La Pampa, argentine flatlands

When considering La Pampa or the pampas region it is inevitable to think about Gauchos. If anything, they were the ones that populated this vast area more than any othe r part of the country and they confronted natives almost daily. Through their existence, Gauchos became experts (still are) at handling boleadoras, a 3 hard-rock leather ball tied to a rope that was used for hunting for the most part. They also developed a taste for music in spite of their rough life and manners and used their creative nature to challenge other gauchos at imprompt "Payadas". It was like a duel of guitars and sang poems.

They would carry everywhere a particular type of knife called Facon and by living in the open in close contact with cattle they became used to eating beef cooked in an open fire. These are the first historical records of what later became one of argentine's favorite weekend passtimes: barbecuing meat, that is, grilling an asado. While in La Pampa, it is a good idea to try to find a local ranch for accomodations so as to better become acquainted with argentina's country side and all its rich gaucho traditions.

At a ranch, visitors are invited to ride horses, witness gaucho's skills, enjoy argentine's famous beef (asado, where most of the animals organs get cooked) and have the same landowners as companions. Ranches can accomodate anywhere from 6 to 20 people and are usually very spacious. They may extend from 1000 has to 20,000 has and their main purpose could be cattle breeding or agriculture. The pampas has two distinctive areas called 'pampa humeda' and 'pampa seca'. The first one covers the northern area while the second one is much larger and covers the southwestern part. What is known as pampa seca became a more fertile soil in the last couple of decades due to dramatic climate changes. However, some of the most prosperous and riches lands are in the northeastern section in places like Pergamino.

Located 35 km away from Santa Rosa, Luro Park consists of 3 different environments; the Lake area, the low mountain area and the 'medanos'. The 3 combine to create a wonderful natural habitat for animal life. The Park is completely enclosed, surrounded by a wire fence of 2 1/2 mts high. From its 7600 has only 1200 are open to the public. Pedro Luro bought the land at the trun of the century with the purpose of making a self-enclosed hunting area, just as the ones he knew from his trips to Europe, a "coto". He also brought from his trips a few new...

animal species, like the jabali, that reproduced with no limits. The "casco" (central building of the ranch) was finished in 1910 and came to be known as "The Castle" for it had been built following european castles styles. Mr. Luro would regularly welcome foreign visitors and important local figures attracted by the prospects of great hunting escapes. In 1965 the whole area was purchased by the State and turn into a wild life reservoir. A little over 300 km to the south of Luro Park, there is "The National Park Lihuel Calel" (10,000 habs) created in 1977. Lihuel Calel is a native word for 'mountain of life'. Local animal life was the subject of a very comprehensive study performed by the United States between 1986 and 1989

Historically, this area of Argentina has been the battleground where colonial and later federal forces confronted the native indians. It appears that the conquistadores found originally two different group of natives which the called "pampas". Starting in the 17th century, the area was strongly influenced by the arrival of the Tehuelches, later the Araucanos and finally the Pehuenches. The final battles happened between the years 1876 and 1884 when Namuncura -a highly regarded chief (cacique)- abandoned his fight. The 'desert campaigns' that started around 1833 thus came to an end.