Evening at El Calafate

Melinda who was feeling a bit ill went back to the hostel for a nap. After fixing up the tours etc., we decided to take a break for a while and have some Mate at one of the local cafes while.
Mate is a traditional South American caffeine-rich infused drink. It is prepared by steeping dried leaves of yerba mate in hot water and is served with a metal straw from a shared hollow calabash gourd. The straw is called a bombilla. The mate leaves are dried, chopped, and ground into a powdery mixture called yerba, which means "herb". The bombilla acts as both a straw and a sieve. The submerged end is flared, with small holes or slots that allow the brewed liquid in, but block the chunky matter that makes up much of the mixture.

The place where we sat for the mate was in a lovely place with lots of artesanal shops all made from wood. The mate we got here, turned out to be the mate tea and not the real mate, so we spent about 20-30 minutes only before going to the hostel to pick up Melinda on the way to the Laguna Nimez (a wetland park where there are flamingos) right next to the Argentina lake and in the town itself.Read more