San Miguel del Monte

San Miguel del Monte is a small town around a lagoon, on what was once the southern frontier of Buenos Aires. Around it lie some of the oldest estancias of the province: working cattle farms with long, low houses, parks planted in the nineteenth century with eucalyptus, pines and casuarinas, and open grassland that runs to the horizon. It is good country for birds, and for doing very little.

The way to see it is one or two nights at an estancia, an hour and a half from the city. Days go on riding across the fields, walking the parks, watching the birds on the lagoons and the work with the cattle, and on the asado that arrives at lunchtime. A day visit is possible, but the place makes sense at the pace of a night. It fits well between arrival in Buenos Aires and the flight onwards, or as a rest at the end of a long journey.

Spring and autumn are the best seasons, green and mild. Summer is hot and the pool becomes the centre of the day; winter brings fires and short, clear days.