ESTANCIA RIO PENITENTE

Estancia means 'Ranch' in Spanish and we were hosted by the Morrison family, one of the first immigrant families from Scotland who built Estancia Rio Penitente back in 1891. The owner is a third generation Morrison who runs the farm with his 3 handsome and not a bit Scottish looking young sons. 'The family started with 4000 heads of sheep over 8000 hectres of land' which is a mind boggling number for anyone, let alone someone from Hong Kong. While the family is still active I think their livelihood is more to do with tourism, offering a taste of daily life on a traditional Patagonia homestead.

Cameras and videos kept clicking as; 1) sheep dogs responded to different whistle commands from their masters on horse back, rounding up sheep as a perfect team 2) experienced hands shearing sheep in a matter of minutes ' we do not count how many head they shear, we just ring the bell when we are ready to stop' and 3) domesticated version of roaming Llamas or Guanacos to complete the picture - no pun intended and lastly 4) a cook-out complete with a whole lamb in a huge pit Argentine style.

Our group opted for some down time aka naps in the well appointed family room. We could smell history as we flipped the pages of coffee table books on the family, with a background of Scottish tunes. Why here, of all places? It is because of the landscape, which reminded Great Grand Dad Morrison of home, when he took that courageous step of building a new life in Argentina. Looking out on the horizon and the openness I tried to imagine what went through his mind as he made that decision, but I could not do it.  I just do not have the resolve.