D17 -- Best Meal Yet

We would be remiss if we didn’t devote at least one our entries almost entirely to food! On day 17 we signed up for a guided hike up Cerro Frias, a three thousand foot mountain close to El Calafate. (The picture is one of the views from the bottom of Cerro Frias- it's much smaller than those mountains.) The hike was nice but not spectacular, and was actually a little frustrating because our guide sent us off on our own and then seemed out of sorts once we got a little lost. The highlight of the hike was when we came across a pasture of grazing cows. We started to make our way across the pasture when the guide’s dog, a large St. Bernard, started “herding” the cows. The cows weren’t in the mood and started to stampede in our direction. There was a brief period where we thought we might get trampled, but nothing too scary.



After our hike we were treated to a fantastic Argentine parrilla lunch. The lunch was served in a beautiful room with 360-degree views of the surrounding mountains and a roaring fireplace. We were brought huge platters of steak, potatoes, onions and pumpkin in addition to all the red wine we could drink. The food was excellent, and we really enjoyed getting to know our fellow tour members. We met a couple from Argentina, one from Germany, a family from Brazil, and a father and son from Israel. The son had just completed his mandatory 3 year service in the military and was getting ready to start university in Berlin. We were surprised to learn that only 20% of Israelis keep kosher. All in all a great day.
- Thomas