Enrique has one now too:
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Unwell
This is our car, Manuel.
He is a 3 litre, 2.5 ton Ford Falcon - this is the reason he is a he.
Named Manuel because his number plate spells "unwell" to me, but he is Argentinian so I had to change it.
He has very comfy bench seat, and not so comfy suspension, but we're working on that.
He is a beast of a car.
He runs on LPG (a little slow, but strong and steady) as well as on petrol (he's a 3 litre, 2.5 ton ford falcon, so we try not to do this too often.)
Friday, November 28, 2008
Cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning
I lost track of which day it was yesterday, and when Enrique laughed at me I said, "Every day is like Sunday here." But I was wrong. Everyday is more like Friday - you have to work, but not too hard, and you can stay up late at night.
Seems the start of summer rains have come. It rained a storm this morning at about 8:00. The far dorm is still leaking, even though Nico fixed the roof, seems we'll have to get a more permanent solution for it. Enrique thinks it will rain tonight and maybe tomorrow and then it will be summer.
It's damn hard work, so I thought I would cheer myself up by taking a few photo's.
This is our cat, Tita - really it is Putita, which means "little bitch", but we don't call her that. She eats anything you put in front of her, from salad to live mice.
And our dog, Toto - yes, from the wizard of OZ - who should really have been called Tonto, which means "stupid" in spanish. He's still just a puppy, maybe he'll get better. The worst thing about him are the ticks he brings home, some of them are full to the the size of jelly beans, and we have to pull them off and squash them. Yuk!
These are the positions these two maintain for the majority of the day, I guess it is Sunday for them every day.
We have two new additions to the family, Nico found two small birds, on the ground, whose nest had been destroyed by the hail the other day. He's feeding them bread soaked in milk and dulce de leche, caramel.
This is the new bathroom that Nico built, we all had a hand in painting it - I did all the white today. It has a nice new shower head that works very well. I am really looking forward to a shower there as soon as the paint dries.
We spent another 3000 pesos on building materials for the new house on Wednesday. I'm slowly working my way towards paying as much as Nico has, the only problem is with getting money out here. It is costing me R30 to withdraw R900. No one seems to allow people to buy pesos with a card here, not even at the airport.
Nico leaves tomorrow night to go an tour around with a friend for a few weeks, he'll be back before christmas. So I'm on my own - sort of, Enrique has offered to help me whenever I need it - and I haven't learned any more spanish since I got here more than a week ago. Bad Nell!
I'm sure I'll be fine. I'll practice shouting and screaming in spanish at the spiders...
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Slogging away
Well, as we suspected, Sunday was a complete writeoff for us. We went to Sofi's sister's wedding on Saturday and had a BIG party.
The wedding ceremny started at 18:30, luckily it was only about 30 minutes long. Then we drove to Sofi's parents Bodego, wine farm, and proceded to have drinks and hors d'euvres on the lawn outside. The wine was spectacular, made by the family, and the champagne was equally as good. There were also a lot of Margueritas being served, since it was half a Mexican wedding.
At about 21:00 we were seated at tables on the other side of the buildings, next to the vineyards. There were several courses served, each from another country - mexican, argentinian, chilean, italian, etc. We carried on drinking and eating ourselves into the ground.
Then the party started.
First a waltz, just to get everyone on the dance floor, and then the music didn't stop till after we left at 06:00 Sunday morning. The bride and groom, friends, family, old people, children, everyone stayed up and dancing till into the early hours of the morning.
Man these Argetinians know how to party!
So We didn't do any work on Sunday. I only got out of bed at 15:00.
Yesterday it hailed on us. First they were the size of small marbes, then big marbles, then they were golf balls. It wreaked havok on our poplar trees, stripping branches and leaves. It also made a few holes in the roof of the far dorm room - luckily I cleaned in there already, otherwise it would have been a mudbath.
Aparently it hardly ever hails in this area of town and Enrique says never this big.
We are getting somewhere with the new hostel.
Thought it was about time to show some photos.
This is what it looks like so far.
The poles mark out the outside of the main house, which Pablo is building. Nico is building the two bedrooms on the one side, and Arlington - yes he is an argentinian - is buiding the kitchen using local stone on the front side.
The path you see here, leading up to the house from the driveway is going to be a set of stairs. I did that all myself, and I have the blisters to show for it. Those little wild thyme bushes are spikey bastards.
I am also getting on with cleaning the old house. It's taking a while because I have to work myself up to do one room. It starts with cleaning all the cobwebs off the ceilings and walls, and I HATE spiders. Funny enough, I don't come across any of them while cleaning, not live one's anyway, but I have killed three large spiders, one small scorpion and several other bugs since I got here - not to mention all the things we find in the pool. The house is very dusty, and I have to sweep each room about three times just to make a dent in it, with time in between for letting the dust settle. It's hot work.
We go into town about once a day, to Nico' disgust, but I am the money man now, and I have to withdraw money slowly - none of the banks or money exchange places will let me buy pesos with my card. I think my bankactually put a stop on my card the other day because I have spent so much on it here in the last few days. Got it sorted out though.
I have also used MS publisher to create a very basic website for our hostel and Enrique's horseback riding business. I have asked Pia, the expert, to see if she can fix them up a bit, and put them on the web. Watch this space for the URL.
Friday, November 21, 2008
A for Away
I have finally arrived in Argentina, and I must say that Nico has done a fantastic job here.
The old house, the temporary hostel, has had the kitchen changed so that it is on the inside of the house and the new bathroom looks great - it just needs a shower-head and it will be up and running.
So far we've had a grand total of three guests. Three Dutch girls stayed here one night after going on a hike with Nico, Enrique and Sofi - it snowed on them up in the mountains...
Hopefully things will pick up a little soon. Enrique brings his horse-riding guests over to our place after their ride for beers and we show them what Mendoza country life is like, hand them a few business cards and hope for the best.
The new house is also coming along nicely. The corner posts for the skeleton of the house are all up and Nico has started building the bedroom walls. The builder, Pablo, was very happy to see me when I arrived on Wednesday - it seems Nico had run out of money and promised him that he would get some when I arrived.
It seems Oswaldo, the property caretaker, has decided to move on. It means we save P$500 a month for his pay, but we now have to do all the watering of the garden ourselves. This is not a small feat, remember we are pretty much in the middle of a desert. We have a constant stream of water to the property, so we just move hosepipes around during the day - Nico is slowly teaching me the watering process, on both properties.
I've started giving the place a good top to bottom clean - it's been boys living here for the last few years, and their idea of clean is not exactly what a hostel should look like. I've managed to do the kitchen and the new bathroom so far. hopefully I wil be able to do the rest of the house early next week, perhaps with a bit of local help. There are a lot of spider webs, and spiders, here that I don't do too well with...
One big piece of news is that we have decided to change the name of the hostel. Seems some of the hostels in town have heard of what's happening up here and are a little upset that we may be taking business away from them. They're angry with Enrique, and we don't want him to lose any business. So the new name of the hostel is:
Los Carolinos
I will leave the url for the blog as is for now, but will change the e-mail address and the url for the hostel website - when I finally get around to doing it.
No photo's for now, will get some time to upload them next week. We're going to Sofi's sister's wedding on Saturday evening, and I think it's pretty much a write-off for Sunday - since these people don't go to bed before 5 when they party.
The old house, the temporary hostel, has had the kitchen changed so that it is on the inside of the house and the new bathroom looks great - it just needs a shower-head and it will be up and running.
So far we've had a grand total of three guests. Three Dutch girls stayed here one night after going on a hike with Nico, Enrique and Sofi - it snowed on them up in the mountains...
Hopefully things will pick up a little soon. Enrique brings his horse-riding guests over to our place after their ride for beers and we show them what Mendoza country life is like, hand them a few business cards and hope for the best.
The new house is also coming along nicely. The corner posts for the skeleton of the house are all up and Nico has started building the bedroom walls. The builder, Pablo, was very happy to see me when I arrived on Wednesday - it seems Nico had run out of money and promised him that he would get some when I arrived.
It seems Oswaldo, the property caretaker, has decided to move on. It means we save P$500 a month for his pay, but we now have to do all the watering of the garden ourselves. This is not a small feat, remember we are pretty much in the middle of a desert. We have a constant stream of water to the property, so we just move hosepipes around during the day - Nico is slowly teaching me the watering process, on both properties.
I've started giving the place a good top to bottom clean - it's been boys living here for the last few years, and their idea of clean is not exactly what a hostel should look like. I've managed to do the kitchen and the new bathroom so far. hopefully I wil be able to do the rest of the house early next week, perhaps with a bit of local help. There are a lot of spider webs, and spiders, here that I don't do too well with...
One big piece of news is that we have decided to change the name of the hostel. Seems some of the hostels in town have heard of what's happening up here and are a little upset that we may be taking business away from them. They're angry with Enrique, and we don't want him to lose any business. So the new name of the hostel is:
Los Carolinos
I will leave the url for the blog as is for now, but will change the e-mail address and the url for the hostel website - when I finally get around to doing it.
No photo's for now, will get some time to upload them next week. We're going to Sofi's sister's wedding on Saturday evening, and I think it's pretty much a write-off for Sunday - since these people don't go to bed before 5 when they party.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Opening soon!
I've been receiving an e-mail a week or so from Nico, updating me on progress on the hostel, just haven't had a lot of time to put it up here.
We've secured the existing house for another year and we're in the process of renovating it - changing the kitchena dn bathroom to suit more people.
Here are a few excerpts from e-mails from nico regarding everything:
"the new bathroom is about half done, building it with bricks, me and enrique are doing it together, without builders to see how we go, trying to keep the total cost below 1000 pesos, this includes making a door into the house and closing up the kitchen with a door into the house as well."
"bought a fridge, bike and double mattress at an auction, a good price for all. also bought the ford falcon and paid for the land"
----------------------------------------
"steadily getting on witht he bathroom, have bought all the plumbing bits, about to finish the roof, walls are almost done, then its the concrete floor and finishing it off at the end, still don't know what we are going to use for hot water cant find those instant hot shower heads anywhere...
the falcon is going well, you have to get an international drivers license before you get here.
cleaned up the place the other day after finishing off the kitchen, also planted a new lawn, should be ready in a few weeks. So just gotta find some cheap single beds and sheets and finish the bathroom, then we can start having people in.
"doing the bulldozing on friday for the new place, the drive is not nearly good enough to get trucks ect up there yet. then will start with the foundations there in a week or two once this place is done"
----------------------------------------
"So another week gone, the bathroom is coming along, but been busy sorting out the top property for the bulldozer, one we tried to get could not get up our drive!!"
"got a builder to do the main house, still waiting for his quote, he suggests we do it in wood rather than bricks it almost half the price, quicker and better insulation summer and winter"
"I strill have to buy a few more single beds and sheets and complete the bathroom then we can start having people over, at the moment when enrique rides he finishes at the hostel for a beer, so people can see the place."
"I have a guitar and hammocks"
----------------------------------------
"kitchen is done, built 4 lockers, and lawn is growing well, but bathroom is still not done, the owner of the place came around and said he wanted to change a few things for the bathroom, so waitung for him to supply some tiles and stuff.... so looking like about a week away still,
but have got lots of beds now, so can take people if they really want to.
also been busy with the builder we are gonna use, checking out options on the build... if we do it in brick or stone its gonna take more time, cost more in materials and difficult to insulate, so looked at some houses he had done before using a wooden structure rather than bricks, all the houses in patagonia are built like this, good insulation, cold and hot, qucker to build and cheaper in materials.... also looks cool, see pics attached for the idea of how the walls will look.
still gonna build that stone kitchen and i will build the bedrooms at the back, that should neot come to more than about 3000 pesos or so."
"redid the drive as cars were not able to get up there, the bulldozer was 450 pesos for 2.5 hours, it looks much better now, we can start getting sand and cement and wood up there and start the building!!!"
----------------------------------------
The other good news is that Nico's friend is now only arriving on the 30th of November, which means we have a full ten days to do a handover of everything rather than the three hours we had before she changed her plans.
We're also in the process of setting up an official website for the hostel and Enrique's horse Riding business. I will post the URL here when it is ready.
We've secured the existing house for another year and we're in the process of renovating it - changing the kitchena dn bathroom to suit more people.
Here are a few excerpts from e-mails from nico regarding everything:
"the new bathroom is about half done, building it with bricks, me and enrique are doing it together, without builders to see how we go, trying to keep the total cost below 1000 pesos, this includes making a door into the house and closing up the kitchen with a door into the house as well."
"bought a fridge, bike and double mattress at an auction, a good price for all. also bought the ford falcon and paid for the land"
----------------------------------------
"steadily getting on witht he bathroom, have bought all the plumbing bits, about to finish the roof, walls are almost done, then its the concrete floor and finishing it off at the end, still don't know what we are going to use for hot water cant find those instant hot shower heads anywhere...
the falcon is going well, you have to get an international drivers license before you get here.
cleaned up the place the other day after finishing off the kitchen, also planted a new lawn, should be ready in a few weeks. So just gotta find some cheap single beds and sheets and finish the bathroom, then we can start having people in.
"doing the bulldozing on friday for the new place, the drive is not nearly good enough to get trucks ect up there yet. then will start with the foundations there in a week or two once this place is done"
----------------------------------------
"So another week gone, the bathroom is coming along, but been busy sorting out the top property for the bulldozer, one we tried to get could not get up our drive!!"
"got a builder to do the main house, still waiting for his quote, he suggests we do it in wood rather than bricks it almost half the price, quicker and better insulation summer and winter"
"I strill have to buy a few more single beds and sheets and complete the bathroom then we can start having people over, at the moment when enrique rides he finishes at the hostel for a beer, so people can see the place."
"I have a guitar and hammocks"
----------------------------------------
"kitchen is done, built 4 lockers, and lawn is growing well, but bathroom is still not done, the owner of the place came around and said he wanted to change a few things for the bathroom, so waitung for him to supply some tiles and stuff.... so looking like about a week away still,
but have got lots of beds now, so can take people if they really want to.
also been busy with the builder we are gonna use, checking out options on the build... if we do it in brick or stone its gonna take more time, cost more in materials and difficult to insulate, so looked at some houses he had done before using a wooden structure rather than bricks, all the houses in patagonia are built like this, good insulation, cold and hot, qucker to build and cheaper in materials.... also looks cool, see pics attached for the idea of how the walls will look.
still gonna build that stone kitchen and i will build the bedrooms at the back, that should neot come to more than about 3000 pesos or so."
"redid the drive as cars were not able to get up there, the bulldozer was 450 pesos for 2.5 hours, it looks much better now, we can start getting sand and cement and wood up there and start the building!!!"
----------------------------------------
The other good news is that Nico's friend is now only arriving on the 30th of November, which means we have a full ten days to do a handover of everything rather than the three hours we had before she changed her plans.
We're also in the process of setting up an official website for the hostel and Enrique's horse Riding business. I will post the URL here when it is ready.
Friday, September 19, 2008
And the word is: GO!
Nico is now in Mendoza and has started the ball rolling on everything.
He has secured us the existing house, across the road, for another year, so we are going to start there. We are going to build onto the bathroom and revamp the kitchen, clean up the rest of the house and build six or seven beds and lockers.
Then we will start up the hostel - small at first to see how we get along with it.
He has also decided to buy a car from Enrique and Sofi, because a truck is just too damn expensive. They will be buying a truck and we should have some use of it when necessary.
At the same time, we will start building on our property, just the main house at first.
Nico has done some invetigating while he's been there and it turns out it is not going to be as cheap as we first thought - same as with any building project, right? - but it is also not going to cost us the earth.
We chat online when he gets himself in front of a computer back in town. It is a strange feeling knowing that he is there, right now, working on our little project, chatting to Enrique and Sofi on a daily basis, spending our money...
I cannot express how excited I am about all of this, still a little scared and very nervous, but so very, very excited.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Procrastinating, quitting and polling
Just a quick little update on the status of things.
Nico has delayed his trip to Argentina until the middle-ish of September because he's found a job, or some such nonsense. Money? Who needs money.
I have given notice at work, and though my boss is rather disappointed to lose me (nice little ego boost) he is quite pleased with the reason for me leaving, and grateful for the long notice period I have given them.
It all seems so real now.
I have added a poll to the bottom of the page, let us know what you think of the plans for the main house.
Nico has delayed his trip to Argentina until the middle-ish of September because he's found a job, or some such nonsense. Money? Who needs money.
I have given notice at work, and though my boss is rather disappointed to lose me (nice little ego boost) he is quite pleased with the reason for me leaving, and grateful for the long notice period I have given them.
It all seems so real now.
I have added a poll to the bottom of the page, let us know what you think of the plans for the main house.
Monday, June 9, 2008
It's ours!
All the money finally made it through to Argentina, and we are now the proud owner of just over, or under, a hectare. The exact measurements will be made as part of the official paperwork when Nico gets to Mendoza. For now, we have a cessation of rights signed over by Enrique to Nico.
Nico has finally reached Europe, after being on a boat delivery from the Seychelles for over two weeks. He must have had a lot of time on his hands, and reverted to his usual ideas and drawings. Luckily he also seems to have access to a computer, because the final results are pretty cool.
When we were all still together, we came up with some pretty detailed ideas for the plan of the main house, based on the house Enrique was living in. Nico took these ideas and put them on paper, so to speak. These are not the final plans, we are not architects or builders and will have to make sure they're viable before starting, but they are a good picture of what we want to build.
Nico has finally reached Europe, after being on a boat delivery from the Seychelles for over two weeks. He must have had a lot of time on his hands, and reverted to his usual ideas and drawings. Luckily he also seems to have access to a computer, because the final results are pretty cool.
When we were all still together, we came up with some pretty detailed ideas for the plan of the main house, based on the house Enrique was living in. Nico took these ideas and put them on paper, so to speak. These are not the final plans, we are not architects or builders and will have to make sure they're viable before starting, but they are a good picture of what we want to build.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Full steam ahead
So now all negotiations are done and we have decided on a price for the land with Enrique and Sofi.
Nico and I are now in the process of trying to get the money over to them - not an easy task from South Africa.
Nico is leaving for a boat delivery on Friday 2nd May and will be doing the yachty thing for a while before heading off to Argentina in August.
He'll start fixing up the "old" el Jarillal house to accept hostel guests, while starting the building process on the new land across the road.
I'll be going to Mendoza in November and take over for a while. I should be there until about March, and then we have to find someone to run the place until winter.
We'll be recruiting from all over the world...
Nico and I are now in the process of trying to get the money over to them - not an easy task from South Africa.
Nico is leaving for a boat delivery on Friday 2nd May and will be doing the yachty thing for a while before heading off to Argentina in August.
He'll start fixing up the "old" el Jarillal house to accept hostel guests, while starting the building process on the new land across the road.
I'll be going to Mendoza in November and take over for a while. I should be there until about March, and then we have to find someone to run the place until winter.
We'll be recruiting from all over the world...
Do you want the good news or the bad news first?
For a few months after we arrived back from Argentina, things were like a roller coaster ride.
The world economy started it's decline into what looked like a recession, and Nico and Tara started having second thoughts about building on land that did not belong to them. There was no way we could afford the US$100 000 for the other property, so it was looking a bit bleak.
Tara also bought into a property in NZ with her mother while we were away and had that bond on her mind.
Being away from Mendoza, the emotions and excitement about the hostel, and area, started to subside somewhat.
I had moved back to South Africa, temporarily, to help a friend with her wedding and make some money for the hostel, so communication between the three of us was erratic.
I was worried for a while that the hostel would not happen.
In the mean time, Sofi and Enrique had been married and on honeymoon for a month in Patagonia.
When they came back, there were a lot of changes happening in the area.
The other properties in the area were all sold for a lot more than they had been available for when we were there. This was a small blow for Nico, who was very interested in one of them.
They had also been offered and investment opportunity that they could not say no to.
So they wanted to sell the section of their land that they had set aside for the property.
This was the best news I had heard in a long time.
I knew that if the price was right, we could buy it and go ahead with building the hostel - investing in land we were going to own made a lot more sense.
Nico agreed 100%, and we started negotiations with Sofi and Enrique.
Unfortunately, Tara decided that buying and building in Argentina was going to cost her too much, in time and money, and she pulled out.
So lots of news, good and some bad, but at least the hostel was back on track.
The world economy started it's decline into what looked like a recession, and Nico and Tara started having second thoughts about building on land that did not belong to them. There was no way we could afford the US$100 000 for the other property, so it was looking a bit bleak.
Tara also bought into a property in NZ with her mother while we were away and had that bond on her mind.
Being away from Mendoza, the emotions and excitement about the hostel, and area, started to subside somewhat.
I had moved back to South Africa, temporarily, to help a friend with her wedding and make some money for the hostel, so communication between the three of us was erratic.
I was worried for a while that the hostel would not happen.
In the mean time, Sofi and Enrique had been married and on honeymoon for a month in Patagonia.
When they came back, there were a lot of changes happening in the area.
The other properties in the area were all sold for a lot more than they had been available for when we were there. This was a small blow for Nico, who was very interested in one of them.
They had also been offered and investment opportunity that they could not say no to.
So they wanted to sell the section of their land that they had set aside for the property.
This was the best news I had heard in a long time.
I knew that if the price was right, we could buy it and go ahead with building the hostel - investing in land we were going to own made a lot more sense.
Nico agreed 100%, and we started negotiations with Sofi and Enrique.
Unfortunately, Tara decided that buying and building in Argentina was going to cost her too much, in time and money, and she pulled out.
So lots of news, good and some bad, but at least the hostel was back on track.
Digging it
Only a few weeks after we left Argentina and el Jarillal, we got an e-mail from Sofi saying that they had got the diggers in to make the driveway and dig the hole for the pool. They had also flattened out the area we are going to use for the main house, using the sand from the driveway and pool.
It was fast work and cheap too, only cost us US$360.
They sent some photos, but had issues with their camera - so not the best - but you can get the idea.
It was fast work and cheap too, only cost us US$360.
They sent some photos, but had issues with their camera - so not the best - but you can get the idea.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The ideas start to flow
After our last visit to Mendoza, Nico spent a few more days in Argentina. As is his wont, he was constantly on the lookout for ideas for building, etc - for the Mendoza hostel, and other projects he has going.
He came across a house that he thought would be a perfect model for our main building, and sent us two photos immediately. We liked it, and so far it is the still the front runner.
He came across a house that he thought would be a perfect model for our main building, and sent us two photos immediately. We liked it, and so far it is the still the front runner.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Not so small talk
A few weeks after our first stay in Mendoza, my brother, Nico, my father and his wife joined us in Argentina. We rented a car and drove around the country for just under three weeks, making a stop in Mendoza for the Christmas public holidays. We went to ride with Enrique on Boxing day, 26 December, mainly so that my brother could see the place and meet him.
Nico loved it as much as we did, and we cornered Enrique that evening to ask him how serious he was about the hostel idea. Discussions went on till late, but it was clear that we would need to go back to Mendoza to talk about it more seriously. We spoke about very little else for the rest of the trip, and rushed back to Mendoza as soon as Pappy and Mammy flew home.
On this third trip, we stayed with Enrique at the house, and talk went on well into the early morning hours. We met Sofi, his then fiance, and she was as enthusiastic about the idea as the rest of us.
At this stage, the idea was to buy or lease the house Enrique was currently in, it belongs to a friend of his, and turn it into a hostel. Tara, Nico and I would renovate the house, adding bathrooms and walling off dorms. We would each go to Mendoza for three months a year and run the place, closing it down over winter or having Enrique and Sofi run it in those quiet months. We asked Enrique to contact his friend, and find out how much he wanted for the property. We made measurements of the house, and took countless photos.
In the afternoon of the second day, Enrique told us he had heard from his friend. It was not good news. His friend had received an offer of US$100 000 on the land and was not wiling to sell it for less. There was no way we were able to afford this. The whole idea was based on the fact that it was going to be cheap and affordable for us. I felt like I had been slammed into the ground. We had been so swept up in it all, it seemed impossible that it wasn't going to happen. I had to go lie down.
Two hours later, I was woken up by Tara saying that Enrique and Sofi had an idea, and I had to get dressed. The two of them had been driving around doing chores, trying to come up with an alternative for us.
They took us across the road, to their new property, where they were building a house for themselves and another corral for the horses. They had decided that we could use half of their land to build a hostel. They walked us through the land and explained which part would be set aside for the hostel. It was perfect. Almost the same situation as the other house, with a great view of the city, and a much better view of the mountains.
This is a view of the property from the road.
We liked the idea, it was a fantastic alternative. So we once again walked around taking measurements and lots of photographs, and we spent that entire night talking about the new idea. Enrique explained to us just how cheap building was in the Mendoza region, so it seemed this alternative was actually going to save us some money.
We checked out the site for the main house, and the view.
We marked out the driveway,
and the swimming pool.
The next day was our last with Enrique and Sofi, and we spent it helping them around the properties and, of course, talking about the hostel some more. We gave them US$600 in order to open a bank account for the hostel, and a goodwill gesture. They were to use the money to start work on the property - digging a driveway to where the hostel would be built, and a great big hole for the swimming pool.
When they dropped us off at our hostel in town, we all had a beer and toasted to ourselves. We were all happy and excited about starting this new venture together.
Nico loved it as much as we did, and we cornered Enrique that evening to ask him how serious he was about the hostel idea. Discussions went on till late, but it was clear that we would need to go back to Mendoza to talk about it more seriously. We spoke about very little else for the rest of the trip, and rushed back to Mendoza as soon as Pappy and Mammy flew home.
On this third trip, we stayed with Enrique at the house, and talk went on well into the early morning hours. We met Sofi, his then fiance, and she was as enthusiastic about the idea as the rest of us.
At this stage, the idea was to buy or lease the house Enrique was currently in, it belongs to a friend of his, and turn it into a hostel. Tara, Nico and I would renovate the house, adding bathrooms and walling off dorms. We would each go to Mendoza for three months a year and run the place, closing it down over winter or having Enrique and Sofi run it in those quiet months. We asked Enrique to contact his friend, and find out how much he wanted for the property. We made measurements of the house, and took countless photos.
In the afternoon of the second day, Enrique told us he had heard from his friend. It was not good news. His friend had received an offer of US$100 000 on the land and was not wiling to sell it for less. There was no way we were able to afford this. The whole idea was based on the fact that it was going to be cheap and affordable for us. I felt like I had been slammed into the ground. We had been so swept up in it all, it seemed impossible that it wasn't going to happen. I had to go lie down.
Two hours later, I was woken up by Tara saying that Enrique and Sofi had an idea, and I had to get dressed. The two of them had been driving around doing chores, trying to come up with an alternative for us.
They took us across the road, to their new property, where they were building a house for themselves and another corral for the horses. They had decided that we could use half of their land to build a hostel. They walked us through the land and explained which part would be set aside for the hostel. It was perfect. Almost the same situation as the other house, with a great view of the city, and a much better view of the mountains.
This is a view of the property from the road.
We liked the idea, it was a fantastic alternative. So we once again walked around taking measurements and lots of photographs, and we spent that entire night talking about the new idea. Enrique explained to us just how cheap building was in the Mendoza region, so it seemed this alternative was actually going to save us some money.
We checked out the site for the main house, and the view.
and the swimming pool.
The next day was our last with Enrique and Sofi, and we spent it helping them around the properties and, of course, talking about the hostel some more. We gave them US$600 in order to open a bank account for the hostel, and a goodwill gesture. They were to use the money to start work on the property - digging a driveway to where the hostel would be built, and a great big hole for the swimming pool.
When they dropped us off at our hostel in town, we all had a beer and toasted to ourselves. We were all happy and excited about starting this new venture together.
In the beginning...
While traveling through South America in 2007, my friend, Tara, and I stopped in Mendoza, Argentina, for quite a few weeks. In that time, we went horse riding with a company advertised at our hostel. We booked an afternoon ride with an Asado (Argentine BBQ) afterwards.
When we arrived at the place, we were already awestruck. It was only 10 minutes from the border of town, but it felt as remote as the mountains in the distance. It was quiet, serene and beautiful.
We met Enrique, and straight away named him "Hot Horse Guy", not only was he good looking, but he was as hospitable as anyone could want.
We saddled up and went for a ride through some amazing land, the town stretching before us and the mountains framing the back.
Unfortunately my photo's don't do the place justice.
After the ride, we helped Enrique unsaddle the horses, with Oswaldo, his farm-hand. Then we were treated to one of the best Asado's we had in Argentina.
We fell in love with the place then and there.
It was on this night that Enrique mentioned that he wished he could open a hostel, or something similar, in order to increase awareness and interest in the area.
The thought stuck with us and we fantasised about the idea for a while.
At some stage, after my brother joined us and we told him about the place, the fantasy dissolved into hopeful discussions.
We went back to Mendoza two short times after that. We met up with Enrique, and his fiance, Sofi, and started talking more seriously about running a hostel in the area.
It has been a roller coaster ride since then, but mostly things are still going the way they were discussed over another fantastic Asado, and a few bottles of great Argentinian red wine.
When we arrived at the place, we were already awestruck. It was only 10 minutes from the border of town, but it felt as remote as the mountains in the distance. It was quiet, serene and beautiful.
We met Enrique, and straight away named him "Hot Horse Guy", not only was he good looking, but he was as hospitable as anyone could want.
We saddled up and went for a ride through some amazing land, the town stretching before us and the mountains framing the back.
Unfortunately my photo's don't do the place justice.
After the ride, we helped Enrique unsaddle the horses, with Oswaldo, his farm-hand. Then we were treated to one of the best Asado's we had in Argentina.
We fell in love with the place then and there.
It was on this night that Enrique mentioned that he wished he could open a hostel, or something similar, in order to increase awareness and interest in the area.
The thought stuck with us and we fantasised about the idea for a while.
At some stage, after my brother joined us and we told him about the place, the fantasy dissolved into hopeful discussions.
We went back to Mendoza two short times after that. We met up with Enrique, and his fiance, Sofi, and started talking more seriously about running a hostel in the area.
It has been a roller coaster ride since then, but mostly things are still going the way they were discussed over another fantastic Asado, and a few bottles of great Argentinian red wine.
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