La Estancia

Okay at first it seemed like a bit of a tourist trap... but in the end our trip to an Estancia turned out to be a real highlight!!!

An Estancia is basically a farm or ranch in Argentina (land of meat!)... there you will find real live Gauchos (cowboys that can dance) and lots of old school customs including a huge Asado (BBQ). Mom and I and a minivan full of a large Mexican family and one guy from Peru drove 80 km outside of BA to experience the Estancia life!

We set the stage with a sampling of wondeful Argentinian red wine from Mendoza and a couple of empanadas (bread filled with meat)... from there we went on to see how the gauchos milk cows - and even squirt the milk directly from the udder into their mouths... yuck! I then did the unthinkable... I climbed onto a horse and rode around the field with a group of people who wouldn´t understand what I was screaming if the horse starting biting my leg or something - it turned out fine in the end because my horse must have sensed my fear and slowed down so much that I was about half a km behind everyone else! Mom tried out the horse drawn wagon with some of the other Mexicans and they seemed to get along just fine.

Next stop was Asado - they served blood sausage (didn´t touch it), and other sausages, then chicken, then beef, then more chicken and more beef... oh and wine... and more wine - I think there were a few salads thrown in there too. YUM! During our meal we were entertained by the jefe (boss guy who sang) - he played the guitar and sang traditional songs from Argentina as well as a french-canadian song in our honour! We were also dazzled by traditional dances from every region in Argentina - they have some crazy Gaucho moves where it looks like the guy is breaking his ankle over and over! And of course, we also saw the tango and even tried it ourselves. Mom was already way ahead of me since she took tango lessons in the hostel the first night we arrived!

Our grande finale involved traditional Gaucho customs. These included bull riding, standing up on top of the horse, herding horses and throwing a lasso to capture animals - all very impressive. But the best custom was how they get their wives... they race down the field with a small stick and in mid-gallop they manage to poke it through a tiny ring that is hanging off a structure (hard to explain- but very impressive) - they then present this ring to the girl they want to marry and she accepts with a kiss! I think mom and I are now both engaged to the same Gaucho... we´ll have to fight that one out when I get home.

The day ended with a tasting of mate (tea) and a sleepy ride home. We made good friends with the Mexican family and met up with them for drinks another night in BA - which was another big highlight from our trip.