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 An Estancia in Argentina

 An Estancia in Argentina

An estancia is a private farm or ranch used to farm or raise livestock, and you’ll find many dotted across the Patagonia region. On a recent trip, I made it a goal to get out of the main town and visit one. Luckily, many are open in various forms to tourists now and I was able to find a local guide to take me.

On this particular estancia several generations of the family reside, as well as a few additional employees at times. It is a rather lean operation, staffing up at key times, such as sheep shearing in the spring (the southern spring, our fall). I met the father and his son who welcomed me in their home with coffee and homemade bread, both cooked in their wood-fired oven. They have lived and worked this estancia their entire lives with the father’s dad having started it nearly 100 years ago. It’s unclear if it will continue solely in family hands, however, as the next generation was off living in Buenos Aires and attending school, “studying computers.” Dad seemed disappointed he wasn’t studying agriculture, however – “You should learn how to grow your own food so you never go hungry,” he remarked.

After coffee, they took me on a tour of the farm. Their sheep herds have been devastated by wild dogs in recent years. They’ve been trying everything to protect them, most recently by training their own dogs to watch over them, which seems to be working. Next, I was taken into the nearly 100-year-old barn where they recently sheared the sheep for the season. The equipment is nearly 90 years old and still in use.

It was a partially sunny yet cool and windy day there, just as I had pictured the windswept land of Patagonia. I could get the sense, even on a relatively nice day like this, how the harsh climate and ever-shifting weather really shape life here. Or as the son described it, “you can tell the weather is single because it does what it wants.”

All photos from November 2023.

A stop at Lago Fagnano on the way there, where we enjoyed a little mate (a classic South American herbal drink) and the view.
Samaná Peninsula

Samaná Peninsula

The Samaná Peninsula in the northeast of the Dominican Republic is a beautiful stretch of land with hillsides dense with foilage, largely empty stretches of beach, and a lot of wildlife. In the winter, much like the tourists, humpback whales migrate there. We visited in late spring so missed the whales, but had no shortage of birds and lizards to watch, plus some tiny frogs who liked our bathroom.

Interestingly, the Dominican Republic has no large wildlife (minus those whales offshore) which was reassuring while walking around the jungle at night. And day. There was surprisingly little in terms of mosquitos, too, where we stayed, in part due to the bats eating them. It wasn’t for a lack of humidity, that’s for sure. 

It took a little more time to travel there with a longer car ride from the airport, but like many more remote places, the journey was worth it.

All photos from late spring 2023.

Hispaniolan Lizard-Cuckoo, a species only found on the island of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti).
Connemara

Connemara

In a country dotted with small towns, the Connemara region of Ireland stands out for being particularly rural and rustic feeling. Between the lack of crowds and wide-open vistas, it felt like a different Ireland. But still with sheep. There are always sheep.

The landscape, the wind, the rain, and the ever-changing light were reminiscent of my trips to Iceland (minus the ice and snow). The light, while fleeting, could be particularly sublime. It may very well warrant another trip.

All photos from spring 2023.

In a country full of sheep, I found the sheep here to be among the most photogenic. 
St James’s Park London

St James’s Park London

St James’s Park in London is one of the smaller royal parks, but perhaps the most famous. Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace, Horse Guards,  the lake, and many memorials make up the park and its immediate surroundings, plus Westminster, Downing Street, and more famous spots are close by. 

Purchased by HenryVIII nearly 500 years ago, it has served as a deer hunting area (St James Palace was initially a hunting lodge – crazy to think an area in the heart of modern London was once the King’s hunting grounds), a zoo of sorts containing exotic animals, grazing for cows, and “a meeting place for impromptu acts of lechery.” It opened to the public in the 17th century and Buckingham Palace became the principal royal residence in the early 19th century. 

Today, I’m pretty sure the King no longer hunts there, the wildest animals (not counting humans) are the non-native pelicans, and lawns are too short for grazing. It’s unclear if impromptu acts of lechery still occur.

All photos from spring 2023.

Looking across St James’s Park Lake, the Blue Bridge, to the Horse Guard grounds and Whitehall and the Old War Office buildings beyond.
Skookumchuck Narrows

Skookumchuck Narrows

The Sechelt Rapids, created by the Skookumchuck Narrows, is a natural phenomenon occurring in an inlet on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia (located a couple of hours from Vancouver).

Twice a day, as the tide changes, water flows between two inlets creating rapids (i.e. tidal rapids*) as the water rushes through the constriction. The resulting wave is a playground for kayakers and surfers alike. Why ride a river one way, or have to continually paddle out to try and catch a wave breaking, when you can ride one continuing wave? Boaters and surfers take turns in the wave before kicking out (voluntarily or not), riding a short way down the inlet and back to shore where they walk back and do it again. 

Below are photos from the Roland Point Viewing Area, a short hike from a nearby trailhead in the Provencial Park. For more information, visit the Sunshine Coast’s tourism website

And for more photos of the Sunshine Coast, check out my separate blog post.

* This is different than a tidal bore. I actually thought it was essentially the same thing when first learning about this place, but a tidal bore is when the leading edge of a tide creates a wave. It’s one wave, or a couple of waves, that are moving with the tide, not a continuous wave in one spot.

Looking across the rapid and down the inlet.