My childhood friend went on an adventurous trip to Argentina for a dove hunting excursion. My friend  defines “dapper” and “driven” gentleman.  I”m impressed with  my fellow Greek friend and his love of traveling. He shared his February 2015 adventure with me.

What inspired you to go to Argentina?

We had always been avid bird hunters here in Oklahoma and it was my father-in-law’s dream to go to Argentina where there is some of the best dove hunting in the world.

What did your trip itinerary involve?

The people from the lodge picked us up from the airport. We changed clothes and they put us out in the field where you just shoot all day. There was a full staff. They feed you gourmet meals with game, meat, classic Argentine meals, and provide Cuban cigars (which are legal there), a fire pit and a stocked bar. We drank Scotch and talked politics. They fed us breakfast and then we hunted. They served us a gourmet barbecue in the field on a table they set with linens, wine, meat, salad and empanadas. They set up hammocks between trees where we took a one hour nap before shooting all afternoon. Then, they picked us up and took us to the lodge for horsd’oeuvres on a table on the lawn with mixed drinks. They washed our clothes, cleaned our boots and then we repeated the whole schedule again the following days.

What was the name of the lodge?

Laportenita Lodge.

How would you describe the perfect Argentine meal?

It’s very meat-heavy. There are lots of cattle raised in Argentina and it’s known for meat and barbecue. There are hunks of meat on the cutting board, salad and Malbec wine.

What did you learn about yourself from this trip?

I became better at shooting. Birds were so plentiful there. My hunting skills became better. It was a chance to reconnect with male friends and discuss things relevant to guys.

Describe the vibe of the culture.

They are really friendly and laid back….sort of like being in Mexico. They don’t give a bad vibe that they don’t like foreigners.

How do you describe the terrain?

Where we were was very flat. We flew over the Andes in Chile. The west part of the country goes over the Andes Mountains and then, where we were was vast plain, farmland and cattle.

Were there any challenges in getting to your destination? 

The flight was 10 hours from Atlanta to Santiago and then 2.5 hours from Santiago to Cordova. This is an area where birds feed on the crop so much that they’re considered a pest, unlike here where you’re limited in how many you can shoot. They decimate the crop there in Argentina.

We did have an adventure where we got caught in a flood! We went to dinner and bed to prepare for our 4:00 a.m. pick up but it rained all night and bridges got washed up. We were trapped at the lodge. We missed our flight at the Cordova airport and they had to reschedule our flights. They found a back way to get us there and loaded us up in a Forerunner SUV for a 3 hour drive that would normally take 45 minutes. We went over farmland and back ground to get to town.

How did this trip enrich your life? 

It enriched my life because I’d never been to South America—that part of the world–that culture. I got to experience a different region   of the world!

Writer’s sidenote: I looked up La Portenita and read more details about the itinerary, at my friend’s suggestion. I found out the following details:  “Asado” is the word for local barbecue.  Cordova is known as the dove capital of the world. It is estimated that the dove population there is approximately 32 million birds.

www.handhoutfitters.com/la-portenita-lodge-2.html  

Follow this lesson plan to build trip itineraries with your family: