Darwin, Rosalía and Ramón: Donkeys of the Uco Valley
Three donkeys and an unexpected lesson about life
May 8th was World Donkey Day.
I don’t know who decided on the date, but it seemed like a good excuse to write about three animals who ended up teaching me more than I ever expected. These donkeys in Mendoza changed the way I see patience, trust and the natural world.
What Donkeys in Mendoza taught me
Long before I had my own donkeys in Mendoza, I would stop to look at them. Because the truth is, donkeys have always appeared in my life. Long before I had any of my own. Wherever I spotted one, I took a photo — on trips, in forgotten villages, on the side of a road. There was something about them that made me stop. And for years I couldn’t quite understand what it was.
Darwin
Darwin came first. He grew up surrounded by people, by warmth and by trust. He never really learned fear. To this day he remains convinced that any person who approaches is probably coming to pet him, give him something to eat, or play with him.
He is curious, headstrong and sure of himself.
But for a long time, he also didn’t quite understand how to be a donkey.
Because Darwin grew up closer to humans than to other donkeys.
Rosalía
Rosalía was different from the very first day.
She had already been broken in the traditional way. For years, every time I raised my hand to stroke her, she would move her head — just barely — back. A minimal gesture. Almost invisible. But enough to understand that someone, before me, had used their hands differently.
It took me a very long time to get her to stop bracing for a blow before expecting kindness.
And even today, sometimes, that memory surfaces.
Ramón
Then Ramón was born. Son of Darwin and Rosalía, but raised among donkeys from day one.
And that changes everything.
Ramón naturally understands their rhythms, their silences and their codes. There are things no one taught him — he simply knows them.
Sometimes I feel that Ramón ended up teaching something to both of them.
To Darwin, how to be more of a donkey.
And to Rosalía, how to trust a little more.
Living with donkeys in Mendoza
Living alongside them helped me understand something very simple: donkeys observe first. Then they decide.
They don’t react impulsively the way horses do. They don’t constantly seek approval the way dogs do. And they don’t move simply because someone pushes them. When something doesn’t feel safe to them, they simply don’t move forward.
That drives a lot of people crazy.
But there is also enormous wisdom in it.
I proved it to myself in the simplest way:
If I chase them, they run.
If I walk calmly, they come back.
It seems obvious.
And yet we almost always do the opposite — we rush what we want, and end up pushing it away.
Darwin, Rosalía and Ramón live in La Consulta, Valle de Uco, on the same land where Altamira Lodge is taking shape: a small refuge surrounded by mountains, vineyards, silence and nature.
A place where donkeys still belong to the landscape of Mendoza.
These three donkeys in Mendoza remind me every day that life does not always need to move faster. Sometimes the wisest thing we can do is observe first, and only then decide where to go
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