Mate Rotonda

When we had reached half way through our walk from the North to South, Hristo joined us. There are some old steam run vehicles displayed in the open air here. From here we walked further South to the Mirador Chorillo. There were very lovely views from the viewpoint. After that, we ended our walk at the Mate Rotonda, so called since it has a statue of the Mate cup and bombilla.
Mate is a traditional South American caffeine-rich infused drink, that was first consumed by the indigenous Guaraní and also spread by the Tupí people. It is prepared by steeping dried leaves of yerba mate in hot water in a shared hollow calabash gourd and is served with a metal straw from. The straw is called a bombilla in Spanish, a bomba in Portuguese, and a bombija or, more generally, a masassa(straw) in Arabic. The gourd is known as a mate or a guampa; while in Brazil, it has the specific name of cuia, or also cabaça.

Coyhaique has a special association with the drink. One can find a lot of shops selling mate herbs, gourds and the bombillas.Read more