Patagonia

I spent last week in Patagonia with Mike and his friends! it was really really amazing. I'm trying to do work right now so I will just make some notes and maybe come back later to fill in the details.
1. flew to Bariloche on Tuesday morning

2. rented a car and drove to Villa La Angostura and stayed in a little cabin in the woods.

3. wednesday morning took a ferry ride from Villa La Angostura to the end of the Quetrihué Peninsula.

4. visited the Bosque de los Arayénes, a very special forest which grows at the end of this peninsula.

5. hiked back up the peninsula, 12 km, back to Villa La Angostura. Mike and Mat and Jan jumped in a lake for an icy swim! We hiked through magical forests and met horses and cows in grassy clearings under the trees.

We got lost in the woods on a very steep mountain. We enjoyed breathtaking views from the top of the mountain.

We made it to the end of the trail, hot and tired and hungry.

6. Thursday we drove the Ruta de los Siete Lagos (that's the Route of Seven Lakes) which actually passes nine lakes and winds between the mountains

from Villa La Angostura to San Martin de los Andes. It turned out to be a rough dirt road, sometimes one lane; it was a little scary but an amazing day of picture-postcard views.

7. Friday morning we went back to Bariloche and met our cabalgata guide, Carol Jones, and four other gringos and saddled up for our two-day horseback expedition!

This was one of the most amazing experiences EVER.

Also it was one of the most painful, because apparently my butt is not made like other peoples' and I am too bony to ride a horse without excruciating pain. We rode mostly through fields, across creeks, up and down foothills, with the Andes all around us, and camped at around 1200 meters elevation. Carol served us steak from her own cows, cooked over the campfire, and it was delicious.

After the second day of riding, Carol drove us in her 1968 Land Rover over treacherous dry(ish) creek beds and dirt "roads" for at least an hour until we got back to the paved road to Bariloche. We collapsed into our hostel, took long, hot showers and slept a lot. Flew back to Buenos Aires first thing in the morning.

Estancia

Estancia Santa Rita
Originally uploaded by elizajanecurtis

Emily came to visit and we did lots of fun and exciting things like eating steak, and eating ice cream, and eating Peruvian ceviche, and eating facturas, and eating empanadas, and looking at lots of museums and having fun exploring the city despite a bit of rain. We went to visit Estancia Santa Rita, about two hours outside of the city in Buenos Aires Province. In the summertime estancias are a common way for middle-class Porteños to spend a day or a weekend in the sunshine and fresh air, riding horses or lounging by the pool. There is a crowd of Estancias all around the city, and most are still working ranches, as well as weekend destinations for city-dwellers and tourists. Buenos Aires and its residents seem to really celebrate horses and gaucho culture. In addition to riding, the estancias offer colonial architecture (sometimes overnight accomodations), beautiful lawns and walking paths around the grounds, and tasty asado (traditional Argentinian feasts of grilled meat).

Estancia Santa Rita
Originally uploaded by elizajanecurtis

Estancia Santa Rita was built in 1790; another guest told us that the current owner is an architect and together with his creative wife and daughters, he made some fanciful renovations and additions in the past 15 years, resulting in the sort of art-nouveau-castle pink tower complete with swirls and mythical sylvan statues decorating the outside. The result is a little bit silly and weird but I admire the creative spirit that went into it. There seems to be some construction going on to one side of the house, so I guess more imaginative additions are coming soon.
We shared the estate with just six other ladies, all visiting from either New York or London. We enjoyed such ladylike activities as eating super tasty meals of home-grown meats and roasted vegetables, wandering the lawns and gardens in front of the pink castle, lounging about drinking wine or tea, riding horses, knitting and reading by the fireside. The paths were pretty muddy and the mosquitos were ferocious so we didn't go for a hike in the woods but we did get to see the grounds on horseback. I'd never been on a horse before and it was fun! My horse knew that I wasn't really in charge of him so he kept trying to wander off and munch on tasty bushes and trees, but he was otherwise a nice relaxed fellow and it was not scary at all and our rides were really the highlight of the trip. It was a very girly, deluxe way to spend a few days, and sauntering around the pampas on a horse made me feel like a little Argentinian gaucha.