La Bamba de Areco – polo, gauchos, and gourmet feasts in Argentina’s cultural heartland

By Caroline Phillips

When a man is tired of Buenos Aires, he’s tired of life. But there are exceptions. So when you’re ready for a break from the buzz of the so-called Paris of South America, head for the tranquillity of La Bamba de Areco, a glorious brick-coloured 1830s estancia (ranch), one of the oldest in Argentina, and set peacefully in the countryside in the heart of the pampas — the endless, fertile plains that are home to the local gauchos (cowboys).

You’ll bump down a dirt track in your four-wheel drive — midst swaying pampas grass and grasslands that seem to stretch to infinity — until you reach the estancia, sometime home to French entrepreneur and polo player Jean-François Decaux, alongside also being a boutique hotel. And all just over an hour’s drive (75 miles) from the capital.

You’ll be greeted at the estate’s gate by a gaucho on a horse who then gallops down the avenue of century-old plane trees to meet you at the estancia’s front door, where you’ll find a royal-style lineup, including your host — Guillermo or his wife Lucila, the managers — and eight smiley staff (one bearing chilled flannels). As you breathe in your welcoming committee, the endless countryside with parrots screeching in the ancient trees and the big, sunlit lawns, someone hands you a home-made empanada, a pastry turnover that’s morphed into the taste of Argentina.

Once inside the ranch, your heart will sing at the colonial décor meets masculine, polo-loving vibe: think reception rooms with contemporary polo pictures and antique stirrups as art, alongside the prestigious British Open Championship Gold Cup won by the estate’s La Bamba de Areco team; and 11 chic and simple suites with antique chests, four-poster beds and dark wooden floors.  You’ll feel as if you’re walking into a Ralph Lauren advert.

You’ll soon be spirited to an asado (the barbecue that’s central to Argentine social life) where you’ll sit al fresco at a table that stretches forever. Meals at La Bamba are like being entertained in a private home and garden, with your hosts joining you and the other guests for these communal occasions. You’ll feast on Andes-sized portions of mouthwatering meats (from home-made black pudding to steak, and sausages) and end with sweet pancakes that are caramelised and singed using an implement heated on the asado that could alternatively be wielded for branding cattle.

Stay in this corner of heaven and its bedrooms to get away from telephones, televisions and mini bars (there’s none of that in your suite) and to spend hours happily walking in the 2000-year-old park, mid lake and river, a retriever at your heels, and maybe spying a red-crested cardinal or white-necked heron, skunk or armadillo.

Or swim outdoors.  Or just play backgammon, or read from the extensive library of coffee-table books on Argentina beside a roaring fire. Then chill in the bar, billiards room or by wandering around enjoying the stable block to guard tower of this former inn (it was once a post house-cum-stopping point on the “Camino Real” that linked Buenos Aires to the rest of the country). Then you’ll eat, eat and eat some more, including a traditional English tea of fresh lemonade, cakes and scones.

This is really the ranch to visit, though, if you like horses: the gaucho show by horse whisperer Martin is a miracle of trust, sensitivity and bravery — as he slips over, slides under and stands on his steed, then flips the creature onto his back for Martin then to lie on top of him.

Also on offer are horse carriage trips to gaucho-led horse rides; or you might play an impromptu chukka during the polo season (the property boasts two tip-top polo fields which are used by the La Bamba de Areco polo team).

Next you’ll pop into San Antonio de Areco — just ten miles away — for its colonial architecture, cobblestone streets, gaucho museum, and atmospheric bars; its chocolaterie that sells the local speciality of alfajor biscuits (don’t miss the chocolate with dulce de leche combo); its excellent artisan leatherworkers and silversmiths making bridles to rastras (silver-studded belts), facones (long-bladed knives) and asado ones; for its San Antonio de Padua Church, an ecclesiastical building that bears testimony to its onetime Irish priests; and for Ruiz de Arellano Square, a piazza where 4000 gauchos meet in November for Dia de la Tradición, with rodeos and cowboys breaking in horses.

You’ll likely end your day back at the ranch enjoying a hot-stone massage, followed by a three-course, formal dinner — including succulent filet steak and tangy, homemade grapefruit sorbet and Malbec — at the long table in the dining room; then finish up with a night in a bed with crisp Egyptian linen sheets and feather pillows.

Little wonder this estancia has been visited by kings, princes and most big names in the chukka world, including the “David Beckham of polo,” Ignacio Figueras and his photographer wife, Delfina Blaquier. Or you may share the house with its owner, Jean-François Decaux, who loves chatting to his guests. So, with apologies to the English writer Samuel Johnson, La Bamba provides every reason to tire of Buenos Aires.  Just don’t step on the weighing scales afterwards.

Journey Latin America (journeylatinamerica.com) offers a 13-day luxury holiday to Brazil and Argentina staying 2 nights at Estancia La Bamba from £7,680 per person. The price includes domestic flights, transfers, excursions and first class hotels on a B&B with full board at La Bamba de Areco (labambadeareco.ar). International flights are extra.

Caroline Phillips is an award-winning freelance journalist who contributes to publications from Sunday and daily newspapers to glossy magazines and various luxury websites. To see more of her work, go to www.carolinephillips.net.