Esquel

The La Trochita narrow-gauge railway that serves Esquel in Chubut Province has been running since 1922 on 750mm-wide tracks through the Patagonian steppe, and the steam locomotive — unchanged in a century — still connects the town to the ranching villages along the line, breathing smoke into a landscape where almost nothing else has changed since the first Welsh settlers arrived. Esquel itself sits on the western edge of Patagonia where the steppe gives way to the Andean forests of Los Alerces National Park, and the combination of old-growth alerce trees, Futaleufu river rapids, and a functioning steam railway gives the region more variety than its size suggests.

Esquel is the main gateway to Los Alerces National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site established in 1937 to protect the last significant stands of Fitzroya cupressoides — the Patagonian alerce, a conifer that can live for 3,600 years and reach 60 metres in height. The Old Patagonian Express (La Trochita) is one of the last functional narrow-gauge steam railways in the world, connecting Esquel to Nahuel Pan (24 kilometres) and occasionally to El Maitén (177 kilometres), and has inspired travel writing by Paul Theroux and Bruce Chatwin. The surrounding area offers Class IV and V whitewater kayaking on the Futaleufu River, fly-fishing in rivers stocked with trout and salmon introduced in the early twentieth century, and ski access at La Hoya, a low-key resort 12 kilometres from town. Esquel is the only Argentine city to have held a referendum on a mining project — in 2003, residents voted 81% against a gold mine — a decision that shaped the region's identity as firmly as any geographical feature.