<p><strong>Published in 'The Buenos Aires Herald', 5 December 2007</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br />We have two Finnish friends visiting for the weekend, who would like to explore the countryside beyond Punta del Este, which lies 75 miles east of Montevideo. They want wilderness and ocean. It's the coldest winter Uruguay has had in forty years, but our Finnish friends are pretty hardy: they've just returned from skiing in Ushuaia.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br />I skim through my &lsquo;Recorriendo Uruguay' rural guide book, and find &lsquo;El Charabon', an estancia in the eastern province of Rocha. I call Graciela, the owner.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br />&lsquo;Well, we're usually closed during winter, but we'd be happy to open up for you. I'll mobilize the cook and the rest of the staff.'</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br />That's Uruguay for you. Friendly and flexible.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br />The drive from Montevideo is smooth and traffic-free. We stop for a coffee at the majestic ocean-front Hotel Argentino in Piriapolis, a few miles short of Punta del Este. This elegant town is named after Francisco Piria, who bought the land and started developing the resort in the late nineteenth century. The hotel was built in 1930, and still has Piria's original Austrian furniture.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br />We drive on inland through the sierras, bypassing Punta del Este, towards the Brazilian border, and after the provincial capital of Rocha, turn towards the coast on a well-maintained unpaved road. Close by the road we see a couple of rheas, or &ntilde;andues, as they are called here - small, flightless ostrich-like birds. A couple of miles further on we reach El Charabon, where Graciela welcomes us and brings us in to sit by the blazing log fire.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br />&lsquo;We bought this place fifteen years ago,' she explains, &lsquo;as a weekend retreat from our busy lives in the city. You know, every time we come here, we feel a very special energy. There's something about this place.'</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br />Friends and family encouraged them to open up the estancia for horse riding tours, and El Charabon is now busy throughout the summer months.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br />&lsquo;El Charabon is the name for the &ntilde;andu chick,' Graciela tells us. She has several, along with a peacock, in her garden.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br />&lsquo;People love coming here, because it's so quiet. And we're just half an hour from the coastal resorts of Cabo Polonio and La Paloma. You get the best of both ocean and countryside. And in the summer, after a long day's ride, you can just laze by the pool.'</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br />In the evening the estancia gaucho, Fernando, takes us out for a horse ride. He tells us there are 500 sheep, 600 cattle, and 27 horses on the 1000-hectare estancia. Beside a small lake we see a bright kingfisher. We ride into a small pear-tree grove. &lsquo;This is the special place,' he tells us. &lsquo;Visitors from Germany keep returning, because there is energy in this spot. They're coming back with eight friends for La Noche Buena - Christmas Eve - this year.'</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br />After a generous home-cooked meal, we take an early night. The rooms are large and bright, the beds comfortable, and the attention to detail is superb. The room is filled with a delicate aroma - I find the source immediately - mimosa interspersed in the vase of fresh roses by my bed.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br />I can quite believe that a place like this fills you with a special energy.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>www.elcharabon.com/en<br />www.aluruguay.com/Ahotelargentinopiriapolis.htm<br />www.recorriendouruguay.com.uy</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Published in the 'Buenos Aires Herald', 5 December 2007</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Have you ever heard of a capybara? I hadn't, until last week, when I spent a night at El Silencio, an estancia a hundred miles north of Montevideo in Uruguay. The capybara, known locally as a carpincho, is a semi-aquatic herbivorous animal, endemic to South America east of the Andes. Mariela, the estancia owner, found an orphaned baby one several years ago, and keeps him in a paddock with her horses. He's an affectionate creature, and rather beautiful, considering he belongs to the family of the world's largest rodents.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>El Silencio is a traditional Uruguayan ranch, rearing hundreds of sheep and cows. The nineteenth century farmhouse is built around a central patio, and the only feature which has been added to the original building is a large dining hall at the front, where guests can sit by the fire and watch the spectacular moonrises and dazzling stars. Close by there is indigenous woodland, and the River Maciel. The food is unpretentious and delicious, and the staff friendly. There are three comfortable ensuite bedrooms, and two dormitories, with five beds in each.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>As I returned from a leisurely horseride in the evening, I realised I had come on a very special day. Three men were rolling massive bales of wool onto a truck. I was told that all the wool shorn over the last four years had been stockpiled in a barn, and today was the day: the price was right, and it was being sold.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>At El Silencio, guests can join in with the gauchos' daily chores, or ride, fish, swim in the river, or enjoy the spectacular bird life.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br />Mariela will welcome you as one of the family. She drove me ten miles in her truck to meet Nelida, the &lsquo;abuelita' - little granny - a cheerful old lady who lives in a modest home and is kept busy making ponchos and saddle linings for the local gauchos. Using raw wool, she cards, spins, dyes and weaves, and the results are worthy of any luxury boutique. I had a lot of fun trying my hand on her simple loom.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br />I ordered a king-sized bedspread in large natural and brown checks. &lsquo;Certainly, Se&ntilde;ora, you will have it by Christmas.' Never mind that Christmas means midsummer, sweltering nights and cotton sheets, I shall treasure Nelida's work of art.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><br /></strong></p> <p><strong>Fact sheet:</strong><br />A night in a double room at &lsquo;El Silencio' costs a modest $30.00 including breakfast. The estancia is affiliated with the Youth Hostels Association, and a night in one of the dorms costs around $10.00.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><br />The estancia is within easy reach of the town of Durazno, with its unique church, well-kept museum, and belle &eacute;poque architecture. And if it's not only &lsquo;silencio' that you are after, Durazno hosts a huge range of festivals throughout the year, including the Festival of Folklore in February and the hugely popular rock festival in October.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>To get there from Montevideo, take the Ruta 5 to Durazno, then follow the Ruta 14 towards Trinidad for 7 miles. The Estancia is well-signposted on your left, at Km 166.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>There is a regular bus service from the Tres Cruces bus terminal in Montevideo.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>For reservations, call 00598 36 22014 or e-mail silencio@adinet.com.uy</p> <p>If you would like to see photos of Durazno and el Silencio, follow this link:<br />http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=16523&amp;l=25ae0&amp;id=664241054</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Published in the 'Buenos Aires Herald', 26 December, 2007</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>"So what makes a good holiday?" my husband asks. We're just passing Pajas Blancas International Airport in the Central Sierras of Argentina, not far from the place where the Latin American revolutionary icon, Che Guevara, spent his adolescence. The area is famous for its well-preserved Jesuit missions. It's seven o'clock, and clumps of pampas grass glint in the evening sunshine.</p> <p><br /> "A really good holiday? Spectacular scenery, an uncrowded, peaceful setting, a room with a view, tasty home-cooking, good wine, plenty of opportunity to get exercise, and a warm welcome."</p> <p><br /> "A good shower with hot water and strong pressure, and a comfortable bed," he adds.</p> <p><br /> Add to this accessibility, carefully chosen background music, crisp white cotton sheets, big fluffy towels, tasteful d&eacute;cor, shelves filled with excellent books in several languages, excellent value for money, and a good holiday becomes an exceptional one.</p> <p><br /> We found all this, and more, during Cordoba's busiest holiday season, Easter Week. Three years ago, Fernando and Susana left Buenos Aires and bought 600 hectares of land in Candonga, thirty miles north of the city of Cordoba, and six miles west of the village of La Manzana, and, with the help of an architect friend, converted the original homestead into a small hotel, La Posada las Perdices. We had booked in for two nights, but stayed for four.</p> <p><br /> The guest rooms are laid out honeycomb-style in groups of two and three on the hillside across a gurgling river from the main house. Ours, Glicine - meaning Wysteria - painted in delicate mauve, had huge windows overlooking the valley.</p> <p>Well-behaved cats, dogs, donkeys and geese wandered around in front of the main house. Breakfast and dinner were served inside a large, rustic dining room with high ceilings and huge designer wood-framed mirrors to the soft sounds of Bach's Goldberg Variations, and we had lunch and afternoon tea al fresco, under the leafy Fresno trees, listening to the animals and the gurgling of the river.</p> <p><br /> Susana is a superb cook, and produced home-made pasta, pesto, jams, and a wide range of non-slimming cakes, tarts and desserts. And the friend who recommended La Posada las Perdices to us was quite accurate when he said that Susana serves "the best steak north of Ushuaia".</p> <p><br /> In the mornings Fernando took us on long horse rides, zigzagging across the river to a waterfall, and up the hillside from where we looked down over Cordoba in the distance.</p> <p><br /> In the afternoons, after a long siesta, we walked along the winding track which leads over the hills twenty-five miles to the trendy mountain holiday resort of La Cumbre. Bright green parakeets filled the trees, and we spotted ciscadees, hawks, woodpeckers, and even a condor. The clear air was filled with scents: mint, anis and wild flowers.</p> <p><br /> La Posada las Perdices has one quad and five double rooms. The high season cost is $78.00 per person, which includes all meals and activities, but not wine. To reach it from Cordoba, take the E53 to the airport, and twenty miles beyond, in the village of El Manzano, take an unpaved track left for six miles. Or better, fly in to Cordoba airport, and Susana or Fernando will be delighted to pick you up. There are frequent flights to Cordoba from several airports in Spain, Argentina and Brazil.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>www.laaldeadecandonga.com.ar<br />e-mail: informes@posadalasperdices.com.ar <br />Tel /fax: 0054 - 351- 4682913 | 54 - 3543 - 493999<br />Mobile: 0054 - 351-155 213 349</p>