Willie Nelson was on the right track when he warned, "Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys." The gauchos of Argentina, like their Norteamerican counterparts, are an endangered species. Cattle ranching on the pampas is now big buisness, no longer compatible with the independent gaucho lifestyle. The best place to see gauchos today is at Día de la Tradición, a week long festival of music, dancing and all things gaucho, held anually in San Antonio de Areco.
Dancni' in the street
When we learned that the buses from BA were fully booked we teamed up with Boris, a retired Swedish airling pilot and hired a private car. It was another "we won't be here again" moment and Manuel gave us a pretty good deal considering the 120 km distance. It turned out to be a good day, well worth the cost. Gauchos, and would be gauchos, come from all over Argentina to dress up and show off their horsemanship. There are military bands, political speaches, lots of music and impromptu dancing in the street.
Cirollo kknives, don't leave home without it
We estimate somewhere over 1000 horses paraded by the Parque Cirollo where we scored front row seats for the action. Gauchos with their beret-like boinas, cirollo knives secured in their belts, showed thier riding skills their beautiful animals. For some reason the horses' tails were cut off halfway down. Strange. There were old patriarch gauchos, young kids, boys and girsl, men and woman. Most rode alone, some rode double. All were in their local costumes. And the horses left the inevitable spoor of their presence.
The Patriarchs
