For more than 4 days and around 16.000 acres are been affected by the huge fire , provoked by a tourist at the National Park Torres del Paine , in the Chilean Patagonia.

The wind speed is not helping at all; wind gusts of 60 miles per hour (120 km/hr) are pushing the fire even outside of the limits of the park.

More than 600 tourists were evacuated already and President Sebastian Piñera declared catastrophe area, which means all the Chilean Emergency entities are focus on the fire 100%

Yesterday Chilean Police evacuate the park and decided to close it until fire is under control, unfortunately, that is not happening soon, due to the weather conditions and the difficult access for fire fighters through air or land

All Chileans we are expecting for rain and the decrease in the wind speed, but rumors said that the park will be close at least for entire month of January.
Follow Fire Live on Webcam HERE

A few days ago Ines a friend of us from Ancud Chiloe, proud she mentioned she finished her new house with a few guest rooms, Ines is famous for her local gastronomy skills and now not only she can offer meals also lodging at her place.
Ancud is a 15 thousand inhabitants city located at the north extreme of this magical Island, which had cautivated many travelers and is Isabel Allende last book inspiration ( Maya’s Notebook )
Ancud is close from puñihuil bird sanctuary, where you can find penguins from September to March and is one of the few places where both magellan and humboldt penguins nest.
If you want to spend the night in Ancud , Ines House is a great alternative much cheaper than regular hotels , besides where you can experience the well known Chiloe hospitality!

Ines made a new facebook page where you can see more details , address ; google map location and pictures!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hospedaje-Latorre-Ancud/167019716721860

One week ago, we participate in a activity with our very good friends of Kawen Adventures in Bariloche , Argentina . Many people had been asking about a reccomendation there , usually because Puerto Varas is just 5 hours away and many travelers want to cross just for a good ski day or to kayak those wonderful rivers near Bariloche.

If you have intention to visit Bariloche , we think this could be a great option , very reliable young people , that shows all their love to that Magnificient part of the world called Patagonia

http://www.kawenadventure.com/index.htm

http://www.facebook.com/pages/kawen-Adventure-Company-PATAGONIA-/111159632254788?ref=ts&sk=wall

Chile is well-known for its seafood and fish which is the main diet of our people, 2600 miles of coast give us a great variety of food, which some of them is endemic, next time in Puerto Varas you can’t miss Paila al Pil Pil , is a broth with the best of our sea and a very popular among locals contains:
king crab; purple crab pincers; locos, which is an endemic kind of abalone; calamari; octopus; shrimps; razor and regular clams, everything previously salted in olive oil, red hot chili pepper and garlic, is simply delicious !!! Give it a try, the best place to find this dish is in the restaurant “La Olla” in Puerto Varas
Address: Ruta225, KM1,Camino a Ensenada
Restaurant Accept Credit Cards, Menu in English , Phone : 65-234605
65-233540

When you visit Bariloche, besides the chocolates , you won’t want to leave without the chance to see real mapuche silver work, Mapuches are the native people from Chile and Argentina , and their work in silver is considered sacred, in fact , no one who is not mapuche could be considered a “Rutrafe” (silver artisan) , every piece of work has a meaning and is unique .
In downtown Bariloche , Cristina Marin which is a real mapuche artist has her little stand in the handicraft marker located on the corner of Moreno and Villegas Street, you will have the time to stop by and enjoy her work, it’s a unique opportunity, don’t miss it!”

What is YERBA MATE ?

Yerba mate is the national drink of Argentina, although is very popular in south of Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil and some areas of mexico too. The word ” hierba” is spanish for herb or grass.
Mate is from the Quechua ” mati “, meaning cup. Yerba Mate is therefore literally the ” cup herb ” . The Paraguayan natives ” Guarani are reputed to be the first people who cultivate the plant introducing mate to the first European who were Jesuits missionaries , who spread the habit of drinking mate as far as Ecuador. Mate Herb is a tropical and subtropical, needing high temperatures, high humidity and up to 1500 mm of annual rain. On average 300.000 tons of mate are produced each year. In the wild the plant needs about 25 years to develop completely, reaching a height up to 45 feet. It blooms
Between the months of October and December .
The act of drinking yerba mate is highly stylized, ritualistic process, the cup originally a dried and decorated gourd is also called mate, made out of almost anything these days anyway. Mate is still sipped from mate cup using a metal or wood filtered straw called “bombilla”

How to prepare mate

The gourd is filled two-third of the way with moistened mate herb. Hot water around 80 centigrade but never boiling water, then you poured very slowly ( this is called “cebar el mate” ) . Then is sipped through the ” bombilla” which has strainer at its lower end to prevent the minced leaves from reaching the mouth. Of course there are as many different techniques to prepare mate as mate drinkers.
Some of the methods are:
Fill the mate cup with Yerba mate up to 3/4 of its capacity. A variation that will give you more tea per infusion and a less potent taste is to fill the mate cup only half way or even less than that.
Pour some hot water in until it nearly fills the cup. Do not worry if some of the leaves remain dry floating on the top, They will eventually absorb water in subsequent infusions
Let it stand a few seconds and replenish with hot water when the previous one is absorbed by the dry mate leaves
When the water is not absorbed anymore, close the ” bombilla’s” mouthpiece with your thumb and insert it firmly into the mate and drink away

Mate is traditionally drunk in a particular social setting, such as family gatherings or with friends. One individual ( known in spanish as the ” cebador”) assumes the task of server . When the water is gone, the gourd is refilled by the server with hot water and passed to next person in the group. When that person finishes, the gourd is handed back to the server for another refill. This rotating process of sharing is what makes the act of mate drinking a moment of intimacy for those present. When one has had their fill of mate , they express as much to the cebador when it is their turn to drink, by simply saying “gracias” ( thanks) as they receive the mate. In the tradition of mate- drinking , ” gracias” means that this mate accepted will be the last to be drunk, and serves as an acknowledgement of the kindness and kinship offered by the cebador and those with whom one has shared the mate.
There are some regional differences in how mate is consumed. In Northern Argentina mate is often sweetened, to the dismay of purist. In Paraguay, mate is often drunk ice-cold. In Uruguay, mate is often just carried around in thermos flasks. Some people replace the water with milk, specially for the children. Yerba mate is supposed to have powers such as mental stimulation, fatigue reduction, stress reduction, insomnia elimination, appetite control, body immunization, blood detoxification, nervous system toning, restoration of hair color and preservation of youth.