Pregled posta

Marketing

San Juan Poriahu is an old estancia located on the Ibera Marshlands, a vast extension of virtually untouched wilderness combined with the colorful land of the gauchos. It has thirty-two thousand acres used primarily for livestock. Almost half of the land is covered by marshes, and the vast wetlands of the Ibera Lagoon begin on its eastern border. On its varied landscape, which ranges from marshes to long, low hills, live carpinchos (large rodents), yacares (alligators), swamp deer, monkeys, nandues (ostriches) and the nearly extinct aguara-guazu (hairy wolf). More than two hundred species of birds have been recorded, including the jabiru, the largest stork in the Americas.
The main buildings are built on the crest of a low hill surrounded by woods of native trees and plants: lapachos, ibira-puita, gomeros (rubber plants), and ombu trees. A settlement of low houses of simple design, well adapted to the region, the three-hundred-year-old house was a former Jesuit chapel. It has small windows, and its thatched roof offers protection from the intense summer heat.
In the seventeenth century San Juan Poriahu was part of the vast circle of estancias of the Society of Jesus. The terrain was particularly well suited for raising cattle: it had fresh water and its fertile pastures formed a sort of island between the marshes that was easy to defend. Part of the old Camino Real, which connected distant parts of the colony, is preserved on the estancia. General Belgrano passed along this road on his way to Paraguay after the May Revolution of 1810 which led to the independence of Argentina from Spain in 1816.
After the Jesuits were expelled in 1769, the lands belonged to a local Spanish pioneer, Don Pedro de Igarzabal, and later to an old family from Corrientes, the Fernandez Blanco. In 1890 Angel Fernandez Blanco died heirless and bequeathed the property to a friend, Ernesto Meabe, a cattleman and distinguished public figure in the province. Meabe bought two contiguous estancias and joined the three properties together, calling the new one San Juan Poriahu-which in Guarani Indian language means Poor San Juan-because the estancia originally had no livestock. Meabe pioneered Shorthorn cattle breeding in Corrientes and brought the first shorthorn to the estancia in wagons from Buenos Aires. His son Raimundo, one of eight children, inherited both San Juan Poriahu and Santa Ana, a neighboring estancia. An active politician, he was also a progressive, successful cattleman. His daughter Ana Maria now owns the estate.
The Corrientes estancias, including San Juan Poriahu, have changed little over the years. The persistence of tradition is apparent in the ranch-hands' attire, which is so well suited to the environment that updating it has been unnecessary. The gauchos still wear the typical bombacha (baggy trousers) and a wide belt; their leggings are made of canvas because they often work in water and the climate is extremely humid. A deer or carpincho hide is folded over their belts and unrolled when they work on foot to protect against rope burns and kicks from the animals. Gauchos from this province also wear a kerchief around the neck in a color that indicates their political sympathies.

Location: Mesopotamia, the north-east region, in the Ibera Marshlands, Province of Corrientes.
The Region: The Ibera marshlands ("Ibera" means Brilliant Waters) are the habitat of the most amazing wildlife in Argentina, formed by a vast extension of wetlands, lagoons and lesser pools, located in the Corrientes Province in the Mesopotamia region of north-east Argentina. An infinite variety of trees, aquatic vegetation as the beautiful "irupe" flower, endangered species as the marsh deer, capybaras (carpinchos), bountiful fish and amazing birds, storks, duck, herons, sea-gulls, flamingos inhabit this magical scenery. It is a subtropical paradise and one of the most spectacular ecosystems in the continent. Watching the colorful 'gauchos", the land of the "chamame", rhythm derived from the polka played by the Guarani Indians first on their flutes and later on with accordions after the arrival of the Europeans and savoring the "mate" in its country of origin, the typical infusion sipped from a gourd with a silver straw called "bombilla", are all part of an exciting sojourn in this intriguing setting. This destination is ideal to combine with a short side-trip to the wondruous Iguazu Falls, the untamed rain forests of the Iguazu National Park, the fantastic San Ignacio Jesuit ruins and precious stone mines that lie at close distance.
Distance from Buenos Aires: 800 miles
How to get there: To reach San Juan de Poriahu one must fly from Buenos Aires either to Corrientes or Posadas cities (one hour and a half daily flights) on Aerolineas Argentinas or Austral Airlines.
Accommodations: 5 double-bedrooms with private bathroom (three en-suite and two with external bathrooms).
Activities: can

This is the biggest shadowbox(16X20) that I've ever used for paper quilling. Lots of tiny details that you can't see in THIS picture.I loved the colors for this one.This was a custom order that I nicknamed "a girls day".I called it that because it has pink little tags to identify all the fun things that girls can do in a day...left to right: "tea time", "play time", "bath time", "dress up time", "nap time", and "story time".This was bought by my sister-n-law to give as a baby shower gift to her friend. Completed March 2007 (to see this photo closer click the "all sizes" button @ the top of the pic) :o)