Bariloche, et al

Desert

Sheep Marked for Slaughter

Downtown Bariloche

 

Jan. 16, 2009-From Glaciers to Desert

The wind is so stiff on this sunny day that we have waves on the lake. It sounds like the ocean and is as soothing. No surfing though.

It's luxurious having a forty passenger bus for twelve people. But all good things end. Today our bus broke down as we arrived at our lunch destination. Fortunately we had time to have a new one sent while we were eating so there was no inconvenience to us.

We drove through the main street of town on our way out this morning. The construction is of stone, stucco, and timber and chocolate shops are abundant.  With the lake and mountains in the background we could be in Switzerland. Maybe now we won't have to go there.

The view is spectacular and most people want a piece of it. New construction is taking place up the hillsides. Level land is rare and they had to lease land from a ranch to build the airport.

Glaciation did marvelous things to the topography but even the Patagonian glaciers are receding. The Andes is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire where the Nazca, South American, & Scottish plates push against each other. They are young mountains at only 60-80 million years old.

In no time we were in the desert and Manuel Huape National Park. The arid steppes spread before us as we compared the scenery to our own wild West. Jared (Juan) Jones was an American cowboy who was influential in Patagonian ranching as were his pals Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. They fled to this area and retired as ranchers before they got bored and had more adventures. 

Outback Overtones

We passed a few wild guanacos. They resemble small alpaca and are said to be the original ancestors of camels. We drove down a pine tree lined road on the approach to Fortin Chacobuco, a sheep ranch owned by an Englishmen and his Scottish wife. It's run by his sons now. We were met by Colley who for some reason speaks English with an Australian accent. Their sheep are of Australian Merino stock and are happy to be in what could pass for the Australian outback.

Colley explained the ritual of drinking Mate (mah tay), a tea-like drink as he and Fernando shared the brew from the same cup using the same straw. The straw is metal and has a filter to keep out the leaves.  Mate doesn't have caffeine but it does reduce the appetite and is high in antioxidants. Although the drink was used by the Indians the ritual has strict procedures started by Jesuits. The thought was that if they accustomed the natives to sharing Mate in a formal manner it would translate into the sharing of the body and blood of Christ during communion. I don't know how successful that was.

At the end of the 18th century settlers moved in and brought cattle. They moved the Indians out or killed them and started ranches. The scrub and water were too sparse for cattle to thrive but sheep succeeded. Unfortunately the wool industry flourished during wartime due to the demand for uniforms. Today the finest grade of merino is sent to Italy for men's suits.

Artificial insemination is used to grow the flocks but in the beginning, the owner of the ranch we visited wanted to do it the old fashioned way. He went to Australia to buy rams but found that it would be two years before he could import them. They'd have to be quarantined that long to be sure they didn't have hoof and mouth disease. His wife, being Scottish, was appalled at the waste of time and money. A vet in Bariloche was consulted and he suggested the rams could make donations to their cause without being present. To their disappointment artificial insemination didn't work. The brainstorm solution was to have several rams on the property who'd had vasectomies. They were permitted free access to the ewes in heat. Once a ewe was "covered" by a ram she was more likely to become pregnant through artificial insemination. I guess she needed those hormones stimulated. They also castrated rams to increase wool production. Eunuch sheep just laid around eating and growing wool with nothing else on their minds. Now you know more about sheep than you needed but I found it interesting.

They prepared a barbecue lunch for us cooked in an open hearth. We had real beef and sausage. To our delight the sausage was made from lamb and beef. The empanadas were divine. The best we've had. After lunch there was a demonstration of how to make chimichuri and empanadas. There we learned that the empanada shells were made with lard. As David says, "We don't knowingly eat pork or shellfish." The operative word is "knowingly."

Fam Walk

We had a short orientation walk around downtown Bariloche led by Fernando who was in a hurry to make a dental appointment. He had some kind of a tooth emergency. Two of our group went to the hairdresser and several napped. We wandered the town for hours with Leo and Ann from Colorado and experienced several failed attempts at ATM machines. In one location a stray dog wandered into the cubicle where the ATM was and hung out until he decided there were better pickings outside. We finally found a machine that liked our cards and had enough Argentine pesos for dinner. Dinner was pizza at last. Dessert for me was going to be a piece of chocolate from one of the several specialty shops. I wanted to sample a wrinkled rolled-up chocolate tube they're famous for. It was a dud. I ended up throwing it away. The rest had gelato which I tasted and was unimpressed with.

Tomorrow we're hanging around town to see more of the beauty and view the town from other directions. I think the stay here may be one day too long. There was an optional tour possible in the afternoon but no one was interested. I think Fernando is going to incorporate some of those places in the morning trip. He's really flexible with such a small group. He even said he'd take us to dinner at his favorite restaurant tomorrow night. Well, by take us he means get us there and back. I'll have to have a light lunch.

Toby