Back to Buenos Aires and HomeThursday 21st February - drive back to Estancia Santa Cecelia via three of the ruins of Jesuit Missions which are a World Heritage Site. First San Ignacio Mini which is the most restored of the three missions. Three Jesuits ran this mission which contained 4000 Guarani, who lived there for their protection from the Spanish and Portuguese slave traders. There were schools, craft workshops, and art and music. The Guarani maintained their system of tribal elders but adopted Christianity. The missions ran successfully for 150 years until the Jesuits were expelled by the King of Spain at the request of business interests who wanted to use the Guarani. Second visit was to Loreto ruins which are the least restored but we had an excellent young guidewho gave us a good explanation of these atmospheric ruins. Finally we made a visit to the Santa Ana ruins where we again had a personal tour but this was in Spanish helpfully translated by Willis. Our visits to the Jesuit World Heritage Sites in Cordoba, Cordoba Province and Misiones Province are now complete. Arrived at Estancia Santa Cecelia in time for another excellent meal cooked by the veritable Juanita. Friday 22nd February - The day of horse rides. In the morning we had a two hour tourist ride around the estancia with the Gaucho Baronche; including crossing the main road on horseback. In the afternoon we were invited by the patroncito [young estancia owner- Charlie the youngest son of the widow owner Sylvia] to join him and a friend as they inspected the cattle around the estancia on horseback. Maybe they now think we can ride! We travelled over some of their land and then witnessed cattle being prepared [dipped for ticks witnessed by a government vet] for transfer to another estancia near Buenos Aires. This was a great afternoon and another three hours in the saddle! Swim before dinner; again another Juanita special with good wine.Saturday 23rdFebruary - Drive to Ibera Wetlands [Posada De la Laguna] via a Yerba Mate and Tea Plantation [Las Marias] which Willis wanted to see; they market under the name of Taragui which is Guarani [the Guarani language is still spoken in some parts and is frequently used for the names of places] for Corrientes Province. The journey to these remote wetlands was 150 km in a straight line but due to limited access we had to travel 350 km with the last 120 km being dirt and gravel road. Arrived at our estancia/hotel at 7pm and relaxed before dinner after a hot and hard drive.Sunday 24th February - a three hour boat ride with our excellent guide around the floating islands in the laguna near our hotel. We saw many Cayman [alligators], capybara [the largest rodent in the world; a semi-aquatic herbivore] and at least 20 species of bird new to us. This is a fascinating and relatively unspoilt area due to the difficulty of access. Afternoon relax doing this blog glancing out of the window to see the humming birds returning time and time again to the outside flowers. Another boat ride in the afternoon including a visit to the excellent visitors centre and a DVD on the wildlife in English. Evening walk to see Howler Monkeys and glimpsed a pair of Crab-eating Foxes and again more birds. After dinner we went out again on the boat to see water flowers that only open at night and to hear and see with a torch the night animals plus the moon rise and the stars.Monday 25th February - Out on the laguna at 07.00hrs to see the sunrise and early bird and animal activity including an adult male Marsh Deer. Breakfast at 10.00hrs followed by a horse ride around the village and the marshes. Afternoon swimming and more slow work on the blog; internet is via satellite and very slow! Evening boat ride to a new part of the laguna and marshes including travelling up the river. Again many new birds and a Cayman's nest. We had to return quickly as the storm clouds were gather; we just avoided a soaking.Tuesday 26th February - Early departure from Posada De La Laguna as the rain had made the dirt and gravel road difficult and Willis had to be in a town 120km away to catch a bus back in BA. She wanted a few days to see her friends and family again and to deal with family business. Made the bus on time and Gillian and David travelled on to Concordia for a nights stay in another business hotel. It rained most of the evening and all we managed was a very good pizza and an early night.Wednesday 27th February - as we left Concordia we drove around the town which proved difficult as they are reconstructing the waterfront [onto the Uruguay River] and the main road out of town. We drove on a national park which is the last extensive area of native palms [Parque Nacional El Palmer]. Still raining, so we kept our visit short but were pleased to have visited. Drove on to our next stop; two nights in Itapeby - Casa de Campo [a house in the country]. Itapeby in on the outskirts of Gualeguaychu [a town famous for its festivals]. We arrive just in time for lunch and found we were joining the owners Rodolfo and Poppy Cassarino and two friends. One of the friends turned out to be the wife of the grandson of Pat Fenton, who is a family friend of Willis and who we met in January in the deep south of Argentina. The other was the cousin of the husband of Pat Fenton's daughter; it is a small world. Itapeby is a small farm and the "retirement" project of Rodolfo and Poppy. We were made most welcome and spent most of the time socialising with them; that is in between relaxing, walking around the farm and eating and drinking.Thursday 28th February - early horse ride as rain was threatening. We had two hours under the instruction of Rodolfo improving our riding skills and visiting his land and his neighbours. The challenge came when we waited from a group of Polo Ponies who were going out to graze at great speed; this spooked Gillian's horse and only by skill and daring did she stay on and managed to even take a photograph of the ponies. In the afternoon we went on a wet ride to inspect some land on the Uruguay River that Rodolfo is considering buying as a tourist project. We then were shown around the town of Gualeguaychu [ pronounced waly- why-chew]. Dinner of farm bred chicken and good wine; Gillian and Poppy discussing recipes for a family party when we return with an Argentine theme.Friday 29th February - easy drive back to BA and returning, for the last time, our Hertz car; we have become fond of [used to] our Chevrolet Corsa. They are very basic road cars but we have taken them through rivers, over mountain passes, down dirt tracks. We have only been stuck twice [once in a river and once in sand] and only had one breakdown when a stone from a gravel road broke our fuel line. They have always been returned very dirty but in one piece; we have had no accidents and only one near miss.Saturday March 1st - Our final day was spent with Iain's sail designer Juan Garay [North Sails] at Tigre on the River Plate. In the evening we went with Willis and Wendy to a Tango Show and dinner. An exciting evening of dance, good food and wine; a fitting last evening in Argentina.