El Gaucho | Snorkeling the ABC Islands

Yesterday was the Forzani’s Mother’s Day Race in aid of the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit. It’s a cause we’ve supported before and this day was pretty nice. Weather was warmish, with only a slight wind, just enough to help keep you cool as you run.

The race is a bit strange in that you actually run down one of Calgary’s main streets – Macleod Trail – but only on the south bound side! The north bound side is still active, with cars whizzing by… There is a barrier, so there is no danger, but it is one of the charms of the race.

The course was nice and flat, with only a couple of minor uphill portions. I did pretty well, but I tell you something is very strange. I use the app MapMyRun to track my runs, and as I crossed the start mat, I clicked it on… After the race, it takes quite a while to get the phone out, turn off the app, and save it. I was really pleased with my time of 32 minutes and 20 seconds. Pam and I had a look and we oohed and aahed.

I check my official chip time on the website this morning and I’m at 37 minutes! Ah well… I prefer the MapMyRun stats, but I guess I have to live with being 34th in my category. In my last race I was 630th in my category, so that’s not a bad comeback.

We had lunch with Mom and Rod a little later on. Nice Mother’s Day.

Today, Thursday, December 11, we woke up to a beautifully calm day, and the ocean was glassy smooth. So we headed north to a wreck that is easy to swim to from shore.

It was really quite something. Literally, MILLIONS of fish hang around the ship, inside and out.

The water depth is 6-8 feet so the viewing is fantastic. We saw tons of the usual suspects, plus some gorgeous French Angels. There was a huge trumpetfish. Man, what a big guy he was.

But the real treat was the trigger fish. I love that fish – had a really cool experience with one in the Caymans, but this was the first one I’ve seen here, I think. He was a great looking fish, but he didn’t like to be photographed. It’s not a bad pic of him, but wish I could have gotten a beauty of him!

We did see a barracuda, but it was a smaller one, only about 2 feet. We also saw a couple of cool scorpionfish. They look just like a rock, so it’s really tricky to see them in the water.

For dinner, we headed out to an Argentine steakhouse called the El Gaucho. We’d heard good things about this place, and it took us a while to find it. As we were about to give up, we stumbled upon it. It was busy, as we were told it would be. We had a small wait, but they are associated with a small club, Garufa’s, across the street, so you can go have a drink, listen to the entertainment, and they’ll buzz you when your table is ready. TRUST ME ON THIS ONE – skip Garufa’s! haha That night’s entertainment was karaoke, and I take back any nice things I’ve ever said about karaoke. My ears are still bleeding.

The meal, however, more than made up for it. It’s a beautiful restaurant inside. The tables are large, with leather/cow-hide seats. They serve you on wooden chargers. The waiter, a local Aruban, was funny, friendly and efficient. The food was unbelievably good. Our friend Jorge insisted that Argentine beef was better than Alberta beef, and guess what? He’s 100% correct! Easily the best steak I’ve ever had. Pete felt the same thing.

For desert, I had the tiramisu, and it was the best desert on the island. The meal was so fantastic I had to have a nice port and a Cuban cigar to finish it off in style. The port was really nice, but the threat of divorce stopped me from the cigar! haha