In search of a whole lamb barbeque

Ushuaia, Argentinia — We arrived in Ushuaia a day early because of bad weather in the Falklands. Viking stayed up all night and came up with about twenty different tours we could take today, giving ample opportunity for differing opinions regarding best way to spend the day. Well it ended up with breakfast together followed by totally different tour choices. More blogs to follow-

As for me, I signed up for an overland tour through Terra del Fuego to visit its two largest freshwater lakes Escondido and Fagnano. The trip featured a stop at a barbeque restaurant for authentic Gaucho style smoked lamb and live guitar serenade. As it turns out the lunch was the main attractions and the lakes not that exciting. Here is how the day went:

We sailed up the Beagle Channel to Ushuaia in the early morning light.

We were in Ushuia ten years ago and it looks like it has doubled.

I headed out on my tour with cameras ready to roll. I even had an empty seat for the cameras.

About an hour later we rolled into the rustic spot with smoke rising from a glass walled building.

We were offered a salad bar, wine and soft drinks and this — a tray of potatoes and lamb which had to be carved with an ax in the ever popular checkerboard pattern. The blade did not discriminate between bones, fat, skin and meat. You might ask, “What cut of lamb was it?”  The answer would be whole lamb, all cut! I went back into the kitchen to see if the chef would share the recipe. YES he would.

Take a skinned and gutted whole lamb off the table. Season with a sack of salt.

Stake the lamb and it’s companions around a hardwood fire for four hours. Chop into hand sized chunks.

Place the cooked meat on a tray over a charcoal warmer and place a try in front of every two people in the room.

While waiting for the bus you can walk around the property and visit their second but un-associated business — a sled dog training center.

While I saw a lot of live dogs I did not see any live sheep. Makes you wonder.  From there we visited the two lakes which looked a lot like lakes everywhere except these were in the Andes Mountains.

No boat rides today and unfortunately no bathrooms.