BsAs4u Review: Santa Susana Ranch Day Trip

The Santa Susana Ranch, located in the district of Campana, was established by an Argentine citizen of Irish descent who named the land after his wife, Susana Caffrey. Originally, the ranch was dedicated to agricultural activity, but recently it has opened its doors to tourists to demonstrate the gaucho lifestyle and provide them with a bit of relief from the chaos of Buenos Aires. It is not hard to see why so many people choose to visit Santa Susana; the ranch itself is very impressive and there is plenty to see and do. After being greeted with tasty empanadas fritas and wine, you’ll have free time to explore the ranch on your own and wander through its beautiful grounds.

The beautiful grounds of the Santa Susana Ranch

The beautiful grounds of the Santa Susana Ranch

The Santa Susana Museum

One of the special features of the ranch is its home-turned-museum, which contains the family’s furniture, clothes and other objects from the past. The house still remains perfectly intact and all the memorabilia is exposed to give an insight into the life of a traditional gaucho family. It includes three bedrooms, a large kitchen and a garden area as well as a small chapel, the perfect place to seek a bit of peace and quiet.

The dining room of the old family home

The dining room of the old family home

Horse-riding at the ranch

The ranch offers horse-riding, which people of all ages and levels can take part in, and the idea is to take a small tour around the ranch to see how it works. The gauchos are very friendly and love showing travellers their land and, although the trip is short, it’s a nice opportunity to get some fresh air. There is also the option to ride in a horse drawn carriage, led by a jolly guide who explains about the ranch and the animals there.

Riding in a horse drawn carriage is a great way to see the ranch

Riding in a horse drawn carriage is a great way to see the ranch

Lunch and the ‘fiesta gaucha’

After all this you will no doubt start to feel hungry, especially as you approach the restaurant where you’ll see the meat being prepared in an authentic Argentine style, more than enough to whet your appetite for the asado lunch.

A delicious asado in the making

A delicious asado in the making

Lunch at Santa Susana is not only delicious, but a lot of fun too. You’ll be served high-quality meat by the charming gauchos, as well as chicken, sausages, bread and salad, all accompanied by fine Argentinian Malbec. The ‘fiesta gaucha’ begins towards the end of the meal, with an excellent tango and folklore show featuring classical music, which has everyone up on their feet dancing along.

The festive music has everybody up and dancing

The festive music has everybody up and dancing

Gaucho skills show

The real entertainment comes after the meal in the form of a gaucho skills show, whereby you will witness some incredible ranch skills. As well as herding animals, they play a game known as la sortija, which involves a high amount of speed and ability, and take part in a cuadreras race, another typical gaucho game. If you’re lucky, you might even be given the sortija as a prize and get to go for a gallop on the back of one of the horses!

A gaucho galloping during a game of la sortija

A gaucho galloping during a game of la sortija

Overall, the Santa Susana Ranch Day Trip offers everything you could possibly want from a ranch day: tasty food & wine, trips on horse-back, traditional music & dancing and friendly gauchos.

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