December 9, 2025
Chalten 2
The attachment of drinking mate, not a friend but pronounce mat-tee, is similar to that of coffee lovers, which like coffee is a strong stimulant. Mate the national drink of Argentina: green tea called Yerba, usually comes in 1 Kg packs and I have a newly opened pack in my food bag. A metal straw called a Bombilla, and a special cup, though any cup will work, called the mate, is essential mate drinking paraphernalia.
To wake up in the morning and find the mate and metal straw is not where you thought you left it the evening before; and a search of all other possible places it could be fails to find it, is devastrating. This was the loss which faced me this morning.
I thought I had put it in the place it usually lives, inside the top of my backpack ready for today's hike. That's what I would've done, but somehow I put it down in the campsite common room to do something, was distracted and forgot to take it back out to my campsite. Of coarse the first I knew it was missing was on opening the backpack this morning and saw it not there. There isn't many other places on my bikepacking outfit it could've absentmindedly been put, but I turned out the panniers in the hope I'd. put them there, but nothing. I even asked at the campsite reception without any joy.
The cup (mate) came from the Patagonia microbrewery in Bariloche, visited the day before my first day cycling and the straw was bought on that day. I thought it would be a souveneer when this trip is over. Now its gone.
The other dispiriting thing at the moment is, the whole of the O Higgins group whom I'd lived with for almost a week have dispersed. Continued travelling. It had to happen. However, Quentin, the French Panamerica cyclists I met in Cochrane is here. He got his brakes sorted, well, the Magnura brakes were replaced with simple cable brakes.
With all the faffing, looking for the mate, I was late setting off on that hike.
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