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Travel
Meet Argentina’s Loneliest Man
Published 3:25 AM EDT, Tue July 7, 2015
Pablo Novak, 85, is the sole inhabitant of Epecuen, a desolated town 500 kilometers southwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina.After being buried under 33 feet of floodwater for about 25 years, Epecuen re-emerged in 2009. Novak points at the ruins of his primary school.It took 20 days for the town that was once home to 1,500 people to submerge underwater. That was 1985. Nearly 20 years later, Novak moved back to Epecuen, even though the village was still partially flooded. The water has since subsided, but the town remains deserted.“I got back here to stay with my cattle. And I never left again,” says Novak. He’s now settled in a house some 500 meters away from Epecuen’s center.Novak prepares maté, a beverage infusion of bitter dried leaves. Though the caffeine-rich drink is traditionally shared with others, Novak says he’s used to being alone in this ghost village.
