It took us about 9 hours and two buses to get from Punta del Diablo back to Tacuarembó but the buses are good and it was a pleasant trip, plus we were happy to be heading back to the estancia so that made the trip also more enjoyable! I noticed the Tacuarembó sign on the bus station was painted in rainbow colours (as were the grain silos out the back, making them a good landmark for the bus station).
We really do like Uruguay and I can’t put my finger on exactly why but it has definitely grown on us, well, more on me than Euan I suspect. Anyhow, we had to spend a night in Tacuarembó before meeting Juan the next day and were prepared to share the estancia with about 11 others who were travelling with Intrepid Tours. Intrepid send people to the estancia twice a month and the groups vary in size but at times can fill all the available beds. The difference about this particular group was that there was a camera crew with them, filming a show that (so we thought) was a promotional video for Intrepid. It turned out not to be so.
Euan and I had the place virtually to ourselves for the first day we were back and went riding early the next morning. The light was beautiful and we had two horses we’d not ridden before.
The estancia has these great stone walls that are no longer used but add a lot of character to the paddocks.
I asked Euan to ride up onto this stone outcrop as I thought it might make quite a nice photo. It didn’t turn out to be a good photo but I’ve included it because, at the time, it cracked me up. Euan was talking to his horse and I don’t think he realised that he was upwind. He was stroking his horses neck and I heard him saying “yes, I know, she’s very demanding isn’t she. We just have to deal with it”…… Demanding???!!! Me??
After a while (and after I’d stopped demanding) we met up with Bilinga, the gaucho who works on the estancia with Juan and Suzanne. Bilinga speaks Portuguese and I understood very little of what he said but, at times, even Euan didn’t understand either. It didn’t worry Bilinga, who is one of the most cheerful men we’ve met and chats away to anyone, no matter that they don’t understand. We loved working with him. That particular day we were helping him with the cattle and while we herded and held the cows and calves among the eucalyptus trees, he snuck up on the calves, grabbed them and treated them while keeping the mothers at bay with his whip. It was impressive to watch and Bilinga would make a great deer stalker I reckon.
.jpg)
One fuzz-ball of a calf, a confused newborn, went through the fence and its mother went straight through after it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cow go through a fence before and have the fence remain standing and not dragged out across the paddock. Anyhow, the confused calf headed for the herd of horses that were right there and the mother went straight in after it to ‘claim’ the calf back. What a hoo-hah. Horses scattered everywhere and the cow was mooing and leaping around. The horses quickly had enough and took off full tilt to the other side of the huge paddock and we had to go in and get the cow and calf back. The calf was following anything with four legs and the easiest way to get it to move was to get it to follow Bilingas horse.
In among all these cattle were wandering two young lambs whose mother had died. We picked them up and carted them off on the horses before going to find the dead mother. She had to come back with us so Euan hoisted the dead ewe up onto Bilingas horse
and we took the lambs. I definitely had the better end of the deal; I got two cute lambs while Bilinga got the maggoty dead ewe with her jaw eaten off. Euan started off (semi-seriously) covering the lambs eyes so they couldn’t see their mother in such a state but was still a bit horrified when the lambs were put in a pen and their dead mother thrown in after them.
Then we had to go and get another sheep that was a bit mad but after the usual siesta, the afternoon was ours to do what we wanted so, of course, we went riding J
The big group arrived that afternoon and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the camera crew were all Kiwis but I never ever in a million years expected this lady to walk around the corner and I did a big double take thinking ‘it can’t be….’.
If you’re a Kiwi or have lived in NZ before 2005 you might recognise her but for those of you who haven’t, Judy Bailey has been on our TV screens reading the six o’clock news in NZ for something like 25 years and is what might be considered a national treasure. She started reading the news when I was about seven so is a very familiar face to so many and I think its fairly safe to say that most NZer's feel that they almost know her. I certainly did not expect her, let alone anyone else I recognised, to turn up in the back blocks of northern Uruguay! I was slightly (and stupidly) star-struck and those in the group (with the exception of one other Kiwi girl) had no idea what was going on or what all the fuss was about. Anyhow, it turned out that the camera crew were filming a program in a series called Intrepid Journeys and this programme is on South America. Having the camera crew there was interesting in many ways and at times they held things up but at other times they provided huge entertainment….. They came out to work the stock on horseback with everyone else, holding cameras and all despite never having ridden horses before.
It was very interesting to watch and, within the first 20 minutes, the camera lady had fallen off, big camera in hand. Nothing was damaged but it was lucky that the ground was soft following the heavy rain. I was in front at the time and all I heard was the thud of horse hooves moving at pace then one massive thud as the camera lady hit the ground. Full credit to her, she got back on, camera still in hand but this time the horse was led so she could safely have both hands on the camera. The other cameraman did really well but I think he kept a firm hand on the horse and camera after seeing the fall.
We were bringing cattle in to be dipped (hugely entertaining) and Euan was riding Linyera, who I eventually called the “Tacuarembó Express” or the “Pocket Rocket” as she just wanted to go go go. A few days earlier she’d taken off with someone, they’d fallen off and two other horses had freaked out and their riders had fallen off too. She was so much fun to ride but Euan had been warned not to let her get out of hand or she’d be off!
We were spoilt with the great food every day we were there but with a large group, meat was laid on in style and a grill was prepared.
After lunch the cattle were dipped and it was great to watch as the cows provided us with lots of entertainment. They were herded down the race and into this narrow deep trench, filled with insecticide (I think? It smelt vile whatever it was).
Some cows just slid quietly in but others put on a great show and leapt in, ears pricked, front legs straight out and belly-flopped into the dip creating this massive splash (this photo is a bit fuzzy but hopefully you get the general idea)
before swimming, wide-eyed, to the other end where they staggered up the ramp.
What was really funny (sorry Dean) was that the cameraman was filming this action under the low-hanging roof, right by where the cows jumped in. It was early days and we hadn’t had a cow dive yet but he copped the first one and both he and the camera got drenched in smelly dip. I shouldn’t have laughed but couldn’t help it and wasn’t the only one. I reckon those cameras are pretty tough!
On the estancia there is a rock outcrop that isn’t that high but gives you the impression that you’re on top of the world as you can see a long long way. It’s a magical place and when Juan asked us to behave like a couple for once and pose nicely for a photo, we obliged.
.jpg)
Photo: Juan Manuel Luque
I asked the same of Juan and Euan (it came out a lot better than the one of Euan and I!)
That evening was just lovely and the light filtered through the stand of eucalyptus trees
and the tree by the house, where ibis have roosted in every night for about 70 years, was surprisingly empty and quiet – I guess they were making the most of the lovely evening and hadn’t yet come back to roost.
The next day we brought 700 sheep into the yards again, the second time since we had been there
and it was great to see the improvement in most of the wounds but we were still surprised at the number of new infections that had cropped up and one lamb needed help getting to the yards.
I’ve spent time on farms before and not seen anything like the damage these flies can cause. I’ve not included any photos, too gruesome.
Some of us practiced our sheep dumping technique…
and at the end, a team photo was in order
Juan ended up calling Judy “Queen Judy” which made me end up wishing I’d kept my mouth shut and not told him who she was J
but we had to take a photo of the Kiwis who were working in the yards that day (cheesy as it is!).
With the group on their way, Euan and I spent another morning working with Bilinga doing the rounds of the cattle, and watched him lasso calves (very impressive) then helped keep them down while he treated them
After all this, Euan was made an honorary gaucho by Bilinga
and then promptly retired to a hammock for a siesta.
We didn’t realise it was Juans birthday on one of the days we were there but when family started to turn up for the weekend we suspected something was up. There were about six travellers staying and there were loads of family so a total of 15 of us went out on horses that Saturday morning. We were mustering the huge 700 acre paddock in mist that was going to make it tricky to see the cattle.
It took a while to saddle up but once we were off you had to keep up or you were left behind
and Bilinga came thundering out of the mist, poncho billowing, looking like something out of a movie. The greeting he gave everyone was one of the most polite I have ever seen; hat to his chest, riding over and greeting everyone in the group individually in Portuguese with his usual huge smile.
We’d been joined by two Australians the day before and Mick had been a professional show jumper during his early 20s. He had started to ride the horses in the style he was accustomed and a usually placid little horse was going berserk but once he loosened the reins it was fine. I don’t think he believed me when I told him loosen the reins on this horse that was going a bit mental but it did the trick. This is Mick, Euan and Tory heading out to muster the cattle.
We also had Alejandra and Agustina (I’m not sure about the spelling here) with us, two gorgeous girls who are daughters of Juans cousin
.jpg)
Photo: Alison Duffy
and are very good on the horses.
They were also excellent Scrabble buddies, playing a made-up version of Scrabble with Euan and I for a while over lunch
before saddling up again (the cat was playing with the reins on the ground and SO nearly got squashed!)
and heading back out on the horses.
By the afternoon the mist had cleared and we took the cattle back to their paddock. I love this photo as it shows the vastness and beauty of the landscape and barely a fence in sight.
.jpg)
Photo: Alison Duffy
Sunday morning, the day of Juans birthday, we went for a ride – no working. This photo shows the gates used on the estancia. They don’t swing but are very effective
although getting 15 people on horseback through gates took take some time, especially if girths needed to be tightened
and mine was in danger of slipping backwards which would have resulted in me being dumped on the ground for sure!
There was no work done that afternoon as birthday celebrations were order of the day. This is Juan with Alejandra and Agustina. They absolutely adore him, as do his other neices and nephews.
.jpg)
Photo: Alison Duffy
It was our last night at the estancia as, early the next morning, we were embarking on a three-day horse trek from the estancia to a small town called Laureles, close(ish) to the border with Brazil.
We really do like Uruguay and I can’t put my finger on exactly why but it has definitely grown on us, well, more on me than Euan I suspect. Anyhow, we had to spend a night in Tacuarembó before meeting Juan the next day and were prepared to share the estancia with about 11 others who were travelling with Intrepid Tours. Intrepid send people to the estancia twice a month and the groups vary in size but at times can fill all the available beds. The difference about this particular group was that there was a camera crew with them, filming a show that (so we thought) was a promotional video for Intrepid. It turned out not to be so.
Euan and I had the place virtually to ourselves for the first day we were back and went riding early the next morning. The light was beautiful and we had two horses we’d not ridden before.
The estancia has these great stone walls that are no longer used but add a lot of character to the paddocks.
I asked Euan to ride up onto this stone outcrop as I thought it might make quite a nice photo. It didn’t turn out to be a good photo but I’ve included it because, at the time, it cracked me up. Euan was talking to his horse and I don’t think he realised that he was upwind. He was stroking his horses neck and I heard him saying “yes, I know, she’s very demanding isn’t she. We just have to deal with it”…… Demanding???!!! Me??
After a while (and after I’d stopped demanding) we met up with Bilinga, the gaucho who works on the estancia with Juan and Suzanne. Bilinga speaks Portuguese and I understood very little of what he said but, at times, even Euan didn’t understand either. It didn’t worry Bilinga, who is one of the most cheerful men we’ve met and chats away to anyone, no matter that they don’t understand. We loved working with him. That particular day we were helping him with the cattle and while we herded and held the cows and calves among the eucalyptus trees, he snuck up on the calves, grabbed them and treated them while keeping the mothers at bay with his whip. It was impressive to watch and Bilinga would make a great deer stalker I reckon.
.jpg)
One fuzz-ball of a calf, a confused newborn, went through the fence and its mother went straight through after it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cow go through a fence before and have the fence remain standing and not dragged out across the paddock. Anyhow, the confused calf headed for the herd of horses that were right there and the mother went straight in after it to ‘claim’ the calf back. What a hoo-hah. Horses scattered everywhere and the cow was mooing and leaping around. The horses quickly had enough and took off full tilt to the other side of the huge paddock and we had to go in and get the cow and calf back. The calf was following anything with four legs and the easiest way to get it to move was to get it to follow Bilingas horse.
In among all these cattle were wandering two young lambs whose mother had died. We picked them up and carted them off on the horses before going to find the dead mother. She had to come back with us so Euan hoisted the dead ewe up onto Bilingas horse
and we took the lambs. I definitely had the better end of the deal; I got two cute lambs while Bilinga got the maggoty dead ewe with her jaw eaten off. Euan started off (semi-seriously) covering the lambs eyes so they couldn’t see their mother in such a state but was still a bit horrified when the lambs were put in a pen and their dead mother thrown in after them.
Then we had to go and get another sheep that was a bit mad but after the usual siesta, the afternoon was ours to do what we wanted so, of course, we went riding J
The big group arrived that afternoon and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the camera crew were all Kiwis but I never ever in a million years expected this lady to walk around the corner and I did a big double take thinking ‘it can’t be….’.
If you’re a Kiwi or have lived in NZ before 2005 you might recognise her but for those of you who haven’t, Judy Bailey has been on our TV screens reading the six o’clock news in NZ for something like 25 years and is what might be considered a national treasure. She started reading the news when I was about seven so is a very familiar face to so many and I think its fairly safe to say that most NZer's feel that they almost know her. I certainly did not expect her, let alone anyone else I recognised, to turn up in the back blocks of northern Uruguay! I was slightly (and stupidly) star-struck and those in the group (with the exception of one other Kiwi girl) had no idea what was going on or what all the fuss was about. Anyhow, it turned out that the camera crew were filming a program in a series called Intrepid Journeys and this programme is on South America. Having the camera crew there was interesting in many ways and at times they held things up but at other times they provided huge entertainment….. They came out to work the stock on horseback with everyone else, holding cameras and all despite never having ridden horses before.
It was very interesting to watch and, within the first 20 minutes, the camera lady had fallen off, big camera in hand. Nothing was damaged but it was lucky that the ground was soft following the heavy rain. I was in front at the time and all I heard was the thud of horse hooves moving at pace then one massive thud as the camera lady hit the ground. Full credit to her, she got back on, camera still in hand but this time the horse was led so she could safely have both hands on the camera. The other cameraman did really well but I think he kept a firm hand on the horse and camera after seeing the fall.
We were bringing cattle in to be dipped (hugely entertaining) and Euan was riding Linyera, who I eventually called the “Tacuarembó Express” or the “Pocket Rocket” as she just wanted to go go go. A few days earlier she’d taken off with someone, they’d fallen off and two other horses had freaked out and their riders had fallen off too. She was so much fun to ride but Euan had been warned not to let her get out of hand or she’d be off!
We were spoilt with the great food every day we were there but with a large group, meat was laid on in style and a grill was prepared.
After lunch the cattle were dipped and it was great to watch as the cows provided us with lots of entertainment. They were herded down the race and into this narrow deep trench, filled with insecticide (I think? It smelt vile whatever it was).
Some cows just slid quietly in but others put on a great show and leapt in, ears pricked, front legs straight out and belly-flopped into the dip creating this massive splash (this photo is a bit fuzzy but hopefully you get the general idea)
before swimming, wide-eyed, to the other end where they staggered up the ramp.
What was really funny (sorry Dean) was that the cameraman was filming this action under the low-hanging roof, right by where the cows jumped in. It was early days and we hadn’t had a cow dive yet but he copped the first one and both he and the camera got drenched in smelly dip. I shouldn’t have laughed but couldn’t help it and wasn’t the only one. I reckon those cameras are pretty tough!
On the estancia there is a rock outcrop that isn’t that high but gives you the impression that you’re on top of the world as you can see a long long way. It’s a magical place and when Juan asked us to behave like a couple for once and pose nicely for a photo, we obliged.
.jpg)
Photo: Juan Manuel Luque
I asked the same of Juan and Euan (it came out a lot better than the one of Euan and I!)
That evening was just lovely and the light filtered through the stand of eucalyptus trees
and the tree by the house, where ibis have roosted in every night for about 70 years, was surprisingly empty and quiet – I guess they were making the most of the lovely evening and hadn’t yet come back to roost.
The next day we brought 700 sheep into the yards again, the second time since we had been there
and it was great to see the improvement in most of the wounds but we were still surprised at the number of new infections that had cropped up and one lamb needed help getting to the yards.
I’ve spent time on farms before and not seen anything like the damage these flies can cause. I’ve not included any photos, too gruesome.
Some of us practiced our sheep dumping technique…
and at the end, a team photo was in order
Juan ended up calling Judy “Queen Judy” which made me end up wishing I’d kept my mouth shut and not told him who she was J
but we had to take a photo of the Kiwis who were working in the yards that day (cheesy as it is!).
With the group on their way, Euan and I spent another morning working with Bilinga doing the rounds of the cattle, and watched him lasso calves (very impressive) then helped keep them down while he treated them
After all this, Euan was made an honorary gaucho by Bilinga
and then promptly retired to a hammock for a siesta.
We didn’t realise it was Juans birthday on one of the days we were there but when family started to turn up for the weekend we suspected something was up. There were about six travellers staying and there were loads of family so a total of 15 of us went out on horses that Saturday morning. We were mustering the huge 700 acre paddock in mist that was going to make it tricky to see the cattle.
It took a while to saddle up but once we were off you had to keep up or you were left behind
and Bilinga came thundering out of the mist, poncho billowing, looking like something out of a movie. The greeting he gave everyone was one of the most polite I have ever seen; hat to his chest, riding over and greeting everyone in the group individually in Portuguese with his usual huge smile.
We’d been joined by two Australians the day before and Mick had been a professional show jumper during his early 20s. He had started to ride the horses in the style he was accustomed and a usually placid little horse was going berserk but once he loosened the reins it was fine. I don’t think he believed me when I told him loosen the reins on this horse that was going a bit mental but it did the trick. This is Mick, Euan and Tory heading out to muster the cattle.
We also had Alejandra and Agustina (I’m not sure about the spelling here) with us, two gorgeous girls who are daughters of Juans cousin
.jpg)
Photo: Alison Duffy
and are very good on the horses.
They were also excellent Scrabble buddies, playing a made-up version of Scrabble with Euan and I for a while over lunch
before saddling up again (the cat was playing with the reins on the ground and SO nearly got squashed!)
and heading back out on the horses.
By the afternoon the mist had cleared and we took the cattle back to their paddock. I love this photo as it shows the vastness and beauty of the landscape and barely a fence in sight.
.jpg)
Photo: Alison Duffy
Sunday morning, the day of Juans birthday, we went for a ride – no working. This photo shows the gates used on the estancia. They don’t swing but are very effective
although getting 15 people on horseback through gates took take some time, especially if girths needed to be tightened
and mine was in danger of slipping backwards which would have resulted in me being dumped on the ground for sure!
There was no work done that afternoon as birthday celebrations were order of the day. This is Juan with Alejandra and Agustina. They absolutely adore him, as do his other neices and nephews.
.jpg)
Photo: Alison Duffy
It was our last night at the estancia as, early the next morning, we were embarking on a three-day horse trek from the estancia to a small town called Laureles, close(ish) to the border with Brazil.
1 comment:
Love you blog, though not been able to get through all the entries yet. You are so good at telling a story with your pics, that is what I need to work on! Where are you now? We are still in Piri still waiting for our engine! Gambo even left a couple of days ago, though the weather is not great now, so I hope they are ok. Lots of love to you both Abi Tunstall
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