Montevideo, Uruguay
After the National Geographic Endeavour docked in Montevideo, we had a lovely excursion in the capital city. We then drove east along the coast of the Rio de la Plata to a beautiful estancia called La Rabida, about 40 km from Montevideo. La Rabida is a working cattle ranch, or estancia, and the family and owners of the 3650 acre estate welcomed us for lunch, prepared in the traditional barbecue called asado. It was quite reminiscent of the Santa Maria barbecues of central California and born of the same Spanish heritage, but this one had a distinctly gaucho flavor. After a hearty meal, we tried our hands at shearing a sheep, milking a cow, and riding an Arabian horse with a gaucho saddle. We all were treated to a hay ride through the estancia and down to the shores of the Rio de la Plata, which looked like the ocean but for its fresh water taste and silty color. At 130 miles across to Argentina on the opposite shore, the Rio de la Plata is the widest river in the world and drains a basin of 1.6bmilion square miles, and covering much of southern South America and the countries of Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay.
The estancia is named for the La Rabida monastery in Palos de la Frontera, a small town in southern Spain on the Rio Tinto. It is from this town that Christopher Columbus sailed on his voyage to India. Walking the land of this magnificent estancia and talking with the family put us clearly in mind of the connections between our lands, whether in America or Uruguay, and Spain and of the great history of exploration which brought us to these shores.
After the National Geographic Endeavour docked in Montevideo, we had a lovely excursion in the capital city. We then drove east along the coast of the Rio de la Plata to a beautiful estancia called La Rabida, about 40 km from Montevideo. La Rabida is a working cattle ranch, or estancia, and the family and owners of the 3650 acre estate welcomed us for lunch, prepared in the traditional barbecue called asado. It was quite reminiscent of the Santa Maria barbecues of central California and born of the same Spanish heritage, but this one had a distinctly gaucho flavor. After a hearty meal, we tried our hands at shearing a sheep, milking a cow, and riding an Arabian horse with a gaucho saddle. We all were treated to a hay ride through the estancia and down to the shores of the Rio de la Plata, which looked like the ocean but for its fresh water taste and silty color. At 130 miles across to Argentina on the opposite shore, the Rio de la Plata is the widest river in the world and drains a basin of 1.6bmilion square miles, and covering much of southern South America and the countries of Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay.
The estancia is named for the La Rabida monastery in Palos de la Frontera, a small town in southern Spain on the Rio Tinto. It is from this town that Christopher Columbus sailed on his voyage to India. Walking the land of this magnificent estancia and talking with the family put us clearly in mind of the connections between our lands, whether in America or Uruguay, and Spain and of the great history of exploration which brought us to these shores.
