The ranch...

Wow! Have had a truly amazing month! I´ve decided not to post everything I wrote whilst I was there, as I just don´t think I could do it justice, but suffice to say I´ve had a lot of fun and have loved the whole experience. The ranch completely lived up to expectations in terms of just how remote it was, and one of the highlights for me was the fact that there was no one around to ride back out with me to the midway point when I left last week, so I had to do it on my own. A month earlier, being in that much open space with no real idea of which direction I should be heading in would have terrified me, but riding out with just a small back pack full of the essentials (water, homemade granola, and a few spare clothes), on a beautiful, trustworthy horse, is something I´ll never forget. I shed a few tears along the way, especially stopping for a moment on the crest of a hill for a last look back at the valley in which the ranch nestles. It´s a very special place.



The best thing for me was living so close to nature, not only in terms of location but, for example, chopping wood to light a fire to cook, living in a little wooden house built without nails, showering outdoors looking up at the trees whilst I washed my hair, waking up with the sun, racing to get things done before dark as I had no electricty in my house, walking by moonlight, amazing nights spent lying on horse blankets looking up at stars, seeing shooting stars from my window, sleeping with the windows wide open and feeling the breeze in the night, going to bed by candle light.



Of course, the horses also played a huge part. They live as a herd in El Mundo, a giant valley of a pasture, and have to be rounded up on horseback. I´m not sure who was rounding up whom when I tried to do this, but it was a good laugh! They live a very simple life, only eating what they forage for, and are used less for fun, and more as a means of transport through the rugged landscape. I enjoyed getting to know them - to begin with they were quite aloof - and trying to pick one out of the herd to catch once they´d been rounded up into the corral usually ended up in a mini stampede, me standing in the middle with ten or so horses and a few cattle racing round me in circles. As the days went on though they became easier to catch and I don´t think I´ve ever met such willing, yet reliable horses. You didn´t need to tie them up, just drop the rope and most would stand exactly where you left them. Mana was one of my favourites, a little dun coloured mare, she was the sort of horse that seemed to do what you wanted just by thinking it.



It was great being able to go off exploring, either or horseback or on foot, and one of my favourite places was Confluencia, a spot where two rivers met. There was a great swimming hole there, and I spent lots of time reading, or going for dips in the river and drying in the sun. A few of us camped out for a couple of nights too, riding back first thing in the morning in time to start working, the sun making the mountains behind us glow pink. There´s a graceful row of poplar trees that marks the spot.



I´ve also met some great people, and seen something of a completely different way of life and culture. I´ve made numerous mistakes in drinking mate, a kind of tea, from saying ´gracias´which means you don´t want any more, to slurping it too loudly, but all have been taken in good humour. I´ve attempted to drink red wine in the traditional way, from a squeezy goat skin bottle that doesn´t touch your lips, but you have to squirt it into your mouth. A lot of my clothes have the marks to show that I never quite got the hang of it. I´ve eaten a lot of goat and spent a lot of time laughing with gauchos despite the fact that even after a month I can barely understand a word they say!



My eight day trip up into the high mountains is also something I´ll remember forever. I didn´t want it to end... Reaching places that only a handful of people will ever see, meeting the people that work this land and call it their home and enjoying their hospitality despite the fact that they have so little. The trip had a certain spontanaeity to it, we´d meet a gaucho along the way, and the plan for the day would change - we´d ride over to his puesto, usually nothing more than a little hut made from sticks, and spend the afternoon round a fire enjoying an asado, a side of goat spit-roasted over the coals. One day turned into a complete party in a cave, and I ended up sleeping in the cave under a big pile of ponchos, an unbelievable place to wake up! We ate fish fresh from the river, I was persuaded to eat deep fried fish heads doused in lemon juice, and we´d gnaw on goat ribs in the firelight, or pull a leftover one out of our saddle bags to munch on whilst riding along the next day. We bathed in thermal springs, covered ourselves in hot black mud, and then washed it off in icy cold river water. We were joined along the way by herds of horses, not wild, but roaming freely in the mountains and pastures, shiny coated and galloping and bucking just for the fun of it. All in all, brilliant!

Bring on the next adventure!