The Chubut River valley around Gaiman is surprisingly green given the arid steppe that surrounds it. The irrigated valley floor supports willows, poplars, and smallholdings that look entirely out of place in the Patagonian context — which was, of course, the point. The settlers chose the valley specifically because it could be irrigated from the river.
Cycling or walking the back roads between Gaiman and the nearby settlements of Dolavon (29 km) and Trelew (18 km) offers a good sense of the valley's character: farmhouses in Welsh red-brick style, chapels at intervals, and the brown steppe rising abruptly on both sides. The contrast between the irrigated green of the valley floor and the desert steppe above it is one of the most striking visual effects in Patagonia.