The English Gaucho

Time to Tie the Knot

2012-02-19T13:47:00.001-08:00

Ahhhh

Gosh it seems just like yesterday that I was watching Dale my son playing his first proper football match as a budding star of the Gunners when he was around a 6 or 7 year old. He didn’t make it on the books of our great but slightly fallen team but I am proud to say he did great in life - really great.

Ah the memories

One thing is certain time really does fly – just a little bit to fast for my liking! With bags packed I am, in a few hours leaving the pampa plains and heading to New Zealand where Dale and Kate will tie the knot on 1^st March (where does that expression come from) and I am really looking forward to it. I guess at times like these its always a trip down memories lane and I have many wonderful ones of Dale. One is how I used to drag him and his sister Jodie off to many of the gigs I played in those days. One favourite of theirs was when our band played for Billy Smarts at Littlehampton (oh the mention of it makes me think of candy floss and kiss me quick hats). The kids loved that gig as being a part of the band they were given free tickets on all the rides. Not sure they listened much to our music but Dale must have listened to some as he has asked me to play some songs at his wedding - when he asked me I felt so happy and honoured. So not only will I have my suitcase I will be going with guitar in hand and with few warm up gigs under my belt to get my rusty fingers working a bit again I am off. Thankfully for the guests there will be other entertained in the form of Kate’s dad who is a professional jazzman.

I am going to miss La Margarita but I am also looking forward to going somewhere I have never been before. We have had many guests from NZ on La Margarita and it seems a fabulous country and I have to say each and every one of them was a great advert for their country –such nice people and boy did they like to party so should be fun.

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho hasta pronto

Life on La Margarita 2012

2012-02-10T14:44:00.000-08:00

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

Messing Around on La Margarita in January

2012-02-01T08:39:00.000-08:00

I sometimes feel a bit guilty when I write about how lovely the weather is here in the summer. After all where I come from i.e. London many of my friends and family are now suffering snow and icy winds and here we are saying how hot is here. Certainly January in Argentina can be a tad hot – reaching as high as 42 sometimes - whew. However, as the saying goes when we complain of the cold “there is no such thing as the wrong weather only the wrong cloths” that applies to La Margarita except of course you need fewer clothes here in the Argentina summer, a pair of shorts, a tee shirt and don’t forget your swimming costume – the temperature can dip in the evening so bring a sweater with you just in case!

This year has been no exception as regards the weather, it’s been hot and then it’s been hotter. Those guests that have come to La Margarita have made fair use of the pool and the great outdoors. Taking a dip in the pool, chilling out in a deck chair, taking a siesta in a hammock, riding out early morning or later in the evening in the evening, taking a late evening stroll to enjoy the best sky show in the world that’s about been the rhythm of the guests this January and having quick look at the photos it looks as though they had a good time.

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho hasta pronto

Alice in Estancialand

2012-01-20T06:48:00.000-08:00

Alyce with the children of Ignacio y Mariana

Alyce in Estancialand!

When we first decided to invite volunteers to work on La Margarita in return for full board and lodgings I was a little nervous for two reasons. One was I wasn’t sure anyone would apply and secondly I was unsure if it would work for us. The truth is I needn’t have worried at all. It has worked great for us and we have lots of people who have applied to work here and it is true to say that each and every volunteer who has worked here has brought something extra to La Margarita. For that I thank each and everyone one of you. Our latest volunteer Alyce has truly followed in that tradition. She has been fantastic and we will be very sad when her too short a stay is over next week. As always I invite our departing volunteer to write about their experience on La Margarita. Here’s what she has to say :

A DAY IN THE LIFE AT ESTANCIA LA MARGARITA

Hi, I’m Alyce, from Australia, and I’m the current volunteer at Estancia La Margarita.

Having backpacked extensively around Central & South America on previous trips, this time I wanted to spend longer in each place, and so some different things.

I found the Estancia on www.workaway.info (a veritable gold-mine for would-be volunteers), and as I have experience with both horses and customer-relations - and a passable grasp of Spanish - it sounded like the right place for me. After a Skype interview conducted entirely Spanish (which I managed to scrape through!) I was offered the position from late December to late January.

Upon arrival, I quickly discovered that core activities for guests are: Rest – Ride – Eat – Drink – Sleep – Swim – Relax! If you’re staff, or the volunteer, of course there’s a bit more involved than that!

Somewhat foolishly, I hadn’t considered that Christmas and New Year would be the busiest time of year, and I was surprised to discover we were all run off our feet for a couple of weeks. Averaging some 12-16 guests, I rapidly found myself “Estancia Coordinator Extraordinaire” – not only consulting twice a day with the guests to coordinate morning & evening rides, but also fielding all manner of requests: Do you have a wall-plug adaptor? / Can we go into town? / Could we have our bill now? / We need some fly-spray! / We want to reserve bus tickets to Buenos Aires / Do you have any cold beer? (etc)… all of which were dutifully conveyed to the relevant person and resolved. Obviously, outside peak holiday periods it’s nowhere near as hectic, but there’s still quite a bit to do.

While David is the Estancia’s owner & Susana the General Manager, daily operations are run by husband & wife team Ignacio & Mariana, helped by their three energetic children – Igñaki (4), Francisca (7) and Isabella (9). Ignacio cares for the horses & maintains the property, while Mariana mans the kitchen and oversees the cleaning.

Both of them are amazing at making sure the guests feel comfortable and at home. Ignacio chats easily in English or Spanish on rides – cracking jokes and pointing out wildlife - while Mariana works ceaselessly in the kitchen to provide everyone with an ample breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea (cake, anyone? More cake?) and dinner.

The horses are excellent – well trained and well cared for – and in my opinion some of the best in Latin America. You want to stop? They stop! You want to canter? They canter! Regardless of what the other horses are doing, and even with beginners on-board! For people with demonstrable experience, there are a couple of super-fun horses to ride, although they’re usually reserved for Ignacio and his helper/s. The saddles here are quite different, but very comfortable – not even the beginners end up with sore backsides!

Would-be volunteers considering a stint at the Estancia should consider the following:

· You need to be friendly, patient and well organised to interact with, and organise, the guests

· You need to be an experienced rider, and be prepared to ride at, and supervise, all levels of ability. Sometimes you’ll be sitting alongside a nervous beginner, giving them instruction and encouragement, and other times you’ll be trying to rein-in over confident hoons who insist on galloping everywhere. Personally, my favourite rides were with the beginners. Every ride I helped them improve a little more, until they were cantering with confidence – perhaps not with much grace, but loving every minute of it!

· If you’re a vegetarian, you need to be prepared to be surrounded by meat. This is meat-loving Argentina after all, and here at the Estancia they raise, kill & cook their own beef & lamb. All this meat is offset with a surprising array of salads – in fact I don’t think I’ve seen as many vegetables served anywhere else in Argentina as at the Estancia! If the kitchen is quiet, you can prepare your own meals, but when it’s busy you pretty much eat whatever the guests are eating (plus or minus the meat).

· A typical summer day begins at about 7.45am, saddling the horses. Then you’ll escort one or two 1-hour rides - depending on guest numbers - at 8.30am and 9.30am. After unsaddling, I’m off to skim bugs & leaves out of the swimming pool, and sweep leaves from the patios. Around midday, I speak to the guests to see who wants to take the optional evening ride, and make a list of the guests & horses for Ignacio. Around 1pm to 4pm is siesta time – something which takes a bit of getting used to, but soon becomes a welcome break in the day, and a great way to escape the afternoon heat. If guests have nominated an evening ride, we saddle up again around 5.45pm, and head off at 6.30pm. Upon return, the plants need watering, and I check to see who wants to ride tomorrow morning and which horses they’d prefer, and pass the list onto Ignacio. Then finally it’s time to relax before heading to bed, in readiness for another day on Estancia La Margarita!

Saludos

Alyce

Ok there you have it. If you fancy being a part of the estancia team I think Alyce gives a great idea of what you will find here

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho hasta pronto

Radio Interview 12th Jan midday Argentina time Move over Michael Parkinson (Google him) my turn has come at last!!

2012-01-11T19:06:00.000-08:00

Fishing what more can I ask

In a previous life I used to sell things and one of the things I sold were aerial pictures of people houses. They sold great and I sold them to the poor and needy and to the rich and famous alike. Both groups could be a little tetchy at times when I knocked on their door offering them eternal happiness in the shape of an aerial picture of their own house. One guy from the poor and needy group came at me with a hammer for daring to knock on his door, needless to say I didn’t make a sale but I did win an Olympic medal for the way I jumped over the blokes fence in a bid to escape the bloody maniac At the other end of the scale I had a scrape with the famous and pretty pompous Michal Parkinson one day as I knocked on his door offering him the said eternal happiness. He opened the door in his dressing gown and took one look at me and told me to “piss of you moron” Now there was no need for that was there – course ever since then I got my revenge back when he came on the TV and as I quickly turned him off and said to him “piss of you moron” Umm life in the fast lane eh!

Well now Sir Michael (yea umm bet you think you should be eh!!) can get his revenge on me because tomorrow (12th Jan 2012) I am being interviewed on Internet radio by Dave von Kleist at 3pm UK time (midday Argentine time). The interview is about life here in Argentina and well lots of stuff like that – I will apparently be interviewed on and off for an hour or so - so no need to rush to the internet.

Here’s the link if you have a few mins to kill and are the slightest bit interested oh and don’t tell Mr Parkinson please I don’t want him to get his revenge again.

Here’s the link:
overseasradio

By the way Dave made the famous 9/11 documentary and is a well known broadcaster in the USA.

This David Cummings alias the English Gaucho off practising my best English

Saludos para todos

Ok the Parties Over - Long live the next one!

2012-01-04T09:12:00.000-08:00

Wow 2011 went so fast and went even faster as we approached Christmas Day and New Years eves. That was mainly due to the great guests who came to La Margarita for the festive season to help us use up the remainder of this years wine carefully chosen by our newly qualified sommelier Susana (congrats Susana and may it led you to great things).

Christmas is always a great time on La Margarita and we always have a great eclectic mix of guest come at this time of year – this year was no exception. Amongst others on the estancia was Marion Milne the well known documentary maker (have a peek at her profile http://www.pbshowfolio.com/marionmilne ) who did the five part docu on the Queen recently. Richard her husband is a venture capitalist and some guests had a bit of fun as they tried their hand at being in the Dragons Den and pitching some ideas to him to see if he would let them have a cool half a mil! Unfortunately it didn’t work and we all left empty handed!! – la vida eh.

On Christmas night we had our usual fun and games with live music, joke telling and this year we had a Danish party trick of having to visit every room to celebrate Christmas lead by Mette And Stina from where other than Denmark. Alice our volunteer taught a few cool moves on how to dance salsa, which was really fun.

Isabella, Marinas and Ignacio’s daughter song a song which we couldn’t get out of minds for days after and Sam from New Zealand terrified us with the famous New Zealand war weapon the haka. Alex played some great songs on the guitar, as did Jennifer from the UK.

New Years night was a lovely night with guests from Sweden, UK and Argentina.

Its definitely a great time to be on La Margarita and I want to give a big thank to all of our guest who came to help us get into the party mood and party with us.

Its now already 4^th Jan and before long it will be 4^th July- time seems to move so fast. Still hopefully for all of us it will be good year and if you need a place to escape to for break you know where to come -we very much look forward to welcoming you.

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho wishing you all a very Happy and Carefree New Year

Saludos

Happy Christmas and Wonderful New Year From La Margarita

2011-12-22T11:54:00.000-08:00

A Happy Christmas and a Great New Year from the Staff of La Margarita

Wow seems like yesterday that I was wishing a Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year for 2011 and now we have nearly arrived in 2012 – slow down world it’s all going to fast!!!

I want to give a special thank to you all the guest who came to La Margarita - thank you so much for your support and great comments about La Margarita.

Juan Carlos and his family on La Margarita

Paola who has been to La Margarita 5 times this year with her daughters

Some guests I am pleased to say came a number of times - the most being Paola who came five times – she says she loves it here as do her family. Certainly the success for us this year has been the new self -catering units which are pretty unique in the estancia world in that no other estancia offers this facility in Provincia - guest seem to really like them. When we spoke to Paola about it she said its perfect for her as she loves to ride and stay on La Margarita but if we didn’t have the self catering facilities she wouldn’t have been able to come so many times. On the other hand we have had repeat visitors in the full catering units such a Juan Carlos who came in November and loved it so much came back straight with his family in December. Over the year we had guest as near as Azul (50 kilometres away) and as far away as Japan. Here’s hoping next year will be just as local and international.

I would like to wish you all a very prosperous New Year in this changing world and hope to see you soon on La Margarita.

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho until next year

Long Live the Argentine Gaucho

2011-12-09T06:07:00.000-08:00

I have owned La Margarita for a number of years now and in that time I have seen a lot of things and also leaned a lot of things. But even after all this time this area where La Margarita is based delights and surprises me. Take yesterday for example. I had to go to Tapalque to pick up some supplies. I headed out on the one kilometre driveway that takes me to the road leading to Tapalque. As I approached the main entrance to La Margarita I saw a fantastic sight. There were hundreds of horses passing by La Margarita – horses as far as the eye could see. It was an exhilarating sight, really incredible. I watched fascinated. I luckily had my camera with me and took some photos. After the horses had passed the gauchos who were droving the horses arrived. I had a quick chat with them. One was the owner of the horses (that’s a lot of horses to own) and he explained that in Flores a town about 150 kilometres away had been held this year International Day of the Gaucho.

Nearly the finish if a 4 day drove as these horses reach Tapalque

Cowboys and Horses Argentina Style Passing La Margarita

He with his fellow gauchos had taken these three hundred or so horses to the show. As we talked it turned out he explained it was a four-day ride to get them there and obviously a four-day ride back. He invited us to his ranch in Bolívar some 100 kilometres away to see his operation and next year I will certainly go Those that say the days of the gauchos are numbered had better come here to have a look. From what I see the days of the gaucho are here to stay for a long time yet and if you love riding and the romance of the gaucho you won’t pick a better place than around La Margarita

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho hasta pronto

The Dia del Gaucho (Day of the Gaucho) is what the title says really. It’s in fact more than a day normally taking in the whole weekend. Each year a town is chosen to hold this fascinating event. It’s an unbelievable festival of horses and the gauchos who work with them. Here the horse is king and the chosen town is shut town to cars and given over to horses and the gauchos. A few years ago it was held in Tapalque and it was a jaw dropping experience.

Rocking on La Margarita

2011-11-29T15:09:00.000-08:00

Rocking with Dave on La Margarita with Sue and guests looking

Last week I was on La Margarita to meet Sue a friend of mine who has lived in Argentina for number of years in San Rafael near Mendoza. She hadn’t been to La Margarita for a number of years so it was good to catch up with her and have a good old chin wag about life in Argentina and beyond. She came with Dave vonKleist her fiancé who I had never meet before . As it turned out Dave had built himself quite a reputation in the USA as a broadcaster and as the maker of one of the most important documentaries on the strange case of the tragic attacks of 9/11 which those of us who were around at the time will never forget. It’s a great documentary, very interesting and deeply thought provoking - I really recommend having a look at it – here is the link

Dave Vonkleist documentary on 9/11

It also turned out that Dave is an excellent musician to boot and I am delighted to say I had the chance to sing a few songs with him (although it seems he didn’t like Horse With No Name a lot!), which was fantastic. All in all it was a lovely weekend to see Sue with daughter Tiv and to meet Dave and have the chance to rock and roll a bit with an excellent musician and I look forward to their next visit very much - come back soon – that’s the great thing about owning La Margarita you never now who you will meet next .

While I am talking about musicians I like and admire some of you who have read my blog over the years know I am a big fan of Sir Keef Richards of the Rolling Stones. On La Margarita he was once voted the happiest man in the world – well on paper that’s how it looked so he got the vote. Well I have just purchased his autobiography so all is revealed and I will see if our assessment that drunken night with guests on La Margarita about Sir Keef being extraordinarily happy was right - I will let you know

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho hasta pronto

Estancia La Margarita, Honeymooners and the M25 in London

2011-11-20T12:17:00.000-08:00

Sophie having a go at milking cows

When I was in the UK in August this year to see my family I read in a paper an article about the different sorts of locations chosen for honeymoons. I am not sure which was the favorite location but for me the strangest was a couple who had chosen to spend their honeymoon driving around the M25. Now everyone to their own I say but lets face it anyone who has been trapped on the M25 ( the motorway that circles London ) in a monster traffic jam would certainly have the M25 as a location for their honeymoon pretty low on their list of that I am sure. Now although La Margarita didn’t get a mention in the list of places chosen by honeymooners I am pleased to say we do get our fair share of guests who come to stay on the estancia who are on their honeymoon. The latest couple that was recently on La Margarita as part of their honeymoon was Toby and Sophie from London. They came and stayed on La Margarita for five nights and by what they wrote in our guest’s commentary book its looks as though they were happy with their choice. I can’t say if they had a better time than the couple who chose the M25 as their preference for a honeymoon location as I am not sure if the M25 has a guests comments book but below this blog here’s what Toby and Sophie wrote in our guests comments book. Its looks as they had a good time and lets face they could have chosen the M25 as an option !! but I am very happy they didn’t.

Here’s what Toby and Sophie wrote

“Mariana ,Susana, Ignacio,Isabella, Francisca and Inaki

You have all been the most gracious hosts, cheerful friends and knowledgeable teachers during our stay. You have spoilt us with all the time you have given us to make us a part of the rhythms and the workings of your home, your estancia and the countryside around. Thank you Mariana for your home cooked food it was delicious. Also Ignacio for teaching me to enjoy the thrill of and excitement of the gallop

Toby and Sofia from London. Very happy on our honeymoon”

“What a truly magical experience made even more special by the wonderful Zaballa family . Mariana thank you for your incredible warmth and patience

We will miss you all

Sophie Crichton-Smart

London 11/11/11”

Thank you Toby and Sofia for your very lovely words and a big thank you to the estancia team for making your stay so enjoyable.

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho hasta pronto

Sad Goodbyes and Happy Hello’s

2011-11-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

Ignacio,Mariana,Isabella,Francisca and of course Inaki with his mum

It’s always sad for me when people who have worked for me have to move on. But one thing that my long life has taught me is that nothing lasts forever and we must expect changes in life - if we think that way it eases the blow somewhat when a sudden change happens and so it has come to pass once again for me. The latest change to happen to us on La Margarita has been the leaving of Lalo, Lettie and their son Kevin who had been with us some four and a bit years – that’s a long time to get to know someone. Many of you who have been to visit us have ridden with Lalo or been cooked for by Lettie. They served La Margarita well and it was a sad day when Lalo informed me that the family had decided to live nearer to Lettie’s ageing father to take care of him. Of course I fully understood and wished them luck and no doubt it was the correct decision for sure but a sad loss for La Margarita for sure.

We started to look for a replacement for Lalo some months ago and I feel very fortunate to have found Ignacio and Mariana. Both are Argentines but have lived in the USA for some years and decided to come back to live in their home country. They have three adorable children who all now live on La Margarita. Both Ignacio and Mariana speak excellent English, which is a fantastic bonus, and Mariana is a chef so she is now in charge of the kitchen. I have to say I tasted her food and its great – all home made and tastily prepared. In fact it’s so good I will have to watch my weight. Ignacio has previously worked on a polo estancia and has extensive expertise with horses which is fantastic for us since we are offering more and more rides and in the process of buying more horses.

I would like to offer an English Gaucho welcome to this lovely family on La Margarita and I am sure if you come to see us they will enchant you in that unique Argentine way.

This is the David Cummings alias the English gaucho hasta pronto

The Mysteries of Saddling Up Gaucho Style in Argentina Revealed!

2011-10-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

Nothing more comfortable than a gaucho saddle

Many of our guests who come to La Margarita come specifically to ride horses. There is no doubt the estancia is a great place to come and do just that. I remember when I first came here to Argentina I went to a few estancias near BA. There is no doubt they were beautiful estancias but often the riding left a lot to be desired. The horses were tied to trees and you just got on one and it took you for a gentle stroll around the park – great if that is what you are looking for but not if you were looking for the exhilaration of riding over the famous pampas with the wind in your hair, a big blue sky over head and herds of famous Argentine grazing in the fields – believe me it is an exhilarating experience and that’s what we aim to offer on La Margarita - course we can’t always guarantee a blue sky but there is one more times than not

When guests on the estancia first come to our saddling up area to take their horse out the saddles we use often surprise them. Its not a surprise really since they are totally different from those saddles used in say USA or UK and some of our more experienced riders are a little bit cautions about them at first. However, once they get used to them all say how comfortable they are leave La Margarita full of enthusiasm for the gaucho saddle and how comfortable they are.

Recently we made a video one our gauchos saddling up here on La Margarita so you can see what is involved even before you get here as regards the saddles we use. The video is now on La Margarita and here is the link. I hope that you enjoy it ( just click on the link to view it )

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho hasta la vista

Ever Wondered How You Make Those Delicious Empanadas? – here at last on video the secret is revealed…

2011-10-18T10:57:00.000-07:00

Raquel with her team on La Margarita preparing to make some very tasty empanadas

Ignacio cooking the asado on La Margarita

Argentina is without doubt well known for its steak famously cooked on a parrilla. Coming to Argentina and not eating an asado as its know here is the same as going to Italy and not eating pizza – it’s simply a must do. Often when people eat an asado the starter will be empanadas, which before you come to Argentina you may never have heard of. They are sort of like an English pastie only tastier. They are simply delicious and usually come in a number of fillings such a beef, chicken and vegetable. Many guests who have come to La Margarita and eaten them here have asked us how they are made. With this in mind we decided to film Raquel on La Margarita lovely making this typically Argentine specialty. To be truthful I never realized what goes into making them and I found it fascinating to watch Raquel go to work and make them. The video of her making them has now been uploaded to YouTube and if you are interested in cooking it makes great viewing –here is the link I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the empanadas Raquel made.

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho hasta promto

La Margarita the Star of the Film - along with Staff, Guests and the Fabulous Pampas.

2011-10-06T05:14:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned a few blogs ago La Margarita was chosen as one of the locations for the Argentina short film Salome y El Forastero directed by Jorge Perez . It was an honour for me that the estancia was chosen as one of the locations for this story of love and ultimately tragedy about an event that happened in the pampas the 1930s. The reason I was particularly happy about being chosen was that as the director and writer explained they were, of course, looking for authentic film locations and that La Margarita fitted that need perfectly. In all the years I have owned La Margarita one important ambition for me was to keep the estancia as authentic as possible – I think the fact that it was chosen for this film has helped rubber stamped that ambition.

The filming took place over the past two weeks (Sept /Oct) and it was great to see the story acted out. One scene that was particularly important was the birthday of Salome – it was a big fiesta and for the scene the film director chose our staff and some guests who happened to be on La Margarita to be extras in the film - along with a few hundred more!

If you have a look on our Facebook page you will see some great photos taken by Susana (La Margarita boss) and Geraldine (the estancia volunteer) who both appear in the film. I will let you know in this blog when the film gets release- must say cant wait

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000784894713

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho saying hasta la vista

Gaucho Cattle Round Up On The Pampas Around Estancia La Margarita

2011-09-20T04:33:00.000-07:00

Cattle Round Up

Many moons ago when I started to live in Argentina I was speaking to one of my friends on the phone who lived in England. At the time I was living in the city of Buenos Aires since it was pre- Margarita days he asked me what it was like here in the city . I said well Buenos Aires was like living in how London must have been 200 hundred years ago. I said that the streets were mostly dirt roads and that there were a lot of gauchos on horses. Knowing that his general knowledge of the world wasn’t that good I continued the joke for a little while longer until I eventually told him that Buenos Aires was a huge vibrant bustling city full of cars, concrete roads and not a gaucho on a horse in sight.

However, drive a few hundred kilometers outside of Buenos Aires and everything changes. Arriving in the gorgeous Argentina pampas the horse is king as is the gaucho and although main routes are paved the rest are dirt roads. Being here in the pampas is like being in an area where time has stood still. The Aussies and Americans use 4x4 quad bikes to get around on their wide-open spaces – not so here the horse is the method to get around on the huge estancias and the gaucho is king with not a quad bike in sight.

For me there are not many more beautiful sights than to see the gauchos in full force rounding up the cows on the famous Argentina pampas. When my friends, film makers Brian and Gaynor were here they shot a video of a round up on La Margarita and showed me the results - I thought it looked fantastic and needed sharing. For me it’s a wonderful piece of filmmaking and really captures what’s its like in and around La Margarita through the eyes of the gauchos as they go about rounding up the cattle.

We have just uploaded the short video onto YouTube and I think it looks fantastic – it captures what the gaucho and the pampas is all about here on La Margarita. Have a look at the video and see for yourself - if you love horse riding you will be in for a treat I promise.

Gauchos rounding up cattle on the estancia

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho hasta pronto.

Ever Wondered What it Would be Like to Work as a Volunteer on an Estancia Like La Margarita?

2011-09-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

Geraldine helping one of our young guests feed an orphaned lamb

If you have ever wondered what it would be like to work as a volunteer on Estancia La Margarita have a read of our latest volunteer 28 year old Geraldine’s experience on our estancia. She has been working on La Margarita for the past three months and leaves quite soon to return to her homeland of France to see her parents. I asked her to write about her experience to give those of you thinking of doing this type of work a good idea of what you life would be like here. I haven’t changed a word of her blog and I hope that it is informative and that you enjoy it…….

My feelings as a volunteer working in an estancia in Argentina:

Involved in the daily activities of the estancia, I will try to communicate at best my impressions as regards La Margarita, added with few thoughts concerning the amazing country of Argentina. I hope you will have a pleasant time to read this brief description; discover or know better this country and the kind heart people who make this place warmth and where it is good to live simply.

As told you previously, I decided to learn Spanish and having a concrete experience was essential for me. A long time ago, younger, I said: one day, I will work as a volunteer in a farm for riding horses either in the USA in ranches or in Argentina with the gauchos!

Coming from a French region where farms are the main part of the sceneries, far away from big cities, subways or communication means, I was aware of the situation and what I could encounter. By considering France, it could appear that certain regions still do not possess an Internet connection, it is obvious that in Argentina, some issues could happen.

Consequently, going to the Margarita was not a problem. The only difference is Spanish, which is finally a detail now compare to what I receive in exchange! If you want to, allow Argentina coming to you and she will take you by the hand, open the doors of her world and demonstrate her best side.

You can’t imagine the things I can do here beside the missions and activities attributed. The curiosity joining with an opened mind is a useful asset helping you to across the language or culture barrier. Come on! Jump the barrier and you will be received with opened arms!

I learn how to use the Argentinian saddle with all of those long pieces of leather,

using the horse to regroup cows or horses during cold and foggy mornings, galloping against the wind, watch birds species or admire the new born calf, like a real gaucho! And, my God! What such thick Spanish accent here!

I meet people coming from all around the world, they animate the table during the dinnertime with their own and unique story and it’s so good! The traditional food reminds you how it’s pleasant to enjoy you life and take the time for important things, often forgotten in this fast world.

The people who make this estancia alive make you realize that simplicity and authenticity are the basements of happiness. I love them!

This actual experience is a present. For all of that, thank you Argentina!

Geraldine

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho hope you enjoyed Geraldine’s blog about her stay on La Margarita as our volunteer

Hasta pronto

News Flash - Date Change and Lonely Planet listing

2011-09-03T04:40:00.000-07:00

La Margarita - a place to de stress

In my previous blog I mentioned that La Margarita had been chosen as the film location for the Argentine film "Salome y el Forastero" ( Salome and the Forester ) . The date has now been put back to start on 24th of September so please make a note of the new date if you were thinking of visiting us to watch the filming of gaucho film.

Lonely Planet
Also I am really proud to say that La Margarita have been listed in the new edition of Lonely Planet /Buenos Aires which has just hit the book stalls. I would like to say a big thank you to those of you who helped us spread the word about this wonderful location. As I mentioned in my blog I wrote when I found out that we had been listed in Rough Guide this year I promise we won't change a thing - we will not turn into a disney estancia and it will be business as normal and we really look forward to seeing you on La Margarita so you can see what a great location it is to enjoy the gaucho life for a few days
This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho hasta la vista

If you fancy being an extra in a gaucho film now could be your chance!

2011-08-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

Riding out on la pampas

Estancia La Margarita has been chosen to be the location of the romantic tragedy called Salomé and the Forester. The short film is to be shown at various film festivals around Argentina and overseas. The true story happened in the 1930s in the Provincia of Buenos Aires when the gaucho Mauro fell in love with the beautiful Salomé deep in the Argentines pampas. I won’t go into details of the deeply tragic romance but suffice to say it has a very sad ending. In the film the story is related by the now English nurse and children’s guardian the elegant and mysterious but now old Miss Alice who lived in Argentina at the time of the love affair. The writer who investigated the story and put it together is Argentina Ruth Capdevila who is a published author. The director is the famous Argentina Jorge Perez and from the 10th of September 2011 the film crew will on location on La Margarita plus other locations in the area to film the tragic story . On one of the film days from the 10th of September on La Margarita they will be filming the birthday festival of Salomé and who knows they may need extras – it was a big party! I can’t promise you they will use you but at least you could be witness to the filming of this gaucho tragedy whilst enjoying some great riding in La Margarita.

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho hasta la vista

A Big Thank You From La Margarita

2011-08-15T07:01:00.000-07:00

Ready to go!

I have been the owner of Estancia La Margarita for the past 7 years. Over that time my team who work on the estancia and in the Buenos Aires office worked really hard to make it what it is today – an estancia in which guests can experience the traditions of a working Argentine estancia in a location on the famous pampas to totally escape from the hustle, the bustle and the stresses of the modern day world. An estancia that is not a Disney estancia with fake shows nor overcrowded with day trippers. Our policy was simple - it was make sure we are never overrun with so many guests that the reason for you being on La Margarita had disappeared for those who come looking for peace, tradition and great horse riding. For me it worked out great and many of you who came here as guests have passed on the word about La Margarita, how comfortable it is to be here, how the food is simple (such a great asada) but local and tasty, how the sky goes on forever and how the horse riding is a wonderful experience. Many of you have written wonderful comments about us on Trip Advisor or wrote articles about us on your blogs. You passed your recommendations on to friends and fellow travelers alike. When we put in the self catering units you came and stayed in them and told us how much you enjoyed them – some of you stayed for a weeks at a time in them cooking your own food (sometimes purchased from La Margarita kichen) and riding out daily across the wide open spaces on la pampas.

For all your wonderful comments I want to say a big thank you because last week I am delighted to say we got notification that we had been listed in both Rough Guide and Lonely Planet in their new August 2011 editions. The reason we have been listed is because of your wonderful comments about how you enjoyed your stay on the estancia and this drew the estancia to the attention of the writers of these two important guides so a big thank you and abrazos a todos .

However, I just want to say nothing will change here – La Margarita will still be a place to chill out and to experience that wonderful tradition and beauty of the Argentina pampas. We don’t intend to put on fake shows nor will we be busing in coach loads of day-trippers. In our opinion there plenty of estancias near to BA that offer that kind of estancia experience. So if you have any doubt that we will change the model of La Margarita I can assure you that is not the case – its business as normal and I as the owner promise you that. Once again a big thanks you to all who commented about us for getting us sufficiently noticed to get us listed in these two important guides so that more people can experience what you already know about - the wonderful experience that La Margarita offers.

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho hasta la vista

The Horses With Names - at last !!!

2011-08-09T06:32:00.000-07:00

Diabla - for those of you who can ride and want a bit of a challenge - this is Susanas fav horse

When I first purchased La Margarita all those years ago I purchased a few horses with it. When I asked the owner what their names were I was surprised to find that they were the horses with no names, as the song goes and I recall I wrote a blog on the subject. It seemed that in this part of the world names for horses was considered a bit sissy. Umm but not where I come from - we like to give our horses names. And so started the task of teaching our gauchos who worked on the estancia that we wanted to have names for our horses. Gradually as more and more guest came to La Margarita the horses started to acquire names given to them by our guests and gradually the names started to stick – for instance Dolores is named after Dolores who has been a guest on La Margarita more times than I can count. Diablo was named by a guest who came here and always asked for the horse that acted sometimes like a devil – hence she gave him the name Diablo. Gradually over the years our horses got names until at last now there are names for all of our horses and we are producing a rouges gallery of our horses. Over the next few weeks we will be publishing our horses rouges gallery with details of the horse so that even before you come to La Margarita you could pick your horse to ride – I will write another blog when its published but in the meantime here are a few photos of some the usually suspects.

Everyone loves Dolores she will go slow and fast but always look after you

Today is 5^th August and the sun is shining – it’s not a special day but sometimes it seems to me that all days are pretty special on La Margarita. I have to say we are in full winter and the nights can turn pretty chilly but at the moment I am walking round with just a t -shirt. But being a Brit those chilly nights just give me a chance to get the log fire going after a ride out on the horses with names, snuggle up around the fire, chat with staff and guests and take a nice glass of Malbec in front of the warm roaring logs – magic. I love the summer here that’s for sure but the winter can be equally espectacular and if you came here I am sure you would see why and the great thing is all our bedrooms have log fires so if you want to snuggle up with a loved one in private and take a glass or two of wine and listen to the crackle of the burning logs in private there is no better place than La Margarita believe me.

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho hasta pronto

You Want to Do What Throw It Away - How Dare You

2011-07-31T13:36:00.000-07:00

It may be old but hey it works - my old 1978 Toyota with Lalo

I remember before I owned Estancia La Margarita when I was with Agnes once in France her printer (which was pretty old) wasn’t working. I causally said look its old throw it away and buy a new one (well in fact I said I would buy her a new one). She looked at me with those beautiful Gallic eyes and said a bad word in France which more or less meant piss off you English git it may be old but it will work when I get it fixed so why would I throw it away. I looked back at her sheepishly and said ok ok I get the message thinking really that it would be best to throw it away and buy another one.

Fast forward to Argentina and if I had been living more time here when we had that conversation I would have had a different opinion. Here nothing is thrown away – in fact I guess at some time things become unusable but I am not sure at what stage that is reached here. This is a fantastic country in that it has recycle programme that beats any country I know – it is if it doest work for you it will work for someone else for sure. There is a system here that would have city councils in the UK having heart attacks. If you don’t want it or it doesn’t work for you just leave it in the street outside your house and hey presto in the morning its gone – you have put in the system of what doesn’t work for you will work for someone else. It never ceases to surprise me what junk (well to me it is junk but not to someone else) gets left on the streets and even more surprising that in the morning it’s gone. Yesterday I was walking home in the city and I saw old fridge that had been left in the street – well it was the bare bones of a fridge really it was for the bin. But there was someone giving it the look over and after a few minutes he had balanced it on his bike (it was funny to see) carting it away. What he was going do with it who knows but hey hey he was going to do something with it for sure. I just love this system its fantastic and it should be adopted in the UK for sure but will they - no they wont which is a crying shame - there is probably a law against it or a health and safely rule god help us

A good example of not throwing things away is my old Toyota truck on La Margarita. Its 1978 and in England would have been thrown away years ago but not here. It’s not only working still but has a price of 4000 US$ on its head – that’s what we are asking for it as we have now purchased a newish Ranger. Wow 4000US$ I cant believe it but that’s what Lalo says its worth and to prove it we have already had offers.

As the Searchers sang “Don’t Throw Your Love Away” they should have added nor your rubbish - just leave it in the streets and some one else will love it for sure – there is a lesson here - Argentina can teach us something and we should listen

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho of to repair something – anything

Hasta Pronto

Introducing our New Gauchita Volunteer on La Margarita

2011-07-25T09:43:00.000-07:00

Geraldine ya una gauchita

Geraldine ( right) with Susana

It’s always great when we have a new volunteer on La Margarita. Exciting for them and exciting for us. Exciting for us because its always great to see what new ideas they can offer us to improve La Margarita and what part of their culture they can introduce to the estancia. Just arrived on La Margarita is Geraldine Portier and a big blog welcome to her. All the way from France she has worked and studied in the hotel business for a few years. A few months ago she told her parents she was off to explore Argentina and America “what said her parents that’s miles away” “ doesn’t matter I’ m off” she said and packed her bags and waved “au revoir” to France for six months. After some travelling around for a few months she decided that she would love to be a volunteer somewhere for three months. She sent us an email saying that she spoke adequate Spanish, had lots of experience with horses and that she cooked a great crepe! – well of course she does she comes from near the Lyon region of France which is one of my favorite locations in the world having lived there for a number of years and tasted the wonderful food from the region many times - so that clinched it . We meet her liked here and she got the gig. She has been on La Margarita with La Casa Rosa our self catering rooms full and she has had her work cut out translating and riding out with the guests but she sailed through her first ten days - bravo . From the look in the photo it looks as though she has adapted the gaucho way of life quickly and we all get some great crepes to eat every now can again – que rico

Welcome Geraldine and enjoy your stay with us

This is the English Gaucho hasta la vista

Where The Streets Have The Same Names

2011-07-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

No matter which city or town you travel to in Argentina you will find the same street names time and time again. That applies whether you are in Buenos Aires or Tapalque where my estancia La Margarita (www.estancialamargarita.com) is located. So fascinated was I by this that I was motivated to write an article about it (next life I want to be Charles Dickens). Luckily enough Escape From America the well know on- line magazine thought it was sufficiently interesting to publish it. It’s always a thrill for me when that happens so have a peek hope you enjoy it Mel.

http://www.escapefromamerica.com/2011/07/a-short-history-of-argentina-in-its-street-names/

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho hasta pronto

This free photo slideshow made with Smilebox

2011-07-08T06:23:00.000-07:00

It Never to Late to Learn to Horse Ride

One of the many reasons guests come to La Margarita is to horse ride (which is included in our price). Some guest come with a huge amount of knowledge of riding and come here to experience riding in the famous Argentina pampas. However, what often happens is that we get a couple come where one of the couple has experience and the other has never ridden a horse in their life. That’s what happened recently when David and Tibby Gold from the USA came to stay on the estancia. Tibby had lots of experience riding having owned a horse and having ridden many times before. David on the other hand had reached his 60s and had never ridden in his life before! It was understandable he was a little nervous about the prospect of getting on a horse for the first time in his life and riding out gaucho style on the Argentine pampas. However, he was game for it and decided it was not to late to give it a go. Off we went to where we keep the horses and without any hesitation up he got on his horse. I went riding with them and took some photos and put together this slide show of his first ride out. I am pretty sure he enjoyed himself – have a look and see what you think

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho hasta to vista

Hey Wait There’s Still One Minute Left!

2011-07-02T05:47:00.000-07:00

Its all over and now

Cheer up - always next season

As someone once famously said “nothing last forever”. It’s something that sadly River Plate, founded by the Brits in 1901 and arguable the most famous football team in Argentina found out last Sunday. The team had never in their entire 110-year history been in the B league– they had the chance to avoid the drop as I mentioned in my last blog. River of course blew it – it was pretty predictable. This was a team that had only scored two goals against another team twice in the whole season so it was almost a certainty they wouldn’t do it last Sunday and so it came to pass – they drew 1-1. So after 90 minute of torture promotion was won by Belgrano from Cordoba and that should have been the end of it until next season - but this is Argentina where the passion for football is probably only equaled by the Brits love of beer. In fact there wasn’t 90 minutes played there were 89 since the game was abandoned after 89 minutes due to rioting in the stadium and in the streets. That extra minute could have made all the diffence – if it had been Manchester United you could have counted on another goal or two in that extra minute and the added injury time that would have followed but the ensuing riot saw to it that that was not going to be the case in this match. The ref called the game off and handed promotion to Belgano. No excuses for what happened after the game - it was a war zone. Some fans of the team that now were in the B league for the first time in their history were expressing their extreme unhappiness about it in a most unpleasant way and they forget about the expression that nothing last forever.

Now Argentina is a beautiful country believe me but what happened after the game wasn’t beautiful - it was sad and reminded me of the state of football in the 70s in UK where violence was rampant. However, if this has put you off coming here or going to football match here don’t let it please don’t let it. As I mentioned in my last blog this is a country that is passionate about the game and sometimes it spills over onto the streets as it did last week. However, if you go to a game the chances of anything happening to you is slim but the chances of having a great experience with these emotional people is huge so please please don’t let these events or people warning you not to go to a match put you off – 99% of the River fans who watched the game on Sunday in the stadium or in bars or at home were as you can imagine very unhappy - they swore a lot, shouted, they cried a River - but that’s all. I hope they catch the stupid ones who caused all the problems and ban them from games - fingers crossed. As for River there is always hope they will be back and claim their rightful place in the A league – fingers crossed it happens soon - we only have August to wait for the first game and I can’t wait to get to a game and if you are visiting around that time get to game as well (preferable a River game) - you will love the experience – I promise (apart from Gaynor that is!)

Allez River

This is the English Gaucho saying sorry for the football blogs but that’s life in Argentina y hasta pronto

There Are Still 90 Minutes Left But it Could Be the End of the World If It All Goes Wrong

2011-06-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

Chicas with hope and tickets for Sunday

By the time you read this it may already be over. This is a country that is high on emotion – look at an interview of Evita Peron and the people listening to her or watch Maradona in one of his TV shows. For sure you will see lots of tears. Its part of the culture they like to shed a few tears. To be fair the country has had a lot to cry about with over throws of governments by the military, hyperinflation and currency devaluations. You name it Argentina has suffered it at one time or another. But there is one thing that it has never suffered that is on the brink of becoming a reality on Sunday. It is an event that has already caused a riot and it dominates the news. It is on everyone’s lips and everyone knows about it. If it happens (and it is very likely to ) the rivers will over flow with tears for sure, there may be fighting the streets and even the La President will have something to say about it. What is this monumental event that is about to happen here in Buenos Aires. The clue is in

the word monumental.

The Monumental is where it may happen. The Monumental is the home ground of River Plate, a giant of a football team here in Argentina. Now before you switch of cos you don’t like football read a bit more especially if you are thinking of coming to Argentina. Now everyone here, no matter who they are be it Presidents, famous actors, doctors have one thing in common they all follow a football team here. Many of them have never even been to a match but that doesn’t matter they still have their team to follow. If you come here you will be asked who is your team – choose one - doesn’t matter if you don’t like football because you will immediately start to bond with Argentine culture. Talk about your chosen team and expect a long conversation to take place about them – bonding will start. Now if you had chosen River Plate like myself when I came here (the first day I arrived with my mate Brian in 2003 we went to a River Plate game and it was love at first game) Sunday will be a day you may never forget. You see River Plate founded by the Brits after over 100 hundred years in the premier division are on the brink of going down to the second division – it’s an event that even the Guardian newspaper in the UK talked about a few days ago. River are about to be demoted. It has never happened in their history and if you were here it would be hard to avoid the topic. They are in a two match playoff against a team called Belgrano from Cordoba (who are they!!!!) . Belgrano ( boo boo) won the first match in their attempt to be promoted and in doing put River on the brink of the abyss. What followed was a riot. That was last Sunday. Tomorrow 26^th June at 3 o clock in the afternoon they play again - if River don’t win by at least two goals its over for them and down they go for the first time ever - yes the first time ever . That may not mean much to you if you have never been here Mel but here in Argentina its unthinkable and everyone, doesn’t matter who they are has an opinion. If the unthinkable happens the mighty River Plate will be overflow with tears and for a while the country will be in chaos, grown men and women will be reduced to physical wrecks make no mistake about it what I write is true - this is Argentina where nothing is more important than football - nothing. If you read this blog I am asking you to pray a little for River - just a minute will be enough - it all helps. As I said it is unthinkable that the team who have won more titles than any other here will be within 48 hours of me writing this blog will be in the 2^nd division but but but but there is still 90 minutes left so there is still hope . Please please give your support - believe me it’s needed and if you don’t have a team now is the time to choose River Plate and we still have 90 minutes - its not over its not over its not over pleaaaaaaseeeee

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho trying to stay positive but with bitten down nails and a worried look

Hasta Pronto

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2011-06-17T13:51:00.001-07:00

The Story of The Ride Out to the Little House on The Prairie – in Photos

A few blogs ago I talked about the great day out we had on La Margarita riding out to the little house on the prairie and enjoying a tasty asado . It was a fun day for sure and some of the readers of this blog asked if I had any more photos so here they are. I put together a slide show and introduced some the people on the ride - have a look. This weekend we are doing it again with some guests who are on La Margarita and I am really looking forward to it

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho polishing my boots ready for the ride

Hasta La Vista

Coincidence or Destiny Revisited Once Again

2011-06-11T07:39:00.000-07:00

Its been a good while since I last blogged about coincidence or destiny - its an interesting subject and something happened in the last few weeks that I wanted to blog about on here on La Margarita blog – its for you to decide if it was coincidence or destiny - ok so here goes…………………………

Guests on La Margarita - The whole family out for a ride!

Last week in my blog I talked about Toastmaster in BA, an organization worldwide that helps those who want to learn more about public speaking do just that but its all in English you don’t learn to speak Spanish at Toastmasters. The organization is worldwide and a meeting can probably found in city near you. However, here in BA there are a number of organizations that can help you improve your Spanish and meet people at the same time. One such organization is Spanglish. Started by Maya a few years ago it has had huge success. Events are held in different places in the city and people meet up to enjoy the events and practice speaking different languages not only Spanish. Have a look on her webpage if you are interested http://www.spanglishexchange.com it will give you loads if info about what it does however, sorry for digressing.

Running La Margarita we are always adding or improving things and needing more furniture or bits and pieces to help us do that. Plus I also have a loft apartment in Palermo, which I rent out to temporary visitors to the city for which I often have need to replace broken furniture, plates or even fridges etc so I am always looking out for things we need. A few weeks ago I was looking on Craigslist for a fridge for a small house I have just done up on La Margarita and hey presto I found one. It was a good price so I sent an email to the owner and tried to arrange to see it. Problem was I was on La Margarita and by the time I got back in the city I was sure it had gone so didn’t bother to follow it up. A week later I get an e-mail from Brenda the seller who said that the fridge was still for sale. I was delighted for sure and arranged to see it. A time was set to view it and the next day I set of to see it. It was located in groovy San Telmo, a distance for me since my city pad is in very cool Palermo. On arriving at the house I was greeted by Brenda and we started to chat. A few minute later I heard a voice say, “I know that voice that’s David from La Margarita”. Down the stairs came Maya the owner of Spanglish who I knew and had worked with re- La Margarita. That in itself was a great coincidence to me – I mean of all the fridges in the world I had to bump into Mayas mums’ fridge -but that was just the start. The day before I went to look at the fridge Adriana who works in our BA office rang me crying saying that the microwave in the office had broken and she would surely starve. Ok only joking about the crying and staving but for sure the microwave had broken and we needed a new one. I asked Maya if she was selling anything else – she pointed to the microwave in the corner “ I ‘m selling that” “ok sold,” I said. “Anything else” “well” she said, “do you fancy buying five tables and 18 chairs”. Now you would think that would be a long shot eh I mean how many people turning up at her door to buy a fridge would have need for 5 tables and 18 chairs – not many is my guess– apart from moi that is! Nils, one of the room renters in my cool rental apto in Palermo had mentioned to me a number of times that it would be great if I could put little tables and chairs in the four bedrooms to use as desks. Umm with this in mind I asked Maya what size the tables were and she said they were small. I had a look and they were perfect for the bedrooms – sold. At the same time Nils has asked me if I could replace the plastic chairs they were using in the living room for wooden ones. As it turned out the ones that Maya was selling were pine and perfect! – another sold sign went up – finally she said she also had a couple of blue chairs and a blue table for sale –any use she asked? – as it happened we had just done up on La Margarita a small room with bathroom which we give to the volunteer who we have working on the estancia from time to time and we had to buy a table and chair for it . The amazing thing is that the bed in the room is yep you guessed it blue- sold!

Ok is everything planned or do we live from moment to moment with nothing destined or planned out for us – I still don’t know but when this sort of thing happens I am pretty sure that it is all planned and that one day no matter what I did in my life I was destined to buy those 18 chairs etc from Maya. What do think Gary coincidence or destiny - I mean you must have a view after what happened?

This David Cummings alias the English Gaucho hasta pronto

Ever heard of a being Flexitarian? - no nor me but hey sounds good to be one if you come to Argentina…..

2011-06-04T14:13:00.000-07:00

No chicken in sight!

When I am in the city (Buenos Aires that is). I try and go to Toastmaster ( www.toastmasters.com). I really like it. It’s a worldwide organization that helps those who want to improve their confidence in public speaking - which as we all know can be pretty nerve wracking. Not that I am training to be the next Tony Blair (umm why would I) but its great to hear public speakers and watch how confident they can be and I would love to have that skill so Toastmasters it is for me at times to try to learn it. Last night I was in town and there was a meeting of Toastmaster and off I went. One guy did a speech, which was in itself very interesting – it was about how the way we act and think can affect our health – true indeed and it was an excellent speech – you should have been there Mel you would have loved it and him too probably!!

But what really got my attention was that he introduced himself as ‘flexitarian’. Now I had never heard of a flexitarian and I am not even sure that is how it is spelt to be honest but when he explained what it was it made me think how useful it could for those who come to Argentina who are vegetarians. It seems that flexitarians are a group of people who on weekdays don’t eat meat but at weekends they can eat what they want. Now I know that for vegetarians’ coming to Argentina it can be a little difficult. Lets face it one of the most famous things about Argentina is of course the meat. Argentina is in the top thee of meat eaters in the world – they eat it for breakfast – ok only joking but nearly. To give you a clue on how serious they are about meat the Spanish word for meat is carne but carne does not mean chicken or pork it is only used for beef. I remember once letting Rachel our chef on La Margarita know that we had some guests coming to La Margarita who didn’t eat meat. She said fine no problem I will prepare something for them without meat – great I thought look forward to it. That evening she served up a delicious meal of chicken cooked over an open fire – opps. I was new to Argentina at the time and I didn’t realize that meat meant beef and nothing else and in Argentina chicken is not meat. Poor guests they nearly passed out. Still Raquel quickly made a delicious pasta meal and all was saved and I was forgiven. Now flexitarainism could be the answer. Eat as a vegetarian on weekdays and eat what you like at the weekend or when you are on La Margarita. Umm maybe it will catch on – probably not but who knows it just might.

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho of to help Lalo with the asado!

Its Time to Throw Another Log on The Fire, Pour Another Glass of Wine and Open a Great Book on La Margarita

2011-05-29T07:44:00.000-07:00

Books waiting to be read on La Margarita

Summer is now well gone, the pool has been closed for a while now and its time to start to light the fires in the living rooms and bedrooms for guests in the main house and the wood burning stoves in the self catering rooms. I love this time of year. Being English I am used to the changing of the seasons and for me the drawing in of winter can be a beautiful time of year. To take a ride across the pampas on a chilly sunny winters day is an exhilarating experience believe me. Arriving back at the house after your ride its great to throw another log on the fire, open a good book and just chill out. On La Margarita many guests do just that but just what are they reading. Umm it’s a good question but easy to answer since I try to read most of the books guest leave on La Margarita. Here are five great books that in my opinion are a must read that you can find today in the library on La Margarita. It is a great reason to come and stay here, as they are all excellent reads. Ok ok I know it will be cheaper to buy them on Amazon but hey Amazon doesn’t have a log fire, lunch and a glass of Malbec waiting for you when you get back from your ride as you settle down in front of the fire!....................................................

One Day by David Nicholls

Book of this year and last year for me. The story of 80's children Em and Dex’s on and off twenty year romance will put you on a roller coaster ride that will have you keep putting logs on the fire as its pretty hard to put down it and you may have a few tears rolling down your checks so make sure you have a hanky nearby – I quite simply loved this book and you will too - bet you

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg

All you ever needed to know about the science of snow mixed up with a great moody crime story that only Miss Smillia can solve - or can she ? – it’s fascinating stuff

Confessions of an Argentina Warrior by Horacio Verbitsky

This is must read to all who come to Argentina. It’s tragic and bloody but it happened and it was such a short time ago. Hard to believe that the Military controlled this county so brutally and it’s hard to believe it really happened – but it did

Stoned by Andrew Logg Oldham

If you ever wondered what the swinging Sixties were like don’t ask Andrew Logg Oldham since he was stoned most of the time but his story of how he managed the Rolling Stones at the tender age of 19 is absorbing – the best autobiography on the music industry (ok it only my opinion but it is really really really good). He now lives in Columbia by the way

Bangkok Days by Lawrence Osborne

This is an absorbing travel book read taking you through the sometimes murky but always fascinating expats world of Bangkok and the cities exotic history with some great eccentric characters. By travel writer Lawrence Osborne who has spent quite a bit of time in Asia - it’s definitely worth a few logs the fire

Hurry up and get here, as these cracking books will be snapped up quick. Course the sapper uppers will no doubt leave some great books in there place if they have to take them away with them if they don’t manage to finish them so you will always find some great reads on La Margarita

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho until the next time

Hasta Pronto

If You Are Just About to Hire a Car Out in Argentina This Will Scare the Life Out Of You -he he

2011-05-21T12:05:00.000-07:00

Susana smugly satisfied after passing her driving test first time

Now I love Argentina. It’s a great big country full of great things to see and enjoy - including La Margarita. It’s is a country that has its quirks and there are some things you need to get used to if you come here . One of those things is the driving. Now if you have ever been to a go-cart event or the dodgems then that gives you an idea of the type of driving you will find here at the end of the world. So when Susana who is my commander in chief and all round hard worker re La Margarita said she wanted to learn to drive I felt a little chill run down my spine having experienced the standard of driving here - after all she would be learning in the estancia vehicles. However, it was no doubt a good idea that she drove - all we needed was someone brave enough to teach her. Off I sent her to a driving school in Belgrano in Buenos Aires. The theory being that if you can drive in the city of Buenos Aires you can drive anywhere. After six or seven lessons she asked if she could practice in the Discovery we have in La Margarita - I felt nervous however, how could I refuse. With heart in mouth off we set from La Margarita to terrorize the poor people in Tapalque. As it turned out she did really well. She handled the 4x4 well as huge as it is and I was confident enough to let her drive regularly after her first outing. After twelve lessons in the city she said that she was ready to take her test. She decided to take it in Tapalque since no doubt the standard of driving is more on the sedate side here than in BA - umm that’s an understatement. Last week we both went to town to do some chores when she said she needed to sign a form so that she could get a date for her driving test. On entering the porta cabin which was the driving test center a very nice lady who runs the office asked her to sit down while she gleaned some info from Susana in readiness for her exam. As we were sitting down in walks some chap and the very nice lady asked Susana if she wanted to take her test now. Now I remember my test as long ago as it was in the UK and I never remember anything like that happening - more like a six month wait for some stern faced task master to take you through the test. 'Ok' said a surprised Susana and off she went to take her test. Off they set and five minutes later they came back eh what! . See I thought, knew it couldn’t be that easy. Ok said the guy to Susana fine you’ve passed. And that was that - a test in five minutes. Turns out the guy asked her if has had taken some lesson and she said yes and he said ok good enough – honest its true no reversing, no parking, no emergency stop no nothing. She re-entered the office and the very nice lady said to her ok you need to go to have a medical exam tomorrow. When its done bring the result to be me and if its ok you will get your license. The next day Susana went to have her medical exam. The doctor asked her if she wore glasses – she said no and the doc said ok examination over here is your conformation everything is ok – honest that’s what happened. Off Susana went to the office with the very nice lady and the very nice lady said great that’s it in ten days you will have your license. In two days it arrived! Its amazing but true - makes you think eh!!

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho hasta luego

What a Great Ride Out To The Little House On The Prairie!

2011-05-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

Getting the asado ready ummmm

Wide open spaces- wonderful

Many guests who come to stay on Estancia La Margarita come here to ride horses. The great thing is even if guests have no experience of riding they still get a great kick out of riding out on the famous Argentina pampas surrounded by grazing cows and big wide open flat spaces in true gaucho country. Experienced riders love it here and have a fabulous time galloping across the famous pampas– it is a wonderful experience without doubt. Over the years we have offered long rides as well as the normal shorter rides to guests who like to ride. Lately we had been talking about offering another ride to try to incorporate a famous asado midway though the ride. It’s a funny old world because three weeks ago Max my neighbour, who owns the estancia next to mine, came to stay on his estancia and we got together as we always do to have a whisky or three. He mentioned that he had a small house far out in his campo, which is empty. Historically the house would have been used by a gaucho whose duties would have been to look after the cattle in the area of the house. The house is tiny (its called a puesto in Spanish) with a kitchen, bedroom and eating space (think Little House on the Prairie). Max said he would like to see it used and did we have any ideas for it – err what err yes we sure do. I said why don’t we arrange to have a ride out to the house and have lunch in the way of an asado to see how it all goes. Max enthusiastically agreed and the date was set last week and everything was organized. Last Wednesday excitedly ten of us set out to the little house on the prairie from La Margarita to La Torcaza and then on for the long ride to the Little Joe’s house ! It was a fantastic sunny day and the ride was a dream. Two hours later we arrived at the small house. The house is truly in the middle of nowhere – the setting is beautiful, it’s a place where you can forget about the rest of the world and all it’ s troubles – it’s a place where time has stood still – wonderful wonderful wonderful.

Getting lunch ready

The steak from Max’s estancia was already being prepared by Max’s staff who had gone out before us in true gaucho style to cook the asado and thirty minutes after arriving we all sat down to enjoy a great lunch of steak, chorizos and a couple of Raquel’s delicious salads, of course washed down with some great malbec wine . After lunch we all sat around chatting, drinking mate (or tea in my case) and taking in this great day and ride. The ride back was equally exhilarating and a couple of hours later we arrived back on La Torcaza and La Margarita tired but so happy we had the chance to enjoy this true gaucho ride out.

So happy were we with the ride and lunch we have decided to offer the ride to guests who stay on La Margarita. We are still in the planning stage but we felt that since many of our guests love riding and eating an asado this was a ride we just have to offer. Next week we are doing it all over again and I can’t wait. There may even be a possibility that guest can stay the night in the house - what a great experience – me first though!

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho saying a big thanks to Max for the use of the little house on the prairie - I owe you a whisky or two!

Hasta pronto

Time for mate ( or tea)

Lunch gaucho style meat and wine

Getting ready for the ride back

A Sad Goodbye But Also a Happy One

2011-05-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

Some guests when they come to La Margarita ask me what’s it like to live and work on La Margarita. Probably instead of asking me they should ask Ilona our latest volunteer who has been working on La Margarita for the past 4 months. Originally from South Africa she had been travelling around Latin America for the past four years finally ending up in Buenos Aires where she saw our ad for a volunteer to work on the estancia. She contacted us and hey presto she got the job after all she had all the qualifications – she spoke good Spanish, she could ride horses and she was free to dedicate some time to La Margarita. She originally was going to stay for 2 months but as we all know when one is enjoying themselves time flies and that’s what it did for her so she decided to stay a bit longer. That bit longer was two months more. During that time she has meet lots of interesting people who came to stay on La Margarita and has ridden horses nearly every day which is great for her since that is one of her great passions. Now sadly her time has nearly come to leave – not quite but soon she will be moving on to pastures new. It will be sad to see her go but life moves on, as it must.

Ilona’s leaving means we will soon be looking for someone to replace her so if you fancy a change of lifestyle or you always dreamed of seeing what it was like to work on an estancia in Argentina now could be just the time to do it. The pay sadly is zero but you get your own room, you get to live free and if you love horses and people its not a bad way to spend a few months. If you want to know what its like to live and work on an estancia I am sure if you send an e mail to Ilona via estancialamargarita@gmail.com she will be happy to relate her experience to you. As I mentioned it is a sad goodbye but also a happy one in the sense that it was great to have Ilona here working with us on La Margarita.

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho until the next time

Hasta Pronto

La Margarita – Guests – Easter = Great Time

2011-04-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

When I first purchased La Margarita all those years ago it needed lots of work and before I started the work I held an asasdo on the estancia for friends, those who worked for me and an assorted number of experts in tourism. It was a great weekend and all that came seemed to enjoy it. At the Sunday asado I stood up and mentioned to my guest that there is no such thing as a free lunch and I needed some advise. I gave each guest a piece of paper and asked them to give me three suggestions on how I could improve La Margarita for guests. It was very interesting to read the feedback when I gathered them all together. However, one suggestion by someone who will remain nameless (he was a Brit and tourist expert) suggested I didn’t mention that the new owner is a Brit because if I did the Argentines won’t want to come to the estancia. It worried me a bit I must admit- what if he was right. There is no don’t about it I wanted the La Margarita to be enjoyed by guests from overseas but also I wanted to have lots and lots of Argentines guest enjoying their heritage.

In truth I didn’t need to worry as the years rolled by because more and more Argentines came to enjoy La Margarita on long weekends and summer holidays – I didn’t seem to matter a hoot to them that a Brit was the owner only that La Margarita was a traditional estancia which I have to say it very much is.

This Easter was no different we were full and 75% of our guests were from Argentina which for me was great and it made me feel very happy and proud of my team who made the Easter holidays on La Margarita a fantastic few days. To cap it all a few days ago we got a wonderful email from a family who spent Easter on La Margarita La Casa Rosado where our self catering units are located . What they wrote was a wonderful tribute to La Margarita and the team who work on it and I felt like sending a copy to Mr Nameless but that would have been childish but the thought was there! Below is the unadulterated version of the email that Dra. María Jose Sañudo sent us – it is of course in Spanish since the family is Argentine. If you need it translated please mail me at estancialamargarita @gmail.com and I will be happy to do it for you but even if you don t speak Spanish I think you will see that this family were very very happy here and that makes me very very happy for sure.....

The email…………………

Estimada Susana:

Quiero agradecerles los lindisimos días pasados allí. Realmente nos ha sido un espacio para compartir en familia, para fomentar el diálogo, para vivir una verdadera Semana Santa. La presencia de la capilla completó nuestras expectativas, que no pensábamos tendríamos esta facilidad y cercanía con la práctica de la Fe. El continuo contacto con el aire libre, los caballos, las cabalgatas tanto la extensa como las más cortas, nos permitieron, junto a la gracia y simpatía de Lalo y su hijito, poder remontarnos a tiempos lejanos en el que recorríamos el campo paterno. La posibilidad de brindarle a mi hijo Francisco el espacio necesario para que tomara confianza sobre el caballo y saliera al galope, hicieron que no quisiera volver a su casa y protestara por lo corto del viaje.

La preocupación compartida con nosotros por la pérdida del celular de la pequeña, y la busqueda hecha en gran medida por todos.

La compañía de Raquel en el Vía Crucis del Viernes a la tarde, invalorable.

Y por sobre todas las cosas, el hacernos sentir como en casa, y a la vez atendidos ante cualquier necesidad.

El huevo de Pascua fue llevado al almuerzo familiar del Domingo en Buenos Aires. Al momento de romperlo pedimos por la PAZ en el mundo y en nuestro país, EDUCACION para todos aquellos que no tienen, UNION entre todos los Argentinos.

Me siento orgullosa de poder decir que ESTANCIA LA MARGARITA se encuentra en nuestro PAIS.

NUEVAMENTE , GRACIAS!!!!!.....Y HASTA CUALQUIER MOMENTO.

LOS SPITALERI. ADRIAN, JUAN PABLO, MARIA INES, FRANCISCO Y MARIA JOSE

Dra. María Jose Sañudo

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho feeling very happy

Hasta Pronto

Easter in Argentina and on La Margarita

2011-04-23T14:29:00.001-07:00

It’s always the same around this time of year. Easter has arrived in Argentina and of course the rest of the world and its holiday’s time. In England that means dropping a few easter eggs of at various relations houses and then heading of on an Easy Jet airliner as fast as one can to a sunny beach and few days break as far away from family as possible! I am sure we love our families as much as Argentines love theirs but we show it in different ways I guess. There is no doubt about it Easter here means much than picking up a few easter eggs and a quick look a the Ryanair flight schedule to see how far you can get from the easter egg recipients - only joking but for sure Easter here is somewhat different. It’s almost like Christmas. It’s a time for families to get together and enjoy well being a family. What usually happens is the usual English chaos of an English Easter -people hitting the road to get to where ever the are going and creating chaos. The routine is that they take a few days of escape to place like La Margarita to rest and relax. Then on the Saturday there is a mad dash back home so that people can be with their families on Easter Sunday. This year is has been no different and as I sit writing this blog looking at the lovely view on La Margarita we have an estancia full of Argentines (sprinkled with some guests from England and Canada) enjoying this lovely estancia doing things like horse riding , milking cows , riding , eating a great asado and generally enjoying themselves. Both the main house and the self-catering units are full and from the comments of our guests they seem to be having a great time. But on Saturday after the midday asado all of our Argentine guests, after arriving on Wednesday, are leaving and heading back home to be with their families for the big family get together on Easter Sunday – how lovely. It’s when this happens I feel a bit home sick but then of course, I remember if I was in England at Easter my family would be somewhere else life eh!

I hope you who are reading this are having or had a great Easter. I personally want to bloggy thank our team here on La Margarita Susana , Raquel, Daniela , Leti , Lalo , Poppy, Ilona and of course Adriana in our BA office for making it go to so smoothly and making La Margarita a great place to be for Easter - you really are a great team and I am lucky to have you working here – a big big thank you for making my life easy - after all I only write the blog but they make it all happen.

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho off to have a walk and look at the sun go down since it’s a beautiful beautiful evening and on days like these its really easy to see why I purchased La Margarita

Hasta Pronto

We Had Our Cake But Now We've Eaten It

2011-04-14T13:19:00.000-07:00

You may recall if you read my blog regularly that I was having a bit of a whine about YouTube not being perfect. We had spent three months and loads of money last year filming a promotional video for La Margarita only for YouTube to make things very difficult for us promoting it the way we wanted to. The problem was the choice of the still frames that YouTube offered us to put on our web page as an introduction to the star-studded video. Amongst other things the video featured gauchos, horses, life in the city, the 39 bus and of course Raquel’s cake - all playing their part to make this an award winning promotional video. The problem was the stills offered by YouTube didn’t in my opinion really represent the video or La Margarita really very well. Oh but what fun we had strutting around BA and La Margarita shouting “cut” “ok it’s a wrap” or “take 44” or any other film like expression that we could think of as Brian (the director) looked on at Gaynor and I giggling like children with eyes pointed to the heavens and a look of come on children lets get on with it I have done a documentary on Ossie Ardiles ( Osvaldo Ardiles).

After 3 months we had in my opinion a great video, which had nothing to do with me but all to do with Brian and his filming skills. When I saw the end result I loved it and couldn’t wait to put it on YouTube and La Margarita web page. The problem came when we had to choose the stills that YouTube offered us to help promote the video (have a look at my blog a few weeks ago on the subject as I don’t want to bore those of you who may have read it). The videos job was prompting the estancia and all that happens on an estancia but it started in BA to give an idea of the amazing change of scenery travelling from BA to La Margarita and then life on the estancia. Problem was as I mentioned and many of you saw the only still frame that we could show (or rather that YouTube allowed us) was the one of Raquel decorating a cake but it was as though we had done a Fanny Craddock video (look her up on Google) and as delicious as that cake was it wasn’t what we wanted as an introduction to the video.

Poor Brian had the job of trying to get a still frame that I wanted and one year later at long last I have it. The still frames we now have look great on our web page - the one on the English pages shows horses, gauchos and the wide open spaces of La Margarita and the Spanish version shows the Mirador built in 1870 on La Margarita. Unfortunately we (well Brian did) had to take out the whole section on the leaving BA bit, which for me was a bit sad because we had such fun doing it and it looked great. However, I am really happy with the result, the video is now shorter thanks to Youtube grrrr but it works well. Have a look at it and see what you think on our web page. You can still see the famous cake version if you want and the leaving of BA part (no doubt Raquel will be only to happy for you to have a look at her cake decorating) as I have left it on my blog above ( no way I want to upset Raquel or its no more cake for me )

If you want to have a look at what other videos Brian and Gaynor have done have a peek on Big Beach Hut Productions

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho off to La Margarita where we have a house full of Argentine and foreign guests over the Easter week (who knows may even play a bit of guitar) - poor guests!!

Hasta pronto

La Pulperia San Gervasio, Tapalque– Small in Size- Big in Reputation

2011-04-08T07:46:00.000-07:00

The pulperias in Argentina have a huge reputation in gaucho folklore. They existed often before the towns were built and served the local community; they were a vital part of the gaucho, estancia world. A place where families met up and shared a chat, where gauchos settled disputes (sometimes with knives!) or shared a whisky with fellow gauchos who worked long hours on the huge estancia nearby.

Pulperias were a place where they could buy all the necessary things of life – some food, a broom! some dusters, a whisky or beer etc. They were all in all a general store/bar come everything. Course once the supermarkets stated to appear in the towns so the number of pulperias stared to close down. Gradually a style of life or at least of meeting up started to disappear in Argentina.

Luckily a few still survive today, not many but some and fortunately near La Margarita we have Pulperia San Gervasio built in 1855 (pre dating La Margarita by some 18 years) and it’s still going strong. I say fortunately because as I mentioned there are few working pulperias left here in Argentina and Pulperia San Gervasio is just a few kilometers from La Margarita and it is importantly a working pulperia.

I say a working pulperia because there are some, which are just open for tourist but this pulperia is for real. Here you can still see gauchos meet up and you can even buy that broom you needed and you can certainly have a whisky. It still has the iron bars dividing the bar from the public area just in case a couple of gauchos need to settle a score or two and the bar tender can keep serving without coming to any harm! It is run by the two Toso brothers who have run it for the past 60+ years, before them their father run it for 30 years so you could say it has some tradition! Once the brothers retire (they are in their 60s) now I am pretty sure it will shut and that will be the end of a long historic era. I remember talking once to one of the brothers while we were looking at the view from the bar over a beer and remarking how peaceful it was as we gazed at the glorious pampas and cows grazing in the fields beyond! (the view must have been the same when their father run the pulperia all those years ago) and he replied “yes takes a bit of getting used to all this peace”

With a reputation so big it’s no wonder that sometimes when we have guests on La Margarita who inform us they are off to visit the pulperia arrive back to inform us they couldn’t find it. Sometimes I have to say it doesn’t surprise me the pulperia is huge in reputation but the building is tiny – with its reputation it should be the size of a hypermarket but the reality is it’s small so some of our guest go sailing by it but those that do find it come back full of wonder. As tiny as it is when you step into the small bar you step back into a gaucho time gone by and you will wish that walls could talk and you can almost smell the tradition

If you come to La Margarita I highly recommend a visit to this historic landmark but please remember although it has a huge reputation it is a small building so keep a look out for it but for sure it’s stuffed full with gaucho tradition and well worth seeking out

If you want to test your Spanish here are a couple of links about La Pulperia San Gervasio, Tapalque

http://edant.clarin.com/diario/2004/07/25/sociedad/s-801183.htm

http://www.turismoenazul.com.ar/art?id=110

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho hasta promto

What‘s the Difference Between La Margarita Promotional Video and a Naked Lady?

2011-03-31T09:57:00.000-07:00

Last year my very good mates Brian and Gaynor come over to do a documentary on my life here in Argentina and at the same time do a promotional video on La Margarita. The idea of the video was to give an idea of what it’s like here on La Margarita in the form of moving pictures to help potential guests decide if they wanted to spend some time with us. I may be a bit biased but for me they did a fantastic t job and it’s a wonderful video. Brian with the very able assistance of Gaynor used all his filming skills to give a great idea as to what it’s like here in the pampas and I loved it. Once it was finished we eagerly uploaded it to YouTube and then put a link on our web page to the video. Now the video covers many things such as the gaucho life style in Argentina, the wonderful horse riding here, the charming gaucho town of Tapalque, the interesting route to La Margarita amongst many other things. It also shows Raquel our chef cooking some traditional dishes and boy can she cook some great food as many of our guest comments confirm in our guest book on La Margarita.

When we loaded the video onto YouTube and then put the link onto our web page the start frame that came up was Raquel decorating a cake (umm it’s a very tasty looking cake for sure). However, much as we love Raquel’s cooking, as do our guests, I wanted to have the first frame of a gaucho or someone riding a horse – something very estancia if you get my meaning. I asked Brian if he could try to change it. He tried but no luck it kept coming back to that frame of Raquel decoration the cake. After some investigation he found out that YouTube chooses the frame that goes on (and there are only 3 choices). There are apparently only three frames we can choose from - in our case one was a street sign (umm hardly gaucho), one a picture of a car umm and of course Raquel’s cooking. Nothing we could do could change it. Brian did some investigation and found that it was to stop people promoting their videos with frames that have nothing to do with the video. It turns out that many people were putting frames of naked ladies as the first frame to attract attention to their video – seems it worked but not any more cos it can’t be done (at least it is very difficult to do unless it is a video about naked ladies of course) since you only have 3 frames to chose from so unless your video has muchos naked ladies you will be out of luck grrrr. No indeed no more naked ladies which is a shame because a shot of a Lady Godiva type person riding one of our horses may have helped our viewing figures –who knows! Still rules are rules - we still have a fantastic video but we are stuck with the opening frame showing a cake being cooked which is a shame in some ways because it gives the impression it is a cooking lesson video – which it is not because the video covers in a beautiful way much more than that here in gaucho land.

If you haven’t seen the video here is the link – it’s definitely worth a few minutes of your time having a peek – sorry to sound biased but it really is good…………..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoDLCEZ0WRo&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

This is David Cummings Alias the English gaucho hasta la proxima.

Telephone Saga Part 3! –only joking but this is interesting

2011-03-24T00:07:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know when I am not running La Margarita ( umm well in truth Susana runs the guests side of it these days I am the farmer! ) I am involved with Tierra Estates , a property company I started some years ago here. One of my earlier customers was Abby who purchased here and has (not going to give her surname) decided that now is the time to sell her very nice apartment she purchased a few years ago in central BA. She wasn’t going to spend much more time here and so it was time to sell. We have been in contact over the years since we look after the apartment for her so she turned to me for advice. We got it valued and started the process to sell it – as it happened we found a buyer really fast and started the ball rolling. Since Abby wasn’t coming here to do the signing of the sale we needed to get a power of attorney so we could handle the sale for her and of course the money side of it. I said the best and least inexpensive way to do that (on our lawyers advise) was for us to send her by email a power of attorney document in Spanish and for her to take it to the Argentine Embassy in New York where they can do the power and they can also verbally translate it for her to make sure she knows what she is signing and then send it back to us.
Off she went to the embassy and spoke to someone who said ok come back in a few days and we will have it done. On returning a few days later imagine her surprise when the receptionist asked her if she could wait a few minutes since none other than the Ambassador wanted to see her. Poor flustered (her words) Abby said “I can’t I am just not dressed properly for meeting him” (having just come out of the gym!) “Don’t worry about that” the receptionist said “he just wants to have a quick word with you “. Totally flustered Abby was ushered into the Ambassadors huge office and in he came and invited her to take a seat. “What can this be about” she thought terrified? As it turned out the Ambassador was just checking that she knew what she was doing and that she knew the people she was dealing with here in Argentina. As he said there are so many Nigerian type scams in the internet he just wanted to make sure that she knew what the document meant as she was signing a power of attorney and she was happy with it. She confirmed everything was ok and the meeting was over but there you have it - an Ambassador who cares and I take a bow to him it was such a good thing to do and hats off to Argentina for having such an excellent ambassador in the USA – great stuff and great story for Abby to dine out on

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho hasta la proxima vez

You Are Not Going to Believe This – Telephone Saga Part 2!!!!!!Grrrrrrrrrrr

2011-03-16T01:27:00.000-07:00

You can probably imagine that living in somewhere like Argentina can sometimes be a bit chaotic – hey what I am talking about a bit chaotic it is bloody chaotic. However, when one is chaotic such as moi one can feel quite comfortable in that situation – an orderly life was never going to be on the cards for me for sure. I remember when I used to live with the lovely Lotta in Sweden in the 90s how I used to complain how orderly it was. I recall, once cycling down the road on my bike going the wrong way and every few moments an orderly Swedish person would point out to me the error of my ways vigorously pointing in the direction I should be going in. I am sure Swedish people, lovely as they are, would find the chaos of the Argentines well let’s just say chaotic. Indeed if there is an opposite in countries Sweden and Argentina are them – riding the wrong way down a street is the norm here so when you cross a way one street don’t forget to look both ways please!

Now my last blog talked about the never ending saga we had with getting our telephone working in the estancia – it took over two years to get it fixed - yep have a look at my previous blog to hear the whole chaotic story. Well finally a few weeks ago we got it fixed and I published my blog and few pics of us celebrating the historic event and at last putting the broken phone saga to bed – whoops see for a moment I thought was living in Sweden and I should have known better of course .

Last week we were using the phone when all of a sudden it went dead (up went the “ no funciona “ sign again – oh no I thought not another two years of waiting for it to be fixed again. Then all of a sudden it started to work again but oddly on the line there was someone in Tapalque talking to someone else from goodness knows where – a sort of old fashioned crossed line – do they still happen in England - no doubt they don’t happen in orderly Sweden . Anyhow Raquel found herself in a three way conversation when one of the other persons asked who the hell Raquel was. She explained that she was speaking from La Margarita – the person asked what the phone number was and she told him. “that’s my phone number” he said “and has been for the past few years so you can get of my line “. Poor Raquel perplexed she apologized and spoke to Susana about this new telephone saga. Susana spoke to the guy who then said he was going to sue us – umm you can see this is developing into a chaotic situation eat your heart out Sweden. Susana obviously explained that it had nothing to do with us it was the fault of that monopoly Telefonica who were to blame “ok he said but I gotta sue somebody “he retorted. Now this is probably why there are more lawyer s in Argentine per population than any country in the world, I mean you never know when you will need to sue someone for a crossed line! Susana spoke to Claudio who we have been dealing with getting our phone fixed who over the years has become a friend of the family we have been dealing with him for so long. He said ok I will see what I can do and that’s where we stand at the moment. Our phone works but it also rings in the other guy’s house and we have these strange three way conversations - see as I said it’s chaotic. Claudio bless him is no doubt on the ball and will have it fixed almost certainly by this time next year – in the meantime no doubt us and the other party on the crossed line will become friends over a mate and sort it out between us

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho ringing the Swedish Embassy just to see how easy it is to get a visa there!

On a final note I want to say that of course my little blog and our little problem with our telephone is of course the size of an ant when compared to what has happened in Japan – the phone problem gives me the chance to write a little jokey blog about it but that can’t be done for the terrible terrible tragedy in Japan - all we can do is donate a bit of money and hope above all hope that it doesn’t get any worse for them - my heart goes out to them

Happiness is Phone that Works (after not working for over two years!!)

2011-03-03T18:45:00.000-08:00

Celebrating the Estancia phone working - yeeeeeeeeees

I remember my odd moan at BT (British Telecom) when I ran a business in the UK when the phone didn’t work for a few days. It was the usual rant like look I am running a business here and you aren’t helping me, get it fixed or I will use another service. Nearly always it worked and the line was up and running in a few days. Switch to Argentina a few years later and you find me running a business i.e. La Margarita. When I purchased the Estancia the phone worked – not great since it often cut off but I could communicate reasonable well with La Margarita when I needed to when I was away from it . After about two years of owning the Estancia the phone every now and again started to play up – it would cut off for no reason in mid conversation.

It was the sign of things to come because one day about two and a half years ago the phone decided that it had done enough work and refused to function any more – there was a loud hissing noise for a few days and then that was it – the line went dead . Now I tried my BT tactic here. Hey get the phone fixed I am trying to run a business here or we will use someone else – oh yea who is that then, came the reply, since we have a monopoly in these parts. We had the same conversation and we had the same response for well over two years - yea ok we will fix your phone but we are waiting for some spare parts and they are on their way - honest! Now the expression manana manana came to mind many a time over this period. I would have my little rant and then forget about it - send messages by pigeon post and life would move on – Winter would come then Spring then Summer still no phone………………………………..

When I first arrived in Argentina my patience levels were low I admit. I was used to things not working but also used to then being fixed pretty rapidly. The more I Iived here the more I had to learn to be patient. It was tough at times but over the years I leant it well. So when the phone broke I had already learnt somewhat to be more patient. However, it not working for well over two years sorely tested my patience as you can imagine. To make matters worse we were paying for the line each month – a line that didn’t work I mean ask you. No matter how many times myself or my office rang Telefonica about us paying the bill for a phone that didn't work we got the same answer “if you cut the line of we can’t fix it “ “err yea that’s logical but when will you be fixing it “well we are waiting for some spare parts blah blah blah” - heeeeeeeeeelp.

This ritual was played out and the months and years came and went with the same complaint from us and the same answer from them. With despair setting in we, about two months ago decided to do something about it. We assumed it was the trees in our woods that were blocking the signal so we purchased an antenna to move the ariel up higher so that we would get a better signal. As always happens when you decide to head something of at the ridge Murphy’s Law cuts in i.e. because you have decided to take action in a different direction the original problem gets fixed. One day last week Claudio, who we had been dealing at in Telfonica turned up unannounced at La Margarita and said the spare parts have arrived – whaaaaaat- and that in a few minutes we would have a phone – well of course we all ready had a phone but it didn’t bloody work . He said well this one will yea yea yea . Full of pessimism we waited a few minutes while he hooked a few things up and then we heard the sweetest sound we had not heard for years – yep the phone was ringing. It was an unbelievable joyous occasion it really was – after well over two years of not being connected to the outside world we were suddenly in the loop. It was truly an amazing thing. If you want to try it here is the number 00542283420316- go on please call us we love it when that phone rings its music to our ears and all it took was as the song goes a little patience - can’t guarantee we will answer it cos we may still be celebrating.

I f someone asked me what was the greatest invention of the 20^th century for me it has to be the phone – without it for few a day’s life can be just a tad difficult without it for few years and it’s just antisocial .

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho off to make a few calls to my Mum and Dad in the UK – it’s been too long!!!

Llamanos por favor!!!!

Look What They Done to My Wall!

2011-02-23T08:42:00.000-08:00

Since I am a “farmer “these days what with us planting soy bean and wheat I get the right to moan a lot. Sometimes it’s a moan about not enough rain and then it’s about to much rain on the other hand it’s sometimes about the invasion some wheat eating insects. Yes it’s a tough life being a farmer but no one believes us!!! . However, my main grip is with this Kirchener Government who seem intent on grabbing as much money as they possible can in taxes from the farmers in the good times and not helping when we have bad times. That’s how it is here – we survive - sometimes it hard and sometimes its easy just depends. However, every now and again life surprises us and we forget the moaning and to be truthful never more than here. Now I divide my time between La Margarita and my small apartment in Palermo Soho in BA. A few days ago I arrived in BA and made my way down the street I live in – umm I noticed there was something different about it this time.

Right next to my apartment block is a wall - a huge wall and to be truthful it was pretty bleak wall – it had bits of the usual city graffiti on it making it look pretty unappealing. However, last week all that had changed. The city councilors had given paint and permission to varies top graffiti artist to paint big ugly walls and luckily enough the wall next to our building was one of the chosen ones. I love it – it is a delight and I watched the guys and girls doing it – it took all day and most of the night but they did a fine job and to me it’s a joy to see. Now I am no artist and I only know two - one is my famous artist neighbor Max on La Margarita and the other is the unknown Anna. Now I just know that Max would have loved to have done this wall job – he did the famous mural in Lisbon Station but he would have been too expensive and been too busy but equally I know that Anna would have loved to have a crack at it for free- she would have just loved that chance. But as I understand it she has hang up her brushes ( well that’s what I have been told ) but maybe it’s time to get them out again and look for a wall to paint and give pleasure to the people passing by it and to realize some of that pent up artist expression inside – she would make a fantastic job it – I know she has the talent since one of her painting hangs in my living room and from the great comments I get about it she should pick up the brushes and do it again – hope this blog gives her some inspiration to do just that por favor

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho off to do a bit of travelling for a few weeks

Hasta pronto

Farming just got better (well for now that is).

2011-02-17T04:20:00.000-08:00

My first farming cheque in Argentina yeaaaaaaa

Some of you who read my blog will know that a couple of years ago we on La Margarita decided that it was time we got a bit more serious about farming. However, we had just been though a drought the result of which had many farmers screaming at the government for help which never came. Many farmers lost a packed sadly. We suffered as well as we watched the drying up of land and pasture hoping and hoping the rains would come and we would at least have enough pasture to see out the drought. Luckily enough we did and our cows survived and everyone was happy. I had a long talk with my partner in agriculture who had suffered a bad loss in the drought. We had a serious talk and decided it can’t it get any worse – so we decided to plant soya. The predictions for El Nino were that good rain was forecast and the price of soya was on the move upwards. So with trepidation we drunk a whisky or two and decided to plant soya even though we have to contend with a government who insist on taking 35% of our crop in pre taxes!! – making life tough indeed here to make money if you don’t know your way out of the maze ( they will be gone this year is the big hope here).

We rented 200 hectors about 1000 acres and planted soya. We did various rain dances asked for help from above and low and behold it worked - we had a good crop to sell. Problem was that the price of meat doubled here in one year and we suddenly had to pay double for the land we rented since the rental was based on the price of meat. As some of you know when we harvested last year and sent our crop to market we had a huge profit of 5US$. Umm a bad start for me in the agriculture business. However Fito one of the owners of the racehorse I own and a countryman said don’t give up keep going and keep planting - he said plant wheat and get your expenses back to pay for the land and then you will be ready to plant soya again . We followed his advice. Mario and I had a talk and decided that we would plant wheat which would pay for the rental of the land, leaving us clear to plant soya again. We at the same time decided to plant barely since the taxes were lower. Both crops grew well the rains came the price of wheat went up and so did the price of soya and barley. A few months ago we harvested and sent our crops to the silos ready to sell at the right moment.

Last week our rewards came –I got my first cheque from our crops. It was a great feeling since at one time it didn’t look like it would happen. However farming is a long term business and we have only just started. The cheque means I have recouped about 70% of my investment – where is the other 30% - it’s in the ground together with our potential profit. Our next soya crop will decide if we have made any money. We harvest in April it will be a tense time watch this blog – if it works out we will be heading for the beaches of Brazil for a well deserved holiday - if it doesn’t it will a day trip to Bangor and back to the drawing board – however whatever we will continue . Farmers always moan and most of the time they are right to moan but I am sure they make money in the end – we will see. We are now planning to plant in Uruguay in Nov – a new challenge that I am really looking forward to and you will read about it in this blog

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho off to do a rain dance

Hasta la vista

Guitar Hero Gary Moore Dies on Holiday in Spain

2011-02-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

This blog is nothing to do with La Margarita it is to do with the death of one of my absolute hero’s guitarist Gary Moore. In case you didn’t know last week he died in Spain of a heart attack at just 58. The Daily Mail ran the headline

“Ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore dead after Eating a Hamburger and Knocking Back Champagne

The headline was terrible - trivializing a great guitar hero and I wanted to take a trip to England and have a rant at this lazy sensationalist journalist. It seemed from this headline and the article that followed that Gary Moore had done nothing since Thin Lizzy and yet he was with them just 4 months – although he did return to do the Black Rose album with them in 1979 . Also it seemed to imply that he was some uncouth slob who happened to play guitar for a long gone group. In fact Gary Moore was a great great guitar player one of the best and not many were better. He also wrote some great song and had far more success as a solo artist than with Thin Lizzy (good as they were) he went on to far better things. In the guitar world he will be remembered for a very long time as a wonderful guitar player - unlike, I suspect, that damm journalist .

I feel really sad he is now gone and so young and really pissed off at that journalist for making his career seem like nothing so I just wanted to settle the record straight in a small way . Sorry for my rant and LM blog will resume next time but for now please have a look at Gary Moore playing live Still Got the Blues for You and see what a great guitar player he was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6IO5EN49hY

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho of to play some loud Gary Moore music on my trusty guitar in the Yoga room on La Margarita – cos I still got the blues

Hasta Pronto

Our guest host on La Margarita talks about her experience here

2011-02-02T15:02:00.000-08:00

Ilona from South Africa has come to La Margarita to act as our guest host for a few months to help out and to look after our guests - I asked her to write her thoughts about her stay here - here are her words .............................

Dreams and Wishes

I can tell of many experiences in my life of when I have had dreams or wishes come true with very little effort on my part. And that includes the situation I find myself in right now.

I love being in nature, with animals, with horses. I love waking up to the sounds of birdlife and animal life, way better than I like waking up to traffic noises. So it was with great relief that, after a year living in Buenos Aires, I answered the advertisement forwarded to me by a friend of mine, requesting a volunteer to help out on an Estancia in the Pampas of Argentina. The requirements of this volunteer would be a love of horses, ability to ride, sufficient fluency in English and Spanish, or Castellano as they call it here, to be able to interpret between English speaking guests and Castellano speaking staff, and to be host when the owner, the English Gaucho, is not there.

Well, I obviously fit the bill, as here I am at Estancia La Margarita, with Fido, the English pointer by my side, humming birds flitting around in the flowers in front of me, enjoying the sounds of the 60 or so different kinds birds in the estancia garden. I also get to ride out on the pampas with the guests about twice a day, and every outing is a new adventure. I mostly get to ride a grey mare, Tortilla, who I am developing a special connection with. We usually go out with Pablo, one of the gauchos working on the farm. He has a wonderful way with the horses and his smile frequently charms the guests.

Just yesterday the line of birds I normally see over there towards the horizon, came flying low over our heads, so I could finally see what they looked like. Sometimes they form lines of over a hundred birds. They are all black with long sleek necks and bodies.

Last week I was floating in the swimming pool, looking up at the sky of different hues of blue, filled with all kinds of birds doing aerial acrobatics, it was like entering into another dimension. As is walking outside at night when the sky is clear of earthly clouds, but full of celestial ones. I happened to be quite alone on the estancia one night, well, not exactly alone, Fido kept me company, and this was a magical place to be.

The people that come here as guests all have a love of nature and silence in common. They come from all over the world. Each have their own special stories to share, and a love and respect for what is on offer here. Some of them get to ride horses for the first time ever, here, and what a place to start, with wide open spaces, . Well, we also get to see hares, partridges, plovers, kites and eagles, and armadillos that they call molitos. . All the visitors to this haven have left a lasting impression on me and I am honoured to have met them.

The staff here are wonderful and really warm and friendly. Raquel keeps me well fed on both food and hugs together with Daniel and Poppy her helpers . Lalo manages the grounds, the animals, the baby ostriches, all nine of them, with the help of Pablo. Everyone who comes here gets influenced by their generosity and caring.

So thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity to fulfil yet more dreams, to work with horses and meet other people who also love living life. The world feels a better place.

Ilona

This is the David Cummings alias The English Gaucho grateful I have such wonderful people working for me
Hasta pronto

Everything Changes

2011-01-23T13:30:00.000-08:00

This blog was going to be about cars in Argentina which in fact I could write a book since it’s such an interesting subject here but I changed my mind and will save it for another time.

As the Buddhist say “” everything changes “. Nope nothing is forever and nothing stays the same for sure. When we learn that we learn a lot about life for most of us it’s difficult to accept this and I suspect even some Buddhist have a problem with it sometimes – I mean will there always be a Mc Donald’s umm hope those Buddhists are right!

The thing that has changed on La Margarita recently is that Jack our lovely English Pointer is no longer living on La Margarita. The problem was that Jack (who many of you had great fun with as did I) is an English Pointer and being so he is a hunting dog. Its funny when you see him with guest looking for some stokes or someone to run with it was easy to forget that he hunted since he was such a loveable dog. However recently and unfortunately he had stated to hunt the chickens and their eggs and then turned his attention to the ostriches we have recently put on LM. I couldn’t bear to tie him up or muzzle him it just didn’t seem right. So last week Poppy’s (who works on La Margarita) boyfriend who has campo some way from LM but with no chickens or ostriches took him to live there. It was a sad sad day and I had to grit my teeth and remember what the Buddhist say – it helped as it always does. I am sad he is not with us and I will really miss him now but then I am happy because he will be doing what he was born to do and loves doing. Fido is still with us who funnily is an English Pointer too but for some reason chickens or their eggs or ostriches were never on his shopping list – so if you come back to visit us one day you will find Fido happily begging you to go for a run with him.

If you have any suggestions’ for a good farm dog don’t hesitate to put a comment on this blog

This David Cummings alias The English Gaucho feeling a bit sad but remembering what Buddha said

Hasta la Vista

Old Musicians Never Die they just disappear to Argentina to run an Estancia!!

2011-01-14T06:19:00.000-08:00

Funny really when I came here I sold my trusty old telecaster guitar that had seen served me very well through many version of Money For Nothing ( which has just been banned today in Canada - my god what’s the world coming to ). I knew that here in Argentina I would be leading a totally different life style to the one I lived when I earned a living with my trusty tele pretending I was a rock star at Butlins gigs ( I loved those gigs hard to believe but true) – yep that life was well and truly over . I wasn’t sad I really wanted to change my life style and Argentina gave me the chance to do just that. I did have another guitar so at least I knew if I got the calling to tread the boards again I would be prepared (well the guitar would but not sure my fingers would be). After a year or so here I found La Margarita and with Maria we set about doing the place up which took all of two years. In between the doing up I would get the guitar out and with a glasses of wine in hand I would serenade Maria with my versions of Eric Clapton songs - poor her! As more and more guest came to La Margarita I got request to strum a few songs and I did so with pleasure. This Christmas was no different – our lovely group of guests from Norway asked me to play a few songs and I don’t need to be asked twice these days – so out came my guitar and soon I was kicking into those old Status Quo songs – can’t beat a good old twelve bar blues .

The really great thing is that last year my son asked his girlfriend to marry him I (see my blog about it) and she luckily said yes! Imagine my absolute delight when Dale asked me if I would agree to play some music at his wedding with his future father in law who is a jazz guitarist An old rock and roller never says no and I can’t think of a nicer thing to do than play at my son’s wedding – how cool is that . The lucky thing is that I have just over a year to practice and get those fingers oiled and the voice tamed. In my bid to get it right I may even head off to Spain for a month in August to meet up with Johnny Hollywood who is still treading the boards to bash out a few gigs with him – can’t wait.

In the meantime if you are on La Margarita and you fancy a jam session and I am there you only have to ask me – rock on

This is David Cumming alias the English Gaucho of to practice that a twelve bar blues in A!

What a Lovely Surprise to the Start of the New Year

2011-01-07T06:56:00.000-08:00

After all the celebrating on the La Margarita over Christmas with our guests from Norway and then a full house of guest over New Year from Argentina, England and Brazil I thought that the champagne bottle opener would be put away for a little while . Just shows you how wrong you can be.

A day or two into the new year we had Louise and Jignesh on La Margarita from Ealing London (just a few kilometers or so from where my parents live) This lovely young couple came here because Jignesh wanted to have a gaucho experience and luckily choose La Margarita to do just that . On their first ride out there was no doubt that they were nervous however, Lalo had chosen a couple of very calm horses for them and off they went excited but nervous on their first ever ride on la pampas. That night I spoke to them and asked how it was and they both enthusiastically decided to have another go the next day. This time with fewer nerves they started to enjoy what the estancia offers best - great riding across the famous pampas.

At the same time as they were with us we had Anna and her husband Mikhail arrive all the way from Moscow (our first visitors from that exotic country). That night I dinned with them all and we had a great time drinking lots of malbec wine and eating steak from La Margarita – a classic for sure. The next day our new friends from Russia left La Margarita and headed off to Mar de Plata for the last few days in Argentine. They did write some words in our commentary book but to be truthful my Russian is not what it was and who knows what it says – let’s hope its nice things!

That night Louise and Jignesh had La Margarita to themselves (apart from the staff of course) since our next guests weren’t arriving till the weekend. When they were eating (well this is what Jignesh told me) he asked Louise if she thought their stay on La Margarita was and would be the highlight of their stay in Argentina – apparently Louise said yes and with this perfect setting Jignesh went down on his knees in the living room and asked Louise to marry him . When Raquel came into the living, even though she can’t speak English she knows a wedding proposal when she sees one and promptly called me and Daniela, Rachael assistant to crack open a bottle of champers and toast the really happy occasion. It was so great for me that Jignesh chose to ask Louise to marry him on La Margarita – it’s such an honour for us when this happens– even though I think the estancia has something magical it so lovely when guests confirm it to me. After toasting the happy couple we left them to make their plans for the future – needless to say they didn’t make it up in time for horse riding the next morning - they had other things on their mind no doubt

This a bloggy I wish you Louise and Jignesh all the very best for the future - you are such a nice couple and who knows if the church you want to marry in in the UK isn’t available why not consider La Margarita!

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho of to count how many bottle of champagne we have left – you never know what’s around the corner

Just Another Year – umm I think not!

2010-12-30T11:55:00.000-08:00

Well where did that year go – so fast I didn’t even see it. It was a year that at last our crops made a profit after suffering the drought last year. Our soya, wheat and hops all made great price gains on the international markets and who knows we may be able to buy that new tractor after all! It was a year when we went into partnership with our neighbor and purchased 150 calves’ to add to our existing stock. It turned out to be a good move – the price of meat doubled in a year and it felt good to be a farmer.

The year saw lots of guests from as far away as Latvia and New Zealand coming to La Margarita keeping us busy pretty all year round which was great. The self catering units really started to kick off and we had lots of guest taking advantage of them from all over the world with some guests staying for up to a few weeks so they could live their dream of horse riding on the famous pampas – judging by the lovely comments we got from some guest on Trip Advisor I reckon it was a very worthwhile investment putting those little kitchens in the casa Rosado. The main estancia house was also host to some great groups of guests who rented the house for themselves culminating in a lovely group of twelve from Norway who danced the night away on the 24th December before heading off to Iguazu

In Feb 2010 we said goodbye sadly to Melisa in January who had worked for me for two and half years in BA– she finished her studies and is now working in the University she studied in. At the same time we said hello to Susana Monzon who is now the general manager and host on La Margarita and great work she has been doing. We also said hello to Claudia who handles the reservations in the office for us in BA and a great job she is doing as well judging by comment from guests who stay on La Margarita. We sadly said goodbye to our young gaucho Jonney – that news will no doubt break the hearts of some of our younger female guests who came here!

I am happy to say that both Raquel and Lalo and Lettie and son Kevin are still here and working as hard as ever even though Raquel keeps saying she is going to retire one year - however each year she renews her energy to cook some great meals for our guests

La Margarita was also featured in two documentaries on life on an Argentine estancia and was also was featured in Lugares, the most important travel magazine here in Argentina

As for me personally it was a year of some sadness which I would rather not go into however also some happiness. I purchased a small house in Uruguay right on the river for when I have the urge to go fishing - I love the house and the fishing has been fantastic this year – if you haven’t seen the photos here is the link

http://watersidecottageuruguay.blogspot.com/ .

I also moved apartments downsizing from my house in Gorriti in Palermo to a smaller apt in Palermo. I also sneaked in a trip to the UK and managed to see my lovely grandkids who I miss loads. My son also decided this year to ask his girlfriend to marry him and in 2012 in New Zealand where they both live that’s just what they will do - I have been invited to play a few songs which is fantastic for me to revive those old Johnny Hollywood days and old Status Quo songs – rock on Johnny

As for 2011 – who knows what’s in store - more fun meeting guests on La Margarita I hope I will at last finish my book on life in here Argentina , certainly more travelling here in glorious crazy Argentina and maybe in Paraguay where we are thinking of growing soya and definitely Asia for sure where I will stay with my best mates Gaynor and Brian who will be escaping from the cold in UK early in 2012. Also on the list is to see my family , learn tango ( some hope!), learn to ride bare back like Kevin our little gaucho son of Lalo and Lettie, maybe adopt a family, get tickets for a super clasico Boca v River game and continue to make La Margarita one of the best estancias for guests to have a typical authentic gaucho experience.

OK that’s it the last blog for 2010 - I wish all our former guests (and of course future guest), my friends, family and anyone else who is reading this blog a fantastic and prosperous New Year

Hasta Luego

Saludos y suerte por el Ano Nuevo

David Cummings alias the English Gaucho

Feliz Navidad and a Very Happy New Year from Estancia La Margarita

2010-12-23T03:44:00.000-08:00

Christmas always always catches me out here – after all I am from the London which is just a little bit cold at the moment with loads of Christmassy snow ( or so my Dad says! ). Here its 36 degs and rising and now matter how long I live here I can’t get used to the fact that Christmas day arrives with us having to get the sun tan cream out! Suddenly the christams tree is decorated and presents put under the tree and hey presto no matter how hot it is we feel festive

I want to send a big Christmas gracias to all you guests who made it down to us on La Margarita deep in pampas of Argentina , to all of you who thankfully have a quick look at this blog and my family and friends. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and great New Year and who knows maybe see you again one day down here

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho hasta the New Year

Que Calor!

2010-12-16T04:54:00.000-08:00

I have to admit I have had a sneaky look at the weather in London where I come from (and go to sometimes). Gaynor, my mate in England gets pretty upset when we are emailing and I add “oh by the way its 28 here and the sun is shining”. Course I know full well it’s not the same in London – well the sun may be shinning but it will be bloody freezing for sure. She usually gets all stroppy and says “so why do you think I should know that’s it hot there you ex pat you “. Well the reason is because me and cold don’t get on well even though I lived for 7 years in the French Alps, namely Val Thorens singing songs and strumming the guitar. No, me I love it when it’s hot.

It’s funny here cos every year here in Argentina without fail its hot in the summer – it’s no big surprise but it does seem to be for the Argentines – as soon as the temperature sneaks past 25 all conversations here start off with “que calor que calor” after this little introduction the conversation can start and it is often about the calor that was with us yesterday and will arrive tomorrow. My reply is always the same “si me encanta “ I then go on to explain the freezing temperatures in England and they reply saying “que bueno me voy a England” Susana (amongst many others) the estancia host is guilty of this since she lived in the wilds of deep Patagonia and loves the cold brrrrr. Course there are some in England like Toni who decide to take a holiday in Vienna because its just not cold enough in England ( cant please everyone I guess!) So if anyone is reading this who is in Europe and is suffering from the cold and wants to change places with someone my suggestions is to send an email to an Argentine and offer to change places – who know you may just get lucky – me I am off to the estancia pool to cool down and enjoy this wonderful heat!

This is the English Gaucho thoroughly enjoying this wonderful warm weather (sorry Gaynor!)

Hasta pronto

Amalla Cats First Real Run at the Race Track

2010-12-08T08:57:00.000-08:00

As some of you know who read my scribbles about life on Estancia La Margarita I promised my son Dale when he was a spog that one day we would own a race horse –this was especially true after a successful gambling session at say Kempton Racetrack. Course the years rolled by Dale grew up and now lives in New Zealand and me of course in Argentina. But I still always wanted to own a race horse and as I wrote in one of my blogs a year ago I, with four others, purchased my very first race horse.

It’s been a year of training and good few quid per month in training and vet fees (Stevie you know all about that love ya for the advice i.e. don’t buy one!) plus a patient wait before our trainer decided that Amalla Cat was ready for the big time. He was put into a race two weeks ago. We duly turned up full of the enthusiasm of new race horse owners only to find that the other four horses in the race didn’t fancy their chancres against the mighty Amalla Cat and promptly backed out of the race – we were pretty upset because we wanted to see how he did . The good news however, was that we pocketed 2500 pesos (about 700US) as prize money for being the only horse prepared to run– umm not bad at all.

Our trainer decided that a few weeks ago to enter him into a race last Sunday. It was a 800 meter flat race in Azul a large town near Tapalque. The race he was in had 13 other runners and was being run at 5.30. Course this being Argentina it eventually got run at 6.30! We arrived at the track fired up after our bloodless first victory thinking maybe the others in the race will drop out and leave us with the pot again – it didn’t happen! As the time neared for our race we got word from our regular jockey who had been training with the horse that he had taken ill and that we would need to find a substitute ( oh for Kieron Fallen) . That was not good news as we all knew however,our trainer rushed around and found a jockey to ride him in the race – luckily. Now Amalla Cat is a pretty highly strung horse and as soon as our new jockey got on him he nearly got thrown off – not a good start. Still he persevered and off they went to the post. After an agonizing ten minute wait at the post the off was given and we were in business.

The race seemed over in a flash – did we win nah we came forth – will he win - yes I am pretty sure he will. He was 4^th by only a few meters and had on him a jockey who didn’t know the horse. Pretty soon he will run again and I have high hopes that the next time he will do better even if he doesn’t it’s a fun thing to do especially as it was always one of my dreams to own a horse - just a shame Dale could be here to see it.

This is David Cummings alias the English gaucho - hasta pronto

Gone Fishing !!!

2010-11-30T09:41:00.000-08:00

As many of you who have been to visit us on La Margarita know , although I own the estancia it’s the great team I have working for me who make it function so well when we have guests wanting to make reservations and eventually to staying on La Margarita.

From Susanna and Claudia in the office in BA to Raquel and Lalo with their respective teams on La Margarita it is they who make it all happen so smoothly for everyone – I just own the place as they constantly tell me! However, being the owner does give me the chance to swan around like a country squire in Argentina talking about farming which is really fun. One of my other favorite swanning around things to do is fishing. For some time I have been looking for a rustic shack on the River Plate to do just that so when the staff have had enough of me swanning around and tell me to shove off for while I can head to my shack on the river . As I mentioned I have been looking for some time but recently y I found just what I was looking for just across the River Plate in Uruguay which I have purchased – my shack on the river is now called Waterside Cottage Uruguay and I absolutely love it - heres the link to the little web page we did for it. http://watersidecottageuruguay.blogspot.com/

Escape Artist travel magazine asked me to write about my experience in the buying of it and last week they published what I wrote – so if you are interested in knowing more about my little fishing shack in Uruguay here is the link http://www.escapefromamerica.com/2010/11/buying-real-estate-in-uruguay-3/
- I hope you enjoy it.

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho off to buy some bait - I can feel some fishing swanning around coming on.

Hasta pronto

The English Gaucho Meets up With the Saviour of Argentina!

2010-11-20T22:20:00.000-08:00

Now for sure Argentina has it problems hey which country doesn’t these days. Inflation up by 25% this year ( don’t worry if you are visiting the important things like a great steak, Malbec wine and taxi rides will still seem as cheap as chips), the odd riot , strikers camping in the main city streets of Callao/ Corrientes ( yep its true) for days on end blocking all routes in and out of the city , the odd bit of corruption in the form of Christina La Presidenta getting out her credit card to buy a few votes when things didn’t look like going her way (they say it’s true folks) and the closure of the second largest airport in the country in the Aeroparque – that one took a week or two to sort out to decide where all the flights would land and take off - thankfully they did eventually get it right . It’s certainly never dull living here and its fantastic I have Estancia La Margarita a a great place to escape to when I need it.

Now as an ex pat and I can speak for a good few ex pats this all adds to the colorfulness of this big and beautiful country – without it Argentina would be big and beautiful but a just little less colourful. However, as all Argentines know all these problems pale into comparison to the really big problem that Argentina has at the moment – yep you guessed it it’s the awful state of Argentina football. Nothing matters here more than football believe me. To prove that point when football clubs here were on the point of bankruptcy and no one had any money to pay for the rights to televise the games La Presidenta Christina Kirchner decided to nationalize the TV football right’s using the tax payers money and called it football for the people – no more pay to view - nope the Government pays to televise the games umm only in Argentina eh ( why oh why can’t PM David C learn from Christina !). It does proves a point though and Christina isn’t one to miss a trick – that move won her probably millions of votes and greatly improved her chances of winning another term despite the death of her ex president husband a few weeks ago( no doubt about it Nestor was really in control) . It proves that no matter what happens in this country nothing is taken more seriously than football – and why not indeed.

Now over the past few years the beautiful game here has been in crises, barely qualifying for the last World Cup (I swear that there should be a steward’s enquiry in their last qualifying game against Uruguay I mean who paid the ref!!!). It was only a matter of time as Argentina slipped up on banana skins again and again before heads stared to look for a saviour (umm or maybe a scapegoat). Now for sure there is no one bigger here in football than of course Maradona. He is god, forget the fact that he has an ego the size of a jumbo jet, is as unstable as the Perito Moreno ( look it up) and has little to no experience of training a football club let alone his country - hey but let’s not that stand in the way chaps and it didn’t .

Yep Maradona was chosen last year as the saviour of Argentine football. One can’t blame the AFA for choosing him after all he won the World Cup almost single handedly for Argentina didn’t he ( umm I thought it was a team game ) in 1986 and who can forget the goal he scored against us the Brits ( no not that one) it was without doubt the best goal of all time - the best there ever was – it is a goal that will never be beaten . I know I know Messi has done that same run and put the ball in the broken hearted opposing sides net a number of times but not with the passion that dear Diego did ( ok he may have been high on coke when he did it but who cares ) it was no doubt the best goal of all times .

With the type of adulation that Diego gets here it was only a matter of time before he was chosen as the saviour of Argentine. football To be truthful many Argentines were really unsure of the choice, after all he had no experience but then err well he is Maradona and to speak ill of the choice at that the time would have seemed like treason. To be fair he did get them though to the 2010 World Cup finals ( barely) eve n after experiencing a 6-1 trouncing in La Paz, Bolivia ( Maradona didn’t think it was important to train at altitude for the qualifier (after all its only it’s over 3000 meters above sea level) and arrived the night before for the game – umm eh yea good decision Diego . Now the thing is that I am pretty sure if my dear old gran were alive today god rest her soul she could have done a better job that Maradona at training this team. I mean he had at his disposal arguable the best damm players in the world including Messi who was voted Best Player in the world in 2009. I mean the team is a dream team – not like an English dream team which consists of Rooney being fit! This is a team that has Tevez, (please Carlitos come and play for Arsenal) Messi, Mascherano, Veron, Heinze and Zanetti the dream list goes on. They are without doubt the best team on paper of any country (ok Espana would maybe argue the toss but the Argentines thrashed them last week in a friendly with the new manager – they also beat Brazil last week 17/11 in a friendly).

When the World Cup finally arrived to me and many others it was only a matter of time before once again Argentina slipped up once more on the proverbial banana skin. They had a dream team but yet had a manager who was a nightmare. When Maradona’s predator came it was in was in the form of the mighty Germans who set about the Argentines like a Rottweiler fighting a Poddle. It was not a pretty sight to see Maradona caught like a rabbit in the headlights. The Germans tore them apart just like they did to us Brits a few days earlier and all the talk of having the best team in the world on paper was about as useless as saying it – you just have to be the best team on the pitch and in spite of the fact that Argentina had the capabilities to be just that - with Maradona as manager it was a mission impossible - when the chips where down all he could manage were funny expressions – have a quick peek at some of his training methods and you will see why!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KzsiOtjSwU&feature=related .

Once the Germans had had their wicked way with team Maradona a humiliating return to Argentina followed and the question on everyone’s lips was is Maradona going to keep his job. In short he lost it in spite of a word in the ear from Nestor Kirchner to the AFA to try and help him kept his job (see its those votes those votes!). You see football is bigger than politics here and a disgraced Argentine team is just not accepted. A few months ago Diego was summoned and duly asked to hand in his badge and given the boot for a job he should never have held in the first place (he said that he would await in the wings for his second calling – see big ego and long wait let’s hope ) .

Last week the new saviour was officially appointed and it was no surprise that the chose was Batista who was also in the team that won the World Cup in 1986 (not that Diego noticed him!). Now at last the team has a real saviour. As you can a see from the picture me and him are good mates. Well ok I just happened to bump into him and his entourage on day last week and he was a gent and let shake his hand have my photo taken with him . He told me no secrets but one thing is for sure the whole team and set up were very very relaxed and that can only mean good things to come. The next big test for this team is the Copa América 2011.

For me it s now time to put a few quid on Argentina winning something, they have a team to die for and now a very very good manager – the only blip could be Uruguay who as you may know finished in the top four on the World Cup 2010 – apart from that get your piggy bank cracked open and have a bet on the Argentines to win the Copa América 2011– you will not regret it –that is unless Maradona has a second coming ( umm it is Argentina so one can never be too sure) or Uruguay really turn it on.

Ok that’s it sorry if it’s a football blog and nothing to do with La Margarita but as I mentioned Argentina exits for its football and nothing else much matters and it can’t be ignored . If you are coming here make sure - no really make sure you get to a game even if you hate it and you will see what I mean – it will be an experience you won’t forget

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho off to Ladbrokes to put a large bet on Argentina (and small saver on Uruguay) for the Copa América 2011.

Hasta pronto

Yeaaaaaaaaa Congratulations My Son

2010-11-11T07:58:00.000-08:00

Blimy it seems like just yesterday I was bundling Jodie and Dale my daughter and son into our group van and heading off to Littlehampton on Sea to do our regular Sunday afternoon gig for Billy Smarts Circus. It was one gig the kids really liked since they got free tickets to go on all the fun rides while me and the boys made a lot of noise with guitars and drums etc. Either that or the three of us fighting to win the most important cup competition of the 80s– of course I am talking about the Egg Cup Competition played with passion and blood between the three of us at the small river side park on the Crazy Golf in Maidenhead . Dale as I recall, won his fair share of Egg Cups being the competitive soul that he is – the prize being three huge sticky buns with a can of pop no matter who won in the little café in the park –delicious. Course I have a million more memories of my kids as kids and all great one - I can feel a tear coming to my eyes. Course when I count back the years to those times I realize it’s not yesterday - its decades ago wow– still lovely lovely memories though - thanks kids.

Jodie went on to have four lovely children Abbey, Chloe, Jack and The Demon sorry Molly. Dale went and got his degree and promptly went roving around the world ending up in New Zealand where he stayed and meet the lovely Kate. After a couple of years he went back with Kate to the UK to live for a while but both decided it was the land of the Kiwi fruit where it was at for them. So last year with bags packed again and a ticket via Argentina to visit me and Latin America off they set.

Around Christmas last year after a fantastic adventure they arrived back in New Zealand found jobs and a flat and settled in again to New Zealand life - as you can imagine with Dale now in New Zealand, Jodie in London and me in Argentina family reunions are a bit difficult to say the least – still last week Dale gave me a great excuse to visit him.

Last week DB asked Kate to marry him and she happily said YEEEEEEEEESSSS (in a New Zealand accent). This is a big big bloggy congratulation to you both and what a great excuse for me to visit New Zealand since I have never been.

Can’t wait for the wedding and just to say as if you didn’t know already my son I love you and am very proud of you

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho off to check if my suit still fits!!

Hasta pronto

Guests Blogger Bob Atkinson about his visit to La Margarita

2010-11-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

Bob Atkinson and English guy (who you may have seen on TV a few times) recently came to visit us. He has been travelling around South America writing a blog about his experiences - its very interesting and here is the link.

http://www.travelsupermarket.com/blog/part-6-estancias-and-gauchos/

Here is what Bob had to say about his stay on Estancia La Margarita

"With Patagonia firmly behind me, the next chapter of my trip begins, with a stay on an Estancia out in the pampas, three hours south of Buenos Aires.
Well three hours in theory. The journey by hire car actually ended up taking me nearly seven hours thanks to breaking down ten minutes into my journey and two wrong turns. Add in the complete lack of road signs in Argentina and I am surprised I arrived at all. Although I think that the estancia staff were even more surprised when I drove down the long drive just after 11.30pm at night. Fashionably late for a 9pm dinner, although to be honest I was embarrassed as hell.
The place I had chosen to stay at was Estancia La Margarita, short listed from many throughout the North East of Argentina. My boss had actually stayed there and his recommendation swung it for me. It’s owned by an English guy David Cummings, who has transformed himself into the ‘English Gaucho’ after arriving in Argentina a number f years ago. The estancia has been restored and opened up to guests to stay in this wonderful property, parts of which date back to 1870. I wanted to avoid the showy estancias near to the capital and those that looked a bit too much like a theme park out at San Antonio de Areco, the accepted centre of Gaucho culture.
But what is an estancia? Effectively it is what we would know as a ranch or a farm and is the farmers house, usually set in manicured grounds and dating back to when the land was transformed by the original landowners and Gauchos or cowboys into prime farming country in the last century. The Gauchos are an essential part of Argentine culture, routed deep in the soul of the country and summing up the macho elements of this nation. They are supreme horsemen, have distinct clothing and traditions and are still an active part of everyday life in the pampas.

What ewe looking at?

Today Estancia La Margarita has over one hundred and fifty cattle, a flock of sheep, chickens, turkeys and horses. They have their own kitchen garden and much of the produce prepared for meals on the estancia is either from the farm itself or from local sources. You can even milk the cows, ( I was not very good at that to be fair, but instead proved very good at drinking the fresh milk, something I have never had the opportunity to try in the UK. Milk comes pasteurised from supermarkets eh!). But it is horses and tourism that is now the driving force of the enterprise.
My late arrival prompted worried Raquel, the estancia cook and Susana, the General Manager to rustle up a late night supper with wine. The gringo arrives at some ungodly hour after expecting me all day. I was left to eat in the comfort of a huge lounge/diner with a roaring fire. All the other guests had gone to bed save for Luciano, an young Argentinean lawyer from Mar del Plata, the largest resort in the country. We chatted, his English far superior to my schoolboy Spanish and it was not long before sleep beckoned.
The next two days were spent relaxing in the sun, being waited on hand and foot by the discreet and helpful staff and enjoying the excellent home cooked food. Asado (the traditional grilled meats), salads, pasta dishes, scrummy deserts, afternoon tea with cakes and the freshest and tastiest eggs I have ever enjoyed. All food is part of the deal along with house wine.

Riding out

And of course the horse riding. You can ride alone or be taken out in small groups. I rode out with Luciano and his girlfriend Samantha and our guide Jonny, a fourteen year old Gaucho in training. You get to cover miles and miles of the estancia’s grounds, playing at herding the cattle and horses and marvelling at the horse riding skills of our guide.

Preparing to ride a wild horse

OK, so I came off my horse on the first ride out. The poor thing stumbled in the entry hole to one of many warrens dug by the wild hares and down she went. I like to think that I rolled gracefully onto the ground, however for a moment the location of my travel insurance documents flashed before me as thoughts of casualty and air ambulances raced through my head. But I just got up, shaked myself down and got back on. No drama at all. Very disappointing for those who know me well.
I even rediscovered my abilities, or lack of them, for table tennis as well as a few short walks in the woods.
So here I was enjoying the fresh air, blue skies and release from everyday life when it was mentioned we would pop into Taplaque, the local town. There was a little fair on. What I did not realise was that this was the annual fair of the local Gauchos.
The previous day there had been a parade and Jonny had found himself with a starring role, dressed up in his glad rags to ride through the town and carry the name of the Estancia:

On the day we visited, the Gauchos were taking part in competitions to stay on wild horses, showing off how good they would be at controlling the horse and staying on for the allotted time to great cheers and applause. All around the arena were families clearly camped out for the day, supping at mate, the Argentinean herb based infusion and rapt with attention on the goings on within the arena whilst talking ten to the dozen with friends around. The men were generally dressed in Gaucho wear, some in more ceremonial styles showing off their silver decorated belts and gaucho knives.
The atmosphere was absolutely electric and was a fascinating experience, totally unexpected and really letting you see how the locals go about celebrating then Gaucho life.
The following evening I wandered about the small town on what was a national holiday and soaked up the feeling of being out in the sticks away from the big city life.
Another reminder of how remote we were was a visit one late afternoon to the Pulperia. These general stores exist in a number of places on the pampas and the local one to the estancia is a gem, being one of the few that are working shops, not tourist traps. Luciano and Samantha, now good companions on my stay, whisked me there in their car for a beer and to shoot the breeze with the store owners, two elderly brothers. The shop is just how it was years ago with iron bars between the goods and the customers (gauchos used to fight), no electric light and products stacked neatly on shelves behind. It was all quite quaint, even if a little reminiscent of less salubrious parts of the UK when you go to the off licence late at night!
We watched a few customers come and go, being served with everything from cheese, cooked meats, coffee and a failed sale on a pair of reins for a horse. One gaucho in full shoes, beret and trousers told of how he had won a car at a gaucho fair a few weeks ago for his horseman skills. But he had no need for it as he had horses, so had sold it. The whole experience was very surreal and wonderful all at the same time. Like stepping back in time or being within a film.

Gaucho fashion

After too short a time, my time on the Estancia came to an end. It really had been a wonderful time away from my everyday existence. Clean, fresh air, tasty home cooked food, a feeling of real freedom, the crackle of log fires (there was even a roaring fire each evening in my bedroom) and friendly chat with Luciano and Samantha and the owner David and manager Susana.
If you want to getaway from life and enjoy the pleasures of the Argentinean pampas, then go stay at this Estancia, you need to book direct, however you can choose from the traditional house itself or one of the new self catering cottages with produce fresh from the farm. It is completely safe, no roaring tractors and machinery, a world away from everyday life and is great for families with children. There were even honeymooners staying, a young English couple. It is inexpensive and a world away from the heavily advertised big estancias near the capital. And most importantly it is good for the soul.
The journey out of Buenos Aires is well worth the effort.
Bob Atkinson"

My New Article Published – eat your heart out Tolstoy!

2010-10-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

As well as having fun writing this blog I sometimes get invited to write the odd article or two on Argentina and sometimes much to my great happiness and surprise they get published. Umm that would be much to the consternation of my old English teacher the very cool Mr. Clements where ever he is now. He once said to me” Cummings you had better brush up on your English or you will get no further than being a politician”. I am not sure if he was joking or not but it sounded all right to me so I did nothing about it – sadly I never made it as a politician- probably because I never tried but hey life turned out ok .

The latest article I wrote called “Buenos Aires – Where Cash is still King” can be found on Escape From Amercia Magazine . Here is the link and if you do decide to read I hope you enjoy it and forgive my English - Mr. Clements eventually did bless him

http://www.escapefromamerica.com/2010/10/buying-real-estate-in-argentina-where-cash-is-still-king/

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho until the next time

Bulls, Broken Fences and Babies

2010-10-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

When I purchased Estancia La Margarita some years ago, I purchased it with some cows and a torro (bull). The bull was pretty active – in fact so active it kept breaking the fences to get at Max’s my neighbour’s cows when it had finished with my cows. Max quite rightly wasn’t too happy as he had a different race of cows so he had his own bull to service his cows. We had a discussion about it and decided that we needed to renew the fences since the fences we had inherited were in a terrible state and for the bull it was easy to do a bit of a charge and hey presto he was in heaven (well bulls heaven). I also decided to sell my bull and Max lent me his bull when my cows needed love (well you know what I mean). It took in the region of two years to fix all the fences but the day arrived when the fences where solid enough to withstand the frustrations of a fully grown bull! This was indeed fortunate because a bull had been born on La Margarita (baby of the previous bull who I sold) when we started the fencing and by the time we had finished the fences he was ready for love!

A few years have passed since then and last week one of our cows gave birth to a calf and the father was our bull who himself was born on La Margarita. It meant for the first time last week all the cows and bull were born and breed on La Margarita – to say I was delighted was an understatement. It took a few years to get to this point but we got there and now we can look forward to expanding our herd - already we have had another three calf’s born through the efforts of our bull. Max of course is very happy that our bull has enough cows now to satisfy him this side of the fence and that if he decides to stray the fences are strong enough to withstand his love charge!

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho until the next time

Saludos

Truly a Day of the Gauchos.

2010-10-13T16:17:00.000-07:00

If you ever doubted that gauchos still existed you should have come to Estancia La Margarita this past weekend and visited the town we are near Tapalque. The 9^th 10^th and 11 of October was 108th Exposición Rural en Tapalque here in Argentina (put it in your diary for next year) and it is truly the weekend of the gaucho. It was a weekend when the whole town come together to celebrate the land and horses.

On the Friday there was a horse auction. On the Saturday there was a parade through the town by the local gauchos all representing the establishments where they worked. I am proud to say that Kevin (Lalos son) Jhonny and Marcelo represented La Margarita. It was indeed spectacular watching these wonderful horsemen, women and children parading through the streets of Tapalque.

On the Sunday there was an espectacular as they call it in Spanish – hanging on to a horse for dear life is what I would call it! It was great to watch these great horse men in their attempt to stay on horses that have never had a saddle put on them before. All the guest who were staying on La Margarita went and watched it and had a great gauchito time.

Susana took a short video of the winner – have a look he was a brave man for sure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NxIDZ6kb-c

This is David Cummings alias The English Gaucho of to practice how to ride!

Helpful Tips to Make Your Stay in Argentina Even Better - Revisited

2010-10-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

I wrote a blog some few years time ago on a few tips to help your stay in Argentina go smoothly. I thought it was time again to revisit the tips and maybe add a couple more. What prompted me was that we had a couple of guests on La Margarita who left yesterday and they had trouble drawing money from the cash machine so here goes:

1) Please don’t change money in the money change bureau as you arrive in the luggage hall at Ezeiza airport. It’s a rip off and they will give you really awful rates. If you do need to change money once you pass through immigration there is a change bureau to the right as you leave which gives a much better rate – if you can wait till you arrive in the city center there many change places which will give you great rates .

2) Don’t buy Argentine pesos outside of Argentina – if you can find them the rate will up 20% less. We just had a guest on La Margarita who did just that and when she asked what rate we gave on La Margarita she nearly fainted the difference was so big.

3) The cash machines here have a limit of between $500 – $1000 pesos at a time. The limit is usually `$1000 per day and you may need to put your card in 3 times to get that money and you will be charged 15 pesos each time. So if the first bank you use only lets you take out $400 or $500 try another bank that lets you take out more.

4) It can be difficult to change $100 pesos notes here so make sure you have small notes with you when you go out. When you go to take out money from the cash machine instead of asking for say $500 pesos ask for $490 – that way the machine will deliver some small notes – some banks don’t let you do this but many do so just go to another bank that lets you.

5) Taxi drivers don’t like changing $100 pesos notes, if they do agree to do so be aware they may give you false notes in return. Better to make sure you have small 10 and 20 pesos notes – most taxis trips in the city are no more than $30 pesos so with these small notes you will be assured of not having to offer a $100 note.

6) Buses and the underground are the cheapest in the world here and very safe. The underground is quick and it costs less that 50 cents per trip – its an absolute bargain and easy to use.

7)) Prices have risen somewhat here but there are many thing still are cheap in comparison to Europe or America. Taxis, wine, cigarettes and long distance buses are a bargain. On eating out prices can still very be reasonable especially if you avoid the center of really touristy areas such as Palermo Soho, Recoleta and St Telmo. Eat in such places as Almagro. Congreso, Barrio Chino in Belgrano and Onze. There you will find great restaurants such as Peruvian, Parrillas (traditional Argentine steak houses), Brazilian etc and they offer great value

8) If you want to socialize in the city , meet people and learn a bit of Spanish at the same time there is no better place than Spanglish Exchange http://www.spanglishexchange.com/. They organize great events five times a week -have a chat with Maya an American who runs it - she is a mine of information having lived here for a good few years

9) If you intend to explore South America have a look at the web page of South American Explorers Club – it gives great advise on all sorts of travel topics here and they have a club house you can go to meet fellow explorers http://www.saexplorers.org – nice people as well

10) Of course when you need a rest from the city and you fancy leading the gaucho life for a few days where better than Estancia La Margarita (www.estancialamargarita.com) – look forward to seeing you

No doubt if you are thinking of coming to Argentina do it – it is a wonderful country and I am sure you will have the time of your life

This is David Cummings alias the English Gaucho of to have a siesta – what a life

Hasta pronto