pilgrim of the south

Dust in the wind

January 6th, 2007

So we had a very special dinner last night. Pety, our host had prepared the main dining room so all the guests could sit together, like a real family. A white linen tablecloth, beautiful porcelain plates, crystal wineglasses and silverware. On the walls were pictures of long forgotten times at the farm and at the ceiling a broken crystal chandler.

For starters, Pety’s cook prepared a terrine of sheep; the farm owns 4000 sheep, and a spinach tart. As we sat down, we got to know the other guests in the estancia, like Dorothy and Guy from Pittsburgh, who travel 4 months a year. Or the Swiss couple who kept conversation to a minimum, and the two older German ladies. They were some of a kind. Bought a Volkswagen Van in Hamburg, transformed it in a camper, and shipped it to Buenos Aires. From there they already traveled to Ushuaia, headed north again until estancia Telken. And their trip will lead them eventually to Fairbanks, Alaska.

The main course was a sheep’s stew with rice and swiss chard. Some red wine was served by one of the sheep shearers, as conversation went on. For dessert there was a home made apple pie with a crispy crust, like a German streusel kuchen.

Next morning, breakfast was served in the kitchen, which was in my point of view, much more fun. Another long table, this time with a plastic table cloth. Big chunks of home made bread in a basket, home made marmalade in a crock pot, sheep’s’ cheese, coffee and butter as much as you wanted. Some old geezer with a year worth of beard was scrambling eggs in is blood stained pants. I learned he was the chief sheep shearer.

The American couple, - who I thought would be, just like any American, concerned about uncooked eggs, - dug into their scrambled eggs, wolfing them down like there was no tomorrow, without questioning if the eggs were pasteurized, or in any other way safe.

Then it was time to go, and before Pety allowed us to leave, we had to pose for a picture, as she makes pictures of every guests she receives. We turned south on Ruta 40, which has been since Mendoza our friend and foe. The sun was already hot, and while Sarah Brightnam was singing “Dust in the Wind”, we left kilometers and more kilometers behind us. At noon we stopped in Bajo Caracoles to get diesel. The gas station functioned as well as grocery store, restaurant and hotel. All in one, and easy for its population, which counted recently only 33 inhabitants. The landscape was monotonous, the Ruta 40 became smaller and smaller, and a fine dust settled onto anything in the car, even with our windows closed. At 4 PM we took a break close to Tres Rios, to have a coffee at restaurant Siberia. So far, we were the only customers, that day. The old lady offered us raviolis of Guanaco, Milanesas de Ñandu, but we passed this time. At the bathroom I washed the grey layer of dust of my hands and face. I looked a bit like Mel Gibson in “Mad Max”. Hahahaha

Finally, in the early evening, and 655 kilometers since Telken, we arrived in El Calafate, and found this little hostel, full of backpackers and drifters like us. Our room looked like a prison cell; very basic, but the bathroom was clean and we had a shower with hot water.

El Calafate looks pretty fashionable in its way, with nice stores, cool people, internet cafe´s and a lot of restaurants. Now, when we drove into the center, I already saw something I liked; “Toma Wine Bar”. That’s where we had dinner. A nice menu, good wines on the list, and toma accepts American express, what a relief!

We ordered a Doña Paula Malbec, and then came our starter. “Slightly caramelized sweetbreads”. This dish was probably prepared by the pastry chef. Too sweet that I didn’t tasted the breads anymore. For main course, I ordered ñandu, the smaller version of an Ostrich, but that animal was not available today, while I had seen hundreds of them along the way. What a pity. So I ended up ordering “ojo de bife”, the finest cut of prime rib. Juicy, pink on the inside, slightly blackened on the outside with just the right smell of woodfire. So tender I could almost suck the meat with a straw. Combined awesome with our wine, by the way. The service was very nice, and all in all we had a great evening.

January 7th, 2007

Breakfast this morning was like I was on death row. Instant coffee, fake juice and stale bread. I didn’t bother complaining. We took Ruta 11 to the “Parque de los Glaciares” to see the famous Glacier Perito Moreno. 55 meters high, a kilometer wide and 14 kilometers long. That’s a whole lot of ice, I guarantee. An impressive sight it was indeed, and when sometimes parts of ice broke loose, and fell into the lake, it sounded like canon shots. We took a boat ride afterwards to get even closer to the Glacier. A funny thought occurred to me, thinking I was treading in my parents’ footsteps, since they were here last year. In the afternoon we walked a bit around El Calafate, had some empanadas and a Quilmes beer (1 liter bottle). Then I did my performance as Ted the mechanic (that’s a deep purple song), and changed the air filter and diesel filter of my car. Filled up all kinds of fluids Jairo from LandBrasil gave me. (well, not exactly “gave”, since I paid for them, hahaha)

Now its dinner time, and soon I will post this, before we leave. Tomorrow it’s 320 kilometers to Rio Gallegos. If we’re making good time, we will drive on to Rio Grande. But that, you will read soon.

Lots of hugs for you all.