Buenos Días Argentina! A country famous for the Pampas, beef cattle, Malbec, yerba-maté tea, tango dancing, and gauchos. We have just returned from a two-week tour of Argentina. There were 18 of us in the group—15 from Alberta, 1 from Ohio, and us - Sandra and Don Armitage from Miniota. It was an agricultural tour that began in Buenos Aires and went on to several small cities on the Pampas and a flight over to Iguazu Falls in the jungle.
On the first day, we visited Liniers Auction Mart, a huge facility that puts 10 - 12 thousand head of cattle through its sales pens three days a week. This only accounts for 15% of the cattle sold in the country; 80% of Argentine cattle are used within the country so the per capita consumption of beef is about three times more than ours in Canada.
We were accompanied by a tour guide and a translator. It was spring weather until we got to the jungle where it became much hotter. Four beef cattle (mostly Angus) operations, a dairy operation, and a horse breeding centre were visited. The farms all provided a great asado (barbecue) at lunch along with wine and desserts. It was quite an opportunity to meet the families and see how things are done in another country.
At Iguazu, we took a bus ride through the jungle to visit a Coop that harvests maté leaves for their tea, packages and markets it, as well as oversees the growing and marketing of mandioca or cassava root (the source of our tapioca). Maté (pronounced “mah tay”) is a drink made in a special cup and is of big cultural and social significance. In the morning maté leaves are placed into the cup and hot water and more leaves are added to this all day long as required. This tea is passed around to friends and indeed as we were visiting it was also passed to us. It is said that it has many health benefits. Those of us who tasted it found that it probably would be an acquired taste.
The people in Argentina are quite friendly and willing to listen to our garbled Spanish and to try to interpret our questions. We were welcomed in their stores, restaurants, etc. Time was also allowed for sightseeing and shopping! On the last evening, we attended a Tango dinner show. It was quite impressive. Tango was started in Argentina in the red light section of La Boca where women of the street enticed the soldiers landing in the harbour to dance. Tango then spread to France and eventually came back and was widely accepted in all circles in Buenos Aires.
As beautiful and welcoming as Argentina is, it is obvious that the economy of the country is in trouble, with 140% inflation. Interest rates are at 50%. The pesos are not worth much and the American dollar is not widely used. The number of pesos we got on exchange created very large wads of cash to carry! However, it made for cheap prices for us. We left on the day of elections for the presidency so now we will watch to see how the country changes under new leadership.
Overall the tour was a wonderful opportunity to learn about Argentina, make friends, and relax.
Submitted by Sandra Armitage
