Food, birds & financial collapse

Argentinean food is about as sophisticated as American cars. It is all about the meat and the more the better. Novell cuisine it is not. As much as I occasionally enjoy steak and chips, I am now starting to develop a craving for green vegetables. They don’t really do vegetables in Argentina, apart from potatoes. The concept of healthy eating is also lost on them. Everything comes swimming in grease. Even the pasta dishes come with a mountain of cheese to help ensure you exceed your recommended daily intake of saturated fats!

I have also been surprised how expensive Argentina is. A meal out costs £10-15 and food in the surpermarkets is more expensive than back home (a part from wine which is stupidly cheap). They are having major issues with inflation, which is currently running at about 25%. Considering the economic outlook for the country, they are heading for another financial meltdown similar to what happened in 1999-2002. Unsurprisingly the populous are not very happy with the current state of affairs and therefore there have been a number of protest and strikes over the past few months. If you think economically we have it bad in the UK, you should see what it is like in Argentina!

Today has been a fairly lazy day looking around the town of El Calafate. The most interesting attraction is a nature reserve on the edge of town, which houses an amazing array of wetland wild birds. Flamingos, kestrels, ibises and a wide variety of ducks and geese. I spent a very enjoyable couple of hours bird watching and taking photos.

Tomorrow we are off to El Chalten (about 200km North), which is located in the north section of the Los Glaciares National Park. Still no truck, so we will again be using a local coach. From El Chalten I hope to arrange some proper trekking, including glacier trekking and ice climbing. Expensive at over £100 for the day (I told you Argentina was expensive), but hopefully worth it.

Anthony