Chile Forum

At least one fellow forero had an interest in the history of the Afrikaner/Boer colonies in southern Patagonia, and while I briefly touched upon it in another thread, it seemed interesting enough to continue on its own (even though this relates to the Argentine side of the patagonia, there are references to Chilean interaction - Chilean thievery of the Boer colonists' livestock).

The previous thread was topic5776.html

The book reviewed here is by Brian Du Toit.
Title: Colonia Boer: An Afrikaner Settlement in Chubut, Argentina.
Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 1995. xiii + 468 pp. $109.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-7734-8975-2.


The following excerpts are from a longer and more critical review by Martina E. Will (University of New Mexico). The complete review is available here http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=790

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Brian Du Toit's ambitious study may be the first of the Boer
colony of southern Chubut, Argentina, but Colonia Boer
addresses many of the issues common to the myriad ethnic
enclaves that scattered throughout Latin America in the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Argentina's Boer colony is
distinguished from other such immigrant groups by its extremely
small size (a few hundred at arrival), its unique ethnic
composition, and the extremely high rates of repatriation
(approximately 550-600 people between 1937 and 1939).

Unlike many immigrants to Argentina, the Boers did not come for
economic reasons. Arriving in the first decade of the
twentieth century, the very small (about 300) Boer colony that
settled in the sparsely populated landscape of Patagonia came to
Argentina to escape the horrors and devastation of the recent
war with Britain. Subject to British rule in the wake of the
Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), a minority of Boers decided to leave
in large part for nationalistic and cultural reasons. They
ended up in Argentina due to the propaganda efforts of
self-appointed immigration agents. Here as elsewhere, Du Toit
pays great attention to detail. Among those who promoted
immigration to Argentina, Du Toit looks at the colorful Camillo
Ricchiardi, an Italian who had fought with the Boers.

But what of the Argentine view of the story? The Boers arrived
in Argentina just as nationalist sentiment was on the rise, and
class and race antagonism, including a strong anti-immigrant
movement, came to the fore. Were the Boers so isolated in
Patagonia that they did not experience this? What role did
economic competition and religious differences play in the
Colonia Boer's relationship with neighboring Argentines? There
is a fascinating but unwritten history here just in terms of
race and ethnicity. Conflicts with border-crossing,
sheep-stealing Chileans are also mentioned but not considered as
more than anecdotal information.

The only boer I know lives in Casablanca.
David Botha, he has a brilliant restaurant right on the R68.
David came here with his wife only 2 years ago, so he surely isn't the kind of boer you are
talking about, but still, his restaurant is worth a visit.
We went there for the first time in Feb. I had a great chat with him in Afrikaans and English
and we stayed for 7.5 HOURS in the restaurant!

Groschi

Boer means farmer in Afrikaans and since I grew up on a farm and spoke Afrikaans, I (and Dawid) can probably also be classified a Boer, but as you say, that is certainly not the type we're talking about!

Thanks for the info on Dawid Botha, do you remember what the restaurant is called? I'd love to pop in. FYI though, there are a small Afrikaans speaking community here in Santiago, me being one of them, so it's not as uncommon as one might think. A few of the big miners employ South Africans and amongst them, of course, there are quite a number of Afrikaans speaking employees and their families.

Thanks again Pat-x, I feel so slack that I have not researched this more (my excuse, I'm studying full time LLB, so have my nose in the books most of the time as it is!) and really appreciate this thread. I am going to try and get my hands on that book of Brian du Toit, should be a great holiday read!

Don't worry Groschi, I found him - http://www.casabotha.cl/

I noticed that this book on the Patagonian Afrikaaner connection was available by special order in California as well as Argentina. Book is in Spanish obviously.

EN LAS TIERRAS DEL VIENTO... ULTIMA TRAVESÍA BOER, 1902-2002.
Peralta, Liliana Esther and María Laura Morón.

available http://www.libroslatinos.com/cgi-bin/libros/98509.html

Chubut (Argentina): Autoridades Municipales,, 2002. 301p., photos, bibl., wrps, oblong 8vo Near Fine in Wraps Paperback 987 43 4673 6 Story of the mass migration of South African Boers to Patagonia. Includes dozens of family histories, essays on the historical background including the Argentine situation at the the time of the Boer War with Britain (with much genealogical data throughout). With numerous period photos, many of individuals and family groups (Item ID: 98509) $45.00

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haha! I've seen that restaurant on R68, big sign with the surname "Botha" on it...I knew it had to be a South African!! I'll be popping in there sometime for sure!

Catt, I read that he has home made Piri Piri sauce! Worth going just for that

Piri piri (or peri peri) sauce!!!!!!! My shattered nerves, that would be terrific! Thanks for the tip Tombi

Hi Guys
Im thinking of immigrating to Argentinia. I live in Johannesburg South Africa. How difficult is the immigration process, finding employment etc.

Any advice will help.

Ek sal dit baie waardeer!
Dankie
Thanks
Cindy

cindysmit16 wrote:Hi Guys
Im thinking of immigrating to Argentinia. I live in Johannesburg South Africa. How difficult is the immigration process, finding employment etc.

Any advice will help.

Ek sal dit baie waardeer!
Dankie
Thanks
Cindy

You might have better luck on an allargentina.net forum but I am sure some expats here have lived in Argentina.

Thanks! Much appreciated!

cindysmit16 wrote:Thanks! Much appreciated!

No thanks needed as that was not much of an answer. But hang around and our resident Patagonia expert will be around soon.