ESTANCIA LOS PATOS

ESTANCIA LOS PATOS

Casco Estancia Los Patos

As a bon voyage or buen viaje gift, our wonderful colleagues and friends in the Natural Science Division gave us a weekend at an estancia. Among their suggestions was La Estancia Los Patos, so that is where we spent two days. The estancia is about 150 kilometers outside of Buenos Aires, in la pampa or flat land - and indeed it is very flat for hundreds of miles.

Sra. Lili y Sr. Angel M. de Estrada

Angel and Lili were our most gracious hosts for the weekend. Since this is neither duck hunting season nor vacation time, we were the only guests at the ranch. Los Patos is a working ranch of approximately 700 acres with several hundred head of cattle, a few sheep and dozens of horses, and two full time gauchos. Guests may work with the cattle and horses, hunt, ride horses, or play polo. We enjoyed wonderful meals including an asado, went horseback riding, read by the fireplace, and went walking at the estancia and in the nearby village of Monte.

Monte de Alamos

On our ride, we covered much of the ranch and saw many young calves and a fair number of very-expectant mamas. We also rode through a large stand of poplars that Angel had very meticulously planted in a matrix like the Amish plant corn. Virtually all of the trees in las pampas have been planted. And, as the name of the estancia conveys, we saw hundreds if not thousands of ducks of various types.

Rhonda y Chueco

Those of you who know Rhonda no doubt remember that she has an affinity for dogs - an understatement! So, the dog-of-the-ranch and Rhonda hit it off right away. The owners call him chueco which we learned means pigeon toed. And Cheuco certainly is - Angel said that he was even more so when he was a little pup. You may read more about the estancia at:

http://www.estancialospatos.com.ar/