Commandments of Nature

Meeting Roberto and Christina at their ecological farm was a special event during our journey through Calchaquí Valleys. Comments made by several people from local handicraft shops and from the Tourist Office during our stay at Tafí del Valle led us straight to this place. Next to Provincial Route 307, leaving from Tafí del Valle to Amaicha and only six kilometers farther away, Argentinian and indigenous communities flags define the boundaries.

On the staircase we were welcomed by a llama. This lovely, graceful and sociable, native animal was our first contact in this peculiar town. Minutes later, Roberto gently approached us. He was so interested in showing show us his farm that he invited us in. This is how we started our tour: we went up a long staircase that led to his farmhouse, corrals and sown fields inch by inch.

His first suggestion was that we should take our time to visit the place. The high altitude and the steep road could take our breath away and we had to move ahead slowly. Roberto took advantage of these minutes to tell us how he started to develop this undertaking. Our first impression was that of a man in love with his roots and whose daily tasks to show the essence of his ancestors are entailed by this chosen lifestyle.

Looking at the Valley

Everything here was made with effort; there are not any machines or draft animals. Every log, plant and clay brick was placed here and there with their hands and dedication, which reinforces the identity of this ecological farm.

Christina and Roberto have placed their animals, planted trees and organized sown fields on terraces on the green hillside overlooking the valley, where the farmhouse built by both of them stands today. They are used to receiving people from everywhere and they work as tourist guides both in English or Spanish depending on the visitors’ origin.

Their lifestyle is based on the belief that there is a superior force which provides its gifts through nature enabling a harmonious life. The name of the farm comes from this concept (Guided by the Earth goddess “Pachamama”): only mother Earth forecasts a hard winter, poor pastures or water scarcity for animals. This family becomes adapted to these circumstances and, according to this philosophy, copes with the difficulties arising from nature.

Fruits and vegetables, tea, aromatic and medicinal herbs are grown for daily consumption. An agricultural artificial terrace system allows the use of the spring water running down the slopes. They do not use pesticides against plagues because they want to avoid alterations in the final product.


Llamas and Horses Living in their Habitat

We continued towards the corrals where llamas co-exist with valley horses. Roberto told us that llamas gently cooperate with disabled people in a discipline called zootherapy.

From above, with our lungs filled with more air than when we started to climb, we had an overall view of the farm and different paths ideal for hiking and horseback riding. Once again, the llamas made us feel at home. They are docile animals and they sought us to give them food and be stroked.

Before leaving, we hanged around and saw handicrafts made by Roberto and Christina for sale: liquor, knitted products, pottery, compost, bread and other natural products.
At that moment, Roberto, native of this place, and Christina, from New Zealand, told us a story of how they met and chose to change into a healthy life for their bodies and spirits. Nowadays, they share a two-year-old baby with a face lighted by the sun.

There are many reasons to visit them: its open sky, its green landscape, its teachings based on the forces of nature and the alpapuyo, that big cloud that embraces them with its humidity giving life to plants and animals.