Gauchos, horses, waterfalls, toucans and buses.

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San Antonio De Areco (23 June 2006)

The mellow town of San Antonio De Areco, which is ground zero for Gaucho culture is located about two hours drive from the centre of Buenos Aires. Nestled in the Northern Pampas of the province, San Antonio De Areco dates from the early 18th century.

We decided to spend a night, whilst still in BA, at one of the historic Estancias (ranch) to sample the life of the Gaucho, which defines the Argentinean culture. We chose to stay at the beautiful El Ombu.

After meeting our hostess and some fellow visitors over a welcome drink, we headed off on our first two hour horse ride, we were accompanied by a Gaucho and his girlfriend Gaucha. The weather was fantastic, crystal clear skies and the surrounding landscape glistened in the sunshine. Riding amongst herds of cows and horses we sauntered through the pampas. On arrival back at the Estancia we were treated to a traditional asado (Argentinean BBQ) of endless meats and salad.

Following a short rest we headed off again to enjoy the afternoon sun for another couple of hours. We were fortunate enough to see a river otter, falcons and numerous hares. We even managed to work ourselves up to a trot. We finished up the evening with a light dinner and a game of pool by the log fire.

The next day we awoke to a thunderstorm, ate breakfast and played scrabble before heading back to BA. This was to be the end of our Estancia extravaganza.

Puerto Iguazu

We flew up to the town of Puerto Iguazu from BA on 26 June 2006 and were picked up from the airport by our host John. He took us to the serene hideaway of his B&B, The Secret Garden. Here we were treated to the fascinating continual show of Hummingbirds visiting the garden to feed.

That afternoon we teamed up with our fellow guests and made the most of the clear skies venturing into the Iguazu National Park. Due to our time constraint, we made a beeline for the Garganta del Diablo (Devils throat). The smoke like plume of vapor, which can be seen at the start of the trek over the lakes, lured us towards the truly spectacular waterfalls.

The falls lie split between Brazil and Argentina within around 2000sqkm of national park consisting mostly of rainforest. The shear noise, power and size of the waterfalls are overwhelming.

The whole of the next day we spent trekking through the national park on the Argentinean side. Around every corner we were met with an amazing array of flora and fauna. We were fortunate enough to have seen Toucans both flying and resting on the branches of a tree at dusk. That evening we walked around the small border town of Puerto Iguazu.

On our final day, we decided to venture across to the Brazilian side (with a remise, a local driver) for a different perspective of the falls. This was a journey well worth making. We were greeted to Brazilian national park by many Coaties (small Raccoon like scavenging creatures) who were a little too curious for their own good! From this aspect we gained a panoramic view of the falls. After leaving the national park we spent an hour in the local bird park, and got up close and personal with various kinds of toucans and other exotic birds, including red ibis!

That evening we hopped on a bus for 28 hours making our way across the north of Argentina to the beautiful colonial town of Salta, the destination for our next blog.

Ciao Amigos!

K&K.

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Comments

[norma & bill]

exciting!!
What a wonderful part of your holiday, very envious. Looking forward to the next bit. Everything looks so perfect.

[los dos portenos]

Perfecto!
My girlfriend and I are living in Buenos Aires and her birthday is at the end of the month,and I was considering taking her to an estancia if we can afford it. The one you went to looked beautiful, would you happen to have their number? you are a good writer by the way