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From the bus terminal in Tacuarembo we were met by Susann, the co-owner of Panagea - a traditional Uruguayan estancia (cattle farm). We had signed up for five days of living the life of a gaucho (cattle farmer). We left Tacuarembo and were driven along the motorway to Argentina before we turned off the main road and onto gravel, leaving the modern world of Uruguay behind…

The car continued deep into the farmlands of the north of the country. Noticeably the small farmhouses we passed became more simple, electricity lines disappeared along with the bridges that should cover those rivers running over the roads. We were about to experience a different world within a modern country, where living simply is a way of life as there isn’t any other way of doing things. We arrived at the estancia and were shown to our rooms and met the estancia’s gaucho, Juan, who would be our ‘boss’ for the next five days.

One of the first and most notable things about this farm is its location, kilometres away from civilisation and the nearest neighbours. The grounds of the estancia are very pleasant, green, covered with trees and an accommodating patio. The wooden fenced stables just down from the house lie next to the well. It all has the look, feel and atmosphere of a real estancia - or what I would imagine it to be. The house was an old traditional building for this area. A building with many rooms, no electricity and no running water. The farm’s well serves for the majority of its water supply and a water tower ensures at least a few taps can be used. Electricity is available between the hours of six and ten, after that it’s up to the trusted candle.

Susann is a particularly good cook and her kitchen is very primitive, no piped gas or electricity, just good food cooked how it was all intended to be done, on cast iron infrastructure.

The farm is run in a way that, if you stay here, you will be thrown straight into the thick of it. After selecting boots and hats from the front porch our first farm activities saw us learning how to saddle up horses the gaucho way - slightly different to the western way, with the saddles and bridles being very different. After we had had a run through the saddling procedure we were given our lesson on how to ride these creatures. After our five minute interactive discussion we got on our horses and rode out of the paddock and into the farm wilderness. As these aren’t ‘tourist’ horses the thought of having to ride a ‘real’ horse made good use of my worry lines.

The surrounding farmland is very similar to northern Britain - rolling green hills, streams running through the hilly valleys, mini forests milling between cattle, flint rock faces glistening in the cold sun, separated by wire or the more traditional rock fences. There wasn’t a soul around, so much peacefulness and beauty.
We rode out into a giant pen where young cattle were being kept. As soon as they saw us they knew it was feeding time, so they charged over to the troughs with us in the middle. Amongst the excited cattle we filled the troughs up and weaved our way through the congestion back to our horses. Already we felt like we were living the gaucho life!

After a hearty lunch we rode out again and this time we learned how to herd a flock of sheep. We collected them from the main espace of the estate and herded them to a small pen. Of course it wasn’t that easy - joined by two other travellers from the estancia we ended up losing a mother and a lamb. This gave Juan a few headaches as he tried to re-capture the two. We watched on impressed as Juan and his full time gaucho controlled the field. After displaying what it is to be a gaucho we finished getting the sheep into the pen. Our task for the afternoon would be to separate the mothers from the lambs, then worm and castrate the lambs (if need be) before channel al the animals back into the field. We all had our tasks and all got stuck in - we had no choice! As I said before, straight into the thick of it! Dale (one of the others) and I were part of the ‘grab’ contingent while Cecilia and Hanna wormed (via mouth) and marked the lambs as ‘done’. It was a great experience for us all! We rode back and thought about how in a day we had learned so much about the life and times of working on a cattle farm. I even had some sort of decent control over the two horses that I had ridden!

We had another fantastic dinner and enjoyed stories and grappa con miel (grappa with honey) around the fire. Panagea is one of the richer estancias; allowing tourists into their home has enabled Juan and Susann to have a few mod-cons like electricity for four hours a day and some running water via the water tower. The fact that Juan is a vet also helps their situation.

The next morning saw us up with the birds saddling up our horses (by now we are actually beginning to know what we are doing!) and walking out again into the vast wilderness of the farm. We are also learning a lot more about the life and times of a gaucho through Juan and his gaucho. This morning’s task is to herd together some cattle and move them back to the house where a more substantial pen will be used to ‘de-horn’ the calves.

We first tracked down the herd and helped gather them together. Cattle aren’t as agreeing as sheep so we had to make sure we didn’t make the same mistakes as we did yesterday. For novices I don’t think we did too badly! We herded from fenced field to fenced field and managed to keep the herd together - ok we did have the gauchos keeping a very close eye on things…

When we reached the house we left the cattle in a stone pen and were on hand to guide the cattle into the shoot, while the gauchos injected them and cut the horns of the young off (it makes them more valuable and reduces the risk of injury to the rest of the herd).
Our afternoon would consist of moving more sheep around, performing worming injections and getting well and truly involved with the castration process!

We spent the rest of our time on the estancia getting involved with similar tasks ‘honing’ our skills! We also got the opportunity to watch the Uruguay v Argentina world cup qualifier on TV with the locals, eat perfect Uruguayan beef on the patio, go for an unescorted ride in the evening spring light (such an amazing area) and even play badminton on the court in the back garden. Our time here has given us an insight into what it is to be a gaucho, a highly skilled and demanding job. The financial gain is below average it seems.

It’s been a tremendous and individual experience, again another trip highlight. It would be easy to stay here for a year and get involved with the different jobs the different seasons bring (shearing the sheep, checking for pregnancy etc, etc). If you want to try the lifestyle of a traditional gaucho then email Panagea here
Full Photos on Flickr

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