Río Pinturas, Argentina :: Property description

Estancia Río Pinturas is located to the south of Lago Buenos Aires, on the central plateau of the Province of Santa Cruz, in southern Argentine Patagonia.

Río Pinturas embodies the grandeur and immensity of the land where the Andes foothills meet the Patagonian steppes: the view stretches away as far as the eye can see, the features of the land at once scarred and softened by the power of the glaciers that once covered this region, and the sky seems bigger than it does elsewhere.

The Pinturas river after which the property is named runs through the estancia?s northern sector for some 16 kms (10 miles). The valley through which it runs is also distinctly glacial in origin: flat-bottomed and gently rounded on its edges where it rises into imposing cliffs and deep canyons of volcanic rock of great beauty.

A ribbon of green fertile land follows the river, and has been welcoming man from the dawn of humanity: cliffs and caves in the area abound with primitive paintings, and the walls of the world-famous ?Cueva de las Manos? (The Cave of the Hands, a UNESCO World Heritage Site) a few kms away were intricately decorated between 13,000 to 9,500 years ago. (Visit http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/936 ) The estancia itself has several sites where primitive rock art can be admired, a priceless bonus linking the property to the earliest settlers of this immense land. These paintings have yet to be catalogued, and there may be more waiting to be discovered on protected walls and beneath rocky overhangs and outcrops.

There are several spots of incredible natural beauty on the property, from the various canyons that line the Río Pinturas to the various rock formations, waterholes, pampas and other sites. This beauty is in many cases hard to describe, combining as it does a stark grandeur with incredible colours and pure and immense skies.

In a semi-arid location such as this, a fact that is worthy of note is that the property has vast reserves of water: in addition to Río Pinturas, a tributary stream crosses the ranch and there are several springs providing water of incredible purity from underground aquifers.

The existence of this water gives the estancia carrying capacity for up to 400 cows and 2,000 sheep.

Wildlife is plentiful, with red and grey foxes, skunks, armadillos, guanacos and rheas being frequently seen, as well as coscoroba swans, Magellan geese, eagles and condors soaring high above. Wildcats and pumas stick to the mountainous areas, rarely coming down to the plains, and can sometimes be spied when they go to drink at the river or a spring.

All of these factors give the estancia the potential to be developed as a tourist lodge. Potential activities to offer include: riding, trekking, exploring archaeological sites, bird-watching, rock-climbing, and participating in ranch activities. One particular attraction in this regard is the flock of captive guanacos (a camelid related to the llama) at the ranch that are sheared for their precious wool. Wild guanacos are also rounded up and sheared.

The estancia has a main house with four bedrooms, each with private bath, in a fair condition. There is a house for the manager, one for ranch hands, plus several outbuildings, a greenhouse and a small orchard. Finally, there is a shearing shed with attached corrals for sheep, cows and guanacos, plus a milking shed.

Electricity comes from three sources: a wind turbine, a solar panel and a generator.

The existence of several very flat locations would allow the construction of a private landing strip within the estancia.

Total area: 16,471 ha (40,700 acres)
Location: NW of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, some 150 km south of the town of Perito Moreno, mostly along the famous Route 40.

How to get there: Fly to Buenos Aires and transfer to the domestic airport to connect onto a flight to Comodoro Rivadavia (2.2 hours). There are several flights per day serving this route. There is a 560 km (40 mile) drive from there ?mostly on paved roads and except for the last stretch that is a gravel road. Private flights can use the paved runway of Perito Moreno.