ROCKING ON LA PAMPA

                                   
                                                                         


WEDNESDAY
It was only a week ago that Carmine, Ben and I sat at our kitchen table drinking


coffee. We were discussing the POSSIBILITY of making a treasure hunt to Buenos 


Aires to search for Mario Mendoza, Carmine's first sweetheart. 


We had not seen him since 1953.


Now we have been in Argentina since Friday; we stayed four days in  absolute luxury


at  Avear Palace Hotel, one of the grandest hotels in the world.


Monday
The day after the picnic was very busy. From the information MPA got from the 


post card Alfredo gave us, he was able to phone the ranch, ESTANCIA PERES


which is still in operation. Now  it is not only a working ranch with traditional


gauchos but also a dude ranch, which can have up to ten guests. 


 MPA made reservations for us, prepaid our expenses, and arranged for


 Avear Hotel shuttle to take us.


TUESDAY
After calling the Mendozas, saying goodbye to the staff of the  hotel   and tipping 


them extravagantly,  we began out next step hoping to find  the treasure. 



Buenos Aires is called the Paris of South America. It was such a surprise that 


almost as soon as the hotel shuttle left the city limits, we were on la Pampa.


In just a few hours we would reach the ranch, where Mario once worked as a gaucho.


It is a prairie of fertile top soil 12 feet deep which goes with scarcely a hill to the base


of the Andes.


We were so wrapped up in our concern for Mario, we didn't consider what gorgeous 


landscape we would see!!

v.
If you look closely at the left top picture, you can
see  Estansia Peres, our destination. It has been in
the same family for almost 200 years. When Mario
worked there, it was exclusively a working cattle ranch


Estancias play a huge part in Argentine culture, 
economy and history. In the early days they made
Argentina one of the biggest meat and grain
producers in the world. The enormous ranches 
dotted the country side. 

 v

.

As Carmine looked out the window at one of the gauchos

tending cattle, she sighed. "I can see this was the perfect

life for Mario to be out in the open spaces." 

Beanie added, "Yes, and he was just a few hours away from his brother and two sisters to help when they needed him."

TWO HOURS LATER

 

We arrived!!  It was raining and the lights were on.

Only 4 tourists were there; they were eating lunch, when

we entered. It was like a home. No reception desk. The owner
and his wife were at the table with the tourists. Juan Peres
came over and introduced himself and greeted us, saying he was looking fwd to our arrival. He said our MPA told him
we have an interesting reason for being here...something 
about someone who once worked here. 
We said, "Yes, we are looking for information about Mario
Z. Mendoza."


"Was he a gaucho?" he asked. "I don't recognize the name.  He
surely worked for my late father. We  have a scrap book
on the coffee table with many pictures of Peres gauchos. The
tourists enjoy looking at it."


We started flipping through the pages...late 70's and early 80's.
  maybe,,,,

                    maybe.
another maybe

mMaybe when he was in his 40's....Both of these?The MENDOZAS HAVE THIS ONE. This one COULD be him?  No names or dates. We
were frustrated after looking a long while. There were several who could have been Mario, but not
for sure.

WE grew tired;  the more we looked, the more confused we became.  


Juan Peres came over to us and said that maybe Jose Gonzales, the cook, might have known him. "He's  lived here since he was a child and always hung around the gauchos. He is in the kitchen now, just go on in. We are like a family here."


So we DID go on into the kitchen and found a handsome fellow under sixty at the sink washing dishes. We introduced ourselves and told him why we were here. We asked him if he remembered Mario Mendoza. 


He smiled warmly. "Of course I remember Mario. He was one of my heroes, my idol. He was about 20 years older than me, and he was always so nice, treated me like a son."


"Why did he leave...did he quit..was he fired, Jose?".


He said that the way he remembers it, Argentina was a scary
place in late 70's and early 80's. "Police or militia could pick 
up anybody without saying why. They would disappear and not be heard from again. Everything was secret. One day they came in and arrested two of Mario's best friends. Mario had many friends. Well, everyone was too terrified in those days to stand up to these cutthroats.


 Not Mario! He tried to pull the police off of his friends with no success. A week later they came back and arrested Mario and took him away blindfolded. That was the last time I saw him."


By then we were crying.

Pepe continued, " But in 1990 I got a strange picture postcard. My mail is always addressed to Jose Gonzales. This said PEPE . Mario always called me that. The message side was blank.  I believed Mario was telling me he is alive and safe somewhere."


"Pepe, do you believe he is dead?"


He answered, "No, I believe he is alive but not the same Mario we knew.." He reached in a drawer and pulled out the postcard.." We were stunned.


I want to show you a picture in my room."
We followed him down the hall into his small room.  He pointed to the wall.


"Mario gave me this picture. Its the only copy, and I treasure it.


I'll tell you more, when we know more. Goodnight, annie

                  
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