On Horseback in the Andes

At exactly 9 AM, we were picked up and driven out to a ranch where Enrique, the owner, welcomed us with breakfast. The ranch wasn’t as big as what you might find in Dallas, but it was a cozy little place. In front of the house, there was a terrace with a view of a small pool and a field where a foal and two llamas roamed. Enrique had a total of 15 horses grazing in a pasture a bit away from the ranch. There were also quite a few dogs around—one of them looked a bit rough, but overall, it seemed like the animals were well taken care of. Our guide, Gemma, was luckily a girl from Scotland, so the conversation flowed easily. It was nice to meet someone who spoke English! The horses here have their own unique look. The ones we rode resembled a sort of ancient horse with big heads and small ears. That said, I have to mention that they were incredibly well-behaved. Honny handled the ride with style, moving smoothly at a walk, trot, and even a bit of gallop at the end. He only had a little mishap with a tree. It can be tricky to steer and duck at the same time, so he ended up with a few scratches on his head after brushing past some low-hanging branches. On top of that, we had some pesky mosquitoes visiting us at night, and one of them bit Honny on the eyelid, so now he looked a bit like a returning soldier! We rode at the foot of the Andes Mountains, passing fields where tobacco is grown, which is an important crop up here in the north. Huge fields are cultivated and tended to by hand. There are only machines for plowing the land; everything else is done manually—what a job! The sun was blazing down on us, so we were pretty red by the time we turned back to the ranch. There, a massive lunch awaited us with vegetables, salads, potato salad, bread, wine, and some really good grilled food. It was delicious—spicy sausages and incredibly tender pieces of meat. They eat a lot of beets, carrots, tomatoes, corn on the cob, cabbage, and salad here. The potato salad is made with small pieces of egg and diced potatoes. We were also offered blood sausage again. They’re quite fond of it in Argentina. Now we’ve found out it’s made from just blood and pig fat—so, no thanks! Feeling well-fed, we took a siesta with the others at the ranch before being picked up and driven back to the city, where we went hunting for flight tickets from Salta to Buenos Aires. That turned out to be easier said than done, as many flights were completely sold out, so we got put on a waiting list for a departure on Sunday or Monday. Next, we headed to the street with all the travel agencies, where we booked a rafting trip for the next day. Here, a 2-hour rafting trip with lunch only costs 80 pesos—cheap compared to Mendoza. Finally, we took a taxi to a hostel that, according to Lonely Planet, was supposed to arrange pub crawls. When we arrived, it turned out the hostel was closed for renovations :( But we discovered that this area, Balcarce, is packed with bars and restaurants—something Lonely Planet definitely needs to update! After a well-deserved shower, we were ready by around 9:30 PM to head back to the area with the bars and restaurants. It’s also around this time that Argentinians start to venture out for dinner. For just 50 pesos, we got 2 large main courses (lasagna and steak), bread, snack sticks with dip, 2 colas, and a bottle of really good wine. Can it get any cheaper? :O Later at the bar, we struck up a conversation with two girls from England. The drinks were flowing over the counter like a river. A big fancy cocktail with 8 cl. of alcohol costs 8 pesos, and a small beer is just 3 pesos. Cheers or Salud! :o)