around lunchtime we arrived at estancia rolito, where we had booked a half board room for the night. ana, the owners’ daughter greeted us and showed us our room. her puppy barba was scared of us and everyone but her and the cats and we brought in our bags. we agreed to meet her outside the main house in an hour for a tour round the estancia.
three hours later we awoke from one of those rarely special siestas that returns your mind relaxed, your body re-energised and your soul smug. the late afternoon sun was shining across fields and fences into our old fashioned cosy room and onto the sheepskin bedspreads that warmed our feet below. we got dressed and found ana, who was still up for showing us around. a short walk took us to the beaver dams and although we didn’t see any beavers we certainly saw their prodigal dams. introduced to the island fifty years ago, they had multiplied without natural predators and become pests, destroying all the nearby trees for their branches which they cleaned and used to reinforce their dam walls. barba scared himself with his own reflection and jumped on top of the beaver’s den excitedly. there were doubts whether this time the gene responsible for sheep-dog instinct had survived the generation gap. soon he would be out with the other 25 older dogs learning to round up the herds but at this rate prospects were bleak.
we came back to the house and readied ourselves for dinner. we sat down with pepe round the living room fire and he talked us through estancia life. an ex-orthopaedic surgeon from buenos aires, he occasionally flew back to the capital, hopped on his 750cc 1970s triumph and sped round the country checking up on post-surgery patients unable to afford the return trip to buenos aires. these days he was busier with the farm and his responsibilities included artificially impregnating thousands of yews with diluted semen from a rented ‘super ram’. he was also an expert mechanic and later showed me a 4x4 he had made by somehow fusing a discovery chassis he salvaged from a wreck with the body of a jeep. it took a week or two to gather the 5000 sheep, a week to shear them all (with the help of another 16 expert shearers) and another week to return them, somewhat lighter and colder, back to their fields. unfortunately this had taken place the previous month so there was nothing for us to do. some sheep like those we’d seen on mainland argentinian patagonia produced fine marino wool and no meat; theirs were good for meat but produced lower quality wool whose prices appeared to be in terminal decline. they had to sell the wool at any price, because the sheep needed shearing whatever, and storing the wool was expensive and a fire hazard.
i had always wondered what happened to sheep before humans sheared them – did they just become big balls of wool on 4 twiggy legs? ana politely explained that today’s sheep were the result of years of selective breeding by humans and that was why they were so woolly. pepe explained that the meat in argentina was so good because butchers used cows of no more than 380-400kg whereas export beef came from 500kg+ cows. he told us if we wanted to eat the best meat, when we were back on the road we should look out for where truckers stopped to lunch. we definitely would. annie explained there was no real summer in tierra del fuego and without a greenhouse vegetables and fruit would die in the night frost. to keep it warm would require gas heating, an onerously expensive proposition given the lack of natural gas and only the availability of costly truck delivered tanks.
with all this talk of meat my saliva glands were gearing up to help my jaw drive my teeth into a juicy leg of lamb or a bloody rib-eye. instead a solemn bowl of pasta arrived. it was tasty but nonetheless vegetarian, possibly vegan. annie asked e-j if she wanted more but she declined. i could only presume e-j was expecting a second course, this time of meat. annie asked me whether i would like some more. i quickly weighed up a game theory matrix:
(1) accept second serving of pasta
(2) do not accept second serving of pasta main course is meat Already too full to eat satisfactory amount of meat. Frustrating -10 points.
Ideal scenario – have reserved immense eating capacity for consuming A LOT of meat +20 points
main course is not meat or no main course at all Disappointing lack of meat, but have at least filled up on pasta 0 points. Nightmare scenario. no meat and going to bed hungry as too embarrassed to then ask for more pasta -50 points.
multiplied by estimated probabilities and decisions (1) and (2) compared vs scenarios:
(1) accept second serving of pasta
(2) do not accept second serving of pasta main course is meat (60%)
-6 +12
main course is not meat (40%)
0 -20 -6 -8
the numbers tilted towards accepting a second bowl of pasta and their volatility was lower so i took the safe bet and went for bowl numero dos. e-j either read my mind or had waited so long for me to decide that she changed her mind in favour of another bowl too.
there was no main so we had indeed made the right decision, but i had completely ignored the possibility of a delicious chocolate dessert and when that turned up i was almost happy there hadn’t been meat which would have restricted my still considerable dessert eating capacity.
we talked about our car and our trip and potential property investment in ushuaia. satisfied, we went to bed.
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