Over 30 hours of traveling, I arrived at my workaway place Haras - a thoroughbred stud that also trained endurance horses. I'd decided to try spend a couple of weeks here for a different kind of experience, try and learn more about horse training and also to save some money (you work for food and board). It was a stressful start, with the coordinator Fernando frustrated as he'd been waiting for me for an hour and I'd had no way of telling him where i was. Although I was surprisd he'd expected anything different from SA buses..He dropped me at the farm house and I met Jana (a German who I'd be sharing the guest house with). The house was big but a bit dirty and basic with very old furniture and only hot water if you lit a fire to hear the tank..there was also a flea and tick ridden stray dog (named by Jana as Easy A as she was so hard to keep away from the male dogs) that had to be inside with us as she was in heat and the owner had requested we take her in (no one here seems to desex their dogs nor treat them for ticks and fleas. The ticks are as big as my finger nails and the dogs are covered in them :( ). And boy were there a lot of dogs on the farm (I believe all originally strays)! So it's nice that they now have a home but they're not desexed nor properly looked after. Other than the constant loss of blood from ticks its not a bad life I guess, running around free and getting a bit of food. Our house was about a ten minute walk to the farm so I resisted a nap and went for a tour..a beautiful property with loads of horses and even a donkey, some Patagonian rats, a pet sheep, an aviary (with tortoises in it) and puppies (of course..cute but oh so frustrating)..as well as a brand new foal which was beautiful. I was slightly confused who I was working for but Jana introduced me to the head stable hand 'Puchan', who spoke zero English. I also met a 14 year old 'Nico' and he Jana and I went for a ride.. I rode a gaucho favored pony called Maximus who was cheeky and strong (because he was pent up in a stall and never ridden). Nice to be on a horse though! Needles to say I slept well that night!!
Up early to go help muck out stables..we hadn't been given a starting time nor had we been told how many hours to work so we just did what we thought was fair. I struggled with lack of direction/acknowledgemnt of our presence and with not being able to ask questions but at least Jana spoke basic Spanish..after lunch fernando came and we took a couple of horses out for a light ride..they were off the track thoroughbreds that'd been rested for a month so they were sprightly! I rode Extreme..she was a good girl once settled..we rode again the next day and it was good to actually have a chat to Fernando about the farm and it's purpose. I also met the owner 'Claudia' very briefly..to both I attempted to relay my concerns about the ticks on all the dogs (particularly the dog with pups, and the pups also) as well as welfare concerns to with the horses (such as how many were standing bored in the stall all day not being worked and being fed twice per day with empty stomachs in between)..I hoped to have a chance to discuss this more with Claudia at a later date. In saying that, I was glad to see the workers did care about the animals and indeed they were much better taken care of then most in South America!
On Saturday we had no idea whether or not we were supposed to work (no communication in this place) so we just helped a bit and then cleaned all the bridles..we were running out of food (as were the dogs, so we'd been sharing ours) and were supposed to be taken to the supermarket (we had no way of going on our own) but that didn't happen..we were also supposed to be taken for a night out but that also didn't happen..feeling frustrated we downloaded some Netflix at the farm (where there was wifi) and had a quiet night at home. Although not too quiet as we had another little stray dog trying to get in the house.:we'd let her in the night before but as she peed everywhere she wasn't allowed now! Almost scratched down the door getting in..by her actions and her age it was clear she'd been someone's inside dog and had been abandoned :( also not desexed and had clearly had many pups..she really just needs someone to love her :( Jana named her Dobby because she looked like dobby the elf..but she was also skinny and it became apparent she was very happy with a 'master' - as Jana was involved in bringing her back to the farm she was her little shadow, literally.
One of the famr workers Marcelo kindly took us to a little shop on Sunday morning for some shopping..although it was only a little market it was good to get some basics. Back home we had a nice lunch and had a quiet day. Headed to the farm to check the horses water and had a funny old afternoon as the owner came and wanted to ride, I couldn't ride the horse I'd been riding as she didn't have back shoes (not what I'd originally been told)..anyways after some frustrating shenanigans whereby people weren't in control of their horses and the sheep was being naughty we'd both had it. I was also getting really over the lack of ground manners of the horses and all the dogs etc..anyways we decided to try stick it out a little longer.
Monday was an interesting day as we were involved in a lunch that Claudia hosted. We set up and packed up but were able to sit with her and her friends in the shade and share empanadas (made by one of the worker's wives) and beers..we'd also earlier gone in the to the vet to some tick and flea stuff for the new little dogs that'd arrived! So that was a little victory. Unfortunately couldn't give it to the Mum of the pups yet due to their age, so hopefully they remember to treat her once I'm gone as she's the worst..I've never know so many ticks! You go in to visit the puppies and they're literally crawling all over them and sooo many in their ears :(
In the afternoon we accompanied Claudia's friends to get a horse from the jockey club which was not a pleasant experience because the horse was terrified..they hadn't wrapped the legs so by the time we got it off there was bloody everywhere as it had scrambled and cut itself :( no riding again today..
The next few days were quiet as Fernando was away on business and nico also hadn't been around..unfortunately extreme still wasn't shod but we brought in a beautiful old skinny Arab 'Dudliq' so at least we could ride..I also commenced some ground working training on the three year old thoroughbred Maria Louisa and she's responding great..and finally easy a is off heat! She and dobby still constantly follow Jana like shadows. With dobby I've never know anything like it, she is at janas feet wherever she goes (thus accidentally gets kicked on occasion), she is fiercely loyal..i have not been involved in any rescues thus don't have such a shadow but I'm kind of happy about that! Don't want to get too attached or vice versa..one of the horses that had her leg cut up on the float (as they dont seem to use floating boots) had an odd reaction to the antibiotics and couldn't stretch out her neck..anyways the vet gave her three more injections (but sure what they were) - I found the whole thing frustrating as the leg shouldnt have been cut in the first place/if it'd been hosed and cleaned correctly it might not have needed antibiotics/no antibiotics would've avoided the bad reaction..anyways! I also got so frustrated about the ticks as I got millions off Dobby and also all the puppies had heaps in their ears which was horrible so again I asked what could we do (the other treatment only worked on fleas). Pablo said we could give the adult dogs some ivermectin orally so I set about finding all the dogs on the farm and with janas help we treated most of them. Unfortunately for the pups it was just powder for now and hopefully they'll treat the area they're living (I tried to explain that housing them in an aviary would mean more parasites but I don't think they understood). I had a ride on a clients horse (lampone) which was lovely as he was a quiet old boy however I felt bad later on as apparently he'd only supposed to have been walked due to an old injury but I'd been told I could do whatever. He seemed ok though..we also witnessed natural serving which was super interesting however the poor stallion had some trouble! Finally after about 7 tries and a bit of help guiding he was successful :P..Friday night we were involved in an afternoon tea and Saadi (traditional BBQ) hosted by Claudia..we tried matte tea which was really interesting and finally at about 10.30pm (not uncommonly late in South America) we had tea..not a big meat lover but was great to experience such a traditional Argentinian social occurrence.
On Sunday I had a nice ride on Maria Louisa then Cecilia (Fernando's girlfriend) kindly took us out for the afternoon to do something different. We went for lunch at a food court, visited one of her friends houses (which was lovely) and then we went for a drive to the areas artificial dam. Which wasn't that impressive but there was some indigenous art and as well it was just nice to get out! Monday we finally got to go on an endurance conditioning ride to the mountains with Fernando which was a great experience. Unfortunately extreme was still a bit crazy (I think from all the last she'd been fed and no exercise) and massively reared however we finally made a good team and had a nice ride! We had to ride through the rubbish filled dried creek bed again which wasn't so nice and also had so many things that the horses shied at..however once further away from civilization it was surreal to ride through the canyons and such! And on the way home it got dark so it was quite exhilarating (albeit dangerous) to be cantering in the dark weaving through bushes etc..about 3 hours and 22km all up!we arrived safely home at about 8.30 and then had to quickly change to met Claudia in town for a beer (as both Jana and I had decided to move on in the next couple of days). Claudia told us there was an earth tremor in San Juan the day before, we didn't even feel it on the farm! Again we didn't eat until about 11 and were pretty tired from the days work and the long ride but it was nice to be out with people at a nice bar. Afterwards one of their friends Augustine (a younger guy) bought us ice cream which was sweet.
Tuesday we worked the morning and went for one last ride. It was probably the funniest ride yet! We ride the two quiet old boys and just had fun galloping around (my boy might've been old but boy was he fast!). We also had massive condors circling which was awesome, there were so many weird and wonderful birds at the farm! in the afternoon we packed and then bid farewell to the workers, horses and dogs. It was so sad to say bye to Dobby and easy, especially for poor yana..I was also frustrated (for the millionth time) at my lack of Spanish as I couldn't bid farewell/say thank you properly to the workers. We left a long note for the next work awayer to give her an idea of what to do etc which we would've appreciated ! We also asked her to keep an eye on the dogs, obviously. we had dinner at fernandos house and Jana got the night bus to Córdoba whilst I stayed the night and got the bus to Mendoza the next day.
Once in Mendoza I had a difficult time deciding whether it was best to stay at a hostel or stay with Fernandos brother (which had been offered to me, he had a big house that international students stayed at)..I finally decided to go to the brothers house as I figured staying with a local might be beneficial. After a frustrating hour or so where I couldn't get in because the bell didn't work and I couldn't contact him as I had no wifi I finally got in..it was a massive house and pretty dirty but I had a room to myself..met the residents who were coincidentally all French and they were all super nice. Accompanied Armando (fernandos brother) to his friend's house for dinner and to watch a soccer match which was nice.
The next day I explored Mendoza city however there wasn't much to see..In saying that the streets are lovely and wide with big trees..I saw a massive crash where both air bags went off 
but everyone rushed over to help and from a distance they seemed ok..I'm surprised there's not more crashes!. I was supposed to accompany Armando to a winery in the afternoon but that didn't happen (no communication). In the night I went with the French people to their friends house for beers and pizza which was fun! Everyone there spoke a bit of English and even though I was the eldest (they were all younger students) I had a fun night chatting away and showing them some Aussie music (went straight for triple j hottest 100 :P). I'm always so impressed by how multi lingual non native English speakers are. Jealous even! I'd tried to convince the French guys to cycle around wineries with me the next day but as we'd had a pretty big night most were still in bed. One of them, Arthur, called in sick to work and kindly accompanied me! It was a funny old day as we were hungover and not very efficient/arrive to maipu (a wine district) a bit late..nonetheless we hired some bikes and checked out a couple of wineries. It was quite expensive to hire the bikes which was annoying because we could only have them for a couple of hours and we would've taken the ones from home had we known the others wouldn't join us. It was great to do the tours and learn about the production process. Particularly with the second one which was an organized farm. I was surprised at the cost, a tasting being $8 and you were only able to taste two. But anyways that's argentina! We had to rush in the way back to return the bikes, which was a messy adventure! Arthur's chain came off then we were accidentally riding down a one way street into traffic (with no helmets) so we opted for the side walk which was a challenge! We were going so fast and there were constantly drops and bumps etc, not to mention the people and cats and dogs we had to dodge! So annoying to the locals I'm sure, stupid tourists..it felt like we were mountain biking! Whilst Arthur found it all a bit frustrating I thought it was hilarious and I explained to him that this kind of thing comes along with traveling, especially when you're the queen of last minute :P tired but satisfied we checked out the local brewery then headed back to Mendoza for a semi early night. I really appreciated Arthur coming with me and it was great to have someone to do the talking/translate!
I decided to grab the night bus to Buenos Aires the next day so just spent the day organizing my things and walking around the nearby park..bid farewell and walked to the bus station (they all thought I was a bit mad as it was a decent 40mins but hey, I have legs that work!). A really nice man that loved rugby printed my ticket off for me..Night bus wasn't the greatest..no snack, wifi, or somewhere to charge my phone..alas I got at least a few hours sleep and 15.5 hours later arrived in rainy BA. I found wifi at the station and found a hostel in the city (another half hour walk with my bag...). Cecilia had been in the city for the weekend staying with her brother Juan so after dropping my things (and discovering my bag had got wet on the bus 
) I went and met them in the lovely suburb of San telmo. Turns out Sunday was a good day to arrive as there were some massive flea markets on so twas nice to walk the cobble stoned streets through these..juan had the nicest apartment, like a mini antique castle! we shared a nice lunch together and after Cecilia got a taxi to get her flight juan and I shared some mate tea (I must get used to It!) and went exploring..it is a beautiful city (although alas it is just a city, not my favorite thing)
..wide open streets and in some parts lots of trees which is lovely..we checked out a local art exhibition, got caught in some rain and then I caught the subway back.
A bit undecided the next day I eventually chose to duck over to Uruguay for a couple of days whilst I waited for gab to arrive..was a great idea! After catching up with Juan for lunch I caught the ferry to Colonia Del Sacramento, which is actually a UNESCO world heritage site..beautiful cobble stoned streets, old buildings, gorgeous trees..friendly, happy people (At one stage there was a bunch of kids dressed up dancing in the street..I have no idea why but it was adorable!). Unfortunately not many people spoke English (I had an awkward evening walk with a guy whereby we had a 'conversation' using google translator..in fact he'd misunderstood me in the first place, I merely asked if he wanted something from the supermarket and he thought I meant do you want to come ). So again my lack of Spanish making me feel a tad isolated..I walked for miles to an old bull fighting ring (couldn't see inside though) and came across some gorgeous horses..I walked back along the water enjoying the sunset, watching people drink their matte, making some stray dog friends..quite a beautiful place really! The last 6 days I'd averaged 13.6km and 19,597 steps so was feeling pretty tired..
The next day I got the ferry back to BA and checked in to the air bnb. Gab and I (I was so excited to see her!) were sharing a room in a lady's (Leila) house so it was nice to meet a local/get some tips..she was a harp player as well! I chilled for a bit and then met gab which was awesome..we made some dinner then walked the streets to San Telmo to meet Juan for a drink..there was some live music in the bar as well, of course! We had an early night as obviously gab was pooped (although I was amazed she wanted to go out at all!) and slept in a bit the next day..walked around the city and did the afternoon walking tour which was interesting to get some history. So crazy, we ran in to my friend Jarren on the streets! In a city of millions I run in to someone I met in Patagonia..madness..we met up with him later to watch a soccer match at bar which was a cool experience. We decided to stay one more night to experience tango with a live orchestra.
The next day was a frustrating one..walking for ages to what we thought was the bus company to buy some tickets only to find it was an insurance company. Walked some more and got the subway to the bus station, found a good deal for cash, waited in line for the ATM for about half an hour to find it didn't have any money left (and of course there's only one in the whole hostel), found a different good deal (half price to be exact) on a bus that would take a bit longer (20 hours all up) so we decided to take that..ticket bought we continued walking (side note, averaging 13-16km a day walking) over to the wealthy suburb of recoleta. We walked through the epic cemetery which had insane head stones/crypts where you can even look in to see the coffins! We had a couple of happy hour beers at a brewery and feeling quite merry we headed home to get ready for tango..tango class was a subway ride away and started at 10.30..we were a little late but joined in and I was swiftly reminded how unco I am! But it was good fun and a couple of men that knew how to dance well grabbed me and guided. We made some friends (albeit a tad annoying ducking their advances) and Juan came for a dance too which was nice. We saw the live music and it was great to see the dance floor full of people that could actually dance well! We drank a little too much and unfortunately rode off the next day (we'd planned to see some more places) but nevermind, that happens sometimes! Although it was my second worst hangover ever, yuk. We went for a nice walk with Juan who bought us ice cream, lay in the park in the sun in Recoletta and then if farewell to Juan (who had to go practice for a gig he had that night). Was sad to say bye, he'd been very kind to us. We went back to leilas and organized our things then, still feeling worse for wear boarded our 20 hour bus 
one benefit of being so hungover was that we slept the whole way so it wasn't really that bad! And ended up only taking 19 hours :P we arrived to puerto iguazu and it was beautifully green and rainy (albeit humid). Checked in to our sweet hostel, made a poor excuse for fried rice for dinner, met a lovely American then (eventually) slept in a bed!
It stormed for most of the night which was beautiful but a tad frustrating as we waned to visit the falls the next day..but after handing in gabs Brazil visa application in the morning (which was sooooo easy its ridiculous) we decided screw it let's go, who cares if it's raining! And we did, and it was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen..the strength and magnitude of the falls was other worldly..literally felt like we were on another planet! Typical South America the park was closing early because the president was coming but of course they hadn't told us that. So unfortunately our visit was cut short and we didn't get to catch the boat over to the little island but nonetheless it was still a fabulous day and rather than stressing about being saturated we found it quite funny! Back in town we went for a burger with an Aussie called Harry who'd been on the same bus as us..and again it stormed allllll night, seriously bucketing down rain, no idea how we didn't float away!
The next morning we packed our things and gab picked up her passport and visa (again, so easy, which is fantastic but frustrating because of the effort I'd needed to put in back in aus!) and got the bus across the boarder to the Brazilian side of iguazu falls (Foz de iguacu). We got dropped at the border and had to wait a while for the next bus but it was ok as we made a nice friend (Argentinian man) who knew a bit of English). We had to stand on the next bus and I nearly went through the front window (and took gab with me) because the driver broke suddenly and I had my bag on my bag..alas we found the hostel and were quite hot and sweaty by the time we arrived! It was a really nice hostel for the price (about $15 each), we even had a room and bathroom to ourselves and there was a pool! We chilled for a bit then went for a walk around the local zoo, which was free..I probably wouldn't have gone otherwise but even though they were caged (and some of the monkeys and the jaguar showed signs of boredom/distress/wanting to escape) I could tell the enclosures were well designed with enrichment etc and also very clean. There were beautiful birds and monkeys and big cats and cayman and everything! Was really quite great albeit a bit morally challenging..if nothing else hopefully it educates people. We then found a massive supermarket (super maffado) and then made a lot of fresh and healthy meals to keep us going the next couple of days..met some lovely Brazilians at our hostel (it was more of a hotel) who were celebrating their sons birthday, very sweet people.
