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El Calafate
lake and mountain
Endless roads
This is still early in the season!Patagonian sheep
Sheep raising was Patagonia's main industry for many, many years. As well as Spanish(mainly Basque) and Welsh settlers who came to take up the vast tracts of land available to anyone willing to brave the harsh weather and empty spaces that make sheep-raising the only viable way to farm this land. Scots, English, even New Zealanders came and by 1937 Patagonia was one of the world's major wool producers - second only to Australia.
A combination of over-grazing that lead to severe erosion problems and the development of man-made fibres that saw the price of wool plummet caused a massive decline in the industry through the last quarter of the 20th century. The final death blow came about 15 years ago when one of Chile's southern volcanoes erupted and the prevailing winds carried a massive cloud of volcanic ash over the Andes to be dumped on the struggling estancias of Patagonia. It seemed as though the days of the estancia were completey over. Less than one-fifth of the number of sheep that once grazed here remain and the number declines each year.
For a few of the estancia, the boom in tourism has been an answer. Offering short visits or longer stays that enable their visitors to explore the steppes, woods and lakes of the region, go horse-riding, bird-watching and fishing, or just enjoy one of the ultimate getaways from the frantic modern world, some have been able to hang on but the logistics of distance, expense and infrastructure mean that this is really only a very small Band-Aid on a very big wound. A visit to an estancia (we went to El Galpon, 22km from El Calafate) is a great way to learn some more about this passing way of life. Over the evening you'll be introduced to several different breeds of sheep ( merinos, south downs, corriedales and others -photo 1), watch a shearer at work (photo 2), meet the kelpie sheepdogs (photo 3) and admire how they and their shepherd-master work as a seamless team (photos 4 and 5 - click on the last photo and look for the white dot in the background - an iceberg making its magestic way down the lake).
You can buy your own piece of the history of Patagonia's sheep industry in a sweater or scarf in one of the shops in El Calafate... and (vegetarians, stop reading) Patagonian lamb is delicious - there's something about lamb raised in places like this that makes it extra sweet and the way they cook it here - whole lambs roasted in front of an open fire - makes it just so tasty.
