In my last article for Escape Artist challengingly entitled “Skegness to Buenos Aires” I told how I secretly thanked my Dad for carting us all off in his funny looking motor bike to one of Billy Butlin's finest.  I thought that I was being smart when I wrote about Skegness and Billy Butlin and that no one else who read my article would have heard of either.  How wrong can one be!   I am pretty sure if the e-mails keep coming I will be holding a Billy Butlin reunion on La Margarita!  Back then as well as thanking my Dad for that brilliant holiday (you have to read the article in July 2007 issue to understand) there was something else I had to thank him for!  He used to let my brother and I stay up late to watch a programme called Bonanza.  Well, stay up late - umm as far as I recall it showed at around 7pm on a Sunday and my Dad was of the old school i.e. early to bed early to rise, so going to bed at 8pm after the programme was over was really decadent for my old man! I truly loved Bonanza!.  I am not sure why I loved it so much.  You can catch repeats here in Argentina if you do enough channel flicking and some parts look a bit dodgy to me now.  After all, the dad Ben Cartwright who seemed to me to be about 70 back then was married to an exotic beautiful Latina, I think called Carmen, who spoke not much English and was at least half the age of Ben!  I guess that about sums up the times back then or the dreams maybe of the script writer i.e. find a gorgeous Latina woman who can’t speak English and life can be bliss, eh can’t it?  So much for Ben Cartwright what about his sons?  Although I didn’t analyse it when I was a little chap, the lack of girls in the lives of Ben’s sons Adam, Little Joe and Hoss seems these days, to put it bluntly, a bit strange!   Mmm, these days tongues would be wagging but I have to hold my hand up and confess that times were more innocent back then - weren’t they?    No doubt about it for me Bonaza was my “Neighbours” – a definite must see and miserable if I didn’t.  It wasn’t so much for the characters (although I thought Little Joe was a real cool cowboy) more for the world that it was filmed in.  The credits opened with a map showing the Ponderosa the name of the huge ranch that the Cartwright family owned.  The map starts to burn from the centre outwards gradually showing what the Ponderosa consisted of.  It was brilliant.  Suddenly on the screen were huge open spaces, big blue skies, galloping horses and cowboys riding the range.  I guess you can see where I am going with this article now!  For a young lad living in London this world was a revelation.  I was hooked.  Each episode was the same story (well it seemed it) but that didn’t matter.  One of the sons would come galloping up to the beautiful house that the family owned and Ben (and sometimes the lovely Carmen) would come tearing out of the house to see what was wrong. There would be lots of concerned faces and then suddenly they were off to sort out the problem. Can’t remember what they sorted out but when they did it was the part of the episode that we got to see the Ponderosa in all its glory.  Now I am no psychologist but maybe that memory stuck with me in my sub consciousness and that’s why I purchased La Margarita.  Hey I’ve even got my own Carmen (although she does speak English!!)  and she has the same temper, so at times I feel we are in the middle of filming an episode of Bonanza when we are on La Margarita!!!

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We also didn’t have a clue how it all worked - oops!  All of a sudden Little Joe, sorry Gomez the caretaker came galloping up to the house on his horse and in good Bonanza style Carmen, sorry Maria and I rushed out to see what the problem was.  Now my Spanish is not bad but as I listened to Gomez talk at a machine gun pace he might just as well have been talking Martian.  Luckily of course I had Maria who listened and then explained to me that some of the cows had got out and would we like help him to round then up as a sort initiation.  There was an interesting detail that I pointed out to Maria which was making me just a little concerned.  Gomez was not using a saddle and he had trailed behind him two horses.  Yep, you guessed it, without saddles!  Now I had seen many Bonanza episodes and not one cowboy was without a saddle – except of course in a rodeo and there was no way I was entering a rodeo.  Gomez, who has since retired last month on reaching his 70th, had to be convinced that I was a townie softy and that a saddle was basico for me and of course for Maria!  Maybe he thought he would have a little fun with the new town softies but good-naturedly and with a twinkle in his eye he went off to saddle the horses – whew! 

On his return, like all good Bonanza episodes we rode out over the Estancia to find loose horses, inspect broken fences and attempt to open gates on horse back whilst keeping a look out for bad guy rustlers (ok that’s made up!)  At times it was more like the Keystones than the Cartwright’s but what fun we had.  After we had found the horses and Gomez went about his daily duties we found ourselves alone out on the plains of the pamos.  The sun was low, the sky was blue and you could see for miles so we decided to take a horse ride and get to know the Estancia a bit more.  We found the sheep, counted the cows, checked how much grass there was for the animals and checked the water supply.  Wow! this was indeed a long way from anything I had known before and although yes I had butterflies in my stomach thinking about the task ahead, I had no doubt that just as in Bonanza it would turn out alright and of course I would always have Ben Cartwright looking over my shoulder. 

That night we checked into La Margarita.  Luckily we had inherited Raquel who had worked for Enriqueta for a number of years and was well used to handling everything that a house the size of La Margarita could throw at you.  Raquel laid the table for dinner and promptly seated me at the head of the table.  The dining room is a huge 100 metres plus and the dining table can seat up to 20 people.  We had had dinner one night with Enriqueta and I had dreams that one day I would be sitting at the head of the table.  I have to say it felt good that night and there was nothing for it but to open a decent bottle of malbec wine and drink a toast with Maria Claudia my partner.   It was a lovely evening and after dinner we went for a walk in the gardens, looked up at the unpolluted sky and talked about the next stage –little did we know what lay ahead!!

Due to Enriqueta’s husband being ill she had somewhat neglected La Margarita over the past few years.  We knew that we had our work cut out for us when I purchased it if we were to make sure the tourists kept coming.  We had inherited from Enriqueta the bookings she had accepted for the now rapidly approaching summer. 

The centre of any Estancia in the summer is the swimming pool and La Margarita was no different.  The good size pool definitely needed a coat of paint.  As well as the pool painting, the grass needed cutting, trees needed trimming, plants needed planting and there were numerous repairs needed doing to the house.  We also had plans to add more bathrooms etc and to refurbish the guesthouse.  Now, I love pottering around doing odd jobs.  To me its a great way to relax and lose oneself but La Margarita needed more than just the potterings of some loco Englishman and his equally loca girlfriend!  We knew that we needed help!  So, in good Bonanza style we headed to town to buy supplies and to see if we could spread the word that we needed to hire some ranch hands.  Everywhere we went to buy supplies we mentioned that we were the new owners of La Margarita (which seemed to impress everyone) and that we were hiring workers and if they knew people who may be suitable could they ask them to come to La Margarita so that we could interview them.  So started a long procession of potential ranch hands in all shapes and sizes arriving by beaten up old cars, bikes, on foot and of course on horseback.  Inside a couple of days we had chosen our team and hoped and prayed that the team could do what they said they could do!

Nelson and Carlos were chosen as our main renovation men.  They came with the credentials that they were working on the new theatre and cinema in Tapalque.  I went to have a look at them working there and invited them to the Estancia to show some of what we needed doing.  They duly arrived in a car that looked as though it was held together by sellotape and elastic bands but not much else.  In most other countries the car wouldn’t even be good enough for scrap but here in Argentina second hand cars are ridiculously expensive as we were to find out later.  However, their car was impressively overflowing with equipment that good builders need to have to get the job done.  They have now been working for us for so long that I am sure they must live on the Estancia somewhere!  heir poor wives and kids must wonder where they are most of the time. Hired.  (Have a look on our web pages and you will see a picture of them and their famous "held together by glue" car. www.estancialamargarita.com) 

Horacio and Jorge were chosen on the basis that they arrived by bike after having cycled seven kilometres from Tapalque.  They were dressed in white overalls complete with paint stains and both had paint brushes attached to their  bikes - it was sort of  “have paint brush will cycle”!  Now apart from paint and brushes what else does a painter need?  Not much I thought and hired them on the spot and crossed my fingers.  Amazingly everyday for the past 8 months apart from the odd Sunday off and when it rained, they have cycled to La Margarita to paint and painted well  - refusing most times a lift back to town instead preferring to cycle. Hired.  (You can see a picture of our painting heroes Horacio and Jorge together with bikes on our web pages www.estancialamargarita.com).

We knew that Gomez the caretaker was on the point of retiring and we needed to find a replacement in the next few months. 

Jenko arrived one day in the usual beaten up old car and we set about interviewing him for the job or rather Maria C did since he had the same accent as Gomez and talked to me like I had lived in the village all my life and therefore I managed to understand one out of ten words!  We found out that he had been with the police for the past 30 years and that at 50 he had taken early retirement.  He had knowledge of horses and land and had thought about making a change. Hired. (you can see various pics of Jenko on our web pages).

Raquel had worked for Enriqueta for the past 7 years and there was no doubt that on reading the guests comments book, tourists who had visited the Estancia loved her and her cooking.  No doubt about it Raquel loved La Margarita and her enthusiasm for working on La Margarita is infectious - without hesitation she was on the team! Hired. (see Raquel on our web pages) 

Vanessa.  We knew that there would be times when Raquel would need help in the house when we had guests.  She suggested Vanessa who had worked with her in La Margarita when Enriqueta owned it.  We said ok bring her along and give her a try.  Vanessa is around 24 and has the same infectious enthusiasm for La Margarita that Raquel has. Hired. (see Vanessa on our web pages).

So now we had our main team in place - all we needed to do now was buy an old 4x4 to transport supplies from town and we could start work

Heading back to town we put the word out that we were in the market for an old 4x4 that was sufficiently healthy to work on the Estancia without breaking down every two minutes.  Within a few days we had a number of calls from owners of 4x 4s who were ready to part with their precious chariots in exchange for dinero.  Now I am from the UK and there the police will stop you in your car if it’s too dirty – ok an exaggeration but hey you get the picture!  Here, it’s a tale of two cities.  In what we refer to as "Capital" i.e. the centre of BA they have a sort of a car law control.  It's not that strict but it does exist.  If you are driving a car that looks like it is held together by elastic bands you may be stopped and possibly fined.  Not always, but sometimes.  Now drive a few miles – say 50 kilometres outside of BA and you are in Provincia and the rules change!  Here, it would seem from the cars that I have seen on the roads that any sort of control is none existent.. Now you pay your money and you take your choice!  One reason I came to Argentina in the first place was because although it is a country with probably more laws than anywhere else in the world, they are pretty slack in enforcing them so life is a little freer.  As opposed to the UK where they put old age pensioners in prison for not paying their council rates instead of looking for another solution to chastise them - sorry was I ranting ,I apologise and of course Argentina is not perfect - by any means! 

Since La Margarita is outside of the Capital we are subject to Provincia rules and with that in mind we went to look at the first 4x4 on offer.  As I gazed over the rusty body of our first potential 4x4 and studied the holes in the roof I was invited to take a test run.  Well I thought since it’s to work only on the Estancia maybe it will be ok and it will be cheap won’t it?  So Maria and I headed off on our test drive with plumes of smoke belching out the back.  As we approached the main road I went to apply the brakes as you do and a look of terror suddenly come over Maria's face when she saw me reaching for the hand brake which of course wasn't there! – after all why would it be we were under Provincia rules!  I slammed the truck into first gear and as in all good films there was thankfully a happy ending as we managed to stop just before we entered the main road.  Tentatively we returned the car to the owner who with a straight face asked me what I thought.  Just for curiosity I asked him the price.  Without any hesitation he said 15000 pesos which is about 5000 US dollars.  With a look of horror on my face I pointed out to him that apart from it being a wreck  it didn’t even have any brakes!  He calmly said the gears are good enough to stop the truck as long as you don’t drive too fast and that I shouldn’t worry about rust since the engine was excellent.  Needless to say, I declined to buy the truck but it was the start of an education in car purchasing in Argentina!

Now this wasn't my first experience with the extortionate price of old wrecks in Argentina.  Vero my ex girlfriend (you may have meet her in my last article) was left a car by her brother who moved to the States.  The car was an old Fiat.  When I saw it I thought he had asked her to arrange for the scrap yard to pick it up and dump it!  Vero had other ideas.  She excitedly said that instead of hiring a car for our forthcoming Patagonia trip we could use the Fiat.  I thought she was joking and waited for her to say "only kidding" but no she really thought this car that was stuck together with glue would get us there and back to Patagonia!  When I explained that no way was I going to drive this car even down the street, she retorted that ok she would sell it then!  Now I was smugly confident that the scrap yard would be receiving the Fiat pretty soon as she came to her senses trying to flog a dead horse or in this case a dead Fiat.  But there was one big difference between her and me.  She is Argentinian and knew her market.  Within two days the old wreck was sold for a couple of thousand dollars.  I was stunned!  I just couldn't believe that this car which should have been given its last rites years ago was not only sold, but sold for loads of money!  Vero was to rub it in for the next few months worst luck!

I am not sure why second hand cars are so expensive here, but if you were to drive one on a road in the UK, you would probably be entitled to a couple of years stay in one of Her Majesties finest!  One reason could be that in a country where the economy is flourishing and has done so for many years the people can afford to buy new cars and so the market eventually becomes saturated with second hand cars as in the UK and USA hence the price sinks for second hand cars.  Of course the reverse would seem to be true so in a country such as Argentina which has suffered one of the worst economic crises ever, the number of second hand cars on the market is not sufficient to lower the prices.  Even though Argentina is now experiencing a major growth period my guess is it will take a while before there are enough second hand cars on the market to bring the price down.  Another reason is that it is virtually impossible to import a used car here and then you are restricted to only one. All of this puts a pressure on keeping cars on the road here that in most other countries would have been despatched to the great breakers yard in the sky years ago.

As we continued our search for a 4x4 I can honestly say I took my life (and poor Maria’s) into my hands a number of times whilst test-driving potential vehicles.  Failing brakes, cabins filled with fumes, trucks with the worst gangster steering imaginable, were all a part of our education. To top it all, the prices were through the roof.  I became suspicious that maybe it was because I was a foreigner and the prices were being exaggerated so I sent Maria on a recce to check my theory out.  She came back with the same story i.e. crap cars and high prices.  I thought the search would never end then one day I said to Maria I wanted us to introduce ourselves to one of our neighbours.  On arriving at his house I noticed that there were two 4x4s in his yard.  Umm I thought, could he  possibly be selling one of them?!

Fito our neighbour is about 70 years old and was (or maybe still is) a much-respected teacher in the town. He invited us in to take mate with him and we chatted about country things as you do.  During the conversation I manage to slip in if he was selling one of the 4x4 s and as if fate had directed us here he said that yes he was.  We discussed the price which of course was not cheap (but at least it had brakes that worked) and the deal was done.  I was now the proud owner of a 1980 Toyota 4x4 complete with brakes!! (have a look on the web page and you can see it in all it glory).  A few days later little did I know that I would be buying a chunk of land located in the centre of Tapalque from Fito and his enormous family.  It’s an interesting tale but it’s too long to tell here so I will save it for the next instalment.  (Have a look on the La Margarita web pages for a photo of Fito, his wife, myself and Maria doing the deal buying the Toyota.)

So there we were; we had our team in place, we had our 4 x 4 and we were ready to begin.  Luckily I had Optimism walking beside me because his counter part was going to severely test me as the months rolled on.  But today was a different dream and with Maria, myself and Optimism tagging along we did what anyone else would do in our place.  We saddled up a couple of our horses, made a picnic and headed out to take in the magic of la pampas and rode into a spectacular sunset.  I tell you, I swear I saw in the distance the outline of Ben and his boys nodding their heads in approval - honest!
 

If you want to know more about the estancia please feel free to contact me on  info@estancialamargarita.com  or see www.estancialamargarita.com

.Eluding Capture: Escape to Bariloche, Argentina - This is not a guidebook. THIS IS AN ESCAPE BOOK. This book, describing our family’s move to South America, is a kind of “how to” book for people thinking about moving to San Carlos de Bariloche, Queen City of Patagonia, Capitol of The Argentine Lakes District. In this book you will find our discoveries. You’ll learn what you might want to try and what you might want to avoid as you plan your escape to this beautiful place. This eBook contains plenty of helpful information about the language and culture and way of life in Bariloche, about residency and health care – practical advice that may help you decide whether to stay where you are and give up your dreams of living in a safe and beautiful place. But most of all it is for all the people trying to get out of captivity, for those of you who are ready to find your Shangri-la, to inspire and cajole you into escaping to this place.