On Sunday we took a trip to Malargue, the mountain town where clear air and clear water create an ideal environment for two activities: observing the heavens and raising trout. Sky and water combined to make this an exceptionally satisfying day.
Following Route 40 up and over a ridge of the Sierra Pintadas that borders San Rafael, the landscape levels out on a plateau known as Pampa Amarilla. There's a salt lake Salinas del Diamante to the south of the highway and dry desert land to the north and straight ahead a view of three majestic Andean snow-capped peaks. Our driver points out El Sosneado, the site of the airline crash in 1972 that tragically took the lives of many members of a Uruguayan rugby team. The survivors headed west towards Chile seeking rescue, a rugged journey that took several months. Had they chosen to walk eastward, they would have arrived on the Argentine pampa and found help within a day or two. Every year, parents and relatives of the team members make a special pilgrimage to visit the mountain grave.
At intervals across the hardscrabble desert ranches where Black Angus cattle graze on sparse vegetation and gauchos can be seen riding their horses, plastic tanks stand out like strange beige mushrooms amidst cacti and sagebrush. The Pierre Auger Observatory in Malargue has installed 1600 water tanks as part of an international project designed to attract and record cosmic rays. The inside of each tank is a completely dark environment until cosmic rays enter and electromagnetic shock waves produce light. Solving the mystery of high energy particles is the goal for 280 scientists from 70 countries involved in the project. Where do they come from? How can energy be harnessed for use here on earth? What do cosmic rays tell us about the origin of the universe? A few questions to ponder on the two hour drive to Malargue....
Pierre Auger Observatory in Malargue
About 12 km outside of town, past the Dique Blas-Brisoli and Rio Malargue, a dirt road leads to a trout farm called Cuyam-Co Truchas. This family business includes a campground, a series of freshwater pools for raising fish and a restaurant where trout is featured on the menu. A worker catches, kills and cleans the trout that will be served for our lunch.
The restaurant overlooks the pools where trout are swimming.
A worker scoops fish from the pond.
The trout are cleaned.
The restaurant fills up with families enjoying Sunday lunch.
Slices of smoked trout and trout pate are served as appetizers.
The foil-baked trout is moist and delicious.
A perfect pairing with the fish.
Remains of a fine meal
Ambrosia, a light-textured, lemon-flavoured polenta dessert.
"We have heard so far the voice of life on one small world only. But we have at last begun to listen for other voices in the cosmic fugue."
- Carl Sagan
- Carl Sagan
RSS Feed
