Rio Serrano with Andria (Part 1)

Soon after I got to the house, Andria and I went out for a ride. Andria has lovingly embraced the look of a gaucho including bombachas de gaucho (Gaucho horse-riding pants) , boina (beret), and wool belt originally used to hold up the pants, but now most gauchos also wear a leather belt. Oh, and don't forget the boots!

The house is also shown here, along with a couple of the many pets. If I may quote my cousin's blog, here is what she said about the pets:

Horses (~30): mix of Criollo/Thoroughbred/Percheran/Quarter Horse crosses that make up a herd of tourist horses, working horses, and a few foals and youngsters yet to be trained

Sheep (~40): a band of nearly 40 ewes, with fewer and fewer lambs every week as the corderos are eaten for asados (barbecued lamb)

Cattle (~150): Hereford/Angus crosses for meat

Dogs (20+?): assorted collection of mutts that help on occasion to move the cattle

Cats (3): scavenge food, fight with the dogs and the chickens

Kittens (8?): they are hard to count, always hiding under the house)

Chickens + 1 Rooster: ~13, depending on how many the dogs have killed recently

I rode Fasha and Andria rode her horse Clos (name of local boxed (and cheap) wine) that she bought for about US$500.

This is the view of the river and mountains just a little way from the house. Amazing! To my left the Rio Grey comes bringing sediments of the glacier which makes the water milky. To my right is Rio Serrano. From this point on the two are called Rio Serrano.








Andria practiced some jumping and I practiced some photography. So cool!























I even tried a little on a small sand ledge going up and down. I was more willing than Fasha to go up and down. Andria said this is a horse's playground. Clos didn't hesitate at all and jumped up and down the ledge multiple times.









[Photo: me on the trail through the woods]

The trees have a green moss that kills the branches. It's called Old Man's Beard and hangs off the branches just like a beard. Since it kills so many branches, there are old logs scattered everywhere through the woods between the river and the house. The trees also grow more parallel to the ground than straight up, making a very mystical scene.




This is the view from the cerro (large hill) overlooking the pampa (large field). The hotel and cabins are off to the left of the horse's head. The house is off to the left of the photo.









Every night the horses that had been in the coral for trail rides are herded out to the pasture. Andria is on the 2nd to last horse (Clos). Breathtaking.









Andria said this was the first day she could see the outline of the snow-covered mountain. Most clear days it blends with the sky and the rest of time the clouds cover it. Today the clouds were just the right shade of gray that we could see it perfectly. Like I said, the best day to see the mountains. The rest of the weekend was pretty cloudy, as you can see in the last photo. That is the same mountain range as the one above overlooking the pampa.