goucho livin´

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I´ve spent the last 5 days living on an estancia, an argentine ranch, deep in the sierra cordoba, a region 2 hours north of Argentina´s second biggest city. A common touristy thing to do here is live like a goucho, or a latin cowboy, and pretend you´re as manly as they are. I am not, but I still had a great time, filling my days galloping horses, learning to lassoo, herding cattle, drinking loads of mate, stargazing and having a generally brokeback experience (minus the lovin´). The Puesto Viejo as it´s called is part of a ranch land some 300,000 hectars in size and was truly the wild west. Gun fights, stealing neighbours cattle, hunting wild animals, swimming in spring water, 4x4-ing in a pete-trousdale-eat-your-heart-out-army truck, branding large animals, and wrestling a full grown ram were just some of the experiences. A highly recommended activity for anyone who wants something different than the hostel/city/beach thing. I made it out alright, a little scraped up from falling off a horse at full gallop, a little blistered from a day spent machete-ing trails, but only better and stronger from the experience. Enjoy the photos, and for more info on the estancia check out http://www.estanciapuestoviejo.com

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Photos

blanco
a beautiful part of the world

estancia puesto viejo (old post)
notice the solar panels, the rain barrels...very kyoto.

view
the place I was supposed to parapent from...didn´t happen.

pampas grass
seen in gardens of canada´s rich and famous, this stuff is grows everywhere here.

the wee ones
so cute...but goats really stink. they also sound like humans when they scream for their mothers. but they just taste so damn good with chimmichurri! I remain, a carnivore.

sepia
the guest house, evening time

gnarly
these bushes are everywhere, chaps are necessary.

off road
good thing for oh-shit bars, I´d be a dead man.

Comments

[Marieve]

Awesome...
Hey dude, Love that you're having such a good time and learning so much, what a treat, what a time... thinkin' about you darling, Marieve

[John Paul]

Your a lucky man!
Your mom sent me the blog address and I have been reviewing your nefarious exploits. I am truly envious. I blush to say that my only experience with Argentina was a Saturday night ballet performance in BA. I left Toronto on a Friday night to BA, spent Saturday in our company office then to the ballet performance on Saturday evening and then to the airport for the return trip via Sao Paulo, Curacao, Miami, Denver to arrive in Calgary at 9:30 on the Monday morning following. This was when Norcen was funding a trip through South America for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet to celebrate the opening of a Norcen exploration office in BA. Unfortunately I had to be in Calgary on Monday and I always felt that I had missed an opportunity. I have since hoped to get back to Argentina to spend some time exploring and meeting the people the way you are doing. I have met a large number of Argentineans and without exception they have proven to be honest and personable people. Continue to revel in the explore and keep safe. Uncle John

[allan]

hey ....
where's my promised Post Card ??