World's best polo player Adolfo Cambiaso fends of one of the Novillo Astrada brothers
Since all the best players in the world originate from Argentina as well, Buenos Aires is the place to see polo as it was meant to be played. With speeds well over 40 mph and a lot of physical contact, it's a spectacular sight to behold. Best time is the end of november and beginning of december when the Abierto or Open is held at the Campo de Polo in the Palermo neighbourhood of Las Canitas.
The "Cathedral of Polo"
The entrance to the stadium is located at the main thoroughfare Avenida Libertador, so very easy to find. Tickets to the semi-finals and finals can be hard to find (or more correctly: expensive to buy from the many scalpers in front of the stadium). However the Argentinean division of Ticketmaster, called Ticketek, starts selling seasontickets or abonos for all matches at the beginning of October, starting at under 200 pesos or around US $ 50. Even if you only go to a few matches this is often the best deal to be had.
Though Ticketek accepts creditcards, their online system seems to refuse foreign issued ones, but fortunately they have a few brick and mortar locations as well. Most convenient for tourists is probably the one in the Hard Rock Cafe at the Buenos Aires Design shopping center, located directly next to the Recoleta cemetery (of Evita fame). Remember, this is also your only excuse to ever visit a Hard Rock Cafe in a city with so many great restaurants ;-)
Matches start after the worst of the midday heat is over and after the finish around 19:30, everybody throngs to the bars that are located underneath the main stands. With Chandon champagne only US $ 20 a bottle and the proceeds going to different charities, how can you resist. Players also come out to mingle with the spectators, so a great chance to meet them up close as well.
The party after the matches goes on for hours with dinner often only after midnight
Should you really be so taken with the game that you want to try it yourself, there are literally 100's of places where players of all levels can go for lessons at polofarms around Buenos Aires. Even playing with the same world class players you saw just a few days earlier is possible, at a fee of course.
The Llambias polo estate near Lomo Verde outside of BA
Most polofarms are located in the area of Pilar, about 45 minutes northwest of the city between Highways 7 & 8. Aside from polo, most offer comfortable lodgings, swimming pools and all the food you can eat as well. Full days of polo and lodging start at around US $ 200 a day with discounts of around 50% for people who only want to relax and do not use the polo facilities. Not cheap but an amazing experience if you have some travel budget left over.
The author working hard on his polo skills at one of the beautiful polo estancias
All in all I can wholeheartedly recommend you to check out polo if you are in Buenos Aires. It really is something to be seen live and the party atmosphere is great as well. And should you decide that polo is still not macho enough of a sport for your liking, then the same polo stadium is home to the annual Pato finals as well.
Pato means duck in spanish and is a sort of rugby on horseback. Originally played with a dead duck (hence the name), nowadays a ball with leather handles is used. Seeing players hang almost completely under their horses to pick up a loose ball from the ground, often mere inches away from a stampeding horses' legs, is a sight not easily forgotten. It is probably one of the most dangerous teamsports ever and serious injuries are not uncommon. For more on information on Pato, here is a link with some more info.
Hope to see you at the 2010 Abierto!
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