

Where is Patagonia at, anyway? Do you know Patagonia? Leave a comment if we missed something.