Polo holiday in Argentina

17 January 2005

In ten years of playing Polo I have always wanted to go and visit the homeland of my Argentine polo friends.

For my 35th birthday, Mandie decided to arrange a surprise polo holiday in Argentina.

We flew from the UK to Buenos Aires via Madrid and then a short internal flight to Mar del Plata. The whole journey took about 20 hours.

We knew we had reached heaven when we saw that even the airports had saddlery and polo shops!

While it's about 5 degrees celcius here in the UK, its 30 degrees in Argentina ... yippeee!

Mandie organised our polo holiday with Carlitos and Kim. They had arranged for a driver to meet us at Buenos Aires airport and take us on a quick tour of BA and a bite to eat before taking us to the internal airport for the flight to Mar del Plata.

When we arrived at Mar del Plata, Carlitos and Kim were at the airport to meet us.

Mandie had organised for us to stay in a lovely five star hotel on the coast - All the better for enjoying her days sunning herself on the beach and by the pool. She had organised for me to spend my days with Carlitos and Kim with as much time in the saddle as my backside could take.

As a birthday surprise Carlitos had planned for me to play in a 12 goal polo tornament which was due to start 45 minutes after the plane landed, but luckily for me it had rained in the morning and was postponed till the next day. Instead we went to our hotel and quickly checked in and then all went to the polo club for a little stick and ball into the sunset before going for dinner.

To say that I was a little stressed in anticipation of my match would have been an understatement. But the horses Carlitos gave me were a dream to ride and the practice the evening before helped me get my eye in. Most of the players on the field were leagues ahead of me but I gave them a run for their money and scored a fantastic goal following a run with a ball from end to end. Sadly we lost the first match, but made up for it on the second day with a win.

After the match we had an Argentine asado bbq. Some of the players got round the video camera to review the game and inform the umpire of his mistakes!

There was singing and story telling and a surprise birthday cake and happy birthday sung in Spanish - Feliz Cumpleaņos!

No self respecting polo player would go to Argentina without getting a pair of hand made, made to measure polo boots ... handbags, belts, shoes ...

When we weren't playing polo or shopping, we were sunning our selved by the pool at the hotel, in the jacuzza and sauna or having a massage.

If you are a meat eater ... there is no better place than Argentina ... the steaks are big and succulent ... I made a point every night of having a larger steak than the night before ... by the time we left I was all steaked out!

The polo itinerary was rich, with stick and ball or riding/schooling on the beach in the morning followed by chukkas or matches in the afternoon. While I was there I got to play in two two day 12 goal tornaments.

A family team (who beat us incidentally) invited us to come to their farm to play chukkas, and so the horses were loaded onto the truck and off we went!

Despite only coming for some sun, Carlitos and Kim had Mandie doing her fair share of riding too. Mandie fell in love with her mount, a small and cute cobby type polo pony called Rumba (on account of her dancing jog) and made every effort to pursuade Carlitos to sell her!

The polo club is by the sea and is part of a complex in a public park that has a pool, a resturant and a show jumping arena and stables. It is quite amazing to play polo with the view of sea ... not to mention the cooling sea breeze.

Here Norberto, one of Carlitos' grooms, is schooling one of the youngesters. I should have got some tips for Foxy!

The beach is an excelent place to play with the horses. The view is fantastic and the ground is ideal for working and schooling. While we were there a couple called Jack and Ruth also arrived for a polo holiday. Jack, 74 years old wanted to learn to play polo ... and Ruth who is scared of horses! Carlitos and Kim soon had them running around on the beach.

While on the beach a fisherman shows us a fish he has just caught.

Time to return to the polo club and get some stick and ball practice before the chukkas in the afternoon.

When it rains it certainly rains. I was supposed to be playing in a three day tornament, but it started raining 10 minutes before the first match so we ended up having to play it over two days.

In preparation for our return home we went to collect our made to measure polo boots ... Mandie's pink fur lined polo hat! ... and saddle and bridle for Foxy. Don't ask how we got it all home!

The last day was quite frenetic ... culminating in two matches just before rushing to catch our flight home ... we won both matches. As the last bell rung I was wisked off the polo field into a taxi and we rushed to catch the plane on the first leg of our trip home. No time for thanks or good byes ... and so it is in this story we wish to share our great pleasure and gratitude for the amazing time we had with all of you who made this holiday in Argentina special and so memorable.

Carlitos and Kim gave us the best holiday we could possibly imagine. Mandie looked at all the polo packages in Argentina and polo player or not, if you are looking to experiance polo, improve your game or just fool arround on polo ponies I defy anyone to show me a better holiday than the one we had in Mar del Plata with Carlitos and Kim.

Every step of the way, from leaving the UK to regretably having to return, Carlios and Kim made the experience utterly effortless, fun and memorable. My only complaint ... that the holiday came to an end!

Thank you both so much and we look forward to coming again next year!

Normally my selfish side prefers to keep the best things secret, but in appreciation for their efforts in giving us a truly fantastic holiday I feel duty bound to share their details ...

If are a polo player who wants to enjoy a polo holiday as it should really be experienced or are just someone who wants to try something new you can find out more on Carlitos and Kim's www.playpolo.co.uk web site.