We both play polo, though not to a very high standard, and wanted somewhere nice to stay for a week that would serve both as a place to relax and a place to hone our polo skills. Put simply; we loved it so much, we arranged a special trip to return just four months later!
El Metejon is conveniently located less than an hour from Buenos Aires, and a mere 15min from Ezeiza airport. The estancia is close to La Martina and La Dolfina, as well If you ask to be picked up by car, you may get a rather shabby welcome vehicle, but don’t let that serve as an indication of what’s to come.
First: the POLO… There are three fields which are maintained to a very high standard, and there are around 400 horses to choose from, so you will certainly find something to your liking. Mornings usually involve a stick-and-ball session, which can be solo or with the expert tuition of Paola Martinez, their resident two-goal instructor. Paola is absolutely fantastic, and wonderfully patient, as well. Late afternoons will include practice chukkas (usually four chukkas), which will be tailored to your level of expertise. You’ll get the full complement of horses at your disposal, and you’ll have no more than two “guests” on each team to keep the flow going. We played practice games with 5-goal resident pro Jorge Tassara, 2-goal Paola Martinez, and several excellent 0-2 goal players from the area. Diego and Alicia, the owners of El Metejon, are very well connected, as their family includes Santiago Chavanne (8 goals) and Maria Chavanne (1 goal), and Diego is the godfather of none other than Adolfo Cambiaso. As a result, they can tailor higher goal practice sessions at relatively short notice (not that we needed it!) During our stay, we encountered both absolute beginners to people who had played for 15 years. All of whom were kept happy.
I cannot praise the friendliness and kindness of the staff and owners enough, from the incredible hospitality of Diego and Alicia (nothing is a problem for them), to the grooms, to the warmth and friendliness of Paola, to the people in the clubhouse. Really, it’s what made the place so special for us, and it’s why we’ll never go anywhere else.
