This was a day on the road. We left the hotel at 9:00 AM. It was cloudy and the Massive was again draped in clouds. It took us about two hours to get out of the park on that bumpy, washboard road. We stopped numerous times for the photographers to take pictures of the guanacos--in small groups, herds, males by themself silhouetted on a ridge on the outlook for other males and pumas--their main predator, young ones, old ones, grazing, running, kissing. You get it we had plenty of photo ops.
At the border we stopped for lunch. It was the basic Chilean stew. Start with a clear broth, add a chicken wing, half a potato, a piece of butternut squash, a 1" slice of corn on the cob, and carrot pieces. Cook until almost done, but not quite. Pass minced parsley and cilantro to sprinkle on top. We had the beef version of this the other day. After lunch, we passed through Chilean passport check. Drove a few miles and entered Argentina through their passport check. Drove two hours to a bathroom/snack stop. Drove another two hours to ElCalafate. The big hills are covered with tan grass (it is the end of summer here) and are perfect camo for guanacos. There are clumps of grass, bushes, and something that looks like sagebrush. There were cattle and sheep ranches along the way. So now we are in ElCAlafate. This is another haven for trekkers. They are walking up and down the street. It would be easy to imagine that you are in Aspen or Jackson Hole. Chuck and I walked around a bit and then found a nice pizza place.
On the way here today our guide tried to explain the political system in Argentina. At this time the Argentine peso is very unstable. It was a good lesson for those of us who take the dollar for granted.
At the border we stopped for lunch. It was the basic Chilean stew. Start with a clear broth, add a chicken wing, half a potato, a piece of butternut squash, a 1" slice of corn on the cob, and carrot pieces. Cook until almost done, but not quite. Pass minced parsley and cilantro to sprinkle on top. We had the beef version of this the other day. After lunch, we passed through Chilean passport check. Drove a few miles and entered Argentina through their passport check. Drove two hours to a bathroom/snack stop. Drove another two hours to ElCalafate. The big hills are covered with tan grass (it is the end of summer here) and are perfect camo for guanacos. There are clumps of grass, bushes, and something that looks like sagebrush. There were cattle and sheep ranches along the way. So now we are in ElCAlafate. This is another haven for trekkers. They are walking up and down the street. It would be easy to imagine that you are in Aspen or Jackson Hole. Chuck and I walked around a bit and then found a nice pizza place.
On the way here today our guide tried to explain the political system in Argentina. At this time the Argentine peso is very unstable. It was a good lesson for those of us who take the dollar for granted.
No comments:
Post a Comment