TO THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE

I knew when I left that I was going to a part of the world that had not caught up with time. I was excited to go to a place that was still living in history

You can fly to all the historic yet modern places of the world. Two weeks ago, I had flown to Amsterdam, The Netherlands where history was all around in the old buildings and the museums full of European History.

But when I took off for Buenos Aires, Argentina, only to connect with an Aerolineas Argentinas flight to Trelew on the Valdez Peninsula in Patagonia, I knew that I was bound for a magical spot where few people had ventured and where the world had not changed that much.

South America is in my blood. I don’t know why and I don’t necessarily believe in the theory of “past lives”, but I do know that when I Iand on this continent I feel like I am home! I love this place! Maybe because I speak the language or because I understand the great family atmosphere of the friendly people here. …but I am definitely in the right place for the next week.

From home I passed through Atlanta on my Delta flight and the noisy Sky Club filled with young business travelers boring each other with sales made and blah blah at the new too crowded Skybar! Then on to the overnight flight to Buenos Aires ..the Trelew…..silence and nature!

Never heard of it? I am not surprised! Everyone has heard of the Galapagos Islands on the west coast of Ecuador, but no one (at least us Americans) have heard of this wonderful peninsula filled with Penguins, Sea Lions, Whales, sea birds of all kinds and minimal tourists! What a delight!

Our guide Philipe picked us up and we headed to a wonderful Estancia (read ranch) for overnight. Here there are no hotels. There are only the wonderful ranch homes of local citizens that have opened up their farms and homes to perfect strangers to help them come to know this wonderful place where they live.

Marcela, the owner of Los Mimbres invited us to a scrumptious dinner . It is like going to a bed and breakfast but you are now part of this small family. In Patagonia the main crop is sheep or in this case fish as they are on a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic. So your dinner menu can be local fare from the field of sheep or beef that Argentina is so well known for….or for the local seafood brought fresh from the sea every day. Accompany that with Argentinean Malbec’s or Sauvignon Blancs from this area of Argentina and you can’t go wrong.

The house is equipped with modern furnishing and a roaring fireplace that in the evening takes the chill out of the strong Patagonian winds that blow the majority of the year.

I am in heaven! I love this place. There are 6 rooms, a wonderful hostess, good wine and good company! What a way to start a trip that will take me far from the everyday world of where I live in the US. Here there is no wi-fi…no TV….intermittent cell phone connectivity…but a whole new world of camaraderie and human conversation.…all in the middle of nowhere.