Estancia Rancho ‘e Cuero

I don’t have the words to describe this place, so I’m stealing a bit from Stewart’s journal…

So maybe Rancho’e Cuero is the loveliest place I have ever experienced. The owners, the guests, the service, the food, and then there is “simply” the setting. Yet again in Argentina we have landed in a place that is just like no other and nothing that I could have quite imagined. This estancia is literally in the middle of no where and, much like our old dock, this is a very good thing. First of all, to get here, you have to really want to be here. The drive, particularly in rainy season, is impassable without a 4×4 vehicle. (As is typical though, Ava actually fell asleep!) But upon arrival, you are immediately rewarded. It’s an amalgamation of The Hebrides and Dolomites together with your favorite relatives and closest friends with fabulous food and wine introductions that just don’t stop.

Arrived on Saturday afternoon and took off on a long hike with Ava.  She was a trooper and actually walked a lot of the way.  The ranch is 7000 acres of mountains with a strong flowing stream that comes from a Glacier high above.

Ava tries to dam up the stream

Back half of the fenced area. Red tail deer and guanacos abound.

at the end of our hike. the estancia and barn await us with wine, dinner and sobremesa (after dinner chat)

They have better photos than us here rachoecuero.com
The Palma family are some of the best hosts I’ve ever had.   And with a simple outdoor fire and small kitchen they produced some of the best food I’ve eaten.

Day 2 Included an enormous lunch followed by siesta to wait out a bit of rain,  then an afternoon ride we will never forget.

empanadas and way too much wine were the appetizers for the grilled lunch.

half way up.

And of course,  a couple of quick videos of the ride
River Crossing (Vid)
Climbing (Vid)

This was all followed by another great meal.  After which I walked outside (about midnight) with Ava and ran right into the Southern Cross.   I’ve been looking for this since we got here,  but city lights and clouds have so far not cooperated.   But this night, miles from man made light and clear sky,   I saw more stars than I have ever seen (including some ocean passages)  I went to bed humming CSN “when you see the southern cross for the first time, you understand now why you came this way”.

Ava catches up on sleep during the plane ride back to Bs As