Argentina calling.... We will fly. At the beginning of January 2015 for 3 months and ride through Argentina from south to north. We have no idea how far we will get, but we will buy horses in El Calafate and ride them north along the Andes. We are currently in the middle of preparing for the 3000 km tour. Horses and saddles, equipment and route planning.... everything needs to be planned and prepared. It won't be uncomplicated, but it will be adventurous and exciting. Learn Spanish quickly and then we can set off....
Thanks to Caro, we have made contact with Gerardo and his friends in El Calafate. We will select and saddle 3 horses on an estancia there. They have never been shod.... So let's see if we can manage that. And they haven't really seen cars either, at least not in a town. It's going to be an adventure.... We have organized saddles. We'll send one, we'll get two there. Hopefully... Everything else we have to buy locally... Reins, blankets etc. Let's see where we can buy something.
26.11.
In the meantime, Garmin and military maps have arrived. These are 1:500 k and at least 30 - 40 years old, but there is hardly anything else. The Garmin map once again gives me cause for annoyance. But at www.gps.com.ar I was finally able to download a usable digital topo map. Paper maps are organized and the food and equipment are test-packed. One western saddle is coming with us, the others we will buy on site. The horses will get an ear tag (or similar), a blood test for anemia and an AKU have been arranged. Also the sales papers documented by a justice of the peace. Caro Wolfer and the Long Riders have provided us with helpful contacts and Jose, a long-distance rider who lives in El Calafate, will select the horses for us. A Swiss friend who runs a riding business in Bariloche is also supporting our project with valuable tips and information. We have planned a route of 3000 km, but expect to cover around 2000 km in the 3 months. All in all, the equipment weighs 23 kg plus 10 kg of food. This will be transported on the packhorse. As I don't have a western saddle, I had to think of an alternative for the gaucho saddle. My front panniers are now on the packhorse and my rear ones on my gaucho saddle. The banana is also transported by the packhorse. Last week I made three knotted halters and organized the presents (pocket knife and 4 kg of chocolate).
6.12.
Here are our horses. They will be shod and the next project will be to get them used to the electric fence. They should be familiar with hobbles and halters. We will have to start slowly and build up slowly, as they are not used to being out for many days in a row. Also traffic, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, will still pose challenges. They cost about 1000 USD but the costs for vet and lab test, farrier, sales papers (certified by the justice of the peace) and transportation to El Calafate add another 600 USD. The horses are actually named according to their coat colors and markings (Gateado, Colorado Malacara and Colorado Pampa, and are also given a call name.
Rubio, Gateado, Nice Daniletto, Colorado Malacara, Cacique, Colorado Pampa
Horse, good withers, back, eleven years, looks good 8 years, certainly also a at the age of ten, the whole. Mestizzo with calf's blood go well
The horses will be brought from 300 km south to El Calafate and put up at a ranch where we will also be staying. It is just outside El Calafate near the airport and we will first work with the horses on arrival. Then we will complete our equipment, adjust saddles, get blankets, reins, tethers, ropes and pack ropes and then go on a first 4-day tour to the glacier. Then we'll return to El Calafate and add more equipment or send stuff home. That's the plan, let's see how it really turns out.
6.12.
Jose Argento Jose explained to me that you can only get into the Moreno National Park with a permit. The prices for overnight stays at the haciendas vary from 11 to 750 USD and it will be exciting.
2.1.
On January 2 in the evening we fly to Heathrow and from there at 10 pm to Buenos Aires. After a 14-hour flight, we have time to fly on to El Calafate by 3.30 p.m. locally.
At the airport we meet Levi, who wants to ride as a novice in order to learn as quickly as possible. In the evening at 6 pm, Gerardo takes us to the Hacienda Bon Accord. We are happy to have arrived.
The plan: we ride 2500 km north through Patagonia on Criollo crossbreeds to Bariloche. We have 3 months to get to know the country and its people. We, that's Pat and I, plus Levi Turk from Hungary.
4.1.
On Sunday, we drive 300 km south to the Hacienda Vangurdia, where our horses are stabled. So far we have only chosen them on the basis of pictures and have relied on the fact that the local long rider, Vanina and Roberto Beheran have recommended them to us as trustworthy. In the evening we have the usual assado and spend the night so that we can have the papers signed and notarized the next morning.
Roberto and Vanina only breed horses as a hobby, as there are only 120 horses, and live mainly from their 1000 cows, 12000 sheep and 300 pigs. The Pampa is tanned, although it is only early summer, and the sun burns lips and face in no time at all.
The three Criollo cold blood mixes are super friendly and pleasant to ride by Argentinian standards. They are about 150 cm tall and strongly built with good hooves and good backs. Rubio, the light-colored one with an eel line, is the most timid and turns his right hind hoof when he walks. Kachice, the bay, is very quiet and calm and Daniletto is a sly dog, both are about 6 years old. The gray Pinochio was intended as a replacement horse and is now ridden by Levi.
6.1.
Gerardo takes us shopping and we spend the whole day in El Calafate.
The small town, which now has 20k inhabitants, has grown by 400% since 2005 and is a real tourist stronghold. In addition to the groceries, we need a saddle with a tree for me, ropes and gas cartridges as well as front gear for the packhorse. I buy a new Chilean saddle for 450 USD. Food prices are comparable to Switzerland, only meat is very cheap. The days are incredibly long, as the sun rises at 5.30 am and doesn't set again until 10 pm. The pace is very slow, you wait patiently at the checkout for 5 minutes for your credit card to clear. And you can hardly get anything in your stomach before 11pm. It's usually grilled lamb and salad or grilled beef steak, so you go to bed with a heavy stomach.
7.1. Porito Moreno Gletscher
The next morning we set off for the Perito Moreno Glacier, which is about 80 km away. The first day's stage is only about 25 km inland to the town of El Calafate. We learn that the horses can easily climb over barbed wire fences that are simply laid on the ground and we also learn that the wind blows differently here in Patagonia. We would call this hurricane gusts, but here it is just normal wind. (Mui Lindo) We ride along the road until we find an open gate and then ride along the mountains. On the way, Levi loses his cell phone, so we spend about 2 hours looking for it. We find it again and ride to Roberto Beheran's brother's hacienda. Shortly before our destination, we are slowed down by a deep ravine and it takes us about an hour to ride around it. It was not marked on the map. We will probably experience similar surprises. At the ranch, we are greeted by a pack of yapping dogs and the owner's nephew. We are allowed to stay and let our horses out to pasture. Soon the food is cooked and we crawl into our sleeping bags.
8.1. Rio Mitri
A horse neighs at 5 o'clock. But I pay no attention to it. When I get up at 6 o'clock, the horses have gone. I wake Pat and follow the tracks, but they soon get lost because there are too many horses around. So I walk across the grounds towards the fence where we came from yesterday. The horses are either there or they have climbed up the hill in search of better grass. After I can't find any tracks at the eastern fence, I call Pat and tell her to look for the horses above the stables. An hour later I'm back and just manage to catch Pat leading the horses down the hill. Lucky me. We have breakfast and then ride west on the gravel road towards the glacier. Pat tells us that her Rubio is starting on the hard track, so we switch to the bumpy grass track next to the road. It seems to go better here. We reach the Rio Centinella and have to cross a wooden bridge, which Danielito and Cechique refuse to cross. On both sides of the bridge, cars block the road and wait patiently until we have the horses across. I lead the first two, and later Pat takes Danielito, the packhorse.
10 km further on, the lead rope of the packhorse gets under Rubio's tail and he panics. While Pat is still trying to pull the rope out, Rubio darts off, bucking, and Pat takes the saddle with him on the involuntary descent. Now it's finally too much and Rubio runs and bucks until he has got rid of all his luggage and only the saddle is still hanging under his belly. He jumps up the embankment, comes face to face with the fence and decides to jump over it. He tears his chest on the barbed wire, but gets over without any problems. Now it's off to the other side and while I tie up the other horses and look for the lost luggage, Rubio finally gets rid of the saddle. Pat gets unhurt and I get hold of Rubio at the fence. With a broken saddle but otherwise complete again, we lead the horses to the nearby Estanzia Anita, where we call Estavan from Rio Mitri, where we wanted to spend the night. He comes to meet us by car and we can load the luggage into the car and Pat rides the packhorse down to Rio Mitri. After dinner, we lay down on the grass next to the horses to sleep around midnight.
9.1.
In the morning, Pat drives to Glaciar Perito Moreno with a German couple. Levi wants to drive the horses up with the gauchos and I repair the saddle and the other damaged parts from yesterday. Later, Levi and I want to go up the valley to see the glacier from above. After the morning's ride, Levi explains that he has just lost 2000 USD off-road. So much for our ride. Levi spends the rest of the day searching the 10 km2 pasture. I help him for 3 hours, but it's not until 8pm in the evening that he's another 2000 USD richer. We look at the photos of the glacier and enjoy the Assado. The people here are really nice. I spend the day studying the maps that Dominik sent me. Unfortunately, I can't take the 8 kg of paper maps with me, so they have to go back.
10.1 Rio Centinella
We have a hearty breakfast with cake and dolche leche (caramel cream). We saddle up and put on warmer clothes because it's getting noticeably colder. We ride southeast and it starts to sleet and snow. We try to pick up the pace and trot for several hours on the softening ground. We find an abandoned puesto (farmhouse of an estancia covering an area of 25x25 km), but decide to ride on in the hope of finding an inhabited puesto further up. Towards evening we find it and the two gauchos invite us to stay and enjoy an assado with them. We gladly accept.
11.1.
The next morning initially promises drier weather, but it is only just above zero and there is snow 100 m higher up. The path marked on the map doesn't exist, so we simply take the next valley up the mountain. It gets very narrow and we have to zigzag up the hill. The horses willingly climb up behind us, but Rubio seems to be really lame now. At the top we are greeted by a 30 km long plateau and a full-blown snowstorm.
Pat decides to lead the way and after 2 hours in the snowstorm the sun suddenly breaks through. We see 100s of guanacos (a type of llama) and a subspecies of ostrich (nandus) as well as wild herds of horses. We reach the end of the valley around 7 p.m. and find an abandoned puesto on top of Buen Kabe mountain, which at least promises protection from the icy wind. The horses are hobbled and tied to stakes for free grazing. We crawl into our sleeping bags after dinner in minus 4 degrees. The horses defy the weather with stoic calm.
12.1. back to Bon Accord
At 8.30 we are on the road and follow the course of the river to the east. After 10 km we turn north to reach the valley that leads us down to Bon Accord. A few herds of guanaco seem to follow us curiously, while the herds of horses take off as soon as they spot us. Only one black stallion gallops towards us, demonstrates his power and then darts off again with thundering hooves. We ride the 20 km to the north and then reach the road that leads back down into the valley with the connecting road. Pat walks most of the way, I take over from her from time to time. Around lunchtime we meet Andree, the gaucho from Bon Accord who is bringing a herd of cows up the mountains. Gerardo's uncle has a misunderstanding about the shortest route and we take another 3 km wrong before finally arriving at Bon Accord, tired and exhausted. Gerardo isn't there, but his mother kindly takes care of us. Now we have to take care of the lame Rubio before we can continue. The first 200 km of Patagonia are done. I have underestimated the cold and the wind and am going to buy a gaucho poncho.
18.1 Lago Argenino
6 days later Rubio is fit, we have bought food and extra clothing and optimized our luggage so that we can venture out. We start early in the morning and ride to the lake, along which we will later reach our trail. Levi rides along with uins, but as he hardly knows anything about riding, there are always incidents and Pat is not amused.
20.1. two days in the desert at thirty degrees, we do just under 90 km. The jog of the horses is wonderful to sit on. And at just under 9 km/h we make good progress. The horses haven't lost any weight yet, even though their diet is extremely lean. It's unbelievable how frugal the horses are. After just under 50 km, we have had enough of country road 40 (Routa Quaranta), which we follow. We put down the fence and ride down to the river. The horses are hungry and tired. So are we. We have to cross barbed wire again and then about 500 m further on there is a small meadow opposite a puesto that I found on the map. We hitch up the horses there and cook dinner. The puesto is uninhabited and we sleep next to the hut.
21.1. Rio Leana
Breakfast at 6.30 a.m. We want to saddle the horses before the tingling midges eat them. But it's too late, they're already all over us. We take a break at Rio Lena and then continue until 4pm. We see a campsite and decide to stay here. The leg of rump that Gerardo gave us goes into the oven and we enjoy the cool beer at the campsite. The 2 kg of meat is enough for 4 meals.
22.1.
We have breakfast with coffee and cake and pay USD 5 for a 5dl beer, overnight stay with shower and breakfast 35. The sky is cloudless and it's going to be very hot and very dry today. We stop for lunch in the shade of some trees and by 7pm we are at the estancia we have been told about. 35 km today, another 75 to El Chalten. I'm burnt out from the 30+ degrees and the scorching sun. At the estancia, the heavily pregnant woman is not authorized to make decisions. Her husband is fishing for dinner and will be back in an hour. We unsaddle and put our luggage in the stables. The horses are hobbled and I lie on our luggage in the stable and write my blog. Little Colli sleeps next to me.
23.1 Estanzia Margarita
Today we set off at 5.30 am to escape the heat. We were on the road until 8am, but the horses were hungry. They spurned the green stuff in their paddock. So off to the water for a drink and 30 minutes of nibbling spiky bushes. We have to cross 5 new fences, but the 3 mestizos know the drill. We alternate between trotting and jogging and at first Danielitto runs along well. But after two hours he realizes that I have no chance if he stops or falls into walk. I struggle until late in the afternoon until I can convince Pat to lead the packhorse while I drive from behind. We find good grass along the road and let the horses eat extensively. We pass an estancia where sheep are being shorn in the Accord. The don recognizes Levi by his long hair, El Blonde, and knows that he has lost and found 2000 USD. We manage 45 km and are able to spend the night in a little house on an outpost of Estanzia Margarita. The horses have a great pasture and we even have a proper bed. Only it is not yet clear who will sleep in it.
24.1. El Chalten
We are in El Chaltén and the 4 of us are together again. The horses are doing great. We have covered the 150 km in 3 1/2 days. Today we have a half day break and tomorrow we continue to Lago Desertio and then over the mountains to Estanzia Condor on Lago San Martin. The horses behave quite decently, although they are not used to the traffic. The big trucks and buses are particularly frightening. Rubio has the most problems with them. The other two are more relaxed. We find Levi and Pinocchio at a campsite by the river and stake our horses nearby
25.1 Caming Bonanza
After a long day on the gravel road with some nervous horses, especially Rubio, who gave Pat a hard time. On the way we met Victor, an engineer from Buenos Aires who lives here in a vacation home. He invited us for empanadas, which we gladly accepted. His granddaughter was also a guest with her band and they sang us a few dance ballads. After a champagne farewell, we rode or led the horses to Lago Diesierto. After 37 km, we were all pretty tired, but there was a great pasture for the horses at a campsite. I had to rebuild the pack, as Cacique had broken in on a bridge and some rivets had come undone when he was freed from his awkward position.
26.1 Lago Desierto
We forded the river that flows out of the Desierto, where the camp warden showed us, and promptly took the wrong path. All the horses' luggage slipped down the steep mountainside and had to be lashed down again. We finally found the right path, which we now followed along the right side of the lake. A beautiful mountain hiking trail along the lake brought us to a border guard station of the Argentinian border police, where we spent the night.
27.1.
The Argentinian police give us hope for the 4 km ride through Chile. So we give it a try. 8 km on forest paths to the border, then 15 km on a gravel road to the border station. We receive a friendly welcome, but are not even allowed to walk the 4 km without horses. We can only continue by boat, everything else is forbidden. After some heated discussions, with the threat of imprisonment for me and a 5-week quarantine for the horses, we realize that we can't go any further and turn back. A beautiful day trip to Lago San Martin in Chile.
28.1.
The map shows a pass leading from Lago Diserto over to Lago San Martin. We say goodbye to the commander of the Argentinian border police, who has generously provided us with oats and spare irons, and try to maneuver the packhorse through the forest along the pass. When the path ends at a clearing, we decide to turn back. In 3 hours we have only just covered 3 km. We return to El Chalten and try to reach one of the two gauchos living in the village. We need new horseshoes nailed on.
29.1.
We are not allowed to call until 9.30 am, otherwise we run the risk of kicking the gauchos (farriers) out of bed. Around 1 pm we finally reach one of them and he even has the necessary shoes and nails. And 5 hours later, the 4 horses are re-shod for the equivalent of around 30 euros per horse including 4 horseshoes. Argentina's manana, manana takes some getting used to. But who wants to complain about the prices?
30.1.
We ride back to Puesto Christina, where we spent the night on the way there.
31.1.
Then we head up over 3 passes to Estanzia Maipu. As the path is not marked on the map or in the terrain, we lose some time on the way, so after 9 hours we decide to spend the night on the descent.
