Provincia de la Pampa is a huge expanse of grassy land good for agricultura. Pampa, meaning plains, are fertile lowlands which cover more than 750,000 km or 289,577 square miles of Central Argentina. The road through the Pampa region is long and straight, just the one road. Felt like a long long drive through a farmer's field. Spring here has sprung and the fields of grass are peppered with wild flowers and roaming herds of cattle.
At the end of our long drive it was great to see real Gauchos in Santa Isabel. 'Gaucho' is the name given to the men who rode and still ride the Pampa. Historically they earned their living on cattle farms, now they work their own farms in this area of Argentina. Very dandy looking in their over-sized beret style headgear.
'Ruta 151' = 'Precaucion Zona de Baches'. R151 must have the max potholes per metre in the Southern Hemisphere!! Nevertheless Amanda stoically took the helm and drove serious Km today - Sons of Baches be damned!!!
We made it to San Rafael, booked ourselves on to a vineyard tour and sampled some delicious wines from the region. The Bianchi Extra Brut was a particular favourite of ours.
The Ayres de Cuyo Cabanas next door were both handily situated and very lovely. We munched on locally sourced smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and Bianchi Extra Brut ...of course. A lovely day.
