On the first hunting session, we had some comfortable leather and wood chairs for them to sit by their husbands and watch them shoot. Teresa, Dennis’ wife was enthusiastically chatting while on this chair. Her husband was shooting, I was there too. Mariano, Dennis’ field assistant told her: be careful, that chair is not lying flat on the ground, you’re  going to fall! She continued happily talking and boom! She fell off the chair!! Her husband was laughing out loud! He said it was a fall in slow motion! She knew it!

When we wrapped up that day, we concluded that it had been amazing. The weather had favored the experience and the hunting was fantastic! The hunters of the group enjoyed a competition with their field assistants before heading back to La Loma Lodge. There were some bets, I dare say, and that got the spirits up! Everybody wanted to win! Steven and Trenton shot down a thousand birds in a day!

The second day, when the husbands went to the field, the ladies went with Silvia on a tour to Jesus Maria, a nearby town. Silvia is Pablo’s wife and she personally took care of the groups and made sure the ladies had a great time. 

Let’s hear it from Silvia: On Friday, I picked them up at 9 am from La Loma Lodge. What a great group of women! Teresa, Tamara, Andrea and Lisa, the four wives. I drove them to Jesus Maria, a small city located on the way to the Capital. I showed them around, the houses, the river, and the streets. They were interested in seeing how life was in Argentina. After that, we went to the Jesuits Museum, an iconic place of our town history. I told them the story of the Jesuits, the influence they had had in our country and culture and they were truly surprised. In general, I find out that not many people know about this religious heritage from the Jesuits that we have in Cordoba. From there, our next step was shopping. Jesus Maria is a small city but you can find nice leather shops to buy souvenirs. The first stop of our mini shopping tour was for shoes, and at this point I want to mention this, because it’s quite frequent among our guests. The women were surprised at the kind of shoes women wear in Argentina! We call them platforms, and it’s like shoes with high, big cork soles. At first, it’s a bit of a shock, but we love them here, and finally one of the ladies bought a pair! Argentinian fashion for export! She’ll love them when she finds out how comfortable they are! At the leather shop, they loved the purses and bags. Overall, I can say they had a nice time shopping.

By that time, we were all super hungry. It was time to start the second leg of the tour. We went to a restaurant called Clementina in the city of Colonia Caroya. At this point, our guests are usually surprised to find out about the Italian influence and heritage of our country. We had pasta, we had to honor the cuisine of this Italian colony we were visiting. They enjoyed the meal because, as they said, it was a much more traditional Italian cooking that the one they are used to in the USA, which is more like an Italian American fusion. This one was just homemade, freshly homemade, just as if they had been invited to lunch at some Italian’s home. 

After that we moved to la Caroyense, a small local winery. I kept telling them about the history of our immigrants and the influence they had in our Argentine Culture. We toured the winery. We went down to the cellar, a quite dark one if you ask me, but it had good lighting. The guide was the great grandchild of the owner and she was explaining the whole history of the place and talking about her great grandfather when all of a sudden, the lights went out! Lisa screamed! Haha, it’s a bit eerie that just when you mentioned someone who has passed away…the lights go out… isn’t it?! Any ways, the light turned on immediately, they had a movement sensor and turn off when there’s no movement for a while. But the thing is, we were all scared a little bit and laughed about this for a while! Lucky us, the wine tasting was the next step, to release some tension! They tasted all the varieties, even Grapa, which is a local spirit. They couldn’t believe how strong it was!  Argentinian wisdom: drink a sip of grapa the first day of August, if you want to have a good last month of winter!

Finally, we returned to the lodge. There was another great day in store for us. This time with the husbands. They were not going to hunt that Saturday. City tour of the capital city. Luckily, it was a bit cloudy. Cordoba city can be a bit hot in summer, especially if you have to walk it around. As soon as we arrived, we stopped at Starbucks, got a nice coffee and just across the street, we visited the beautiful Capuchinos Church. They were impressed. It’s just beautiful. We saw the building inside and outside. I told them the story about the peculiar architect who built this church which is so different from the others that you can see in Cordoba. We walked to the Jesuits Block and visited all the buildings there, always while learning about their rich history, a shopping stop at Arandu and La Martina, a local leather and traditional clothes shop, and then we walked to the Cathedral. It was closed, what a pity. So we decided to stop for lunch, a good lunch in a famous grill. Typical argentine asado, and wine. The last stop was more shopping, the stores in the downtown area were closed, they usually work only half day on Saturdays, so we went to a shopping mall, walked around and did some more shopping. The group had great fun together, so it was a fantastic day!

On Sunday, the full group decided to go horseback riding. If you want to explore the little town where the lodge is located, horseback riding is an excellent opportunity to do so. Cici from the Travel and Leisure Department does all the organizing for you, just let her know you want to do it! The horseback riding was along the riverside and some hills of the area. They had so much fun! Then, some appetizers, a nice chat about the horses, polo and Argentina before heading back to the field for some more shooting.

In the field, it was simply amazing. Million birds, nonstop shooting, jokes. At lunchtime, besides the amazing asados I always write about, one day our guests enjoyed some dove tacos made with red and yellow bell pepper, red onion, some mushrooms, heavy cream, and a delicious spicy tomato sauce. After that, the traditional Argentine beef with nice Malbec wine and sweet dessert. 

I can tell you that this group really enjoyed the meals. They savored and enjoy each meal prepared, each bite, and also the hammocks for the traditional siestas after that. The men were fascinated with the hunting and the amount of birds. In the afternoon, the ladies had some massage, a spa session at La Loma lodge, and the husbands had a shooting competition with field assistants.

It was a trip for the memory books! So many things happened in just four days! We look forward to see them again in the future!

Federico Silva

Hunting Guide

Pointer Outfitters