Province of Buenos Aires and the Pampa
Crossing the boundaries of the main cities towards the countryside, you will come across green plains and blue skies divided by a neat horizon, dotted with sporadic groves, cattle, cropland, and farm houses called “estancias”.
This quiet monotony ends at the foot of two ranges of gentle hills (Sierras de Tandil and Sierras de la Ventana) in the south of the Province of Buenos Aires that mark the transition area from the Pampas to Patagonia. These two hill ranges with their woods and creeks are suitable for trekking and horse riding. As is the case in most of Argentina, visitors can lodge at beautiful farm houses and inns.
The eastern part of the province of Buenos Aires borders the Atlantic Ocean and has thousands of kilometers of wide beaches. Big cities like Mar del Plata and Bahia Blanca, as well as sea-side towns in the middle of man-planted pinewoods which stop the spreading of the sand dunes, like Pinamar and up market Cariló, stretch south along the coast. To the north of the City of Buenos Aires, the Delta offers quite a different landscape in the form of islands covered with subtropical vegetation, streams, nautical life, places for leisure, and a traditional fruit and crafts market in the city of Tigre itself.
Villages
Almost 200 km from Buenos Aires, may not seem like far away… but there are some little towns that have been forgotten and neglected, but now have a new hope: tourism. After the closure of the railways and the economic crisis, the population of villages and small cities started to migrate to large urban centers.
Today the appreciation for the quality of life and the availability of small town amenities is becoming increasingly important.
Mechita, is charming little town that is full of history. Each year visitors and neighbors are welcomed for the celebration of the “rail” day. The town offers a whirlwind of projects: the rail station is still operating daily with connections to the surrounding towns. There is a Railway Museum, open on weekends, where you can find all the things that could remind you of the towns years of history and glory. You can visit an art museum, which includes the work of various artists who painted the town’s picturesque views. One of the town’s most important heritage sites is called “The Colony”, a neighborhood originally built for the railway families.
Gouin, Is known for its century old train station, that has been abandoned since the 90´s. About one hundred inhabitants are living in over a hundred year old houses with unpaved streets… that seemed to be frozen in time. Rochi Aguilar and Santiago Manion, who had decided to set up a restaurant at the rails station after getting married, had given the town a new lease on life. A sports club, a small social club where you can see the ruins of one of the best old pallet ?? courses, the store of Ramos Generales of 1915 and the bar of Don Tomás are sites you will encounter when walking through the quiet streets and having drinks with the local customers.
Uribelarrea, Was founded in 1890 and it is the site where filming of some of the famous movie Evita took place. The town’s original shop is still open. The best informal town’s guide is Ignacio Marco who when asked shares the stories of the past in all its glorious detail. Great restaurants and handcrafts complete the experience.
Azcuénaga, Has over 130 years of history. The Recreational Club of Apolo was and continues to be the social spot for all the “partido” de San Andrés de Giles. Before the train station was closed, this was the location for all the people from the nearby villages to congregate to promote commerce, establish shops, to organize festivals and pilgrimages.Today, this station is the most famous in the region because of its architecture. In the nearby restaurants you can taste the local cuisine and be entertained listening to the history of the place.
Tomas Jofrè, is the best town for eating regional food under the trees. The local inhabitants exhibit both a great hospitality and a high quality cuisine. Since the 80´s, Tomas Jofre was noted for its cuisine that today became a true gastronomic centre. Although this community has just a hundred people, the streets have no names and there is not a church, nor a police station, the unique recipe of the famous “raviolones” has brought the people of this town out of obscurity.
Bartolomé Bavio, Founded in 1901 under the name of General Mansilla, now carries name of the train station of that time. As in all the other villages-towns, the train station was closed in 1887, but the local people didn´t give up, and they faced the change adapting to the time. A cargo carriage was transformed into a house, the businesses grew along the road side, and the horses were exchanged for 4×4 trucks. Now the project residents are engaged in developing tourism and looking for new projects and activities.
Carlos Keen, Vagues, Villa Lía, Hipólito Vieytes, Domselaar are other forgotten villages, but they retain their strong identity. This is allowing them to be the true protagonist of the phenomenon of keeping the past traditions, while achieving economic transformation of their present and future. Without even meaning to do so, these small towns and villages are offering a wide range of sustainable and responsible tourism practices of the highest quality.
CAMINO ABIERTO
The foundation Camino Abierto (open way) was created with the generous support of Susana Esmoris and Hugo Centineo in 1992, in the town of CARLOS KEEN, in the “partido” de Lujan, It offers not only a place to stay, but a home where they can develop as individuals, to kids from dysfunctional families and children of parents with criminal records.
The Foundation has used the land it owns to establish a farm where about 20 boys between the ages of 9 and 21 live as a family and work on the farm. They learn how to work the land and take care of the animals. They also learn a variety of handcrafts and run a restaurant named “Los Girasoles” (the sunflowers). The clients are served by the boys and the food is genuinely homemade, using the farm products. Sometimes a guest chef is invited to spend a day teaching the boys to prepare a special menu.
The Foundation invites people to get acquainted with its and the boys activities and offer year long accommodations in the wood cabins.
The foundation has not only transformed the life of these boys and has given them a hope, but also has given them an opportunity to participate in the local economic development. The young people learn about the values of working in partnership and find a meaning in life. Over the years the foundation gained the support from different governments, international NGO´s and private companies. This support is essential and allows them to develop local activities with much more significant long-term impact.
TEATRO PATRICIOS UNIDO DE PIE (STANDING PATRICIOS THEATER)
More than 5,000 people lived in the city of Patricios and its economy was based on the railroad. As many other towns, when the railway closed, most of the people moved away and the population doped to 700.
In 2002, a group of 50 people got together to revitalize the town. The goal was to reach out to people through artistic expressions, singing, dancing, performing at the community theater and communicating the joy of art. They group initially targeted their activities to the local people but ended involving tourist interested in the group and towns history. As they expanded their outreach, their activities in turn strengthen their identity and values.
In 2003, the groups first performance was called Our Memories. It was about the memories of the town origin, including visits to the most important places. For the 400 people who attended the event, the organizers created a B&B (what bed and breakfast?), that has become a part of the Chamber of National Rural Tourism since 2004.
As members of the Community Network Theatre, the Director and the Coordinator of the Paticios Theater attend the Networks meetings and participate in all advisory, coordination and training activities. The Community Theater has turned this abandoned town into a place where the people can tell their own story.