Estancia La Pelada

I haven't been blogging recently.  I try to live by the rule - don't blog cranky.  When I look around me, I want to see goodness. I know that many people blog to uncover darkness, but personally I blog to lift my spirits. I haven't been feeling it lately.  At the moment I see a lot of anger and frustration.  The thing is I don't want to look back years from now and listen to myself complaining, so I've said nothing.  It's no secret through the international news that Argentina is going through a bad patch. But I want to leave that all aside. I'm officially turning this frown upside down.  

Last weekend we were invited to an estancia.  Our family hasn't done a lot of the estancia thing.  When we first arrived we paid premium prices for a couple of mediocre experiences, so we never really developed a rhythm of visiting estancias.  We saved our travel money for the big guns - Iguazu, Calafate, the Peninsula Valdes, Mendoza, Salta, our many jaunts across the river to Uruguay and ultimately our trips to Easter Island and the Atacama desert in Chile. 

But I was intrigued by this estancia. First off it's a smaller place.  We were four families and we took over the whole place.  That sounded like fun.  And secondly it was much farther north than a lot of places close to Buenos Aires.  We drove all the way to Corrientes province, nearly seven hundred kilometers away.  It felt good to leave the province of Buenos Aires behind.  

The rest of the families took the overnight bus but we waited for morning and drove in our trusty family car, long known to the kids as Bruce from Finding Nemo.  With The Earnest Boy on Gravol - we've finally learned our lesson after serious barf sessions in the Peninsula Valdes, Salta and the Atacama - we were going on a road trip. 

The farther north we drove the more the scenery changed.  We spent hours travelling through farm country.  Once you get outside of Buenos Aires, Argentina is still a farming nation at heart.  There's a lot of land out there.  As we came into Corrientes province we noticed a change of topography.  The lands were wetter, marsh like.  Horses and cows routinely  stood in shallow ponds, hanging out.  Enormous birds were everywhere from herons to hawks. And more than once guinea pigs darted across the road.  We were not in Kansas any more Toto . . . 

By the time we arrived to the estancia we were ready to stretch our legs.  The others were out on a ride and we were greeted by the staff of the estancia to sit down for merienda.  In Argentina people eat four meals a day - breakfast, lunch, merienda and dinner.  With dinner starting at nine o'clock or later people need a five o'clock tea to bridge the gap.  The Force and I both took a cuppa and toast smeared with dulce de leche while overlooking the serene view of the river and the palm trees as the sun set. The skies were brilliant blue and orange. What a view.

We couldn't hold the kids down long.  As they spend their summers running about the country in Canada . . . they know what to do.  They ran off in search of dogs and cats, to check out the barn and to hunt for butterflies and toads.  They were in their element.  

The rest of our group arrived and we went on to have a wonderful weekend.  There were nine kids, aged eight to fifteen.  And they all got along wonderfully.  I didn't hear one iota of bickering amongst them.  I love that.  In the mornings we'd head out on a ride.  I'm not really a horse rider.  In fact I have a very healthy fear of horses.  My last experience was some years ago in Uruguay and I had to be rescued by a gaucho from a twitchy irritable horse.  But I put my game face on as we head out.  The head gaucho assured me that he gave me a calm, older mare. It helped to calm my nerves.  I called her Red Velvet and we got on swimmingly.   

The kids were amazing.  They had no fear and I was glad we invested in one year of ring riding lessons in Buenos Aires. The Glamourous Girl looked divine.  She rides tall in the saddle and looks only as she can, elegant and poised.  Within minutes she was off cantering across open fields with the wind in her hair. Beautiful.  

Back at the estancia life was gentle.  We showered and cleaned up and then lounged on comfortable old sofas reading a book or chatting while sipping on cool white wine.  We'd have a long, leisurely lunch and there was a lot of laughter. The afternoons brought more horse riding or fishing or going by truck on safari deep into the ranch lands. I did this and had the pleasure to see caimans, antelopes, fox, flamingos and wild turkeys. The best animals were the capybaras, which we saw in droves.  They are the world's largest rodent but not at all unpleasant.  It was like a bigger, kinder version of a beaver.  

We ate a lot.  There was too much wine, gobs of dulce de leche and plenty of fried things. They served fried meat empanadas as snacks and even fried bread at breakfast.  How can you say no?  We ate tons of grilled meat and joyfully, homemade pasta and gnocchi.  What's not to like? 

My favourite riding moment was on Sunday morning out in the fields, full of Hereford cattle. They ran around us, the horses unfazed by their skittishness.  The gauchos corralled semi wild horses and at one point we crossed a river on horseback as the world endless stretched out before us. I even learned to canter across the plains. It was a wonderfully scary moment. The lands of Corrientes are a timeless place.  One that transcends politics and economics. A special place that always has been, and always will be.  In an increasingly scary world, it's a comfort. 

Glamour Down

So after The Glamourous Girl's romp at the beach we thought she was home free.  Almost a week later she woke up feeling terrible. She couldn't eat or drink.  She was lethargic.  She was flushed. I kept her home from school.  At the end of the day we picked up The Earnest Boy and took him to the birthday party of a friend.  We didn't stay and came straight home so that she could rest.  She really wasn't feeling well.  

When we went back to pick him up a couple of hours later she urged me that we should gather him quickly.  She needed to get out of there.  I could feel her getting panicky. Her breathing was shallow. By the time I could get The Earnest Boy's attention out on the astroturf (it was a soccer party) she was asking for the bathroom.  We quickly made our way through the party house and in the middle of the hallway she let it go.  It was fully projectile. The staff were very kind and helpful.  Honestly, they couldn't have been nicer.  I whisked her off to bathroom to clean her up.  She immediately piped up, "I want to die. I'm just so embarrassed!"   

We of course had to make the walk of shame past the offending substance, collect her brother and say our good-byes.  I could tell she wanted to crawl into a hole.  I tried to cheer her up and assured her that you haven't really lived until you've barfed in public.  We've all had our moments.  And on the upside, she did feel better.  

We went on to have a quiet weekend and she of course made a full recovery with the exception of her pride.  I don't think she'll be going back to soccer party house any time soon.  

Glamour In A Sea Of Illness

This past weekend was another long one.  In the last couple of years Argentina has decided to celebrate Carnival with a four-day long weekend.  It comes at a tough time of year as the kids have only just returned to school the week before.  It takes us some time to find our groove again after six weeks off and routine is an important part of that transition.

This year as we headed into the long weekend I wasn't feeling great.  My chest felt very tight and full of goo. I had no energy.   The Force was also suffering from strep throat and taking antibiotics. And then on Saturday The Earnest Boy woke up vomiting.  Ugghh!  We were sea of illness.

Amidst our despair The Glamourous Girl was invited to go away for the weekend with a friend to Pinamar, one of the coastal beach towns south of Buenos Aires. After some thought we decided to let her go on her first major solo outing.  Run girl run!  

As we piled in the car to take her downtown to meet up with her ride The Earnest Boy started throwing up violently, within minutes.  Meanwhile I sat in the front seat coughing more vehemently than a life long smoker.  The Force quietly U-turned the car around to bring us home.  We weren't fit to be out on the streets.  After cleaning up the car form offending substances and sending The Earnest Boy inside to change out of his barf-caked clothes, I air-kissed  The Glamourous Girl through the window so as not to infect her and sent her off on a four-day getaway. She looked thrilled.

At home the three of us continued to be sick most of the weekend.  The Earnest Boy pulled it together first.  But The Force and I have been dreadfully sick.  I took myself to the hospital on Saturday afternoon and started antibiotics for what was diagnosed as bronchitis.  I'm not entirely sure it's what I have.  It's more like a mix of a wicked stomach flu and a gooey chest with 102 fever.   It's been gross to say the least and completely energy zapping.  

The Glamourous Girl returned home back last night looking radiant.  She had a glorious time.  They swam and went horseback riding through the forest and zip lining through the trees.  She had a blast.  

Today everyone is back to school and The Force has left on business.  I am still down for the count.  I only want to sleep.  I can't remember the last time I was this sick.  It's been years.  I know that the sun will shine again but for today I think I'll keep the curtains drawn.  I will dream of Pinamar and my little girl running free . . . 

Lazy Dayz

Our first week back from vacation was a lazy one.  The kids have been staying up late.  I have been staying up later.  We've been sleeping long and eating at odd times.  This is the vacation you dream about when your kids are toddlers, up at the crack of dawn and demanding attention.  It's been lovely. These are the lazy days of summer.

It hit us the other day that we only have two weeks left and then our routines will all begin again.  I don't think that any of us are even close to ready. We are trying not to think about school starting.  For now we'll try and squeeze the time we have left.

As a bonus we have grandparents arriving by jet plane this afternoon.  They will be here by dinner time.  The kids can't wait to get them into the pool and out for ice cream.

Summer is good.

Bahama Mama

Vacation in the Bahamas was a family hit.  We enjoyed ten days of relaxing fun.

This year we tried something new and copied an idea from a friend, allowing each of us to plan one day of the vacation.  The deal was that no one could complain or whine on someone's else day. (A comment directed at the little people.) The kids were all over it.

I took the first day as I picked the Junkanoo festival.  Junkanoo has been celebrated in the Bahamas for hundreds of years. Every year on Boxing Day and New Year's Day, Nassau heats up in one of the world's most colourful parades. When the parades originated Bahamians were slaves and forced to celebrate in secret, under the cloak of night.  People gathered and reveled with colourful costumes, music and dance. For those nights each year Bahamians would gather together to celebrate their humanity. They took control. It's an incredible story of triumph. To this day people plan for junkanoo festivities all year long. It plays a huge part of the history of the islands. 

Today the parade still begins at night but carries on well into the daylight hours which is when we went into the city. Trying to keep two youngish children up all night long was neither practical or realistic.  So we hopped in a taxi just after sunrise. Funnily enough the taxi dropped us off in what happened to be in the staging area of town.  We found ourselves literally stepping over participants who were catching a break between sets. What struck me immediately were the colours of these costumes, and the scale of them.  They were incredible.  Each of the costumes was carried by a single man who was barely visible once inside these man-powered floats.  They must have stood ten-feet tall.  And then there were the dancers and the musicians. What a celebration of life. 


We stayed for a couple of hours while I madly snapped photographs.  At some point I could see the kids starting to wane.  They weren't whining but they did need to eat breakfast.  We walked back to the edge of Nassau as quietly as we arrived and found a taxi to take us to the hotel for a big celebratory feast. Happy New Year!

The Force took the second day.  He chose deep sea fishing. The only issue we had with heading out to sea is that The Earnest Boy tends to get both car and sea sick. Motion is not his friend. The last time we had him on the ocean was during the whale watching incident of '09.  That did not end well at all.  Later on we watched him throw up for several days in a row while driving through mountains in northern Argentina.  So last summer I wised up and brought back children's Gravol from Canada. I was crossing my fingers.  

I gave him Gravol and let him snack on as many Doritos as he wanted throughout the trip.  It worked! He felt fine.  The waters off the Bahamas are so clear, that lovely shade of turquoise that seems too good to be true.  At one point we were in twenty-five feet of water and could see the bottom of the ocean perfectly.  It was just beautiful. With the sea air running through my hair it made for a good day. The Force even reeled in a fifteen pound wahu which meant that we would eat well.

The captain cleaned our catch and then the chef at the hotel cooked it.  Who wouldn't love that combination?  It was grilled, steamed and deep-fried.  This fish was mild and flaky and tasted of the sea.  It's probably the single best fish I've ever eaten.  When we couldn't eat anymore we sent the remains back to the kitchen.  Before we could gather up our things one of the waitresses came out to tell us how fantastic it was.  Anytime we wanted to go fishing she'd happily tag along.  

The Earnest Boy planned the third day.  He chose, I love this, a day at the beach.  His only request was to spend a day with this family, without leaving the hotel grounds.  It doesn't get much sweeter than that. So we did.  We played paddle ball in the sand and I bought sand toys for making sand castles.  We ordered lunch from our chaise lounges.  We took out the hotel paddle boats and buried each other in sand.  It was lovely.  I hope he never changes.

By contrast The Glamourous Girl chose a day at the Atlantis water park.  Atlantis is all about the flash.  We spent the day in inner tubes on lazy rivers and being shot out of water slides.  I'm a bit of wimp with these things.  I hate roller coasters.  But I found a few slides that meant with my approval and enjoyed myself immensely.  My favourite was a slide that shoots you down and drops you into a tube in the middle of an aquarium filled with sharks.  We all liked that one.  Meanwhile The Force and The Earnest Boy did one called the leap of faith that dropped sliders straight down in a scream inducing fall.  I skipped that.  We capped the day with Ben and Jerry's ice cream and sushi for dinner.  Perfect!

In between our planned vacation days we did a lot of relaxing.  We ate some great food and thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality of the Bahamian people.  Thank-you Nassau. It's been a great start to the New Year.