We left Buenos Aires too soon. Not only could we have easily spent an extra day there enjoying the city, but our flight out was much too early in the morning. Up and on the bus before dawn, this was another travel day spent in airports and in a plane. We arrived in El Calafate, Argentina, in the heart of Patagonia, a bit past noon.
This territory is desolate high desert with snow-capped Andes Mountains in the distance. El Calafate is a small city of around 27,000 people. It is definitely a tourist town. There’s nothing around here but widely scattered sheep ranches, and a few calafate bushes, with their sweet berries, for which the town is named. There are parts of Wyoming and Montana that look a lot like this.
We had a big lunch at our hotel, then nothing was scheduled until 5 p.m. Our tour leader suggested we “rest and relax.” To heck with that! We’re in South America! We walked a mile or so to a nature preserve at the edge of town. The entrance fee for non-Argentines was 350 Pesos each — about $20 U.S. for the two of us. We didn’t think that a reasonable price to see birds, so we walked on a wide paved path next to the street that goes around the preserve. Then we walked back into town and strolled the main drag a bit, checking out the many stores, and finally winding up at a brew pub.
 |
| The matte gourd. |
At our 5 p.m. meeting back at the hotel we had a demonstration and tasting of matte (MAH-tae), a very popular South American tea. It is very strong and an acquired taste.
 |
| Definitely an acquired taste. |
We then had an orientation walk around town that ended at our dinner spot. It was a lamb stew with an included glass of pretty good Argentine Malbec wine.
Walking back to the hotel at 9 p.m. with the bright sun in our eyes reminded us that we are a long ways south — about 50 degrees south latitude, or roughly as far south as Regina, Saskatchewan is north. But as the sun finally set, so did we.
This territory is desolate high desert with snow-capped Andes Mountains in the distance. El Calafate is a small city of around 27,000 people. It is definitely a tourist town. There’s nothing around here but widely scattered sheep ranches, and a few calafate bushes, with their sweet berries, for which the town is named. There are parts of Wyoming and Montana that look a lot like this.
We had a big lunch at our hotel, then nothing was scheduled until 5 p.m. Our tour leader suggested we “rest and relax.” To heck with that! We’re in South America! We walked a mile or so to a nature preserve at the edge of town. The entrance fee for non-Argentines was 350 Pesos each — about $20 U.S. for the two of us. We didn’t think that a reasonable price to see birds, so we walked on a wide paved path next to the street that goes around the preserve. Then we walked back into town and strolled the main drag a bit, checking out the many stores, and finally winding up at a brew pub.
No comments:
Post a Comment