A BED UNDER THE STARS IN HUARPE COUNTRY

I arrived to Mendoza city in an unusual Honda Accord... In the city, I was picked up by Sergio and Viviana, doctors based in Villa Tulumaya, in the northern area of Lavalle. Sergio had pickep a copy of my book in a bookshop in Mendoza, and had invited me to witness the problematic of their area.

Sergio and Viviana hence explained me how the deviation of the Mendoza river for irrigation near the capital implies less water level in the area, and the increase in arsenic and other mineral concentration...

So to get a sample of the rpoblem they took me to Laguna del Rosario, a Huarpe community that lives basically from goats. The area used to grow crops, but then the water problem and the increase of harvest coast led to the abbandonment of agriculture. The lake for which the town is named is now dry...

In top of that, there is a priest called Benito who receives credit from BID and other transoceanic sponsors in the name of this people. Most of them, however, claim that they have never receive a penny. Benito is currently extending his influence in the whole region. Some members of the now divided community see the situation as a new conquer... while others remain shy...

Bothered by the presence of unsensible film-makers from Buenos Aires I left the town towards San jose, another community... I had to walk 25 km along the railways... which was great excercise!



On the way I met the Morales family. They put me up.... in a gorgeous bed under the stars!!!

Mate is never absent!

My great bed next to the horses and the karts (called "sulkys")...

EDUCATIONAL NOMADIC PROJECT FOR THE HUARPE COMMUNITY

As a part of the Educational Nomadic Project, I presented a photographic slide and conference about my hitch-hiking round the wolrd trip, exclusively tailored for the Huarpe community. Accent was set on issues such as land struggles, agriculture, etc. This events are organized thanks to the aid of the People´s Health Movement (PHM) and to the donations of committed readers worldwide. There will soon be details on how to support the project.

SAN RAFAEL AND THE SEED OF A DIFFERENT WORLD

Traveling north from the isolated ranches in La Pampa province I reached San Rafael, in Mendoza. My aim there was to visit Caty Brown and his family. Originally from the U.S. the Browns have been living here for over a year.

Caty began hitch-hiking when she settled in Argentina, and what´s great her is that she encouraged her daughters to travel with her again. Not only did Stella - her daughter, in the picture rock climbing- enjoyed hitch-hiking... but now she also wanders if it is possible to hitch rides in trains, planes, etc. "Oh, they believe it´s normal" proudly claims Caty.... "Actually, -she carries on- if Stella ever wants to play the role of the rebeld, she will not run away from home. That would make us proud of her... She would rather start studying to become an accountant"...

The Browns live in an area called Los Claveles. Their neighbours have their own organic "finca" (farm)... Since there was a birthday, we visited. I was impressed with the houses built entirely from natural material, such as mudbrick, wood, stone, etc. They even used windshields as windows... with the aim of recycling just about everything. The exposure to such bohemian scenario of sedentarims sparked old phantasies of building my own house in a rural area and turn it into a hostel... The organice farm has consequences that go well beyond the individual that live there... They represent the seed of another possible world. It may not be the right moment for a new social system to emerge, but this social experiments are doomed to be the reservoir of the dream for future generations.

By the end of the week, I found myself rafting in the Atuel river, the same river in which dry bed I had been driving a pick up in La Pampa province... A sad sample of how politics can affect the lives of ordinary farmers.

GOAT HERDERS´STRUGGLE FOR LAND IN LA PAMPA PROVINCE

Already in the far west of La Pampa province. Picture of the 1960s Ford pick up that gave me a ride from Paso de los Algarrobos to Arbol de la Esperanza. The road doesn`t come up in most maps. The area is inhabited by goat herders...

.

Locals in Arbol Solo. They invited me for dinner and later allowed me to camp near the house. There is no cell phne signal here, nor public phones. There is barely an unpaved road heading who knows where!

Ruben has a general store in Paso de los Algarrobos, where he invites me for lunch. To give you a rough idea of the enviroment, his kid used to play with a puma they had caught while attacking their goats...

Horses roam almost freely in the area. Sparsed ranches control areas of around 2,500 acres of harsh uncultivated land, exclusively used for goats. The main problem here is that rivers natural capacity to irrigate the area is reduced by dams in neighbouring Mendoza province. As a consequence, Atuel river has no flow at all. We did actually rode a pick up over its dry bed...

Ariel Roldan let´s me share a day of his family routine.. So there I was, chasing goats! These people have another unsolved issue: people they have never seen is coming to claim their lands, showing propertu titles issued in Buenos Aires. These families have been living here for fifty years, but never signed any document. Their right to property is though protected by laws declaring that anyone living for more than 20 years in any land is its owner...

Ariel´s son.

The whole family... It took me some four hours to find a vehicle traveling back to the main asphalt road.

ACROSS THE PAMPAS: BEHIND THE EAGLE´S NEST

Beyond Santa Rosa, capital of La Pampa Province, the road becomes an unpaved rough track wisely chosen by the Dakar 2010 to test their competitors. In such road I stretch my thumb...

Traveling westwards, I get a ride with a team of biologists who monitor the few known nest of the local "crowned eagle". Thei aim is to set a camera in on of the nests. Their job combine hi-tech with psicology, needed to gain the trust of local population. Without the locals, it would be impossible to track the eagle´s nests....

One of the cahracters we met in Jorge`s ranch. He complaint on how much he had smoked along his life, but later reconsidered and quoted: "But I smoke black cigarettes, which are healthier.."...

Maxi and Oscar download images from the camera. We are just fifty meters away from the nest and we can see the neat images on the laptop screen....

And this is the place where Jorge put me up. A truly rural house decorated with pictures of the many horses Jorge had riden along his life. Rifles and munition were not absent, since hunting is the main hobby here. The trip across La Pampa province marked the start of the "off the beaten track" section of the Argentinean stage of the round the world hitch-hiking trip.

HITCH-HIKING ACROSS BUENOS AIRES PROVINCE... BARBED WIRE, SOYBEAN AND ASADO...

My first ride in my hitch-hiking trip from Argentina to Alaska..... A Renault 12 of a baker who sold facturas at Mar del Plata's Children Hospital. After one year of planning I am on the road...!

The next ride... across the Pampas, in a Chevrolet C-10 from this family. The man worked installing barbed wire in the fields. Barbed wire has been the tool for the introduction of private property in the territories originally inhabited by our native indians...

In Benito Juarez I was hosted by the Fantini family, who sold seeds and rural services. Great hospitality and also very opportune swiming pool, considering the heat wave that is punishing Argentina this summer...

A 1930 Ford-A and a modern tractor resting together in a warehouse, in Benito Juarez, Argentina.

Mempo Giardinelli Popular Library at Laprida, founded by José Dascón, a traveler and social entrepeneur. In an old bar next to the local football club, he built this heaven for education...



José Dascón and his powerful, loyal, Citroen 2 CV....

Having an asado with beekeeperrs in Trenque Lauquen. While hitch-hiking across Buenos Aires Province, one must be ready to digest one asado after another....

Bar "El Quique", in Trenque Lauquen. People play pool and have beer in a barroque atmosphere created by th decoration of a thousand random objects, from guns to old almanaques.

Guess what is in the park for kids to play! Yeah. you got it. Old tractors provide good fun, as they show how old aspects of social life are traversed by the rural activity.