To: permaculture-oceania <permaculture-oceania@lists.cat.org.au>, permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>, Bruce Pridham <brucepridham@dodo.com.au>, Ben & Tiff LLoyd-Thomas <tsbblt@yahoo.com.au>, chris bryant <chrisbryant13@yahoo.com>, Bruce Pridham <bpridham@ccb.vic.edu.au>
Just got into Buenos Aires from one helluva experience teaching a 13 day
course on the 110 000 acre Estancia Ranquilco way up in the Patagonian
Andes. Takes a couple of days to get to this place from BA. The best bus
I've ever been on: 16 hour trip, 1st class style fully horizontal
sleepers, DVD movies (USD45 return), wine, champagne on tap; then motor
to the drop off point and a 5 hour ride up the to the Estancia. I left
via horse (Caesar) down the Trocoman River gorge to El Huecu which
topped off this wonderful experience. You could easily drop out at a
place like this. Almost daily we all consumed freshly slaughtered goat
or beef Asada's put on by the Estanicia's resident Gauchos. Condors were
flying everywhere which was a delight. I rounded off my trip with a
consultancy on a 26 000 acre organic (influenced by HRM/Roussin
management principles) Angus beef property owned by a family of
Irish/Italian descent (7th generation). Funny talking to a Murphy with a
thick Argentinian accent!
We will be running this PDC again in April2007, by which time some of
our students will have done a fair Permaculture retrofit of the shelf
area (main settlement envelope).