El Charabon (Uruguay) March 19 - March 26

We arrived on Friday afternoon, just as the heavens opened.  We were expecting a fairly grand estancia….we were mistaken.  We drove past the first gate – just wide enough to drive a car through, but with no driveway beyond – only grass.  “that can’t be the main entrance” I said.  50 yards further on, we came to a second entrance with no gate and drove in to a small yard with tractor sheds on one side and what looked like a staff accommodation block on the other with a fairly basic communal dining area in front.  There was no life in sight.  I stopped the car and walked in the rain up a concrete footpath into the main house where I found a couple of staff members, who then showed us to a rather tired, small room with virtually no cupboard space (we now had 10 items of luggage!), where the 3 of us were meant to sleep.

To cut a long story short, we were not happy and were subsequently shown several other rooms, marginally better than the first, the largest of which we eventually opted for.  The rooms however are pretty basic, dated and the whole place is a bit tired  The fact that it continued to pour all night didn’t help, with the rain splattering on our corrugated iron roof above.  Yet again, we were the only guests staying, so no one to help alleviate our gloom.  So, this was our first impression.  

The next day things then got substantially better, starting with the weather.  We were introduced to our wonderful Gaucho guide, Alejandro and to his 11 year old son, Antoni.  

Alejandro immediately took a big shine to Philippa, but even more to Jemima, with whom he developed a very special relationship over the next 5 days.  Likewise did his son Antoni.  

Coffee, Mima's best horse EVER!!

Our horses were superb – in fact, they seem to have gotten better and better with every successive estancia.   Alejandro very quickly gave us free rein to go at whatever pace we wished, so rides with him were immensely fun.  

On Day 1, Philippa was on an ex race horse, and much of the ride was spent at a flat out gallop.  That horse was unbeatable, but on day 2 she asked for a horse that was a tiny bit less exhausting, and then Jemima and James were in with a chance.  Most of our races ended up neck & neck but on two occasions Jemima won!

Mima milking the cow

Alejandro was in charge of the 2000 acre estate and all the livestock.  On our request, he involved us in his day-to-day duties, such as rounding-up and counting cattle and sheep and then moving them on to new pastures; one day we challenged Jemima to wrangle one herd of cattle entirely on her own; she had the help of a dog but still no mean feat.  On the milking front, Jemima got it first time, but James, much to the amusement of all and despite his claiming he knew exactly how to do it, extracted not ONE drop!!

Jemima's maths lesson on the terrace

With the gorgeous weather that followed that first day, the charm of the place grew on us.  The countryside was just like that of the South Downs…but without the rain.  The staff were all delightful, (although of course none spoke a word of english) and the food not bad at all.

  

Drinks with Graciela & George

After a couple of days, the delightful owners, George and Graciela, departed for Montevideo (where George is an eminent anaesthetist at the British Hospital).Having not expected Philippa’s Spanish to be as good as it now is,  and concerned for our ability to communicate post their departure, they had booked an english- speaking woman to come and look after us – an attractive 28 year old architect called Leticia Gonnet who spoke excellent English and was an accomplished rider.

Pip & Leticia

Leticia took us on a couple of excellent excursions.  The first was to Cabo Polonia, an amazing, totally isolated fishing village-turned-tourist attraction, some 45km away.  

Our truck!!

 The village is only accessible by 4-wheel drive and is in a National Reserve (so you have to pay).  There are no formal roads to it, or in it and the approach is in a beaten up truck, through sand dunes and along the most beautiful beach yet - and totally deserted.

The best beach in the world

Coffee on the beach

What a wonderful place to chill for a couple of days – Latin America’s answer to the Thai beaches where they host the full moon parties.  Philippa said she could easily live her and turn hippy, earning a living playing the guitar - until she learnt of the constraints in sanitation!

Cool or wot?

There we were lucky enough to spot sea lions and seals and spent a wonderful few hours exploring.

On another afternoon, Leticia took us (and we took Antoni) to the Ombu Forrest: a unique species of what look like trees, but are in fact plants as they have no growth circles in the trunks or branches, but are made of what is effectively layers and layers of 'paper' that you can just crush in your hand; they are extraordinary!  

This reserve is preserved with huge dedication, and new specimens are carefully planted and nurtured every year.  The ones you can see in this photo are the few survivors - they are probably 200 to 400 years old, but nobody knows....

Access is only via boat, since the forest lies on the edge of a 12,000 hectar lagoon, surrounded by wetlands.  Our overriding memory (or mine al least) was being bitten by hundreds of mosquitoes, which clearly thrive in that warm, moist environment.

Antoni and Mima

One other notable event was going to the annual horse auctions at the local town of La Rocha.  There must have been the best part of a thousand horses there – some broken, others wild, (as in not broken in).  Some were due for immediate dispatch to the food industry (Princess Ann would approve), others were due a longer life in one form of work or another.

A horse being auctioned

What we found most striking, was that we saw some beautiful animals being sold at ridiculous prices.  Alejandro bought a good-looking foal for about 80 pounds.  Other – trained horses – were only fetching 300 to 500 pounds!  The foal was bought for Antoni and they named him Mimo, the male version of Mima, after you-know-who.  The afternoon was capped when we fitted out Jemima with her own Gaucho outfit!

Our departure from El Charabon was bitter-sweet:  Alejandro, Philippa, Anthoni and Jemima had all bonded to such an extent that the departure was highly emotional, and tears flowed from all parties.  Alejandro has 5 children – all boys – and Jemima is the daughter he wishes he was able to have.  He was hugely drawn to her determined and gutsy personality, and said it was extraordinary to find a child with her talent for riding and her empathy with horses, who was not from a Gaucho family where children are effectively born into the saddle.

Antoni, his youngest, a little Mowgli like character, who can jump on a full size horse from the ground and ride it bareback holding only the mane, is a divinely gentle, good-looking and sweet-natured kid.  Through their common love of animals, he and Jemima formed a deep friendship, despite their inability to speak the same language, and they too had a tearful farewell at the end.  In summary, what could have been a disaster, turned out to be a great experience!