Bodega Gamboa – How I Accidently Spent the Day at Local Vineyard

When traveling, things don’t always go according to plan.  When we look at Facebook feeds and Instagram stories it would seem that the travels of others are picture perfect.  The truth is things often go wrong.  You can’t find a taxi, the ATM ate your debit card, you took a wrong turn and find yourself wandering around in a strange city with sweat pouring down your brow and blisters forming on your feet.  It’s not unusual find yourself frustrated or frightened.  There could be arguments, maybe even tears and then you wonder why in the world you ever left home in the first place.  Yea, sometimes when things go wrong it’s just…well, wrong.

But other times when the unexpected happens, if you keep your wits about you, pause and think things through, you may just stumble upon a delightful experience that you never could have anticipated.  That’s exactly what happened to me today. 

This morning I was supposed to travel by boat on a tour of the Tigre Delta.  I had booked an excursion and and was eager to spend time cruising around the canals.  I was waiting in front of the hotel next door (my designated pick-up point) and at exactly 8:55 a.m. a well-marked Mercedes Tour van approached.  An attractive tour guide jumped out and I presented my mobile ticket.  She smiled, looked around and said, “Aren’t there two of you?”.  I replied in the negative and gestured once again to my ticket.  She looked confused and said, “I think the company must have made a mistake, please go ahead and find a seat and I’ll figure this out.”  I boarded the van and settled into a single seat while the guide called the office.  After a couple of minutes, the guide climbed back into the van and apologized for the confusion.  A few minutes later we pulled up to a different hotel in the neighborhood to pick up another group of tourists and my phone buzzed.  It was the tour company informing me that my guide was waiting for me in front of my Airbnb.  I replied in WhatsApp that I was already in the van.

You’ve probably figured out where this is going.  I had gotten into the wrong van.  The guide handed me her phone so that I could call the tour company and they very graciously agreed to rebook me on the tour tomorrow.  But now what.  We were less than ½ mile from my Airbnb, so I was prepared to hop out, walk back and rearrange my plans for the day.  I was a little confused, I had given the tour guide my name and presented my ticket but apparently, she was more focused on collecting passengers than ensuring that she collected the correct passengers. 

She apologized again and offered to have the driver take me back to my Airbnb.  Then she asked, “Since you’re already here, do you want to join us for the day?”  I smiled to mask my mild irritation and asked, “Where are you going?” and she replied, “Out of the city to a vineyard for wine tasing and lunch.”  I laughed lightly, and said, “No, thank you.”  Then an older couple seated just behind me chimed in and said, “Come with us, it’s going to be a fun day!”  I hesitated.  I had just spent the better part of yesterday tasting wine and sampling Argentine cuisine, so it seemed redundant to do something so similar. Then I thought about some random quote I once saw on an inspirational poster claiming, “We are all where we are supposed be.”  So, after asking the price of the tour and doing a quick budget calculation I decided to go with what the travel gods obviously had in store for me and agreed to accompany the group to Gamboa. 

Gamboa is a relatively new vineyard about an hour outside of Buenos Aires.  If you are a wine aficionado then you know this part of Argentina isn’t wine country, that honor goes to Mendoza and Salta.  Regardless, an optimistic family opened this small vineyard a few years ago and are currently experimenting with Mendoza grapes and making a go of creating wine in an area much warmer, dryer and at a lower elevation than the other more well known vineyards.

The vineyard is small, but the adjoining restaurant is large and open with abundant shaded outdoor seating.  The tour of the vineyard was interesting though somewhat unremarkable.  The tasting took place in a cool, inviting wine cellar.  It was well orchestrated and very entertaining.  The wines were better than what I was expecting, especially when paired with the array of cheeses provided.  I was having a nice time, though to be fair, I can’t think of any wine tasting that I’ve ever participated in that I didn’t find enjoyable. 

What I didn’t expect was that the most enjoyable part of the day would be the people that I met. 

After the wine tasting we were seated for lunch outside on a covered patio, It was one of those long, leisurely lunches where the food comes out slowly in multiple courses and there is ample time to get to know your fellow travelers. I really lucked out with the group.  There were two retired couples from America that I met, and one of the gentlemen had just published a book called “The Expendable”, a story about his wife’s father, a navy corpsman who was part of Patrol Wing 10, PT Squadron 3 in WWII and how he refused to surrender when the Philippine islands fell to Japan.  I had a wonderful time talking with him and plan to download the book before leaving this Sunday.  I’ve always been interested in WWII, and I am inspired by anyone who has become a successful writer during retirement.  If your interested in WWII, check out his website at www.expendable.us. 

I also met a wonderful young couple from Norfolk, VA.  He is in the Navy, and she had decided to take advantage of being a remote worker to spend three months in Buenos Aires while her boyfriend was on deployment.  As it turns out, this young man is originally from Roanoke, VA (the city where I was born, and where my parents grew up).  It’s always great when you meet people from your home state. 

Maybe it was the environment, maybe it was the wine or perhaps it was just one of those times where the right mix of people came together on a perfect, sunny afternoon.

We are all familiar with the saying “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.”  I would add that it is also the people that you meet along the way.  That is one of the benefits of traveling solo, it forces me to be more open and engage in conversations with strangers.  It doesn’t always work out but today I was fortunate enough to meet a few people who provided additional inspiration to my journey.