Tartagal, in the province of Salta, is about fifty miles south of the Bolivian border, and not too far away from Paraguay.

My parents used Tartagal as their base from about 1948, and my Father would travel often long distances and for long periods, into the Chaco, on horseback, to evangelise.

Here he is, wearing his poncho, and drinking mate - a herbal tea - with a bombilla - a metal straw. It used to be said that you cannot be an Argentinian without burning your lips on a bombilla!

It was not the easiest of lives. Quite apart from the intense heat (it could be as hot as 113 degrees in the shade! - he had to meet up with witchdoctors and their practices, and very often had to endure opposition. He took this picture of a man undergoing witchdoctor treatment.

I suppose my first recollection (this was in yet another place called Calilegua) was seeing my father stoned by a mob outside our home, until he was able to get back into the house.

This is the interior of the church in Tartagal. Taken approx. 1955.

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