15.01.-11.02.11

Estancia Nibepo Aike - El Calafate

2 days ago was my last day on the Estancia Nibepo Aike. I am now in El Calafate the next town 50km far away from the Estancia. Analia who works in the office for the estancia and who is as well a Couch Surfer offered me to stay with her for a couple of days until I have decided what to do.

I am very sad right now as I had an absolute fantastic and unforgettable time on the farm. I arrived on Saturday, 15.01.11. Salem the Chauffeur of the estancia picked me up at the office in El Calafate at 4.30pm. On the way to the farm he me told in German that he is from Bosnia and lived in Austria for many years where he learned German. The complete way to the farm is on gravel road and the scenery was absolutely fantastic. First we drove along the "Lago Argentina"which is the biggest lake in Argentinia. Later we could see the "Glaciar Perito Moreno" and just a few kilometres before the estancia we drove along the beautiful "Lago Roca".

When I arrived at the farm Salem introduced me straight away to the staff of the Quincho (Grillhaus). Ricardo the guy who is in charge for the "parilla", Phillipe the "cocinero, Santi the guide and Virginia the manager. Phillipe was so kind and showed me my room which was at the other end of the farm. I was quite happy to see that I had the room for myself but it was very dirty and the bed was a "disaster"! Later on I was introduced to the rest of the staff who worked in the "hosteria", lavanderia, the gardener and the maintenance guy. The first night I helped straight away in the kitchen where I also met "Nermin" the brother of Salem. Nermin arrived a few days earlier at the farm and was about to stay for 4 weeks. First I was a bit confused and upset as I didn't expect to meet two people on the farm who speak perfectly German…..but a week later I was quite glad. Salem and Nermin were Europeans and if I had a problem or needed a decision they were the only ones who understood me.

The first week I had my own room which I loved. During my last two months traveling in Chile and Argentina I slept in dorms and shared my room with a lot of people. I also loved sharing the house with Mario, Frederic and Jasmine. We had great nights in front of the stove gossiping about the rest of the staff of the estancia.

The first three days I worked about 9 to 10 hours. After the third day I spoke to Virginia and told her that I love working on the farm and I wouldn't mind working a lot of hours if they would pay me. She agreed and told me that she will talk to the owner. Unfortunately the owner of the Estancia didn't want to pay me....and from then on I mostly worked the morning shifts from 9am until 3pm which suited me perfectl!

My tasks were mainly helping Phillip or later Anna the two cooks in the kitchen of the "Quincho". In the morning I was baking "budin" (cakes) for the guests and later we had to prepare the salads, pancakes and setting up the table. The work was very monotonous as was every day the same but I loved working with Anna in the kitchen and Ricardo in the "parilla" who was always in a good mood and shared his "MATE" with me. And particularly I loved the view on the lake and the mountains from the Quincho and sometimes the horses came and said hello through the kitchen window.

The estancia offered two excursions, one in the morning from 10am to 2pm and the afternoon excursion from 6pm until 10pm. The guests were greeted by the guides Emilia or Vicky and were offered coffee and cake in the Quincho. Later on they went for an hour walk down to the lake or alternatively they could choose to go horse riding with one of the "gauchos" Federico or Moncho. After that they could watch the two gauchos demonstrating a "horse race" followed by a "sheep shearing" demonstration in the "galpon" by either Christian or Moncho.

In the afternoons I went for a siesta as the whole farm did…..all the staff, the horses, cows, sheep and the dogs. After that I went either for a walk with Nermin and eating "Calafate" berries or I went on a horse-riding excursion with Federico where I learned a lot about the farm and the he surroundings. Around 7pm I helped the "gauchos" sometimes to bring back the sheep and the cows which I loved a lot. One day they even took me to the "campo" where we were taking about 100 cows and there calf's to a different yard 3 hours away from the farm. Wow….what an experience in an absolutely beautiful scenery.

I also loved all the parties we had e.g. Tio's 57 birthday party or the nights with the gauchos at the campground where I also met the nice and cute "guardaparque" (park ranger) Marco. In my last week the weather was really hot and two days in a row we went down to the glaciar lake "brazzo sur" where Nermin, Mario and I went swimming. Puhhh it was very cold but soooo nice!

I kept asking Virginia if I could work for money but even after the third time checking with the owner he said "No". I wasn't sure if I should leave the farm or keep working as a "voluntaria" but I felt as my work was not appreciated. Therefore I decided after 4 weeks to leave the farm. There was also a "rodeo festival" in El Calafate which I absolutely wanted to see.

So I finally left the farm on the 11th of February 2011. In the evening I met most of the staff from the estancia at the "Festival el campo de doma" which was absolutely interesting. After the festival we all went to a pub where we had a lot of fun and danced the whole night until 6am in the morning. What a great "leaving party" for me!!!!

The next few days I was very sad and very confused. I didn't really know if I wanted to stay in town and look for some work there, continue traveling or just go back to the farm???!!! Analia, one girl from the office offered me to stay with her and her daughter and also helped me with finding a work in town.

The second day after the rodeo I went into town and wanted to give myself another chance to find some work. But on the way to the hostel "Los Manos" I was roped by an Argentinian guy. He strangled me with one hand and the other hand he stacked "something" in my back which felt like a knife. I was very scared so I gave him my little purse with approx. 300 Pesos (60 Euro) in it. After I realized that it was just a pen we started fighting but he pushed me away, took his bike and went off. I ran after him and screamed for help but as nobody was around I gave up.

Thank God I had Analia and the nice staff of the office who calmed me down and at the end I was quite lucky that he didn't hurt me and took my backpack with all my valuables in it.

After this incident I felt like I have to leave the town and went straight to the bus terminal where I bought a ticket to "Esquel".

The following day I decided to go to the farm for the last time before I left the town. It was a beautiful day and I could say "Good Bye" to everyone. I even got some presents from the staff of the "Quincho", Mario and Laura. On the way back I felt relieved and I am pretty sure that one day I will come back to this farm!!!!!!!!!!