Sierra la Ventana

Lagoon along Ruta 3

On Monday we rented a little 3 door Chevy and drove down to Sierra la Ventana, towards the southern end of Buenos Aires Province in the pampas.  The pampas are supposed to be vast grasslands, but to satisfy the desire for shade, people have planted a lot of trees, mostly exotic ones, and often ones that have become invasive.  More on that later (see a post on Invasive  Plant Guide's blog, http://invasiveplantguide.com/blog/)!  Besides rangelands, there are vast fields of soybeans, corn, and sunflowers (just like the Eastern Shore!).  I was also surprised by the number of small streams and wetlands.  Somehow I had pictured the pampas as being drier, and I guess in some regions it is.

Hot water for mate drinkers

Jake drove and I navigated.  Roads are pretty well signed, sometimes with too many signs!  Upcoming curves, different speed limits for fog and rain, different limits for trucks and cars, mysterious symbols for tourist attractions.  The roads were mostly two lane roads and since trucks are required (and actually do) drive more slowly than cars, there is a lot of passing.  Jake could gauge his daring by whether I was gripping the door handle or not.  There are numerous tolls along the way, but mostly less than 5 pesos (less than $1) each.  We were warned to get gas about 100 km before our final destination because there were no gas stations along that stretch.  And one gas station we stopped at didn't have any gas.  Gas is pricey, about $1/liter ($4/gallon).  Gas stations though have conveniences like clean bathrooms and places to refill your thermos with hot water for your mate.  We stopped for lunch in Las Flores at a roadside Parrillada called La Familia.  I got a milanesa that hung over the plate and Jake got a bife de costilla (like a ribeye).  These came with french fries.  Next time we vowed to split a plate!  While we ate we watched the news which besides a spectacular glacier calving video featured stories about murders and robberies.

Estancia Cerro de la Cruz

Stream at estancia

Around 5:30 pm we arrived at our destination, Estancia Cerro de la Cruz.  It turned out were the only guests there for the week.  We had hoped to meet other people on this vacation, but it wasn't so bad having the whole place to ourselves either.  The main house was designed by a famous Argentine architect (he also designed the resort outside Bariloche, Llao Llao.  It is decorated in typical country house style with cowhide rugs, stuffed hunting trophies on the walls, and trophies for prize winning Polled Hereford cattle on the mantle.  The estancia has been in the same family since it was built in 1938, but the main house is used only for guests to pay for the upkeep.  The estancia itself started out as 6500 ha, but was divided between 2 family members so now the main house is on a mere 3000 ha (7400+ acres).  They grow soybeans, oats, sunflowers, corn and sorghum, but most of the acreage is devoted to raising cattle and sheep.  The grounds have a big swimming pool and tennis court and there are lots of indoor and outdoor games available to play with.  There is not tv or internet for guests so we got a lot of reading done too!  There's a nice stream that winds along one edge of the property, and a school group was camped out for the week on the banks.

Angelica greeted us - she was the hostess, cook and cleaner for the week.  Her husband and son run the farm operations and maintain the grounds.  Angelica started working at the estancia at age 14 and learned to cook from the mistress of the house.  From our first welcome tea with a cake taken right from the oven, we never lacked for excellent food!  More on that in another post too.