The Man Living in Complete Isolation for 40 Years (Part 1/4) | Far Out

[SPANISH GAME RADIO BROADCAST] FAUSTINO BARRIENTOS: [SPEAKING SPANISH] ADRI MURGUIA: Faustino Barrientos embodies the timeless lifestyle of the Chilean gaucho, the more isolated equivalent of the North American cowboy. Bringing settlers into Patagonia was a challenge. And in 1937, Chile started handing out land claims to each colonizer who could clear 120 acres of forest in an effort to make the land fertile. Although construction of routes to Patagonia land made the gauchos more accessible, we heard that Faustino had moved far beyond the last stretch of the Pan-American Highway to Peninsula La Florida, where he continued living in complete isolation, like the original settlers. Faustino is rumored to be living alone on his land for the past 46 years, removed from civilization and technology as if time had never struck Patagonia. We set out on a journey to find Faustino Barrientos-- from New York on a cold winter night. We had about a dozen bags with us and had no idea of what we were getting ourselves into. What we did know is it will take us four days of travel time to reach him. We caught an 11 hour flight to Santiago. We had a layover, and then got on a shorter flight to Balmaceda. There we met our crew, gathered our gear, loaded the truck, and drove to Cochrane, which took five hours. We spent the night there and headed out to Port Yungay in the morning to catch our ferry to Rio Bravo. It had taken us two days to get this far. And we weren't even halfway there. It was impossible to imagine how you would ever get here by horse rides from Santiago, like Faustino had probably done in the past. Patagonia's a region at the southern end of South America. The area covers about one-third of both Chile and Argentina and is home to a rich and mostly untouched ecosystem. It's an important fresh water source, which also makes it one of the least polluted places on earth. On our third day of travel, we finally arrived at the end of the Pan-American Highway, which was built to connect remote communities in the region. Its final stretch reaches Villa O'Higgins, a town formerly only accessible by plane or horse ride, which is why it's called the "Last Frontier of Chilean Patagonia." With a population of roughly 400 people, it's considered a stomping ground for explorers and scientists heading towards the South Patagonian Ice Field, which doubles as deepest lake in the Americas. While we were in O'Higgins, we visited Faustino's brother to get a better idea of what to expect from him. FLORIDO BARRIENTOS SANCHEZ: [SPEAKING SPANISH] ADRI MURGUIA: [SPEAKING SPANISH] FLORIDO BARRIENTOS SANCHEZ: [SPEAKING SPANISH] ADRI MURGUIA: [SPANISH]. It seemed that Faustino had a bad reputation throughout the town. There was even a rumor that he had attempted to shoot his nephew. [SPEAKING SPANISH] MISAEL TISNADO BARRIENTOS: [SPEAKING SPANISH] ADRI MURGUIA: After learning that Faustino not only disliked other people's company, but also had tried to kill one of his family members, we're more than concerned about staying with him on a deserted piece of land without escape routes or forms of communication with the outside world. But we continued on our way to find him. Since 2005, this boat started taking tourists on glacial expeditions and contributed to bringing civilization closer to those who lived out here in isolation. It was appropriately named Robinson Crusoe. I made it. We're in Faustino's land. We were told to walk straight from the shore towards the mountains and we'd find his home. I don't know if we're walking in the right direction, to be honest. As the boat took off in the distance, we realized how isolated we really were. We walked for about a mile until we finally spotted Faustino's retreat. [SPEAKING SPANISH] FAUSTINO BARRIENTOS: [SPEAKING SPANISH]

Channel: VICE

Views: 6,538,208

Rating: 4.8351784 out of 5

Keywords: living alone in alaska, survivorman, cabin, Far Out, lifestyle, shelter, VICE news, Frontiersmen, camping, wild, survival, survival guide, Chile, world, Lake O'Higgins, videos, travel, alone, outdoors, Patagonia, into the wild, journalism, exclusive, underground, documentary, how to survive, hunting, Faustino Barrientos, living alone in alaska documentary, man living alone in alaska wilderness, faustino barrientos 2019, sustainable living, lake ohiggins, social distancing

Id: JZFp8ldcTx4

Length: 9min 30sec (570 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 15 2012

Reddit Comments

[u/optimuslime19]

This is my favorite documentary of all time.

I cannot believe that it wasn't posted here yet.

Thank you. :)

[u/jimjamriff]

Well, does anyone know if he is still alive?

[u/drkesi88]

Lucky man.

[u/c4rlos]

That was great! Thank you

[u/superwitz]

1965 was 50 years ago!

[u/retro_v]

If you are into this check out Dick Proenneke.

[u/[deleted]]

I've had the pleasure of visiting Villa O'Higgins a few years ago, such a beautiful part of the world.