The trips, the people, the stories are endless in Vanesa’s Diary and in this case, we arrive at a roundabout at the north end of The Rioja, to meet with Raquel. There, when the historic National Route 60 and provincial 46 come together, she and her four-legged companions offer their warmth and what they produce on a farm located about ten kilometers away, in a town that also dazzles with its history.
On our tours around the country doing bridges of love Through pet transportation, in addition to stopping to meet Raquel, we also arrived at a charming place that shows what it was at one time and what it is now: Mazan Station. Located on the border of La Rioja with Catamarca, the historic Argentine North Central Railway passed through there, later the Belgrano National Railway and had its heyday when those who worked in that service settled in the place.
The union of two railway branches at Mazán Station made this place a prosperous town that added services and grew its population, until the closures of the railway in the 80s marked the beginning of a depopulation that continues to this day, where no more than 50 families of older people live there.
Raquel told us about that place, about the problems they have with the supply of drinking water and the salty quality that generates problems for the health of the residents, in addition to not generating a future for the youngest. “It is a town lacking everything”he told us.
She and her husband have a farm where they produce olives, pikles, chili peppers and other products that, based on effort and knowledge, they offer in that roundabout where they trade openly throughout the year.
He told us that they began with their truck stationed in the place and tempting motorists with local and homemade products, to grow in the ray of the scorching sun in summer and withstand the cold during winter.
Little by little, arriving very early in the morning, they added more merchandise and today they have become A must stop for anyone who is there and can have at hand the fruit of the land made by the local people.
Raquel loves that place and passes it on. Together with her four-legged cocker spaniels and a character of pure love and hospitality, she goes back and forth between cars and trucks that recognize her as one of the treasures that can be found in that very particular landscape that the north of Rioja has.
We made a stop at the roundabout on routes 60 and 46 to fill our Diario de Vanesa with human fuel and I hope you like the video that summarizes this new story.
Be Until next time!
