The Two Amigos: A Gaucho Adventure -
Episode 1
Home movie footage from the early 1990s shows John and Simon holidaying in Florida when they were, in their own words, 'free spirits... and very lonely'. After a couple of essential riding lessons in the UK, they don the 'poncho of freedom' and set off for Argentina's capital Buenos Aires. From here, their first task is to get to a local gaucho festival near the town of Pilar. Air drumming to their favourite tunes, with Simon attempting to map read and John dodging the crazy drivers of the capital, the friends get the road trip off to a high-spirited start.
After a hair-raising, pothole-dodging drive with Simon at the wheel (he only passed his test in his 40s), they arrive at La Pelada Estancia near the small town of Esquina, their home for a week of intense training. The ranch, on the banks of the Corrientes River, employs a dozen gauchos who train over a hundred native creole horses and manage five thousand cattle. The head honcho, the dashing Dario Gallardo, soon has Argentina's newest gauchos bedecked in traditional ponchos riding comfortably on two of the estancia's sturdiest horses.
After a tough but highly successful week, the Two Amigos' training is over. In front of them lies some real gaucho work - a three-day-and-night cattle drive in the wilds of Patagonia - quite a challenge for two middle-aged comic actors with soft hands. Will they be able to find the true gaucho within?
