Preserving a disappearing culture in Argentina with Los Potreros
Written by Rebecca Woolford, Senderos
In a part of Argentina that most people have never heard of, the Begg family awaits guests to their organic farm, ranch and charming intimate home.
Los Potreros, one of the last outposts of gaucho culture, is not a tourist attraction but a way of life which our modern world and automated farming practices imperil.
With ‘real gauchos’ now hard to come by in Argentina, guests of all experience levels join these ‘working cowboys’ at Los Potreros for a hands-on experience that offers a window into a slowly disappearing way of life.
Keep reading to discover a place where you can experience time differently, immerse in local tradition and feel nourished by home-cooked food and wine. Discover a place where herds of cows and horses roam freely across a wild 6,000-acre landscape.
Senderos’ stories celebrate the positive impact tourism can bring and Los Potreros is a shining example of preserving cultural heritage. Enjoy this interview with Kevin Begg below!
Owner Kevin Begg out horse riding in his favourite red hat and a herd running wild and free at Los Potreros
The Estancia has been in your family Kevin, for 4 generations, over 100 years. Can you take us back to when your family first arrived, how is it different from what we see today
“I’ll start by saying that there’s been very little change and that’s the wonderful thing about the Estancia, it’s a window into the history of Argentine farming.
For those who don’t know, Estancia basically means a place to stay. Funnily enough the word Los Potreros means the enclosure of the stallion.
The first deed of this farm dates back to 1574!
The city of Córdoba which is only an hour and a half drive away was founded in 1573 when the Spanish arrived. This land was given by the King of Spain to one of his warlords at the time. The owner wouldn’t have stayed here for very long. He would have moved to wherever the Spanish army was fighting, but back then the Estancia bred mules.
Those mules were used to carry goods to the capital of the Spanish Empire, which interestingly enough was Lima and not Buenos Aires. Goods were moved north on what was called the Royal Route all the way up to Lima. The mules the Estancia bred were used as pack horses which only ever travelled in one direction.
My family first came into the picture in 1825 when my first ancestor came over from Scotland. It took another hundred years for us to move from Buenos Aires up to the mountains of Córdoba which is in the central part of Argentina. My grandfather used to come to this area as a child with his father, they loved nothing more than riding horses in these hills.
After my grandfather returned from the First World War he decided to buy a farm of 300 hectares and that was the beginning of Estancia Los Potreros. Back then it was a family home, where my grandfather and grandmother and their three children lived.
When the Second World War came along my grandfather disappeared for a long period of time. He went back to Europe and ended up in the Indian army. After the war was over he returned to Argentina in 1946. Sadly, just a year later he passed away, that’s when my grandmother decided to take on paying guests.
The guests were mainly foreigners living in Buenos Aires, people who worked in the embassies or in multinational companies. They would come up to my grandmother’s estancia and spend the summer months here. Many years passed…
It was in 2001 after living abroad in the United Kingdom that I felt compelled to return to my roots, to travel back to Argentina.
I came up one weekend to the family farm and I suddenly realised I was the luckiest man on earth to have such a place. I decided to give up my banking career of 25 years, which some people thought was crazy. It’s difficult to encompass or describe what this place feels like. I guess it feels like freedom.
Today, we no longer breed Mules but Aberdeen Angus cattle and of course horses. Our beef and milk come from this farm. We make our own cheese and butter too. We also create our own renewable energy. 95% of the energy we use is produced on the Estancia with the help of two windmills and solar power.”
Preserving the Gaucho culture at Los Potreros
Could you give some insight into the importance of preserving the gauchos way of life in Argentina and why it remains an integral part of the Estancia?
“Gauchos are a little bit like American cowboys.
Historically they worked with cattle which roamed the grasslands, alongside their trusted steed. They moved from farm to farm offering their services and were nomadic. They were mainly of European descent, yet they were disliked by the Europeans as much as they were by the indigenous tribes of Argentina.
Today, the folklore of the Gaucho is sadly dying out because farms are now run with less staff and more machinery. The movement of cattle across the grasslands that once shaped the day-to-day of the gaucho is vanishing. Private property has also diminished the possibility of gauchos moving from Estancia to Estancia, as they once did.
I came to realise that in order to keep some of these traditions alive we need guests. We need guests who value, appreciate, and create another form of income for Estancias like this. And therefore there is a future. And I think as time goes on, there will be more places like Estancia Los Potreros, like Los Pots. But I think the two really nice things about here, one is that those traditions and that culture still exists as a working farm. And the other is that here is a place where you can come and talk to people about their own country.
How many times do you travel to a country and actually don’t experience much because you don’t talk to people from that country and you don’t learn about their experiences, you can’t talk about their culture, their politics, their life, their food, and that is what’s so nice about this place. You can come and become part of Argentina.
We are unusual in that we have five or six gauchos working at any one time. Our gaucho’s father would have worked for my father and whose grandfather most likely worked for my grandfather too. The real Gaucho’s are a dying breed of people with some very particular skills that are very difficult to find today. And I’m passionate about preserving the traditions and culture which have been here since the early 1800s.”
A short video from YouTube of Estancia Los Potreros
There’s a significant difference between a typical riding school or horse holiday to your working ranch. Why is the experience at Los Potreros so unique?
“Many of our guests love hiking and bird watching, but the core essence of this Estancia is with the horses and I encourage all our guests to ride.
We’re lucky as we have 120 horses which means I have a horse for everyone.
I take great pride in knowing that my guests have the best horses, I truly believe we have some of the best horses in Argentina! We’ve encouraged beginners, as well as people who’ve never ridden in their lives.
It’s important to me that when a guest returns to the Estancia after an enjoyable ride, that when they get off their horse the reaction is ‘wow’. The way we nurture, care for, breed and train our horses allows us to do exactly that.
There are a few differences between us and other riding establishments not just in Argentina but across the world. One is that we’re an authentic working farm and our guests participate, it’s not just a tourist attraction.
For anyone who wants to step into the shoes of a ‘gaucho’ for the day we are the ultimate place to visit.
We offer our guests the opportunity to peer through the window, to glimpse into Argentina a hundred years ago. We’re a working ranch where people stay and get involved with what we do on a day to day basis.
In a lot of horse riding establishments across the world you’re partnered up with one horse for the duration of the stay. We give our guests a different horse for every new ride so that they have the opportunity to experience something slightly different every day. We have different breeds. Some breeds have this extra gear (like a car) which makes things exhilarating and fun.
We have six and a half thousand acres and to see an area of that size, with the mountainous terrain you need a horse, but people also like to get out and walk about. In fact, we’re just about to launch this coming season, new hiking maps of the Estancia, all made by a fabulous artist and cartographer.”
Guests enjoying the unique horse riding experiences and cooking fresh cuisine at Estancia Los Potreros
Guests often share that there’s no such thing as a typical day at Los Pots. Is that true and what does that look like?
“Correct, typical day’s don’t exist here, every day on the Estancia is different.
Our guests are offered breakfast between 8 and 10 am followed by riding which are accompanied by a gaucho and an English speaking guide. In the case of trekking, birdwatchers typically like to go out by themselves.
Lunches are usually outside on the open fire, called a parrilla, it’s an argentine style barbecue or are served as picnics.
We often cook chicken, vegetables or fresh pizzas. Every day there’s something different. In the late afternoon guests often visit the streams, ponds or waterfalls for wild swimming. In the evening we’ll do wine tastings, music evenings with local boys or girls from the village or host ‘the night of the chef’ which is where we’ll prepare and eat what we’ve made together in the kitchen. That’s when a lot of flour is thrown around.
For us the kitchen is a fun place. It is one of the largest rooms in the main house, which dates back to 250 years ago. Our cuisine often reflects what we produce here on the farm and also our international heritage.
Most people don’t know 45 % of this country is of Italian descent and so pastas are prominent in our diet. We make all our pastas in the Estancia itself.
The number one meal that the guests like to participate in is pasta making. gnocchis, raviolis, tagliatelle. They love to make those things in the estancia and obviously the iconic empanada. Empanada is like a Cornish pasty, which we make on the estancia itself and guests love to do that.
We love that our guests don’t know exactly what’s going to happen the next day.”
Owner Kevin in the kitchen at Estancia Los Potreros and a sunset ride in Argentina
Sustainability and beef are not often talked about in succession. Beef is described by some as ‘the least climate friendly food in existence’. How do you approach this topic and why do you believe we should champion the cow?
“There is great criticism towards cattle farming and you’re right it’s a subject that guests often raise and that I enjoy talking about.
Firstly, I believe cattle should be allowed to roam freely, in the open air and that they should be allowed to live as naturally as possible. Their digestive system was built to eat grass not feed. Intensive agriculture doesn’t allow this to happen.
We let our cattle eat naturally, roaming across the grasslands of the Estancia. It produces a much better beef to start with. It produces a much healthier and happier cow and we encounter very few health problems because we allow the cattle to live in their natural environment as they have done for 10,000 years.
Secondly, are there ghastly farming practices in the world? Yes, of course there are. There are ‘good’ farms and they’re ‘bad’ farms. And I agree that farming needs to change.
Thirdly, it’s all about the source. People who choose to eat beef need to consider where their beef is coming from. In the near future it will all be about traceability. You’ll be able to go into a supermarket with a smartphone or device and you’ll be able to see where that animal came from, how many miles it’s travelled, the quality of life the cow had and whether antibiotics were used.
Low-intensity, pasture-fed livestock can improve soil health. By frequently rotating livestock to different parts of the land it minimises overgrazing, as overgrazed land causes the soil to become exposed. When done right cattle can actually support soil health which in turn sequesters carbon.
Argentina is not well known for looking after vegetarians and if I get one comment from my guests when they arrive, they share how they can’t believe the amount of vegetables we offer. They say nowhere else in Argentina seems to offer them that selection and diversity.
We have three incredible cooks here who love coming up with new dishes.”
What ‘s next for Estancia Los Potreros?
“We’ll be closed across April-July this year as the Estancia is going through an exciting renovation. The houses here are all over a hundred years old and the guest house is 250 years old. The restoration process will keep the character and essence of the place but will bring a welcomed upgrade.
We’ve recently joined the technological world thanks to Starlink, providing fast internet, which I’m not sure how happy I am about but modern life is all about connectivity.
Our cattle herd is slowly growing again and we’ve been through some years of drought, so we are starting to rebuild the herd and for the horses I’m always keen to try new ideas and my brother has recently brought in 20 Argentine criollo horses which are new to our herd.”
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