As Christmas eve is the main event in Latin America, we were treated to a "Very Special" dinner for our first night of camping in Patagonia. We were served a delish hunk of beef on a bed of risotto. This was followed by a choice of many desserts. The lodge was alive with the Christmas spirit and a group of American tourist stood on a balcony and serenaded us with carols whilst we waited to be fed. The tradition of gift giving is exchanged on Christmas eve, so we all purchased a small gift for the nasty santa fun.
Food on the patagonian trek was pretty basic as you can imagine but we did have some fun evenings and many laughs. Antonio ( a guide friend of our guide Nico), deserted his tour group one night and entertained us with his awesome guitar skills. Our "special" tour mate Kristy has a talent for impromptu ditties. We were entertained with the likes of "the ballad of Lea" and " poo paper" ( for details read " be on your guard 13") . Sure you can all guess who this was aimed at!
A big thank you to Kristy and Antonio for such a fabulous night.
We moved on to Argentina (no sign of Dexter, guess he went to Canada instead) . Oops, spoiler! Meat , meat and more meat would you like a chip with that? Not a great destination for vegetarians! Carcasses are often displayed stretched out to roast over an open fire pit in the restuarant. The aroma is devine. The servings cover the whole plate which is very much in contrast to the heart foundations healthy serve of the size of your fist. Although delicious, it was just way too much.
Nothing captures the essence of Argentinidad as well as the preparation and consumption of "El Mate" ; more than just a simple drink, it is an elaborate ritual, shared among family and friends. Yerba mate, is a dried, chopped leaf of the holly family known as paraguayan. Preparing this tea is ritual itself. The server fills the mate gourd (special cup) almost to the top with yerba, then pours in near boiling water into the cup. Drinkers then sip the tea through a bombilla ( silver straw with a bulbous filter at end). The water is refilled after each person. The gourd is passed around in a clockwise direction with the server refilling it with water or changing the yerba when needed. A bit like sharing Shiska!
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