Mathe - The Gesture of Goodwill

Left the ‘Highway Hotel‘ immediately after we had eaten a fair breakfast. The receptionist was most unimpressed and rolled her eyes to great effect to which I responded with my ‘Paddington Stare’. So you can imagine who came off the worst.

We piled all our gear into the taxi and made great haste to Los Acesbos Hotel on the mountain side and which overlooks the Beagle Channel AND which has almost no traffic let alone any noise. They were delighted to have us with them again and arranged for a driver to take us up to the Lakes and moved our luggage into our room.

We then drove off with an English speaking local who proceeded to take us high into the mountains and to the magnificent lakes surrounded by high mountains and beech forests.

We bought [more] scrumptious chocolates in a small café in a town called Taluan which also has the best bakery in Ushuaia. There we were introduced to mathe which is a tea made from the sticks and leaves of a specific bush which is a social ritual in the area. The water should be 70% hot and 30% cold which is then poured over the concoction and sipped through a sieve-like straw. Shared as a friendship social opportunity everyone sips through the straw in turn as a gesture of goodwill. To the uninitiated palette the mixture tastes a little like breaking up sticks and mixing cut grass together, with some hot water [remember 70%-30%] thrown into the bowl. However it does apparently keep hunger at bay so perhaps I have discovered the next diet fad.

We had lunch overlooking one of the lakes. As always from an Argentine the meat is ‘free’ – not free as we know it, but as much food as you can eat for a set price. David had lamb and I had chicken. Of course I ended up with calefate ice cream, which was as delicious as ever.

On our way home we were to visit a Husky breeding area, but having glimpsed them on our way out we decided enough was enough and relaxed in our room overlooking the magnificent Beagle Channel. The news of an earthquake 6.5 on the Richter’s scale in the Ushuaia district was rather alarming, but as no one was hurt and our friends in the Drake Passage had a good crossing we were not too perturbed by the news.

Determined not to have an evening meal we succumbed and caught a taxi to Chez Manu which must have been one of the best meals we had ever eaten. Obviously meat is a great commodity here and should be enjoyed at every moment. David had beef, I crab [another delicacy from the Ushuaia area]. Unfortunately there was a ‘crab holding area in the restaurant and I put David on ‘crab-watch’ to ensure that one of the last two in the water was not about to be my meal. There is a happy ending – I ate one of the cousins and the one in the water lived to tell another tale.

We were driven home by an American couple who started to chat when I was taking a photo of the crabs. Of course the inevitable political questions started which confirmed our solidarity for staying in South Africa and the general ignorance of outsiders of the real South African issues – not that I am sure about any answers myself.

Travel makes me more and more aware of the transience of life and how fortunate we are to have traveled and visited the places we have.