Areco is Gaucho and Estancia country.
Estancias are large ranches breeding cattle, horses or growing grain or vegetables. Many take in guests, who are treated to country delights such as Argentinian Parillas (BBQ), Folkloric Gaucho Shows, Horse Rides, Polo Schools, Bicycle Tours and Spas/Beauty Treatments.
There is some magnificient horse flesh around. Strong, well bred, tough animals who graze all over the country side, some are cleaning up the greenery along the road sides.
Gauchos are harder to find, especially the REAL ones, who still work with cattle and horses. The best time to meet some of those heroes of the Pampas is in November, when hundreds of them gather in Areco for a Traditional Fiesta. They turn up in their baggy pants and flat brimmed hats, handwoven ponchos, with their horses all done up in fine silver tack and beautifully crafted saddles.
To get from Areco Town to the 'campo' one crosses the Areco River, at this time of the year a pityful creek of polluted waters filled with garbage.
It tends to flood at certain times of the year. The last flood submerged the local Gaucho Museum (and memorial to Guiraldo, one of the most renown Gaucho Poets) under more than a couple of meters of water, destroying most of the accumulated documents and artifacts, as well as the collection of antique estancia furnishings
As I arrived shortly after midday, during blistering heat, the town was deserted. The only thing that moved was yours truly, and a few dogs. And they only moved to chase the least bit of shade. This guy (and the black one further into the shade) occupied the entrance to the one and only cafe that remains open during siesta hour(s) which lasts from noon until 4 p.m.
Everything else in town is cerrado - closed.
Glimpsed through a shop window - a handcrafted silver halter.
Glimpsed on a front porch - the only dog that moved willingly to greet passers by. He was probably too much of a puppy to know any better.
Every home appears to house a dog, who decorates the doorway. Hardly any of them is tied up. And there is a surprising absence of doggie poop (how do they manage?)
What do they call distance?
Things seem only far away because we have not seen them yet.
There is Pampas Grass in the Pampas...
And horses and horses and horses...
Intricately crafted saddle girth made from cow leather.
Detail of a wooden stirrup
A REAL gaucho.
When I asked him, whether he worked in a gaucho show, he answered, 'No, he was on his way to work with cabajjjjes'.
I took me a couple of seconds to translate this Argentinian pronouncement into Castilian - he works with caballos (horses).
I took me a couple of seconds to translate this Argentinian pronouncement into Castilian - he works with caballos (horses).
The celebrated Gaucho, equivalent to the Western Cowboy.
It is said, that the original gauchos lived almost 'wild' in the Pampas, nourishing themselves exclusively on beef (their colestrol level must have been sky high).
Abandoned cattle had found cow paradise with all that pampas grass, and the gauchos took advantage of steak on the hoof for the killing. At least until someone caught on, and allocated land and coralled the free roaming herds into private ownership.
But, the myth lives on in paintings, sculpture and literature
Street Gauchos...
A few wear oversized berets, the flat rimmed sombreros appear to be restricted to mounted caballeros.
The gauchos now mount plain bicycles (no ten-speeds, 3-speeds or mountain bikes here), mopeds and drive cars so ancient, they predate my birth date by a good margin.
Case in point...and this wreck was one of the more modern models.
But - back home to Buenos Aires. Bus Station in Areco...
Leaving the Pampas behind.
...and driving back to Retiro, past some of the worst slums/ghettos I have ever laid eyes on. The area behind the railway/bus terminal could rival the worst examples of urban horror: Daccar, Goa, Mexico City or Lima. A sprawling mess of torn tarps, corrugated iron, bits of ply wood, filled with people who walk through heaps of rotting garbage and around shallow ponds of - who knows what. One wonders, whether there is access to fresh running water or sanitary facilities.
No surprise, that the 'parks' surrounding this most upsetting area of Buenos Aires are a constant threat to anyone walking through them, locals or tourists.
That same day, the local police captured a small band of delinquents, who earned their daily bread by methodically holding up pedestrians of any ilk, and cleaning them out at lightning speed. One such incident was captured on video, and the resulting clip was aired over BA's news station.
Welcome back to the City.
Still love the place. There is an addictive quality to the city, I have met many people who came for a week and return for months and months or even stay for good.
One hopes for future improvement of the sad aspects and admires the joy to live and pride of city present in Argentinians of any social stratum.
