Experiencing a working ranch in Patagonia

We spent 3 days at Hosteria Alta Vista, a guesthouse on a working Patagonia ranch. The original farm was established by true pioneers in 1908 and predates the town of El Calafate by almost 20 years. The ranch covers 165.000 acres of grassland, hills and mountains and is home to 22.000 sheep, as well as cattle, horses, working dogs and a handful of permanent gauchos who live in shelters distributed at the far reaches of the property. Our host Tamara gave us a great overview of the wool business, including the economic challenges forcing a partial switch to more profitable beef cattle. But as far as wool, the historic business of the area, Alta Vista still practices traditional methods where the sheep roam free and are corralled only once a year in December for shearing and sorting. At shearing time, around 20 additional gauchos are hired for the job. It is entirely manual work with the barn and most equipment dating back to the founding of the ranch. The process is impressively well thought through and a testimony to pre-automation inguinuity. Gauchos are the epitome of the rugged, self-sufficient cowboy archetype that we all know from old westerns, often living most of their lives in relative isolation breaking in horses, training dogs, hunting puma and watching over the sheep. Funny but true, gauchos only eat meat and potatoes, literally BBQ 3 meals a days. Tamara told us that she had once tried providing fresh fruit and vegetables, only to find them left to rot.

Aside from an introduction to the ranch, we spent our days hiking and horseback riding through this amazing landscape. It’s hard to express the feeling of galloping through the Patagonia plains as a flock of flamingos takes flight, but it’s an experience that we will never forget. To cap off an already amazing stay, our hosts treated us to a traditional Argentine asado (BBQ) on our last night. Note the whole lamb roasted over a wood fire. Incredible!