Life on La Margarita 2012

Gauchitos with Dad Ignacio

Life on  La Margarita 2012!!

Ignaki with Dad

Gauchita Francisca at 7 looking like a natural

Mariana with Francisca and Isabella

I remember years ago when I purchased La Margarita I had to look for a caretaker for the estancia. Gomez who had worked for the previous owners had decided that, at aged 72, it was time for him to retire and I agreed – it’s takes a lot of energy looking after an estancia. I put the word around the town that I needed a caretaker and since it was a time of crises here still I was inundated with offers from people who wanted to caretake La Margarita. They arrived on foot, on bike, in cars (that looked like  they should have been scrapped years ago)  and by horse. In the end I decided to hire Genco . He was an ex policeman and said that he wanted to live the country life and was very able to look after La Margarita. I liked him so I hired him. He worked for me on the understanding that at sometime in the future I would be looking for couple so that the caretaker’s wife could look after the house. Genko was great and he was as good as his word and really looked after La Margarita during his watch. I do remember however, he had one problem in that he had vertigo, a fear of heights so bad that a few rungs up a ladder were enough to bring it on. It meant that I had to do all the shimming up the windmill when there was a problem with it – a small price to pay. When his watch came to an end we left on great terns – he had found a girlfriend and he needed to spend more time in town. Along came Lalo with  Lettie his wife who  stayed for nearly five years. When his watch came to an end he certainly left La Margarita a much better place than he found it. He was a genius at fixing things – only when Lalo couldn’t fix it was it thrown away. It was a sad day when his watch was over and they both had to move to the next town to look after Letties father.  We placed an ad  for a new caretaker and hey pesto  we found Ignacio and Mariana. It takes time to get used to a new regime as you can imagine. It was the same when Genko left and Lalo started. Ignacio and Mariana have been with us now for around nine months and I have to say it is a pleasure to have them working on La Margarita. Ignacio is a genius with horses and they have never looked better, he works great with guest and always has a smile for them. Mariana works like a Trojan in the house looking after guests and making sure everything works how it should do plus making sure her three children are taken care of. Both Ignacio and Mariana speak English, which is a great bonus for guest when they come and can’t speak Spanish.  Their children Isabella. Francesca and Inaki are a delight and are definite bonus for the estancia. For me it is a pleasure to have this lovely couple working here on La Margarita. They have created a great ambience here, which is great - long may it continue. If you come to La Margarita I am sure you will feel the same way when you meet them.

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho hasta la vista