SHEEP AND THE ESTANCIA-driving 500 sheep

SHEEP AT THE ESTANCIA “LOS PINOS” Feb. 2013

My friend Gerardo and I traveled to la Estancia (farm) of Carlos Abait to buy 500 sheep and bring them back to Gerardo’s Estancia.  Aniceto Cayuñanco,  the peon that lives at Gerardo’s farm rode two days with his 2 sheepdogs to get to Carlos’ farm. It would be his job to bring 500 sheep back to Gerardo’s alone. This is rugged country, very rocky with mountains, valleys and broad flat plains the predominate features. He knows this country. He was born ‘up the road in a village of 40 people. His nickname is ‘choique mora’meaning ‘black ostrich’, a common bird found around here. A Mapuche-T Indian who has worked his whole life on sheep farms, he thought nothing of the task. He took an extra horse to carry his few positions, his one working sheep dog and set out. He would have to move the sheep according to the weather and would bivoc where he could locate shelter from the rain and strong winds and let the tired sheep settle for the night. It was a 60 km drive from one Estancia to the other. It would take him 3 days to get the sheep from one place to the other.

When we arrived at Carlos’ Estancia we were warmly greeted since few visitors ever come by. He was expecting us.

With no phones or electricity communication is done by radio. Radio, the old way. People living in very rural areas send messages to the radio station in town (150 plus kms. away in this case) where they are broadcast to others who sit by their radios in the morning or at night listening for news. A typical message might be “ Juan and Maria are coming to visit Gerardo Viviers at the Estancia Los Sauces on Tuesday next” or “Juana had a baby boy in Sarmiento last Friday and will be returning to Estancia Los Sauces next Monday’. Most all messages originate in towns rather than Estancias unless the Estancia has power and some communications. Cell phones don’t work out here and fixed line phones don’t exist.

Carlos’ farm is 23,000 hectares (2.2 acres per hectar)(over 50,000 acres of land) and he has 8-9,000 sheep roaming the rocky landscape. He looses about 10% per year, mostly to foxes and mountain lions. This is an ongoing issue and involves hunting and poisoning to try and limit the wanton destruction of the sheep. A mountain lion will kill and partially eat a sheep but kill 50 more as that is its nature. The same behavior goes for foxes.

Fox skins can bring 150 pesos or(about $25.00) as they are sold. The other animal found in this area is the Liebre (rabbit). When the population of rabbits is high, the mountain lion and fox hunt them, when low, they go for sheep. I am told that a company was out shooting as many rabbits as they could and the meat and pelts were being shipped to Germany. The unforeseen consequence of this business was to greatly reduce a favored food source for predators and increase sheep loss since fox and lion will hunt and kill what is available.

Gerardo is paying $100.00 (U.S.) per sheep. They are 2 to 4 years of age and will live about 8 years. Gerardo figures that if he can increase his own sheep population to 2000, he’ll get 10,000 kilos of wool each year from the sheep. He’ll get $3.50 per kilo (depending on quality) which gives him $35,000.00 a year. He’ll also get another $10,000.00 for meat sales. This is before costs.

Aniceto, the peon who drove the 500 sheep for three days from one Estancia to another.

Part of the process of marking the sheep for age, gender,and where they go next. 2,000 sheep passed through this process before their bath and injections.

bringing in the sheep from higher pastures to the corral for marking.

 Don Carlos looks on as sheep are marked.

 Aniceto takes a moments rest between marking.

 Giving the sheep their medicine.

 On day three of the movement of sheep from one Estancia to another.

Tightly packing the sheep allows them little room to move about.

 Carlos' head peon, adjusts the medicine.

Blustery sunset over the Estancia "Los Sauces".

The Sky with strong winds a constant feature. Moving across the southern Pacific and over the Andes drops and creates incredible formations.

 Aniceto on the drive.The threat of rain has diminished and now the fear is high heat. If that happens the tired sheep will just stop creating problems of no water for them for miles.

 The sheep finally arrive at 'greener pastures after three days of walking.

My friend Gerardo. We studied together in graduate school in Bs.As.,Argentina some 40 plus years ago.

Gerardo’s  peon, Aniceto gets $10,000 pesos Argentinos a month (currently about 5 pesos to the U.S. dollar.) Of that 10,000, medical insurance, retirement,etc. takes a big chunk leaving Aniceto with about $4,300 Argentine pesos a month as ‘take home pay’. That means he gets a little over $200.00 (U.S.) a month to live on. Not much. Minimum wage in Argentina is $2,800 pesos a month (U.S. $140.00).

A DAY ON THE ESTANCIA HERBERTON, TIERRA DEL FUEGOA DAY ON THE FARM-the Estancia in Patagonia/ Tierra del Fuego Feb. 2013 After having reached ‘the end of the road’ I had an opportunity to visit one of the most notable Estancias in Patagonia/ Tierra del Fuego. The expansive sky mirrors the expansive territory that this Estancia encompasses. Nothing is small down here, everything is big and the distances are hard to comprehend. Take for example this Estancia. I can’t get my head around an Estancia that encompasses as far as the eye can see- from the distant mountains to all the islands in the Beagle Channel. We’re talking about 250,000 hectarias (500,000 plus acres). The story of Harberton, the name of this Estancia, begins with Thomas Bridges an abandoned baby found under a bridge in Bristol, England about 1845. He had embroidered on his clothes a “T” therefore Thomas Bridges. He was adopted by an Anglican minister and in a short time (1856) he moved with his family to the Malvinas Islands (Falklands) . Within 3 years some missionaries were sent from the Malvinas to the area around Ushuaia and were all killed during the first religious ceremony they had but the local inhabitants called Yamanas. In 1859 he set out as a very young man and landed in Ushuaia. Soon thereafter he established the Estancia. Since he had grown up speaking the ´Yamana language he was the first white man to live and establish residency in Patagonia. He was accepted by the locals. One of his most outstanding legacies was to create a ´Yamana dictionary of 35,000 words. This work still stands as the only definitive and authorative source for information on this language. He was the first to introduce sheep in the area and also the vaccination of cows. Further information can be found in the wonderful book called “The Uttermost part of the Earth”. I read that book some 25 years ago and so, being in the area, I had to visit and see the Estancia. A number of interesting items can be found on the Estancia including whale bones, animal skins, sheep shearing equipment and of course the introduction of ‘modern technology’ from England in the late 1800’s. For example, the main houses were the first pre-fabricated houses in the Patagonia and beyond. The houses were built in England and each piece was numbered, the house dismantled and shipped to the Estancia where it was re-built. Local indigenous people who had been taught carpentry helped with the construction. They now wore clothing (previously, as noted by Darwin, the indigenous people wore no clothing, only wrapped in Guanaco skins and living a migratory life style hunting and fishing.) (Darwin called the people savages and cannibals. Bridges set out to change the world’s opinion by showing a different side of the culture). Here are some photos of the Estancia as it currently exists.

A DAY ON THE FARM-the Estancia in Patagonia/ Tierra del Fuego   Feb. 2013

After having reached ‘the end of the road’ I had an opportunity to visit one of the most notable Estancias in Patagonia/ Tierra del Fuego. The expansive sky mirrors the expansive territory that this Estancia encompasses. Nothing is small down here, everything is big and the distances are hard to comprehend. Take for example this Estancia. I can’t get my head around an Estancia that encompasses as far as the eye can see- from the distant mountains to all the islands in the Beagle Channel. We’re talking about 250,000 hectarias (500,000 plus acres).

The story of Harberton, the name of this Estancia, begins with Thomas Bridges an abandoned baby found under a bridge in Bristol, England about 1845. He had embroidered on his clothes a “T” therefore Thomas Bridges. He was adopted by an Anglican minister and in a short time (1856) he moved with his family to the Malvinas Islands (Falklands) . Within 3 years some missionaries were sent from the Malvinas to the area around Ushuaia and were all killed during the first religious ceremony they had but the local inhabitants called Yamanas.

In 1859 he set out as a very young man and landed in Ushuaia. Soon thereafter he established the Estancia. Since he had grown up speaking the ´Yamana language he was the first white man to live and establish residency in Patagonia. He was accepted by the locals.

 One of his most outstanding legacies was to create a ´Yamana dictionary of 35,000 words. This work still stands as the only definitive and authorative source for information on this language.

He was the first to introduce sheep in the area and also the vaccination of cows. Further information can be found in the wonderful book called “The Uttermost part of the Earth”. I read that book some 25 years ago and so, being in the area, I had to visit and see the Estancia.

A number of interesting items can be found on the Estancia including whale bones, animal skins, sheep shearing equipment and of course the introduction of ‘modern technology’ from England in the late 1800’s. For example, the main houses were the first pre-fabricated houses in the Patagonia and beyond. The houses were built in England and each piece was numbered, the house dismantled and shipped to the Estancia where it was re-built. Local indigenous people who had been taught carpentry helped with the construction. They now wore clothing (previously, as noted by Darwin, the indigenous people wore no clothing, only wrapped in Guanaco skins and living a migratory life style hunting and fishing.) (Darwin called the people savages and cannibals. Bridges set out to change the world’s opinion by showing a different side of the culture).

Here are some photos of the Estancia as it currently exists.

The garden with seasonal flowers, strawberries, lettuce and other veggies you'd find in a northwest garden in summer.

The pre-fab house built in England, taken apart and shipped with numbered pieces. Pretty good for the 1870's.

A boat built by one of the sons and a Condor with a 9' wingspan in the barn at the farm.

A view up the hill.Many outbuildings for a flourishing farm of yesteryear.

Wood is the prime source for heating. You can never have enough though it is very plentiful . This pile was about 12' high.

A view looking down on the harbor. Although there is a road (85 kms.of dusty road) it is sometimes easier to avoid the mountain pass (had snow on it last week) by taking the launch through the Beagle Straits to Ushuaia.

The walk way between the main house and the barn and other storage buildings.

you never know what you'll find down south.

The wind shapes the landscape.