3 unexpected destinations for riding like a wild west cowboy

by Katie Hammel on

The wild west cowboy is an American icon. Buffalo Bill. John Wayne. The Marlboro Man. These guys were as tough, rugged and wild as the west itself. They represented everything exciting and romantic about the undiscovered western half of the country. But this area of the US isn’t the only place where cowboys roam the range. Here are are few more places where you can rope and ride alongside real cowboys.

South America – The Pampas of Argentina
Someone has to wrangle the cows that make that famously tender Argentine beef, and that’s the job of Argentina’s gauchos, the South American cowboys who run the country’s estancias (or ranches). Many, like Estancia los dos Hermanos, are now open to tourism. Just an hour or so outside of Buenos Aires, you can gallop alongside the gauchos for hours, and then return to the ranch for a filling meal of juicy local beef.

Other cowboy outposts in the region include Uruguay, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru.

Central America – The Hills of Honduras
The hilly region of northwest Honduras, close to the border with Guatemala, is pure cowboy country. Outside of the small town of Copan, near the Mayan ruins, coffee plantations and cattle farms cover the land. Most of these are purely working operations, but a select few, like Finca el Cisne, have caught on to the agri-tourism trend and offer horseback tours of their properties. Here you can learn all about how coffee is produced and then enjoy an exhilarating ride through the misty green hills.

You can also find cowboy culture alive and well in parts of Guatemala and Costa Rica.North America – The Islands of Hawaii
In Hawaii, paniolos (Hawaiian cowboys), herd cattle and sheep over the rolling hills of the islands. Kahua Ranch, on the Big Island, is one of the oldest working ranches in Hawaii. It’s been around since 1850, and in fact is located just above the harbor where the very first cattle arrived on the island. The ranch welcomes guests for 2.5 hour rides over some of the property’s 12,000 acres.

Western Canada, Mexico and of course, many parts of the Western US still rely heavily on cowboys to manage large cattle farms.

Cowboy culture extends far beyond the Americas. They’re just as tough in Australia, where they herd cattle over never-ending expanses of the hot, dusty, Outback, or in New Zealand, where they guide sheep over the country’s rugged landscape. There are even cowboys in South Africa. So pack your boots and ten-gallon hat for your next international journey, and you can have a cowboy adventure almost anywhere you go.

Adventures on the Geronimo Trail

by Kraig Becker on

Way out west, in the Black Range Mountains of New Mexico, there is a quiet little ranch tucked away in the thick pine trees, where cowboys still ride the trails and rustic bunkhouses give guests a place to lay their head at the end of a busy day. That place is the Geronimo Trails Guest Ranch, an adventure resort that lets us live out our wild west dreams on horseback in a pristine setting.

Located four hours from both El Paso and Albuquerque, Geronimo Trails falls well off the grid. The ranch is 85 miles form the nearest stop light, with all power generated through the use of solar panels and water supplied from nearby streams. The area is so remote, that visitors may as well turn off their cell phones when they arrive, as coverage ends 70 miles back down the road.

This eco-conscious approach helps to give the ranch a quiet, serene setting, allowing guests to rest and soak in the rustic atmosphere. And when they’re done relaxing, there are plenty of things to do as well. Situated on one of New Mexico’s designated scenic byways, Geronimo Trail gives access to plenty of outdoor adventure. Whether you’re on horseback or hiking on foot, you’ll be able to follow in the footsteps of Billy the Kid, Butch and Sundance, and even Geronimo himself, while exploring mountain meadows and beautiful, wide open vistas. There are even Native American ruins to discover, with ancient cliff dwellings and caves with wall paintings to give travelers a glimpse into what this part of America was once like, before the settlers came west.

The laid back setting extends to just about every area of the ranch, which has a fully stocked library and plenty of swings and hammocks to curl up with a good book in. Meals are served up in the mess hall, ranch style of course, with guests gathering around picnic tables to share their daily adventures. Nights are spent around the campfire making s’mores and telling stories, while the more energetic amongst the visitors can take part in cowboy sing-alongs or go line dancing well into the wee hours of the night.

For a true cowboy experience in the untamed old west, few experiences compare to a few days stay at Geronimo Trails Guest Ranch. Just be warned, it won’t take long to get settled in, and you might not ever want to go back home.

In the Wild Wild West: Dine in a trailer park

by Grant Martin on

The new trend on dining out in Austin, Texas is in trailer parks. Street food trailer parks, to be exact. Warm, temperate weather makes the capital of Austin an excellent destination for outdoor eating, so why not plant a few street food stalls in permanent slots and let the masses come forth?

South Austin’s Trailer Park and Eatery is a series of several, small street food stands parked on a dusty lot on South 1st St. At just over one mile from the capitol building, it’s packed on a Sunday morning, imported cars and strollers stuffing the small parking lot as patrons wait in line for a greasy taco or hot dog. A fan of picnic tables snarl out from the village, constantly populated by families and hungover youth, ravenously feasting on their morning fare.

Arguably the most popular trailer at this spot is from Torchy’s Tacos, an Austin favorite for well done and better priced tex-mex fare. Breakfast tacos will set you back a solid $2.50, while perennial favorites such as the Democrat (shredded beef barbacoa and onions topped off with fresh avocado, queso fresco, cilantro and a lime wedge served on a corn tortilla with house green salsa) cost an easy $4. First hand, it doesn’t get much better than this.

Delta joins the ranks of “cashless cabins”

by Katie Hammel on

I can’t remember the last time I paid with cash for a drink on a domestic flight. Even on my last few international flights, I pulled out the plastic when it was time for a nerve-calming vodka-cran. So I was actually kind of surprised at the announcement that Delta Airlines would no longer be accepting cash on flights in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. I didn’t even realize cash was still an option.

But if you haven’t yet joined the plastic revolution, or if you just prefer to pay with cash, be warned. As of December 1, you must use debit or credit cards only for all purchases made onboard Delta and Northwest flights, with the exception of trans-Atlantic, trans-Pacific, and South American flights (where both options will be available). You’ll also still be able to use cash (or your card) for onboard duty-free purchases.
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IHG to 300 Holiday Inns: put up or shut up

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The message is clear: shape up or ship out.Up to 300 Holiday Inn hotels could be booted from the brand if their owners don’t get their respective acts together. Intercontinentals Hotel Group has told them they need to get on board with an enormous improvement plan by February 1, 2010.

Does 300 sound like a lot? It is. In fact, it’s 12% of the 3,300 hotels that fly the Holiday Inn flag. The holdouts haven’t begun to play ball with the brand’s requirements, which include new bedding, pillows and towels — not to mention modern music, a renovated lobby and green uplighting on the exterior. The total package is expected to cost around $1 billion.

Kevin Kowalski, brand chief for Holiday Inn, made clear how flexible the mother ship is willing to be: “We’re not changing the timing.” So, he told the owners of these 300 hotels, “If you have a quality problem, fix it.” Not doing so by the deadline will garner the hotel owners failure letters. Sound relatively harmless? Their banks will get them, too, which could trigger some hefty consequences.

[Photo by curioustraveller99 via Flickr]