Excursion to Estancia Santa Susana
We drove into the ‘pampas’, flatlands or plains, on our second day in Buenos Aires to visit a traditional Argentinian ranch or ‘Estancia’ for a ‘Gaucho Party’. We were greeted by several ‘gauchos’ or cowboys, who were pleased to give each of the ladies a kiss in welcome. The gauchos wore leather belts with rows of silver coins. Apparently the tradition began when they were paid in coins, but had nowhere to spend them. Quite striking!
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| Betsy gets a welcoming kiss from a gaucho. |
Those who wished were then invited to mount up for a brief horseback ride, while others chose the security of the wagons.
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| Soft lightweight saddles |
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You can see the pampas stretching to the horizon
behind the gaucho and his dog. |
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Lots of smiles from Bill, although he said
he found his first ever ride 'terrifying'.
Good for you, Bill! |
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| The old pay window, which now serves as a bar. |
We had a little time to relax on the lovely grounds before heading indoors for a wonderful lunch of salads, breads, and barbecued meats – sausages, beef, ribs, chicken – it just kept coming, with little jam pies for dessert. The gauchos also served as waiters.
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| Long tables of visitors, many from Latin America |
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Some of our happy group. By the way, the green bottles are water bottles,
though we also enjoyed wine, wherever we were. |
After dessert, the music and dances began. First, a singer who played the accordion, accompanied by a guitar, then a dance pair who performed both tango and more traditional or folk dance. They were excellent.
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| A beautiful bandoneón, based on the German concertina |
The highlight was the dancer who danced with ‘las boleadoras’ or bolos, that were originally used as a weapon against the ostrich and Pampas Indians. He was amazing! We saw a younger, more modern group of both male and female dancers perform on board the ship, but liked this traditional performance much better. I will try to post a video, or a connection to the video in my next blog.
At the end of the show, many of the audience got up and danced. The group from Costa Rica were the most enthusiastic, but George and Carolyn from our group joined in right away. I got to dance with one the gauchos. Fun! A great day.
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| George and Carolyn |
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| George and Jeannie |
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| Doesn't his look like fun? |
In my next segment, I will show you the game of 'ring lancing' which was demonstrated by the gauchos.
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