Uruguay- Guardia del Monte

We traveled to Guardia Del Monte, a historic estancia in Rocha owned by Alicia Fernandez. The estancia is over 100 years old. Surrounded by marshland, interesting Ombú trees and palm trees, it seemed like a nice setting, though we mainly rode right around the ranch because of the rain. Today we had a lot of rain, so didn’t get to do much riding. That’s the problem with filming a show like ours, where you are always outside. The weather does dictate what you can do. Yes, you can still ride in the rain. It’s just not as pretty.

We were able to explore the estancia buildings, where Alicia houses guests. Alicia has collected interesting items from area shipwrecks, like old tiles and a big wood burning stove recovered from a English ship that wrecked off the coast in the 1870’s. Alicia still uses it to cook and it is huge! Alicia cooked us shrimp from the Castillos lagoon for lunch and told us stories of her history. These tiny shrimp are tasty. We’ll be staying at Estancia El Charabon tonight and hopefully the rain will go away so that we can film tomorrow.

Darley Newman is the host and producer of the Emmy Award-winning PBS TV show Equitrekking®, which takes viewers on horseback riding vacations around the world. Purchase Equitrekking DVDs, the Equitrekking Travel Adventures on Horseback book and horse gift itmes at ShopDarley.com

Learn more about equestrian vacations at EquitrekkingTravel.com.