Ibera Wetlands and Candelaria Ranch
Our next stop after visiting the iconic Iguazu Falls was the remote Ibera Wetlands Reserve. This reserve was assembled (purchased from private owners piece by piece) and developed by Douglas Tompkins. He was the American entrepreneur who started The North Face company and was also an avid conservationist. He bought and converted over 2 million acres of land in South America for use as parks, which he then donated to the people of Chile and Argentina! He died tragically in 2015 from hypothermia after his kayak tipped on a glacial lake in Chile. This was the first of several parks we visited that are his legacy.
The reserve completely blew us away with the amount of wildlife that can be seen! We saw so many different species of birds and other animals we could hardly believe it. Including rheas (think ostrich), herons, eagles, foxes, caimans (think alligator), boars, deer, armadillos and the ever present capybaras! If you are wondering what a capybara is, I’ll tell you, they are the largest species of rodent in the world and can weigh up to 150lbs. Fortunately, they are extremely docile and look like enormous guinea pigs. Sometimes we had to walk right next to them since they were lounging on the hiking trail! Our AirBnB location was perfect, right on the edge of the reserve, and many of the animals roamed the grounds at dusk.
Another cultural experience we had was seeing dozens of shrines along the road to “Gauchito Gil” / Little Cowboy Gil. He is the most prominent folk-hero in all of Argentina and is especially venerated in the rural areas of the country. The best way to describe this historical figure is to equate him to the popular legend of Robin Hood. He robbed people and gave some of what he took to the poor. Today, you can find shrines of all sizes located throughout the country. We stopped at the biggest shrine in the country to Gauchito Gil. It was a strange experience, it was like being in a church in many ways, except instead of Jesus you had Gauchito Gil as the main focus (though Jesus was there too – in the background). There were literally hundreds of gifts, offerings, and notes of thanks for answered prayer on the altars.
Our next big stop was La Candelaria Ranch (and polo club). This is the place we had reserved to experience life on a historical and working ranch. Many ranches have been unable to remain profitable in the last fifty years and in order to survive have turned to tourism. Additionally, this particular ranch also boasted a full size polo field and we were lucky enough to catch a practice game! Watching the horses racing across the field was beautiful and the game itself was interesting to learn. We also got to do a little horseback riding and buggy driving of our own at a very relaxed pace. One example of how laid back the staff was; when the the woman managing the horses asked Sharon is she had any experience in driving a buggy and Sharon told her she didn’t this was her response, “Pull right to go right, left to go left and pull back to stop.”
The main gastronomical event at the ranch was a giant barbecue (called an asado) where they cook every conceivable and edible part of the cow for your dining enjoyment. Let’s just say it was an adventure and we tried it all! But the absolute highlight of our time here was befriending an older Argentinian couple, Oscar and Liliana, who were celebrating their wedding anniversary. Accompanying them was their son, Nico. We had an immediate connection with this family (Liliana and Phyllis both paint) and enjoyed spending meals together and learning more about their culture and personal histories.
Just a quick explanation, in case you were wondering, this all happened in December of 2019. We are behind on editing pictures, which pushes back the blog updates, so we are using our quarantine time to catch up! Hope you are well and staying safe. Our quarantine is slated to end on March 31st here in Argentina if all goes as planned.
Stay safe and stay healthy,
Chris & Sharon
