Honestly get a ceramic mate. The gourds are cool and all but in my experience the mould is inevitable, because they are tricky to clean and even more so to dry out.
Bombilla-wise just get a metal one that looks nice to you.
For yerba the common one in uruguay is Canarias, in particular Canarias Yellow but this is because they are too busy working, studying and partying to sleep properly so they use that to stay awake. Absolute rocket fuel. Recommend Del Cebador, is a nice one.
For the love of god drink it with hot (as hot as possible) water from a termo and without honey or whatever in it. It's supposed to be bien amargo
