After a mammoth bus journey we arrived in Mar del Plata early Tuesday morning but as it resembled Brighton or Blackpool we jumped on another bus to the smaller beach resort of Villa Gessell. It looked like it would be a bustling tourist town with loads of hotels and restaurants, if only we'd come in season! Instead we arrived to a ghost town and after half hour of walking past numerous closed hostels we collapsed pitifully into a nearby flowerbed! We must've looked desperate as several locals tried to help us but the result was 'si, everything is closed'. we did get directions to the tourist office which was a mere 30 blocks away! We were struggling after 10 but our spirits were lifted when we saw 'hotel abierto todos anos' (open all year for those non-spanish speaking!). Willing to pay anything just to dump our bags we checked in for the night, but after negotiating a good rate with our impressive spanish (we agreed not to ask for a receipt so the tax man wouldnt know) we signed up for another 3!

We headed for the centre but were greeted by more closed doors and a very windy beach, so we went back to our room, watched miss congeniality in spanish (is so much better!) and then went back out to the only open restaurant in town.

Next day we walked along the beach in search of San Jorges horse riding but when we got there we found lots of horses but no Jorge. An interesting phone converstaion followed where Leanna managed to use 3 words of spanish to arrange our horse riding for 4pm. To kill a few hours we sunbathed on the beach, a surreal experience as there was noone else to be seen for miles. We walked back fantasising about buying one of the massive holiday homes, and met Jorge who looked the part in jodphurs and a cowboy hat. We were kitted out with chaps and handed a horse each- Leanna had Jollo, a disobedient feisty character and Nikki had Pampa, a shy retiring type (or maybe just plain lazy!). We were shown the essentials, left right and stop, but we soon discovered the horses only understood spanish too so they wouldnt move when we told them to. Jorge was always close by though with his rather snooty, superior horse to give our horses a kick up the backside every now and then. On the beach we rode down to the water and trotted through the waves, our horses splashing us in the process, and then out to the sanddunes. The experience was amzing, with the vast stretch of sand and the almost setting sun reflecting over it all. It was made more special as we were the only people on the entire beach. As the wind picked up the horses seemed more eager, although Nikkis needed a helping hand with a leather strap, but Leannas almost galloped off with her. Back at the ranch we dismounted with very wobbly legs, not realising how tough it had been on our thighs and definitely not anticipating the pain we would experience the next day.

With plans to rest our aching legs we headed to the beach the next day but the wind was too much for us in our bikinis and lying on our bags to protect them from passers by was a bit uncomfortable so we left in search of shelter and cake! On saturday we caught the local bus to Mar de las pampas, a resort where the VIP's of argentina apparently choose to holiday. we found a cute resort with holiday homes nestled amongst the trees, sweet gift shops, and another empty sandy beach. Again the wind prevented us from a full days sunbathing but we had a few hours topping up our tans before catching the bus back. Tomorrow we leave for the city, watch out Buenos Aires...