Christmas dinner Latin American style!

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!

To tip or not to tip!

Tipping is not the Australian way but to the majority of the world, tipping is an essential addition to the wage. In the good old US of A the average wait staff earn $7.50 per hour. It is expected that the customer will supplement this wage with a 10% tip. The business owners claim they will go out of business if they are forced to pay a higher wage. Our Caynon tour mates, Rhonda and Greg told us to double the tax on the bill to work out a suitable tip.
In less developed countries, jobs are invented to generate tips. For example: toilet attendants will charge for the use of the amenties and give you one or two pieces of precious loo paper then continue to play with their mobiles or preen themselves in the mirror. Meanwhile these toilets are often in health risk condition. You would think that a toilet attendants duties would include actually cleaning the toilet!
It is said that tipping is voluntary but if you decide not to conform many will get nasty and demand payment.

Tipping guide lines!
Restaurants: 10% of food/drink bill is expected or double the tax.
Tour guides: $1 to 3 USD per person per day.
If doing a hiking or adventure tour the internet provides guidelines for tipping porters, drivers, cooks etc.

Blogger's books

Here are some recommendations from our Special Patagonian club.

Kristy: Ben Elton, The hunger games trilogy, The Belganad series by David and Leigh Eddings, Bridget Jones diary by Helen Fielding, My sister's keeper by Jodie Picoult, Lovely bones by Alice Sebold, Me talk pretty one day by David Sedans.

Bruce: Aspiring, Patagonia and Songlines by Bruce Chatwin, Five in a leaky boat, Pearl necklass, The elegant universe, Heart of darkness.

Masood: Post stamps.

A festive Isolation - Patagonia (2)

A carpet of snow greeted us as we trekked towards glacier Francesco and provided us with our first ever White Christmas.  It was a bittersweet moment as the tyranny of distance made it impossible for us to contact Lachlan and Elly to share both their Christmas experience  and ours.   We passed the time playing Uno, nasty santa; we sang carols to the masses, gulped down red wine from tin cups, queued and berated those who queued jumped, guides included, impromptu sing-a-longs tumbled from voices as the 'Ballad to Lea' and the 'Ode to Poo Paper' (see " be on your guard 13") reverberated around the campsite.  The drunken tunes of AC/DC filtered through the air and stories of survival shared and a good night was wished to all as we clamoured into our tents with the sun still blazing in the night sky.

Be on your guard (14)

Never, ever queue jump in front of Lea . Dredlocks or not!

Patigonia - Chile.

It is the endless light that catches you unawares; 18 and half hours of it to be precise.  It throws you out of whack and destroys any routine that you possess.  But what the light provides is an insight into the beauty of the Patagonian wilderness.   Snow capped mountains, turquoise lakes where icebergs bob, meadows of wild flowers are grazed upon by llamas,  majestic towers of rock rise Tolkien like from Middle Earth,  rainbows form at will over lakes, between mountain ranges and hover above glaciers and a wind that howls like a banshee and devours your skin.

It is amongst this wilderness that our tent stands and where we are thrown to the mercy of mother nature.  At first she is kind, basking us in sunshine and warmth as we journeyed to Grey's Glacier, but the wickedness of her humour could be felt as 80kms winds battered us on the cliff face over looking the glacier.  The wind laughed and the sky spewed first a rain that clawed at our skin, then hail that flagellated and finally snow that blocked our final ascent to summit of Glacier Francesco.   As a reward for our resilience, mother nature beckoned us to be witness to what has recently been proclaimed the 8th wonder of the world, The Towers of Paine.   These colossus' punctuate the skyline and as late as 2011 stood virgin like, unclimbed until a British expedition ascended. They rise like fingers grasping for the sun and it here after hiking across snow drifts and frozen ice, we sit and once again are bewildered by the opulence of nature's artistry.

Be on your guard 13

Always check to see that there is toilet paper in the cubicle you are visiting when going for a poo, or you may be forced to: 1) Use you hand, or 2) search through the used toilet paper bin and recycle a piece of poo paper courtesy of a previous guest. 3) get a new nick name; Poo paper!