La Juanita Estancia

  Chascomus, Litoral, Argentina
Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Estancia "La Juanita"

La Juanita

We decided to take a few days rest from our Round-the-World Trip so we booked into an Estancia called "La Juanita" to veg-out. An Estancia is a Gaucho Ranch which takes paying guests & is normally family run. La Juanita is about 125km south east of Buenos Aires in the Argentinean Pampas near the town of Chascomus. It was built in 1835 on the edge of a lake & originally had 200,000 acres. A Scott called James Dodds bought the place in 1853 & it remained in their family until 1905 when it was sold to the grandfather of the present Argentinean family.

Dinner Table

We stayed in the main house which was furnished with antique furniture, silverware & what must be original bric-a-brac - very cosy. James Dodds implemented indoor toilets which I think are the same ones in use today. The toilets & bidets are works of art & have a high-tech version of the bidet spray we had encountered before but with hot & cold water taps & a "joystick" direction control (a forerunner of the PlayStation).
This Estancia provided horse riding, kayaking, cycling, buggy rides (the equine sort), swimming, but we were more interested in the sun beds for relaxing by the pool. There was even a Pelota court, a Basque game played in a huge, 120ft x 30ft squash court.

Lunch

After another early start we arrived in time for breakfast, in fact before most of the other guests had arisen. There was an assortment of guests staying there, French, Argentinean, Danish, Canadian, English & Welsh. Our hosts were charming & spoke good English (as did most of the guests, much to our shame) & said we could help ourselves to whatever we wanted.
The main meal of the day was lunch which was cooked on an outdoor charcoal grill. It consisted of grilled beef, lamb & chorizo (sausages) served with salad & as much Malbec wine as you wanted. The atmosphere was very relaxed; I got as relaxed as a newt. Then we rested until afternoon tea, with scones, before resting again before dinner. Dinner was a lighter meal but served with wine, of course.

Barbara Riding

The next day Barbara & I were going for a buggy ride but as the buggy galloped towards us, the horse stumbled & fell, wrecking the rig - happily the horse was unharmed. I was offered a chance to ride a horse instead. After being helped onto the saddle & given the reins, I sat there while the others got ready. As I hadn't been on a horse before, I expected to be led, but no, the leader leaped into his saddle & we were off. I kicked the horse into action & we proceeded at a very, very slow walk. I managed to steer the horse, stop him & get him going again, which was not bad as I had never ridden before. I figured that if John Wayne could do it, anybody could. The horses were so docile & had done the circuit so many times, all you had to do was keep your bum in the saddle & the horse would do the rest. The next day Barbara leaped into the saddle for a ride - I think she has got the right build for horse riding.

Relaxing

Life on the Estancia was so relaxing - get up late, breakfast on the patio at 10:00, go horse riding or walking, relax by the pool or under a shady tree until lunch, sleep lunch off, do some other activity until afternoon tea, relax again before dinner, linger over dinner then chat over a glass of wine before going to bed at 12:00.
Staying on this Estancia was like living on an animal sanctuary - geese, chickens, turkeys & guinea fowl roamed freely, there were Argentinean ostriches, armadillos & an assortment of stray dogs that protected & accompanied the guest