Amazing Race 27 — Do Gauchos Still Exist In Argentina?

The Amazing Race 27 is still on location in Argentina. After visiting the church where Pope Francis was baptized in Buenos Aires, the teams head a good 70 miles north to San Antonio de Areco. It’s the home of the gaucho. Similar to Western cowboys, gauchos are responsible for herding cattle by horseback using a weapon called the bola (three leather bound rocks tied together with long leather straps) and lassos.

The Amazing Race 27 teams will learn a lot about the life of a gaucho when they visit the Museo Gauchesco Ricardo Güiraldes. Guiraldes was the rancher who wrote the 1926 novel Don Segundo Sombra. The protagonist was based on real life gaucho, Segundo Ramírez, a native of San Antonio de Areco. While the gaucho is now considered a legendary figure of Argentine society, the culture of the gaucho is alive and well with traditional performances. Each year in November, San Antonio de Areco holds the Día de la Tradición (Tradition Day) gaucho celebration. The Amazing Race airs Fridays at 8pm on CBS.