Estancias, horses and planes!

On Wednesday (13th Feb) we hired a car for our drive to the first estancia (ranch) that we are staying at (for two nights). The scenery during the drive was magnificent and we also managed to make a stop at a little town called Tolhuin which is reputed to serve up the best baked goods on Tierra del Fuego (we sampled and we agree!). We arrived at Estancia Viamonte at about 5pm and after a little confusion, finally found our way to the guest house. Set between rolling hills and the open ocean, its white buildings with red roofs made for quite a sight as we approached along Ruta 3. This estancia is owned by the descendants of the first European settlers of Tierra del Fuego and houses so much history of times and people past. We were welcomed in to the family and treated to wonderful hospitality throughout our stay. The guest house, Seaview, was beautiful. It had a very English feel on the inside which was enhanced by the tea and biscuits we were served when we arrived. Our room, with an enormous and extremely comfortable bed, was on the front of the house with views of the sea through the trees. What a treat it was to stumble across this place and manage to make a booking at such short notice. On Valentines day it was 10 years exactly since we got engaged and I can’t think of a more lovely place to have been. Our two days at Viamonte were spent walking along the empty beach, watching the men round up the sheep and sipping gin and tonic in the evening, with the owners, before dinner (at which we were served up delicious food in great quantities). After saying our goodbyes at Viamonte (along with promises to post out jars of marmite to the owners as soon as we get home – not the easiest thing to buy in Argentina!) we headed on to our next estancia, the more remote, Despedida.

An hour and a half down an unpaved road (in a Corsa!) brought us to Estancia Despedida. Again, this estancia was quite a sight to behold. Nestled at the bottom of a hillside it was another collection of white buildings with red roofs and with very few trees the area had a wild feel to it. As we pulled up outside the guest house (which we had all to ourselves) we were greeted by Maria Laura, the resident chef, and shown around. The house and bedrooms were beautiful, Vivina and Eduardo (the owners) have paid so much attention to detail - lamp stands crafted from sheep shearing machinery and coat hooks cleverly made from branding irons – creating a warm, welcoming and personal guest house where we spent a blissful two days and nights. We were treated to wonderful food, much of it home grown and all of it home made, a barbeque with the family, fantastic horse riding and Simon even got to see Tierra del Fuego from the front seat of a small plane! I spent both days on horse back and, a very sore bottom aside, I loved every minute. Simon (allergic to horses and unable to participate) was treated to an entirely unexpected opportunity to take a small plane flight over the island. The pilot flew the plane over us as we were riding on the hills and Simon even got to take the controls for a while, what an experience! As we left Despedida we explained that a fortunate stroke of serendipity has brought us to them. The more we travel in this continent, the more we find that it is the opportunities that come out of the blue that always prove to be the most rewarding and successful. We could not have asked for greater hospitality from our hosts…what a wonderful two days this has been.

We are now back in Ushuaia for the night. Tomorrow we set sail for the white continent in search of icebergs, whales and penguins. This afternoon I set off in search of dramamine! We are away for 10 days and will back date posts when we get back to South America.