The Provinces

That’s how they call the rest of the country here. My winning a trip from Bueno Entonces to Buenos Aires happily coincided with the 70th birthday of my father-in-law so my husband and kids also came to Argentina and have been spending time with my husbands family in Parana, eagerly awaiting me being fluent in Spanish. The birthday party will mainly involve eating a lot of nice meat, and nieces and nephews running around causing mayhem and some live music as Francisco's dad is a big music lover. I’m so happy to see my kids after weeks of Buenos Aires, I’m not used to being without them for that time. I’ve taken a bus up north, one of those big coaches with reclining seats and terrible sandwiches.

Before the big birthday however my husband Francisco has organised for us to visit the town where he was born in Corrientes. This is real gaucho country and it’s an amazing roadtrip, seeing the gauchos resting with their horses and cattle along the road. After stopping in his birthplace we go all the way up north to the Esteros de Ibera, a lake with a beautiful nature reserve where you can get real up close to the animals.



We have a stunning day out on the lake, watching carpinchos and yacaré’s. Carpinchos are very large rodent type animals, but they’re kind of cute and look like dogs. Yacarés are a type of crocodile, but really mellow fish eating ones, that sit out in the sun warming up. It’s exhilarating being so near the animals and seeing so many. Because animals haven’t been hunted here for twenty years they don’t mind the presence of humans at all. The kids are buzzing after our day out in the boat.

We stay along the lake side in a place with the most divine bedlinen ever and amazing food and even go for a horse ride, gaucho-style! Love this place and really can recommend the boutique rancho that is our home for two nights.