A visit to an "estancia" in Patagonia

We had an insightful, amazing visit to a working sheep ranch or estancia.  The owner,  an authentic gaucho,  was the perfect host as he told us about the 4 generations of his family who built and managed the ranch over the decades.  His home is a veritable museum of photos and momentos collected through the years.

The Patagonian steppe seems to swallow up the estancia

He showed us the main buildings and explained the controversial issues involving ranch life.  One included the killing of predators like pumas.  (Not much different from the US).

The vastness of the terrain and the hard, solitary life seemed daunting.

We ended our visit with a delicious lunch of fresh smoked lamb which we had seen cooking earlier.  It was a highlight of the trip so far.

Lunch is cooking

Lunchtime!


***We'll be going "off the grid" for a few days as we head into Chile and areas with no internet. 

Patagonia, January 31-Feb. 2

Patagonia is one of the most uninhabited areas on the planet.  It covers approximately 402,734 miles and has a population of about 2 million people, roughly one person per square mile.  We're spending 3 nights in El Calefate, a staging area for exploring this part of Patagonia.

The main attraction to this area of Patagonia is the enormous Perito Moreno Glacier in Los Glaciares National Park. It contains the third largest reserve of fresh water on the planet.  And, what's especially remarkable, is that this glacier is still growing rather than retreating as most of the world's glaciers are doing, some at alarming rates.  Every day the glacier creeps forward another 6.5 feet.  This phenomenon continues to baffle scientists .

At a stop to look at vegetation on our way to the glacier

We've seen many glaciers on our travels, but we've always had to fly or take a boat to them.  Here we rode in the bus, got out and walked up to within a quarter mile of the face of the glacier!!  Awesome!
 

The tango in Buenos Aires, Jan. 31st

The tango is generally thought to have developed in the late 19th century in working-class neighborhoods of Buenos Aires where natives mixed with slave and European immigrant populations.  The locals are very proud of this now world renown dance form.

We got a tango lesson from experts and then tried it out for ourselves.

Carolyn, Karen, Jeannie and Mary Ann 

La Boca is a working-class neighborhood in Buenos Aires that contributed to the tango's origin.  It is a colorful area where two and three families often live in poor, cramped housing but where the passion for life is obvious.   Mel could have spent several hours there photographing the many captivating sights.

Firefighters are heroes to the tenement dwellers

Homage is paid to Pope Francis, born in Buenos Aires 

Buenos Aires, January 29-30

It's been a very busy few days!  The metropolitan area of Buenos Aires numbers about 14 million people, making it the 5th largest city in the Americas.  Our local guide told us we would need weeks to explore this huge, diverse, 400-year-old city, and I believe it!!

Downtown Buenas Aries

The majority of the natives of Buenos Aires have European origins, with Italian and Spanish the most common.  The Jewish community is one of the largest in the world.   It is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world and is often referred to as "the Paris of South America".

I'll recap just a few of the memorable events there.

Plaza de Mayo is the city center and seat of the executive branch of the government.

   This is the balcony of the building where Eva Peron is said to have addressed the people of Argentina.

The Recoleta Cemetery is one of the most unique graveyards in the world.   It is always listed as one of the tourist highlights of the city. It has 6400 graves, each one different in a wide assortment of architectural styles.  They include miniature Greek temples and Baroque cathedrals.

This is the grave of Eva Peron

Iguazu Falls

The Iguazu Waterfalls system is the largest in the world. It borders Brazil and Argentina and is a stunning feat of Nature.

Elevation: 640′

Height: 269′

Width: 8,858′ 0″

Number of drops: 275 (Wikipedia)

Next stop:  Buenos Aires, Argentina