Estancia La Paz
As I am sitting in our estancia’s lounge, I am listening to breaking news on the BBC – gunmen opening fire in several areas of Mumbai (Bombay) India, killing at least 78 people, with ongoing gunfire and explosions. Also, a hostage taking situation at the Taj Mahal Hotel (where I used to go for the all-you-can-eat American breakfasts when I was there in ’90). Moments earlier, the situation in Bangkok was broadcast, with news that the airport was closed and a travel advisory was put into place. This will undoubtedly be affecting many travellers in southeast Asia.
I must admit Fred and I are in a lot less of a predicament – we have just left the beautiful pool we have been enjoying all by ourselves for the past couple of days, and have had to head into the main lodge as the sky has darkened, the winds have become fierce, the power has gone off a few times (hence, I am on battery in case it zaps my laptop) and the rains have started. The owner has just told us a small tornado touched down ½ hour away, heading in our direction. I guess it’s not a surprise since we have been in 35 degree C heat the past few days and they haven’t had rain here for a long time.
To back up just a bit, from the town of Colonia, we headed north enjoying the scenic route along the river. It wasn’t long before we realized that our rental car had NO air conditioning. We took it for granted that all new cars automatically came with air-con. We momentarily forgot, I guess, that we are in South America. Despite the unbearable heat inside the car, with windows opened all the way, we continued forward. After four and a half hours, we came upon a sign “Estancia Touristica” along the side of the highway. We headed down the gravel road for 5 km before arriving at Estancia La Paz. (“estancia” is the spanish word for farm).
The tree-lined entrance way opened up into beautiful, colonial era buildings surrounded by fields of charolais cattle and criollo horses. We kept our fingers crossed that they had room for us and were relieved to meet the owner/manager, Anne Wyaux. We were given a tour of the property and a very comfortable, private room (with bath and breakfast for $88/night). There is an old water well with the incscription 1883 on it across from the entrance to our room.
Inside the communal lounge area of the lodge (complete with satellite tv, fireplace, playing cards, etc), a coffee table book of Estancias in Uruguay caught my attention. The following article is taken directly from “Antiguas Estancias del Uruguay” Edicion Javier Irureta Goyena Gomensoro, 1996, about the property in which we were staying:
“The English immigrant Richard Bannister Hughes founded in 1856 the farm La Paz, where he found the ideal environment to develop his rural activity. His business instinct led him to take advantage of the depression that affected the countryside. After the Great Civil War (1839 – 1851) the number of bovines in the country had greatly diminished. Several landowners had to sell their estate, thus causing more than a 50% slump in the price of the land. Hughes bought the fields of La Paz, considered to be among the best in the department of Paysandu. In these fields grazed the first Durham animals that were brought to Uruguay from England by the Hughes brothers to be further crossed with the existing cattle in the country.
These fields were also pioneers concerning the process of wire fencing that started in the decade of 1860.
Bannister Hughes died in 1875. In 1953, another immigrant, Pierre Wyaux (Belgian), bought the farm L Paz from Hughes’ descendants, and reconstructed the original house from 1863, keeping its colonial style.
La Paz has at present 1800 hectares with approximately 3000 bovines. It also has a Charolais cattle-breeding farm with breeding animals brought from France. Wheat plantations are rotated with grazings that feed cattle, which undergoes several crossings in search of the hybrid strength, such as Charolais/Aberdeen Angus, Charolais/Hereford, and some Zebu crossings.
This sophisticated farm employs 24 people and is complemented with agrotourism, which combines the use of natural resources with the beauty and history of the place.” End of article.
Apart from one couple who came late the first evening and left early the next morning, Fred and I had the property to ourselves. We enjoyed the refreshing swimming pool, games of tennis (Fred beat me 5 – 2), and delicious, gourmet meals (pricey at $15/meal, each). Our wine of choice was Don Pascual’s Tannat 2007 from the Juanico Region of Uruguay. Other services available that we didn’t use included a hot tub, sauna, workout room, and massage. We also enjoyed a scenic ride through their grass fields, cattle pastures, and along the pine bush amongst the roaming charolais cattle. Alongside the road, we saw a dead armadillo which are common in the area, but usually come out at night. We also saw many interesting birds at the estancia, including hummingbirds, larakeets, green parrots, scissor-tail birds, egrets, and red-headed cardinals.
The land here is predominantly flat with some rolling hills. The fields of wheat are ripe and are being combined with the latest of equipment. While we were at the pool yesterday, there was a flurry of activity as all the farm employees jumped on tractors with water tanks hooked up behind them to put out a fire on the adjoining farmer’s property, only about a half a mile away. 
We also saw the flashing red lights of a small fire truck which also responded to the scene. Apparently, the cause of fire was a spark from a piece of machinery, however, it wouldn’t surprise me if it was from a farmer’s cigarette. It seems everyone smokes here, and we even saw our horse guide throw down his cigarette butt when he was through (it did look like he smoked it right to the tip though so may have extinguished itself out – but still . . . ) In the surrounding eucalyptus forests, there are signs indicating the danger levels for fire, which when we past, were pointing to the highest level.
One morning, we noticed the tail of an iguana on the lawn by the tennis court. Apparently, when iguanas feel threatened, they “drop” their tail so their prey goes after their tail and not them. This 18 inch piece of meat was later seen being eaten by another iguana later that afternoon (see above photos).
After three peaceful, relaxing days, Fred and I have decided to move on. I have read about an authentic gaucho ranch 30 km outside of Tacuarembo in northern Uruguay where we hope to experience the real gaucho life. We figure it will take us another 5 hot hours in the car, but we hope it will be worth it 🙂
Lisa n Fred
Tags: Travel
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