After taking a long bus ride to the province, a group of fellow students and I went to an Estancia in the countryside of Córdoba. An Estancia is basically a ranch, and are embedded in history. Gauchos (commonly known as the Argentine cowboy) tend to the roaming cattle, sheep, and horses for the owners of the estanciero.
The people who hosted us were very kind, fed us amazing food, and we got to go on an awesome hike through the wilderness.
Our room with an amazingly comfortable bed
The Estancia
The hike was beautiful, walking through the rolling hills, spotting wild horses roaming around, and crossing rivers. Being from Colorado, hiking was easypeasy….some people were terrified of crossing the “rivers”, which were actually streams. We plopped down to enjoy some lunch and we had some curious visitors!
Scary River
Eating lunch with horses getting dangerously close!
This guy followed us for some time
You can do many things in the countryside of Córdoba. You can go horseback riding to the top of a rock, visit the incredible cliff dwellings where native americans used to live, and you can have a parrilla (a big meat party) with some friends. It is a beautiful place.
One of the nights we were in Córdoba we decided to visit the salt fields. We arrived just before sunset so we could witness the spectacular event. There are literally no city lights, skylines, trees, or anything in the field of salt. Just salt. After the sun goes down you can see so many stars. It was truly life-changing. You can also see the constellation called “La Cruz del Sur” which is a cross in the sky that sailors used to follow. You can only see this constellation in the Southern Hemisphere, so that was pretty awesome.
Another thing we did was scream super loud and then be absolutely silent. Amazing. And then we ran as far as we could into the pitch black. Truly a spiritual experience.
To do this you have to find a tour guide who knows the “non-tourism-type” things to do. Our tour guide was awesome.
Walking into the sunset on the salt field. Yes, that is all salt
Salt
Sunset!
And then of course you have to have a campfire in the middle of the deserted salt field!
Campfire
Aaaand some dancing
If you find great guides, you will have a great trip. You can take the same guides I used and view all of the excursions they offer here. It’s in Spanish, so make sure you get a translator! The guides do speak English though.
drea's buenos aires 