To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. Alfred Lord Tennyson ( from Ulysses)

1) The seeds looking good

2) Fields of Soya yeaaaaaaaa

3) A proud Dad!!

Not sure who summed up the poem by Tennyson as meaning the more we risk the more alive we are but for sure the more I read it the more it seems that way. Not sure if it includes risking a few bob on a horse in the Epsom Derby but maybe eh. I have tried to live my life following the advice of Alfred – sometimes with great success and sometimes with total failure! The biggest risk I have taken recently is to plant the 200 hectares of soya in Nov 09 with my farming business partner Mario. As some of you are aware I have written a few blogs on the planting called Soya Watch. We are now on the final countdown. It certainly seemed a big risk for sure when we decided to go ahead seeing as the previous year most farmers in the area where we planted lost their shirts for the first time in many many years due to the drought that hit. Ignoring what happened the previous year we went ahead and planted and I continued to drag our Tennyson’s poem out for comfort! This weekend I was on La Margarita and Mario and I meet up to talk soya and of course to have some malbec wine and an asado. We still have a few weeks to go before we harvest our crop but it looks good to my untrained eye. Maria has said it looks like being the best crop ever - whew thank god for that. I went out and took a few photos of the soya this weekend which are posted with this blog. Mario is already talking about next year’s planting - me I am going to have to read Alfred poem again before I commit but I can see us doing it – cheers Alfred !

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho until the next time
Hasta la vista

Sweet Dreams are Made of This

1) On Hugo and Janes fabulous veranda

2) On the way home from Dos Rios with a major thumbs up

3) Sideways shot of the house

Some time ago (in fact a few years ago now) I wrote about the Barwicks. They are an English couple who have lived Argentina for number of years. When they first came here they had a dream – Martin Luther King would have been proud of them. They wanted to buy a huge plot of land in the Tigre Delta (200 acres) – a stunningly glorious area where the rivers of Argentina meet before it all transforms into the River Plate. Hugo and Jane’s idea was to develop an eco- friendly project. They wanted to sell plots of land of about a hector each and on their part they would build a community play area i.e. swimming pool, parilla, sun lounge area and walkways across the project. They also wanted to build their own house so that those who purchased could have an idea of what life would be like on the fabulous delta. All plots sold would have river water frontage of 75 meters, plenty of room to park your canoe.
It was an ambitious project and I have no doubt that at the time they must wondered what they were doing. With communication only by boat and the filling in of enough paperwork work to take down a major part of a Brazilin rain forest it was a challenge. It is no doubt an area of outstanding natural beauty but as you can imagine it would take an outstanding amount of energy and enthusiasm to get it of the ground.
I went to visit the project when it was just a raw dream back in 2005. I liked the project and had enough faith to buy a plot of land on it. I reasoned that the worst that could happen is that I end up with a bit of the delta and I could put a tent up and catch fish from my plot
Over the past few years I have tracked out to the Dos Rios project and seen the progress. Slow and arduous were words that came to mind. Hugo had to deal with all sorts of problems and the nightmare paper work. But he and Jane persevered and last week while Gaynor and Brian were still here we got a call from our heroic couple and asked if we wanted to visit their house on Dos Rios that was just finished “”oh and don’t forget to bring you swimming costume”” said Hugo “”the pools finished “”.
So last week we packed an overnight bag and some trepidation and of we set to Tigre to meet Hugo and Jane and the boat that was to take us to the Dos Rios project. To be honest my expectations were not high. The last time I had been I saw a half finished house, no swimming pool and nowhere to have a parilla but plenty of wood to use should there be one! What would greet us this time we wondered? We soon found out. As the small boat came in to the landing stage we saw the Barwicks new house and to say I was amazed is a big understatement. The house was spacious and stylish and looked absolutely fabulous. We settled in quickly and changed out of city gear into river gear and headed for the pool. To cut a long and beautiful story short we had a fabulous weekend walking around the walkways , enjoying the sound of the delta, swimming in the pool and dining by the river on the romantic veranda. It was an exotic and relaxing experience .
Hats off to you both Jane and Hugo - you had a dream and saw it through and to say I was impressed is an understated - yep dreams can really come true you just need to have the stamina and patience to achieve them which the Barwicks seem to have in bucket loads. Thanks for the invite guys we thoroughly thoroughly enjoyed it

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho of back to La Margarita refreshed and invigorated
Hasta pronto

PS if you want to have a look at the project here is the link

http://www.dos-rios.com.ar/

Four Fantastic Seasons but Never in one Day

Lao and Fernado riding out with guests and moi!

Many guest who come to La Margarita ask me when is the best time to come or what is my favorite season here. It’s a difficult one because for all the seasons there is something special about them. I am going to try to paint a picture of today to try to explain what I mean as an example. When I am here I always take the dogs for a walk at around 9am and today was no exception. I always walk to the famous white pillars which denote the entrance to La Margarita. Its about 1.5 kilometers to the famous white pillars and I have to say it was wonderful walk. There were birds all around, many taking to the air as Fido and Jack try to catch them- pointless but they enjoy it. I passed the cows grazing in the fields looking back at me as if to say bugger of and leave us alone, and few a hares bolted out of the grass startled by the dogs. Today the sun was shining as it often does, the blue sky went on for ever and since it is almost August there was just the faint hint of a chill in the air. And there is my point. Being a Brit I am used to a chill in the air and I like it – it’s so nice to walk when there is a slight chill and feel the fresh breeze in your face. So autumn is special for me. But then so is summer. I love the night sounds of the summer the crickets, the frogs the wild lifer all making their special noises of the night. But then I also love the winter here. We have fires in all the rooms and the fire in the living room is enormous. I love it when Lalo lights up the fire and guest crack open a bottle of wine and an evening of sharing adventures and sometimes music follows. Winter last for around 6/8 weeks here and August is our coldest month but soon comes spring. Of course like most people I love to see the spring grass starting to grow the birds nesting and the swimming pool being prepared for the new season.
So there you have it. I love all the seasons and it seems so do all our guests who come all year round. For sure it doesn’t matter what time of year you are here riding across the vast open pampas is an experience you won’t forget and believe me you never get tired of it

This is David Cummings alias the English gaucho until next time
Saludos

Welcome Alex Mildmay- White to La Margarita

(left to right)Fernando,Kevin,Lalo and Alex

I couldn’t resist using Alex’s full name in this blog. It’s no doubt a glorious name and certainly a well known name in the English horse racing world. Alex’s father used to be a well know amateur jockey and is heavily involved in the Jockey Club in England. Ok I hear you ask what this has got to do with anything. Well loads really. Alex has come to work on La Margarita as assistant to Lalo for five or six weeks and follows a long line of ex -Eton and Harrow pupils who have come to work for us. Now before you get to excited and ask how much we are paying him the answer is nothing. He is working for board and lodging and is doing a pretty fine job of it. The reason why I wanted to write about Alex is not just because he is a very nice chap which he is but because I am always so happy when young guys like Alex come and work on La Margarita to see how they get along so famously with Lalo and Lettie who are both in charge of La Margarita. It’s fantastic how both can respect each other even though they come from totally different ends of the social circle. Obviously Lalo our resident gaucho has never heard of Eton or Harrow and even if he had he wouldn’t give a dam- all he is interested in is how well his temporary helpers can work and how honest they are . I have to say that Alex as mentioned is following a long line of helpers on La Margarita from top public schools and all without exception have excelled themselves. In return for their labours they get to experience life on a typical Argentine estancia and have the opportunity to rapidly improve their Spanish by eating and working with Lalo and his family. Course it’s not a condition that our volunteer helpers have been to public school, far from it and Lalo I suppose doesn’t care a hoot but certainly I have been very impressed with those that we have had helping on La Margarita – long may it run
So just to say welcome Alex and thanks for coming to help on La Margarita you are most welcome

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho blogging of till until next time

Saludos