Mar de las Pampas is, without exaggerating, the place to make peace with oneself and find the so-longed quietness, or die in the attempt but surrounded by an open forest, virgin beaches and deep silence.

As we made a bet on the former, and we did quite well, after finding ourselves in complete harmony with the environment and having "slowed down urban revolutions", we set off to "enjoy" the seaside resort from every possible perspective.

Thus, in the roundabout located at the entrance of Mar de las Pampas , we met Hugo, who is in charge of organizing rides on sulky across the charming forest of the town. As the proposal sounded funny, we decided to be delighted by such experience.

Hugo is one of those people who, after getting to know the benefits of Mar de las Pampas , did not give it a second thought and left the vortex of the capital city to spend his days surrounded by the wild landscape of the Argentinian Atlantic coast.

"When I got here, there were hardly any people, and when I thought of a tourist proposal for a whole family to enjoy this beauty, I thought of sulky and horseback rides" - he asserted as he started to prepare the harnesses for the sulky that would take us to the bowels of the charming freshness of the forest.

We left at once, with our hands on the reins. A small chat to learn how to lead the coach was enough for the adventure to start. We were going with "Mimoso" (Pampered) , a faithful horse of burden that was saved from going to the slaughter house by don Hugo's redeeming intervention. "This is the strongest horse to pull" -he assured, meaning that his decision was the wisest to be made.

Silence. Something that should be respected in this kind of rides is the timing for silence and for conversation. The expert guide knows that people generally only wish to "go for a ride", and beyond shooting sights curiously at all sectors, they are making a communion with the environment.


The trees that surrounded us have witnessed the effort -and achievements- to tame the sand. Mar de las Pampas is an emblem that clusters passion for nature, and day after day, its inhabitants do their best to make it persist that way.

The alleys opened in all directions. The weary path of the animal, the endless shades of the pines and the poplars, the sound made by the pine cones when they touched the ground, plus the clackle of the birds accompanying us, were some of the sensations we wished to keep forever. At a distance, the sea called us thunderously in an invitation to behold. But as the thin wheels of the cart might get stuck, we decided to go back to the starting point to look for a horse and thus get to the beach.

As we can ride, explanations were not too long. The comfortable saddles predicted a comfortable ride. We arranged the stirrups at the appropriate height and, at full gallop and in the company of the chestnut horse, we left towards the uncertain dunes.

Oscar, Hugo's assistant, came with us. Apart from escorting tourists, he is in charge of washing and feeding the horses.

"I love these animals. They are loyal, strong and they even understand the riders' mood" -he said to us, granting some mysticism to the horses, while his rough hand strokes his horse's face, showing with such sublime gesture that man and horse may become one.

U nlike Hugo, Oscar is a man of few words. He let us ride freely and only told us off so that we did not "beat up the percheron".

We went along a small path, up an endless dune and, once on the top, majestic and eternal, the sea received us with a cold gust of wind that wrapped us, making us shiver and sigh at the same time.

The white and foamy crests of the waves and the leaden sky approaching from the horizon announced that it would rain the following day. Glad for having chosen that day to visit the edges of Mar de las Pampas , we returned to the starting point, where we said our good-byes to Hugo and Oscar, grateful for the experiences we had shared .