The gay caballeros

After breakfast on Monday morning we took a taxi to Parque Don Tomas on the edge of Santa Rosa. It has a very large lake, picnic and barbecue spots, a children's playland with a pink castle, and surprisingly enough, real live people. It was the most daytime activity we had seen in La Pampa. We walked around the lake a while and then headed back into town, where once again the streets appeared almost empty.

The day before we had tried to arrange a visit to one of the nearby estancias (ranches) so we could go horseback riding. La Pampa is clearly off the beaten tourist track. The provincial tourist office is closed on weekends and holidays, precisely the times when tourists are most likely to visit. All of the estancias we tried to contact were either not answering the phone or said they were closed on holidays. Walt Disney would be turning over in his grave.

As we walked back toward the central plaza, we stopped in at a locutorio (shop with public phone booths) because we'd used up all of our cell phone credit calling estancias. Luciano called a couple more estancias with no luck and we asked the owner, Silvia, if she had any advice. She went into high gear, calling around town to see what she could arrange for the chicos de Buenos Aires (boys from Buenos Aires), as she referred to us during her calls. Finally she found an estancia that agreed to let us rent horses as a special favor to Silvia and perhaps because it was unusual to have visitors from as far away as the capital and California. She was certainly the most goodhearted and helpful person either of us has met in a very long time.

We had an hour and a half to kill so we got some takeout milanesa sandwiches and strolled to a nearby park bench for an al fresco lunch. Then we popped into another heladería for ice cream, albeit with the hope that we might see La Reina de la Pampa there or perhaps another member of Pampeano gay royalty. No luck but as an aside, I must say that the ice cream in Argentina is truly awesome. I guess the natural grazing for cows, which results in their world class beef, also does wonders for the quality of their milk.

We took a taxi the 10 or so miles out to Estancia La Cuesta. It's far enough from town to seem a world of its own, quiet and peaceful in the windswept plains. The owner took us to the corral to meet our mounts and saddle up. We hadn't seen a single gaucho so it looked like our only choice was to become gauchos ourselves. It had been years since I rode a horse but I quickly developed a fondness for Jotate (JT), my mount. Luciano got Gete (GT), so apparently there's a fetish for initials on the ranch.

The three of us set off for a leisurely introduction to the simple beauty of Argentina's plains, as well as an opportunity to get famililar with our horses. Luciano grew up in the countryside of Salta and it had only been a couple of years since he had ridden last, so he felt right at ease in the saddle. It took a little longer for me to feel comfortable but eventually my youthful years of riding on my grandfather's ranch came back to me. We had a lot of fun, moving the horses into a fast canter, pulling back to a walk to rest them, and then running fast again through the open spaces. Along the way, our hostess pointed out to us some of the unique flora and fauna of the pampa.

All too soon, it was time to turn back. Darkness was approaching and we would be leaving for Buenos Aires that night. The ranch owners gave us a ride back to the hotel and we showered off the dust from our afternoon on horseback. A little nap, a snack, a short time on our notebooks in the lounge, and it was then time to pack our bags and start the journey back to buenos Aires.

Buses are the most common form of long distance transportation here. They're cheap (about US $45 round-trip for 1216 km/755 miles total) with frequent departures. Many have cama (bed) seats, which fold flat so it's easy to sleep on overnight journeys. Traffic was heavy as we approached the capital on Tuesday morning so we arrived nearly two hours late. After the isolation and tranquility of La Pampa, it was almost unnerving to debark in Retiro station with thousands of people jostling, talking, and hurrying about their business. Nevertheless, we felt refreshed from our visit to the heart of Argentina, ready to re-enter the metropolitan chaos once again.

Here's a slideshow of pics from our trip. You can click in it to go to the web album in Picasa (Google's photo sharing service).