up next take a ride to the patagonians wilderness of chile with your documentary route 7 into the heart of patagonia over did you get all the latest news and information on our web site that's d w dot com thanks for joining us. the 2. filleted have to get through the goodness need to break without a simple thanks again. kudos to come from the beliefs of excitements question in motion not some kook explains the 19 limbs posts because of the results on t.w.

the. fast and variable the remote landscapes of southern chile a spellbinding it's one of the wildest places on the planet chilean patagonia. the counterterror our struggle is a 1240 kilometer stretch of road that serves as an artery into the very heart of this wilderness. the terrain here it was once deemed impassable carving a road through this expanses utopian. little by little construction of the character ostrower also known as the southern highway has advanced creating access to this natural paradise.

the road connects distant fields with major cities and is an economic lifeline for chile salmon industry. joined us for a road trip full of surprises to explore the magical landscape and meet the people of chile in patagonia. it's a 13000 kilometer journey from germany to patagonia in southern latin america. patagonia stretches across both chile and argentina. chile is kind of terror trial might one day connect the center of the country with its southern tip but today's the road remains incomplete and getting south requires crossing into argentina.

our journey begins in the chilean port city of puerto montt. this is the starting point of the carriage tear our style also known as route a 7. after some 60 kilometers patagonia begins to show its wild side the road is soon interrupted by a fuel lord it's one of the many especially along the northern section of the counterterror astra. ferries transport costs across but the chilean government eventually wants to replace them with road. very far out. captain stanislav medina isn't worried about his job yet there they would have gone very badly if the project to replace the very connections with the road will take at least 30 years they'll have to build bridges and tunnels you know it's a long term project i might be dead by the time it's done. there won't be. travelling

the entire counterterror our struggle involves several ferry connections this stretch across the board is more than 60 kilometers. could a road really be built across such wild terrain critics are skeptical they say a modernized ferry system would be a more efficient solution but the government has given the road project a green light. in this still very sparsely populated region only few people would actually make use of the road. the 1st stop on our journey lights on the banks of the from our

field. german marine biologist work at this research station in the bank of who and i it can only be reached by boat across the fjord. it offers scientists a unique environment for research. training a horse a man is in charge of the station. we meet up with her ahead of our trip at her home in puerto montt they're komal if you ought to have a come out of your it has the same ph value that the oceans are predicted to have in the year 2100 so it provides us with a glimpse into the future we can see how coral will live in the oceans 100 years from now. one of the ons i invert. the research is here specialize in cold water

corals that only grow in these fields they grow so close to the surface of the water that scientists can dive down and explore them. freeney has discovered more than 50 new species she's officially named some after her children and husband. bought she's made troubling observations in recent years entire coral reefs have died out from one yet to the next and in april 25th dean she made another alarming discovery at a different feel old. that is we're up to shoots maybe felt apocalyptic this week we looked around and saw one dead whale after another. we were so shocked

we flew over the area in a small plane and using g.p.s. tracked every whale we spotted. we were just clicking the whole time and i thought i've seen a 100 now and then even $300.00 on the beach was just littered with dead whales it was terrible. just as good it was the biggest whale stranding in history. the researchers counted $360.00 dead say whilst doing this observation flight for any place the total was substantially higher. vice fun cult we know from the us north eastern atlantic that only 5 to 10 percent of the gray whales that die in shallow water get washed up on to the beaches and if those $360.00 whales constituted 5 to 10 percent of the number that died then we're looking at a frightening figure as one that seriously jeopardizes the say well population in

the southern hemisphere. because i would also doubt it was most likely a red tide. as it's called here. the red tide gets its name from the color given to water by microscopic alkie that released toxins. these can be fatal to certain types of sea life. and death to muddy out all along one of our mental pollution in general the mother is increasing around the world we see changes that can be attributed to anthropogenic causes. these anthropogenic causes meaning caused by human activity could very well be increased economic activity in the region little has impacted it as much as industrial salmon farming which was brought to patagonia with the arrival of the kind of terror. today it's

the biggest employer in southern chile a seasonal work or gives us an insider's look into the business it's all the same like farming chickens are pigs it's an industry just like any other. on his cellphone he's recorded video of his job on one of the floating farms. that was gigantic in film but in one farm there attending closure is the actual $40000.00 fish. this is the injection gun these are the hoses the medicines and vaccines go through the. through to see if this is how you use the gun you take it in this hand and inject the drugs into the fish. just imagine that the fish is subjected to this but it's not even sick. it's like the fish is on drugs but. we use a blue paste called benzocaine it's like an anaesthetic he keeps a fish called when you hold it in your hand. a few but i won't.

take check in 120 kilograms officially today and of those 120 the fish eat maybe 40 and the rest sinks to the sea bed. that's industrial pollution. but no one's bothered you just come to the job and leave one of. the. fisherman barossa lives opposite the research station on kamau fjord he was born and raised here. i like it here how many people get the chance to live in a place like this. many banks the bars used to fish in and now occupied by salmon farms. in their proximity

he's caught some very unusual fish. where you are you can catch sea bass now that look like salmon or they've been dumping chemicals in salmon food into the water for so long the bass now have the skin color of salmon. there are tons of them here . boris built his house in an isolated by on the edge of the huge nature reserve called cooma lin park. the park was founded by the american philanthropist douglas tompkins he made his fortune with outdoor apparel brands in the 1990 s. he retired from the business world salty shares for more than 100000000 dollars and together with his wife acquired wide swathe of land in patagonia on the biggest

portion of their property the tompkins created lean park. more than 3000 square kilometers in size the park stretches from the argentine border all the way to the chilean fjords its existence created another obstacle for the kind of terror. the tomkins rejected the prospects of a paved road intersecting the park locals was suspicious. some accuse douglas tompkins of staging a land grab. because he'd bought such a huge area of land thousands of hector's people said this gringo wants to set up his own state and let no one else in except himself it was only later that i started to understand it wasn't like that at all this was about protecting what you have making the most of your resources because a tree doesn't grow overnight it takes up to 500 years for trees like this to grow

back or when you want. it said that tompkins was looking for the world's oldest tree before he decided on the size of his nature reserve. grain. has been working at puma lynn park for more than 10 years he knows a lot about its primeval flora. you know about underwater we're crossing the my new york forest. these gigantic my new york trees are about 100 to 150 years old. i can hear the frogs and toads i don't know what i don't hear. that they're one of the know how little this is one of the millennia old aletter cities but i think it's the biggest one we have a park. to look you in but to give you money.

to move them is about 3000 years old none of them of need i knew my home in. these enormous unless the trees also known as patagonian cypress don't grow anywhere else in the world. will know someone on how to work here in the park and protect these fantastic trees. i don't need more than anything they're along for the world. without the protection of $2000000.00 park the forest would be facing a disaster. before there was no respect for nature. not there i'm not going to interrupt but all around with. douglas tompkins died in a kayaking accident in 2015 but that didn't spell the end of his conservation

project. in the area he gave us a vision for now we the young people and all the future generations need to care for protect the park. you know this isn't the air or family park will live on for a long time but i want to highlight what a dimple. in 2017 tompkins widow christine make did the thompkins handed over all of the land she and her husband acquired to the chilean government it was the largest ever donation of private land to a government in south america but there was one condition that the state turned all of it into national parks. our journey takes us out of poland park and back on to the counterterror our struggle we're heading south to our next stop chai 10.

this small harbor town on the gulf of corcovado is just a shadow of its former self. struck by a natural disaster and 2008 residents were forced to flee less than half of return to rebuild their lives. chargin volcano located inside 2000000 park erupted without warning a cloud of smoke rose kilometers into the sky vast quantities of scry and lava destroyed parts of china 10 town located just 10 kilometers from the volcano. the volcano had not erupted for more the 9000 years and was considered dormant but in seconds magma shut out of. the depth of 5 kilometers cutting a swathe of destruction.

it will take a long time for the region to recover. in the. in just a few kilometers on and the splendor of patagonia's landscape unfolds again. getting further south our next stop is via santa lucy up and we meet one resident who devoted his working life to the camera tara. my name is mario in a stroller and i'm a retired army soldier really that embodied a mario was a member of the military labor corps for 35 years and proudly shows us photos documenting his career. the corps was formed in 1976 when the building began

it was pioneering work under the most adverse conditions mario's company was there from the start he was the army involved because no private sector companies wanted to work there you know in need of it wasn't profitable no later with. mario is still proud of his unit's achievements clearing the 1st path into the wilderness using axes and shovels. missis. there were times when we progress only 10 or 20 meters in a whole month i mean. there were you know it was so difficult firstly to divert the water and secondly to create a stable road you know a little oh i mean i mean more. that

there are a lot of. these sections here were very hard you know to look how much construction machinery there is now not everyone else that you know. we didn't have all that in our day. and it's wonderful to see all this machinery down here today on the magna a level now. in the early stages of building the road was backbreaking work up to 10000 men work all year round there were no weekends 45 workers lost their lives during construction prisoners could trade in 2 years if this sentence for a year working on the road. mario volunteered for 35 years like many others here he still refers to the road by its have reached a lame kind of terror trial pinochet. you know for who. the person who actually planned this the phone and had the

determination to make it happen was general pinochet. but it's a no go north and affordable people who now want to change the name don't understand what really went into creating it oh my general left us with technology improvements and asphalt. it's just fantastic 5 men. pinochet came to power in 1973 in a military coup his 4 member government was made up of the commanders of the army navy and military police. is one of the last surviving members of the junta. joined the hunter in 1905 as head of the national police force the cabin narrows

he remained in government until the fall of pinochet's regime in 1990. now $93.00 china is of german descent. build this picture here. it's a photo isn't it. oh well no it's a painting. that hangs in the museum in santiago. along with all the generals. this is a picture of me i think this is. general fernando martini he's head of the air force for. you and me. the 2 of us were called the german economy. you know the other members of the front sometimes made fun of us because we spoke in german to each other and when we

needed to change our opinion. the laws were made by just 4 men still believes that government model offered advantages but we didn't have as many laws but the ones we did were good ones. today many laws are passed. but they're not all good some were. so why was the construction of the carrot terra our staff so important to the men of the hunter after all there was already a well developed road to the south of chile via argentina. you need to have your own road. it's the same with anything. you can't live half in your own house and half in your neighbour's house. you live in your own house. so it was necessary essential even that we create

a route on the chilean side. no matter the cost. doesn't accept responsibility for everything that happened under the haunter. i'm not saying it was good. fortunately. i didn't have anything to do with the deaths. with. it but i'm not guilty of anything. under the oppression of the military dictatorship more than 3000 people killed some 27000 survived torture and political imprisonment these are the officially recognized figures documented by truth and reconciliation commission the exact numbers will never be 9. but pinochet is still revered by many today especially on the kind of terror our star the

atrocities of his regime are dismissed as a necessary evil for the progress of the country as a whole. our journey leads us to discover a small slice of german history in the village of to you happy. are you happy was founded by german settlers and 935 traditions still kept alive here to this day. good morning hello good morning i'm freedom and get this and i've been living in the for 3 years for you here in pull you up the. houses like this are relics of the original german settlement about the falling into disrepair just outside the village it's a different picture. oh sorry i'm home and hope it's a war i live in put you happy and this is where i work i've lived around here all my life the war mine cancer move me. helmet set up his own successful business

his most important resource is water from the nearby. coffee when i watch the meter . helmet used to breed salmon too but now he's concentrating on trout. because the salmon industry has gone down the drain from our money i don't see. how much the leaves quality is the key he only uses organic feed. failed no i just need a beer then it be perfect. and he knows a thing or 2 about the. process to this is the best job. you need to test the bottles every day to see how they're doing. see.

the flash when the bottles are for they need to be stored for 20 days under ability to. and then the process is complete for you every bottle tells a story. one of them's called the golden years. my uncle valter always used to say the best years of his life were spent here. it was a long road to the golden mean as the founders of to you happy fled poverty in germany when they emigrated in the 1930 s. . amid the isolation and harsh climate it took all their strength to carve a living from the land. they live mostly from cattle braiding forestry and fishing in 1945 they set up a carpet factory that found national acclaim to assist them in their arduous work

they enlisted workers from the nearby island of chile way descendants of the chill out of people today make up the majority of the population here but the entrepreneurial spirit of the founders still lives on today. our next stop is a 600 kilometer ride away through the breathtaking landscapes of patagonia. please please.

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the further south one travels along the kind of terror the more one often encounters men like this in chile they're known as lost souls the holes in the poncho apart of this centuries old way of life. one fine test tens the land of a cattle breakdown. he was born in. raised in the rio farkas region and he remembers life before the arrival of rhodes and other modes of access to civilization. one of them are you going to dinner going to come to our lives changed when the road arrived here. it made it easier in every way. the next biggest town for one used to be

a months horse ride away today it takes a few hours by car they don't fit the want to go there were our teens and every yard here when the road came there you go the neighbors brought a calf and we celebrated. you go look at it oh and another major connection to civilization arrived just a few days ago. where the demo we packed the internet connection here for 4 days now you want to think well these are still baby steps but we're modern farmers again with him well you do an internet soon we'll have to buy every cow every uterus you know mom oh they can finally communicate with us all of the negative. but i think we want to although. you didn't i use all the services on offer basis whatsapp email hey will.

i use them all. for the whole 3. 14 and also times patagonian balto says. what are you. in the evening he prepared. a traditional. you know this is the meat from a calf. the

smoke makes it really tasty just add a bit of salt and that's it no garlic or anything. although one is in favor of the ride it has changed. in the. doors here are always open and anyone can come and stay the night. you would if i came to your house i'd just leave a note saying i'm so and so and i was in your house. so the person knows i stayed there and i didn't take anything. we don't want to lose that. my grandmother the feeling. is already learned to love the internet because it means he can keep in regular contact with his daughter who lives far away.

from. the next morning one is getting ready for a trip. he needs to tend to the cattle up in the mountains but there's no road the journey on horseback takes nearly 2 days. our last stop on the counterterror is fast approaching. the road is blocked once again by a few water and we need a ferry to get us to the other side.

after 1240 kilometers through chilean patagonia the counterterror comes to what's currently its end at a former outpost of the chilean army via o'higgins. this last stretch wasn't completed until 997 because of its remote location the airfield has always been essential for the town's survival. today the mini. is inaugurating a new terminal. this region has always been isolated because the country lacks

geopolitical vision. it's virtually unknown. there are hopes that the new terminal link race air traffic u.s. pilot vince beasley has stationed his chest in a 2006 here. for several years he's been flying charter flights from vienna o'higgins to the remotest corners of patagonia only very few pilots did to venture out into this dangerous terrain. when it comes to maintenance there's no one he trusts more than himself he doesn't mind the solitude in vienna o'higgins. i grew up remote far away. i don't like living in a city or even a village i like to live out and so this gives me a great feeling of and the only guy here and i like it. didn't often get

special assignments he does serve a flights for nasa and in 2015 he was piloting the plane with the team of scientists who discovered the beached whales income our fuel would. we flew out here to this area and explored here and we saw a number of dead whales a few along here not so many and then all of a sudden when we came in this area there were maybe 35 whales here 40 there scattered along some in this channel alone there were 100 whales. and vince goes through the checklist a 2nd time before he takes off but if you go you know he gets out of the ski the. wheel he could. be other he can slide at the gateway to the southern patagonian i spilled the can put

a yellow so it's the barrier that stopped the further expansion of the can attend. for pilots these are tricky skies to navigate. you have to visualize. what the winds are doing around each to either going around it or going over it. coming down a valley. it's just like water over a rock at the river. so i'm just a kayak or. fly. like the raw beauty it's much bigger that you are. you have to respect that.

vince has had very close encounters with the forces of nature in the patagonian wild. was a perfect day with no wind. very very nice visible. all of a sudden i saw one of the fountains in front of me growing. up it didn't take me long to realize that it was a volcano eruption. there i got some very good footage filming. by a cellphone. and to be flying near the volcano when it erupted suddenly in 20 feet to. within one kilometer of the greater the.

i'm going to concentrate on. the face of it it's reaching the water. meters. the dimensions overwhelming. the camp stretches for 350 kilometers along the path. it's a huge obstacle for the kind of project to the east it borders argentina and to the west lies a jet that fueled landscape. sorry. but this is a far as i want to go. with the conditions for spins to abort the flight. the winds below the cloud cover a too strong and there's

a danger the plane could be swept towards the rocks. below he gets to be. he gets out of about the risky. vince bought his chest in alaska and flew it with his wife. in several stages over the course of months. back on the ground male roberta is waiting for us. for his career in politics he worked as a truck driver. he transported building materials for the road and witnessed 1st hand the enormous changes that came with the road. i mean the road has brought great progress but it will also bring poverty to the people of the here. first about electricity and then television. friends in the countryside want to

get course around but they don't realize they don't have the money to live such lifestyles you know i. mean a lot because people are poor here in the countryside. you know. you don't want to you know this is where the road ends. again just a little bit further over there as argentina. so there's no chance of building the road further here. and you know on sunday when i think i mean. devised by a dictator construction of the cutout strong has pushed father and father south for 2 decades. this remote spot is the end of the rug. but the dream to create a continuous road to the southern tip of chile in patagonia lives on regardless of the wilderness to be conquered in its path.

but. in. the fashion of the future as an identity. desirable as a bunny is cosmopolitan connected to. currys or homeland in a heart. where's it's honestly. label combines kashmir from

the goalie with designs from berlin. euro max 30 mins p.w. . sometimes books more exciting. in real life. preparing to. long haul. what if there's no escape. list longer term and must create. just listen this is the sound of times possibly as forests the size of 25 football fields are lost every minute adding to greenhouse gases but what is the sound of a tree not for us the sound biodiversity tourism community development food and water. the united nations development program is listening and working

with communities to protect forests for the future we want if you're hearing what we're hearing find out more. news live from berlin u.s. officials say they were just minutes away from bombing iran before military strikes were called off president donald trump says he canceled the planned assault because 150 people could have been killed attack would have been in retaliation for t.v. rads shooting down an american unmanned spy drone also coming out.