Apóstoles

Apóstoles calls itself the national capital of yerba mate, and the claim is well founded: Ukrainian and Polish settlers established the first large commercial plantations here in the early twentieth century, and the town remains a centre of growing, drying and milling the leaf that Argentines drink daily. Plantations surround it in rows of dark green, and several mills receive visitors to show the process, from harvest through the smoky sapecado drying over fire, the long ageing in wooden stores, and the final milling into the coarse blend that fills a mate gourd. The Fiesta Nacional de la Yerba Mate each November brings competitions, music and tastings. The town's Ukrainian heritage is visible in its onion-domed churches.

What you actually see

• The plantations - rows of yerba mate under shade around the town.
• The mills - drying, ageing and milling of the leaf, explained on visits.
• The November festival - the national yerba mate celebration.
• The Ukrainian churches - onion domes left by the founding settlers.

When to go

April to October is the comfortable window and overlaps with the harvest, which runs through the cooler months, so mills are working. November brings the festival. Summer is hot, humid and quieter in the mills.

Honest expectations

Mill visits usually need arranging in advance and are not always available to walk-in visitors. The town itself is plain, and outside the harvest and festival there is little activity. Tours are conducted in Spanish.

Nearby

Posadas lies north; Santa María la Mayor and the southern missions are east.