July 2007
The best holiday I ever had in my life was when my Dad complete with his funny looking crash helmet perched on his head took us all on his motorbike and sidecar to Butlins Skegness too many years ago to think about.  Driving up from London sitting in the little plastic windowed side car with my brother, watching the rain pouring down I was praying that my mum, sitting on the back riding pillion, headscarf wrapped tightly round her head to stop her hair flying away, wasn’t going to hit my old man over the head in an attempt to get him to come to his senses and turn back to civilisation - namely London.  Of course, being England in the summer it continued to rain cats and dogs all the way to Skeggie but my Dad was made of pretty stern stuff. He didn’t even flinch when at about Lincoln, we passed through a ten minute hail storm that had my mum reeling punch drunk grimly hanging on for dear life.  I could hear her screaming something at him but my dad was on a roll and I doubt that a hurricane would have stopped him getting us to the Mecca known as Butlins.

Nope, my Dad didn’t stop for anything!  Not even to let nature take its course!  Still I was quite adept at holding it in having been on a number of these “outings” before, to other wild and windy lugares. All outings had the same routine, my Dad loading as much as he could into the sidecar and my mum swearing at him that this was the last time we would have a holiday in the UK and the very last time she was going to bloody well ride pillion on that damn motor bike – she had heard about Benidorm and how the sun shone everyday and that sidecars and motorbikes were banned!!! 

The big difference with this trip for me though was that we were heading to one of Billy Butlin's finest, when we were usually heading for some grotty old caravan park on the south coast – a caravan site usually well equipped with some old fashioned penny arcade machines, a bingo game once an hour and a fish shop that had gherkins in jars for sale y nada mas – exciting it certainly wasn’t.  I had read about Butlins and how great it was.  A school  mate had been once and came back after his hols with jaw dropping tales of the things a young lad could do in the Mecca known as Butlins – yes I knew that we weren’t heading to some rubbishy old caravan site and I for one couldn’t wait to get there.  For the uninitiated Butlins Holiday Camps were exactly what they suggest; they are great big holiday campuses where a young lad could canoe, swim, go on fair ground rides, and play football - the list goes on.  You name it they had it.  In fact they still have it and no doubt in spite of the Benidorms of the world I bet its still a great place for a young lad to enjoy his freedom. 

To cut a long story short Billy’s finest was all that I had expected it to be.  Full of fun, great mates, great things to do and the freedom.  Oh that freedom!  I can honestly say I never once got bored, nunca.  It was in short the best of times without doubt and although me and my old man never really hit it off in that “fancy coming for a drink to the Pig and Whistle to watch the footie son” sort of way I always secretly thanked him for that time I spent in Butlins Skeggie. The day we left I cried – no I mean I wailed.  I was so unhappy to be leaving such happiness.  Maybe it was the freedom I had enjoyed so much, the feeling of being able to do what ever I wanted, the new friends I had made or maybe it was the thought of returning to the stifling reality of growing up on one of Labour's famously new styled council estates – lovely they weren’t!  Whatever it was, I was devastated to leave.  But of course leave we did.

Fast forward a number of decades and unbelievably I had the Butlins experience all over again.  Of course, this time there was no Skeggie or Billy Butlin involved – in fact nothing like it and yet everything like it.  I had in short the same Butlins experience when I first set foot here in Buenos Aires.  I had such a great time, no, a stupendous time!  Eating great steak, watching football, (now a little past it to actually play it) drinking great wine and meeting wonderful people.  Believe me I had a big tear, maybe a River Plate full when I left and just like Butlins I vowed to come back one day very soon. 

A mate and I had planned our trip to Argentina over many bottles of wine and soul searching in Spain in 2003.  If you read my article in Off Shore Real Estate Mag Nov 2006 called “Tooting Bec V Argentina” you will get the picture of how Argentina changed my life and how I decided to stay here.  I ended the article with the statement   “and now for the estancia”. 

That dream has now become a reality and in Dec 2006 I put pen to paper and purchased Estancia La Margarita (www.estancialamargarita.com) and in Tapalque where La Margarita is located I am now known as “the English Gaucho”.  I love the nickname even though the real gauchos in Tapalque probably think I am a bit loco!

So how does one go from arriving in a strange land at the end of the world with nothing but a smattering of the language and no friends and end up buying a very important Estancia - and indeed why? This article reveals all!

When I returned to BA after my BA Butlins experience late in 2003 I met up again with one of my contacts who I had become much attached to – female of course and Argentinean.  Let's call her Veronique –well that’s her name!  One day she rang me and said that her brother was coming over from the US where he now lived and was going to visit some land he owned about 600 kilometres south of BA.  She asked me if I would like to go along with them.  Up to this time I had  been no further than Tigre in the Delta some 20 kilometres from BA so obviously I jumped at the opportunity.  I had read about the big open skies of the pampas, the rolling fields and the famous Argentine gauchos working with the cattle.  I couldn’t wait to see it all and I knew that our route would take us right through this region. 

Bright and early next morning Vero and her family picked me up and we were off.  That drive still is a fantastic memory for me and believe me I have had a few - as the song goes!  Walking around the Kremlin was one of them, when I saw the Grand Canyon for the first time another or when I walked in the African Tundra yet another.  This drive in the pampas was right up there.  As we drove out of the capital it didn’t take long before we were suddenly in the famous grasslands of the Argentine pampas.  These mysterious lands I had read about in Sunday supplements in doctors surgeries in the UK were now becoming a reality to me.  There is something about actually visiting a magical place that you have read about or seen on TV that has captured your imagination, and the drive through la pampas was one of those magical moments for me.  Now I know that many countries have vast grasslands, but for me las pampas are something really special.  Maybe it is the vast open blue skies or the never ending grasslands.  Or then again maybe it is the famous brightly dressed gauchos with their traditional costumes working with the cattle surrounding us. Or maybe it was being at the end of the world seeing something I thought I would never see.  All around was a scene of peacefulness and great beauty, without wanting to sound like an aging hippy, a land in total harmony.  I was totally smitten - love at first sight.  I promised myself that one day if I could afford it I would buy myself a property in las pampas and spend a lot of time here.  Little did I know that one day my wish would come true!

When Vero and I got back from that trip I was determined to explore las pampas more.  It was the start of a beautiful romance with Vero and las pampas (one survived ,the other sadly didn’t, but that’s another story). Together we visited many of the Estancias that are located in las pampas around BA.  I loved them all and so I think did Vero.  To me Estancias are to Argentina what fish are to chips –a perfect combination.  I loved the horse riding and pretending I was Little Joe on the Ponderosa rounding up the cattle at the end of a beautiful day.  I could dress up like a gaucho and even pretend I was one.  Drinking mate (the traditional drink of Argentina, we drink tea they drink mate) in the evening and practising my rather poor Spanish on unsuspecting locals.  On some of our weekends we would have a look at what was for sale and once I came very close to buying a small estancia that we came across but dithering got the best of me and someone with less dithering powers than me snapped it up. 

It would be a full two years later before I found what I was looking for.  In that time Vero and I had gone our separate ways and I ended up   starting a company called Tierra Estates (www.tierraestates.com) helping people who wanted to invest in Argentina.  I still had my dream of buying something in las pampas and very often you could have found me out there at weekends looking at likely properties but sadly nothing was right.  Then one day quite unexpectedly I got a call from an Argentinian contact who had shown me a number of properties, that I hadn’t heard from for quite a while.  He knew I was looking for something special but the ones I had seen with him, although many were fantastic, were either too expensive or too big or too small so I think he was on the point of giving up on me.  Still he decided to give it one more shot and thank God he did!  He told me about a beautiful estancia located to the south of BA that had been in the same family since it was built in 1870.  The owner who had inherited the house and some of the land many years back was thinking about selling up.  He told me that the house had been opened to the public for rural tourism with much success for the past 12 or 13 years but that the present owner’s daughter had moved to England and she was going to spend a lot of time with her – hence she was thinking of selling up.  Jorge, my contact, suggested we go and have a look at La Margarita to get my opinion.  I agreed and the next weekend with a couple of my staff, saddled up and headed to Tapalque to view the estancia.

No More Looking 
I knew the minute I arrived at La Margarita that my search for an Argentine estancia was over - all that remained to be done, I said to my associates was to negotiate the price (famous last words!).  La Margarita was everything I thought a typical Estancia should be.  Driving onto the land of the estancia was a magical experience.  I was bewitched.  The sky was huge and crystal blue and it seemed to stretch forever.  As we approached the house we drove through a beautiful parkland and the house came into view.  The eight bedroom house was a fabulous mixture of Spanish Colonial and French style - and I do mean style!   We were greeted by the owner Enriqueta Aguiló who immediately gave us a grand tour of the lovely house complete with wine glass in hand.  We then proceeded to have a tour of the wonderful parkland and finally a ride was organised on horse back to have a look at the surrounding land.  Once the tour was over we were treated to a very tasty lunch in the gorgeous living room.  After this experience who wouldn’t be seduced into the thoughts of owning such a great property.  I know I was and if you have a peek at the web pages www.estancialamargarita.com it won’t be too difficult to see why.  On that particular trip we stayed the night on La Margarita and I had the chance to walk in the parkland and was treated to one of the most spectacular star shows I had ever seen.  All in all it was a beguiling experience and once it was over I started to think how I could raise the money for La Margarita.

Luckily for me I had a house on the market in the UK and soon after seeing La Margarita I had a good offer for it and so started the tortuous route of negotiating the buying of the estancia!  One thing was clear, the owner, although she wanted to sell, was having great difficulty in letting go. The estancia was built in 1870 and had been in the same family since then.  Enriqueta was the great great great granddaughter of the founder and she had lived in the house on and off all her life, now being in her 60s.  In many ways I could understand her emotions.  All over the estancia its history seeped through from the plans of the original house map on the wall to the trophies it has won for cattle rearing - no doubt about it ,La Margarita oozed history.  Many people have said to me since I purchased the house that the estancia has a great feeling about it.  We have all had that feeling on entering a particular property that just feels right - a property that breathes happiness.  Well La Margarita was just like that for me and for sure Enriqueta and her family had experienced some wonderful times there.  In the comments book (the estancia had been opened to the public for some 14 years) located in the living room of La Margarita one could read of the wonderful times that paying guests had experienced there.  So in many ways it wasn’t such a surprise that Enriqueta had trouble letting go.  However, to cut a long negotiation story short eventually she relented and we progressed to the signing of the contract.  It took six long months to get to that stage but it was worth it and finally in December 2006 I became the proud owner of Estancia La Margarita, Tapalque Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina (I just love writing that address).  It was a dream come true for me and it is a privilege to be the new dueno of this historic property. 

In the short time that I have owned the Estancia we have had two film crews visit us to do features on El Gaucho Ingles (one shown10.06.07) and been featured in numerous newspapers (Buenos Aires Herald, InfoBAE, La Clarin), had a request to accommodate Alicia Kirchner, Minister Argentina of Desarrollo Social who is the sister of the President Kirchner of Argentina, had dinner with the Mayor of Tapalque a number of times, had one of the most famous writers in Australia, James Cowen as a paying guest along with the well known painter Max Werner (who happens to be my neighbour).  In fact, just last week Max was visiting his pretty vast Estancia adjacent to mine and invited Maria (my girlfriend) and I to go horse riding on his estancia.  I can only describe the day as perfect horse riding weather.  Not too hot and not too cold.  The sky was a radiant blue as we rode off into the vast grasslands that composed Max’s land.  As we watched the sun set we all agreed that it is doubtful if anywhere in the world you will find such beautiful scenery and see such a land in  perfect harmony – well you had to be there but believe me if you make it here you will only end up agreeing! 

Just to cap it all the estancia cost the price of a two-bedroom apartment in Folkestone – some swap eh!  It all seems a long way from Skeggie but in many ways the feeling remains the same.  Long live Butlins! 

Here we are well into 2007 and having the time of our lives.  We are having fun improving La Margarita, having friends and guests come to stay and we marvel at the beauty and nature of the place every day.  Most weekends you will find us out dressed as gauchos helping to round up the cattle or horses – or geese, who keep straying from home!  Either that or in a hammock somewhere, enjoying the peace and tranquillity or enjoying great Argentine steak and wine at a traditional asado. There is no doubt it’s a great feeling being at one with nature and the Argentine pampas are just the place to feel that.  Viva Argentina and las pampas!

Over the coming years I am sure we will have many adventures here as time goes by, so please watch out for more articles on the life and times of an “English Gaucho” in Tapalque.  It’s not been all plain sailing, as anyone who has settled in a foreign country will tell you.  Getting used to working customs and social rituals, as a stranger in a strange land is a story in itself and makes interesting reading.

If you are ever in Argentina please feel free to look us up and although I may sound a little biased should you feel the need to stay on an estancia here please consider staying on Estancia La Margarita – as our logo says “stay once and fall in love for ever” –if you don’t believe me why not find out for yourself!

Hasta Pronto

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