Faustino Barrientos, a cowboy by profession has spent more than half of his life in isolation by Lake O'Higgins, one of the remotest cornors of the world, since 1965 when he used to work as a gaucho in the southern swath of Chile and Argentina.
"I'm staying here until the very end," says Barrientos, who grew up on the shores of Lake O'Higgins and moved to Argentina after his 11 siblings left him.
While travelling around the country and taking up construction jobs, Barrientos picked up the skills to sustain himself when he returned to the craggy, mountainous Patagonia of Chile, the Daily Mail reported.
Lake O'Higgins is one of the most remote areas of Patagonia in Chile.
Barrientos's has built two hutments - a smaller one where he sleeps, eats, listens to the radio and pours over stacks of newspapers which are delivered to him twice a year and the other for storing food-soup tins and desserts, bags of sugar and flour, tubs of lard - which are delivered by a boat that has started passing his quiet corner every 10 days.
He also survives on cows and sheep reared around his land, and he keeps track of time with a calendar that he marks off everyday.
Barrientos has watched television just once in his life, enjoys a few modern amenities and keeps up on politics and sports scores over a radio.
"It's good to know what's going on out there," he said, adding, (the radio is) how I learn about politics in different countries. That's also how I taught myself politics."
Two years ago, when the government discovered he had guns on his property, they paid a visit and made a deal. They took away the guns but left him solar panels in exchange.
He took them up on their offer, but says he rarely uses the solar panels. And, he added, he's got new guns anyway. "I've got more but I won't hand them over," he said.
Barrientos feels life is better without people, since he has enough food and wine to sustain himself but he says the government and tourist boats now regularly pass his quiet corner disturbing his solitary life.
But his life is becoming increasingly burdened with modern-day life. About 10 years ago, a government ship began cruising the lake weekly.
Now, there is also a tourist ship that brings sightseers to the O'Higgins Glacier every ten days.
