Photo upload: Uruguay beaches

Uruguay has plenty of great beaches, and pretty rural countryside too.  Here's some pictures from the 2 places we passed nights at: La Pedrera and Punta del Diablo.

Photo Upload: Old cars on the streets of Uruguay

Uruguay has old cars, trucks and motorbikes everywhere. Many going still, but others sitting decaying in a street or paddock. Occasionally,  one is put to a more creative use,  like a cafe dining spot, as seen here.

Photo upload: Fray bentos meat processing

I mentioned our visit here in a post, but I think it's worth uploading some pictures.  The museum is definately worth a visit if you are ever in Fray Bentos (Uruguay).
Also,  note the massive pink hibiscus flower in my hair,  it's real!

Passing through Uruguay

For me, this was my second time in Uruguay, and the first time for H. It's a country I really do like. 

Touristically, it's not considered to have any super attractions, but I like it for the people. The countryside is also very pretty. 

On day one we visited the old meat processing plant in Fray Bentos. If you know Fray Bentos pies (in a can) and Oxo cubes... Well, once upon a time they were made here. 

The old factory has been nicely preserved and they believe that this year it will qualify for world heritage status with UNESCO. In its heyday (which was at about the time of the major world wars) it employed 4000 people in a shift.  

From there we went to Colonia de Sacramento, which is a fairly major tourist attraction. It's a sweet old town with plenty of ruins and cobblestoned streets to look at. 

Next we went to find a guy on a farm who will let you leave your vehicle there for $1 (USD) per day. As Uruguay allows vehicles to stay one year, it's popular to park there while you go home. The guy has the largest pencil collection in the world and a considerable collection of keyrings, open to public display in his private museum. 

After that we did a few nights on the side of the Uruguay river, which was too big to see the other side of, and then a couple of nights on the beach in coastal towns. Uruguay has a very nice coast, better as you go further North. 

And then to Chuy. As an Australian I need a visa to enter Brazil. The Brazilian Consulate in Chuy is friendly, helpful, and they issued my visa within a day (although, they said, at 10am, 'it will take a minimum of 48 hours, come back at 2.30pm'). 

And now, we are in Brazil!!!

Such a pretty scene, believe me.

I'm sitting having my morning cup of tea (made in the camper) at first light. I haven't brought my camera, so you'll just have to believe me when I tell you how pretty it is. 

The scene is mostly shades of soft pink. I'm looking at the water of the Uruguay river, almost where it all becomes sea, so the water stretches so far in front that I can't see Argentina. 

The water closest to me has reeds and to my right there is a daisy-like yellow flower growing in the water, and another plant with small white flowers. Next the water is reflecting pink, beyond that a soft blue. The sky is cloudy on the horizon and reflecting pink again, and above me the sky is a soft blue. 

Halfway through the scene there is a manmade breakwater of rocks (to guide the yachts into the marina, which is to my left), and at the end of the breakwater there is a bright red steel framed lighthouse which adds such contrast to the scene that it makes it all the more better. 

Large fish keep breaching the surface of the water, in the way that whales and dolphins gently do the same. And a soft yellow breasted bird has just come singing beside me (as I write this!). 

All in all, aside from the mosquitoes, it's a most pretty and tranquil scene. It's called Juan Lacaze. 

Childhood memories come alive in Uruguay´s Panagea

22-27 October 2010
Panagea Cattle Station (Estancia Panagea)
Tacuarembo, Uruguay

   Of all the things I have done this year, Estancia Panagea is one of things I rate the highest, and it is something that if I were to fly back to Argentina or Brazil, I would make an effort to go back again. It was simply fantastic!
   It is a working cattle station (with about 1000 head of cattle and 2000 of sheep) that invites backpackers to come and get involved. For me it was magical. I passed my years from age 5 to 12 on a farm that was primarily a goat farm but also had sheep and cattle. Working the stock on Panagea brought back many memories for me that I had long forgotten, and showed me a really special part of the world.
   Even those tourists (there usually seemed to be 5-6 during my stay of 5 days) who had no rural background loved it. The first person I met there was a travel journalist (seems a fantastic life!) and it seems he´ll be giving it a fantastically good review.
   On your first morning on the station they lend you some gaucho (=cowboy) clothes, then they teach you to saddle a horse, and then you get on it and go for a ride. It isn´t compulsory to be involved in these activities, but I do recommend it. In the morning you might bring in some stock and work with the stock in the yards before putting them back to the paddock. Then it´s lunch and siesta time (it is South America) and then back to resaddle the horses and go out again, if you like.
   The hosts are a Uruguayan man and his Swiss wife, and bab. In the paddock a real gaucho shows you want needs to be done. The other guests didn´t have as much Spanish as I do, so I was put in charge a translating from the Gaucho (who spoke a rough Spanish Portuguese mix) to English and another guest translated my English to French for another guest who spoke only French (It´s amazing that we got the stock anywhere!). The hospitality is lovely. Nothing is rushed, and although the website has you expecting a lumpy bed and camp kitchen slops, my bed was really comfortable and the meals were always delicious and very appreciated.

 In Uruguay there was is much pick (that´s grass), that the cattle never get extra feed brought in, so when I walked into the paddock they ran to the other side of the waterhole and looked at me. At home they might have come to see what I might have for them.

 Leaf cutter ants on their path.

 Nandu´s ... they look like small emu´s.

´My´ horse was named Perth. I was told that if I kicked Perth and got galloping, we would stop when we got to Perth (Australia). She had a hard trot, so I preferred anything slower of faster then it´s trot. 

Cattle swimming through the dip, for ticks.

Other tourists working in the yards.

Gauchos (=cowboys)

 

Drenching the sheep. 

Gaucho bread. 

Accept the fact that it is nothing like the bread you like at home, 

and then you can like it too. I really did like it!

Notes:

Panagea Station is aimed at Backpackers who don´t want a touristy experience. If you go you should get involved in the farm work, otherwise why go? It costs $40 a day, and includes everything and they even pick you up in town and drop you back to town. It´s a good price for this once in a lifetime experience.

Whale watching in Uruguay

Punta Del Este, Uruguay
19-22 October 2010

   I´m not going south of Buenos Aires and I don´t have a visa for Brazil, so the coast of Uruguay was my only chance to visit some of the east coast of South America. For this excursion I chose Punta Del Este. I passed 3 nights in a hostel there and I really enjoyed it. Punta Del Este is famous for being over crowded in the summer, but while I was there (Spring) the place was practically empty. I found nice beaches, enjoyed the sunset over the ocean, and saw sealions and even a whale!
   I didn´t get a photo of the whale, as I was on a bus at the time. So you will just have to believe me when I tell you it was just (approx) 20 metres from the shore. It was a cool score for this late in the season.

Uruguayan Artist Carlos Paez Vilaró created this fanciful on the house at Punta Del Este. It is open to the public (fee payable), in a video about his life he apologizes to architects.

From Punta Del Este I was able to watch the sun set over the ocean from the 

Eastern Coast of South America.

I like hands, and this piece of artwork (it´s big) grabbed my attention. 

It is called El Mano (the hand).

This is one whopping great big sealion. 

A moment later it snatched the bait and jumped back into the water.

 The fishman weren´t bothered by the sealions antics, they clearly saw them every day. 

Some fisherman used the sealions as a way to get the attention of cute young ladies.

The Fishermans Tackle... baited and ready.

Off to learn to be a Gaucho

Ok, excuse me for not writing for the next week.... I am off to learn about being a Uruguayan Guacho (cowboy). Yeehaa!

Bad Vegetarian in Montevideo

Montevideo, Uruguay
17-19 October 2010

   I am not a vegetarian and have never claimed to be. But for the past couple of years I have turned to eating more and more vege meals, and with this I have been acused of being a vegetarian.
   My reasons for eating vegetarian has not to do with the killing of animals. I was raised (age 5-12) on a farm and I have always been quite frank about the killing of animals for meat. But I do not like much of the way animals are farmed in our modern society... feed lot cattle, hormone fed chicken, pigs that probably wouldn´t function as anything but meat factories, etc. And so I started eating vegetarian or meat that I could select as been more ethically grown. More importantly for me, I switched for environmental reasons. I don´t imagine ever switching completely to a vegetarian diet, and I love eating fish. I now first consider Vegetarian options for my eating, but I will eat meat for a number of reasons. I will eat meat when I am okay with how it has been grown (In Australia my choice is Kangaroo, or free range). I will eat small portions of meat when I crave meat. I eat meat when a host presents it to me (I hate to be an ungrateful or difficult guest). And I will eat meat when some place is famous for some dish involving meat. I am firstly a traveler.
  And so this is how I came to really enjoy the dish pictured below when I visited Montevideo. It is called Matambre, which sounds like a rough version of Spanish for what translates to Hunger killer. I had just a half portion, plenty enough for me, and washed it down with a glass of Tannat. Tannat is a Uruguayan Merlot (red wine). It was one of the best meals I have ever had, and I had it perched on a stool watching the activity of the meats being cooked and served. It cost $12, wine included.
   I also checked out the Tango dancing in Montevideo. It was Monday night, but, just like Buenos Aires, the night doesn´t seem to matter, there were still lots of people at the place called JovenTango. From what I saw, I would describe Montevidean(?) Tango as more homely, less complex and more comfortable than Argentine Tango. The women wore far more sensible shoes. I enjoyed my night out in Montevideo, but feel like I really want to experience more Argentine Tango, so I will look for it again when I return to that country.

The local lock seller might have thought this one up. If you put the initials of two people on a lock, and lock it to this fountain/fence, and those two meet at this fountian... their love will be sealed. (Or something like that.)

I hired a bicycle and cycled 4 hours along the coast of Montevideo. Montevideo is one the River Plata, as is Tigre which I visited from Buenos Aires, both have the same problem of dead and dying fish. Parts of the ride smelt really bad. The bike cost just $1 per hour!

Other parts of the bike ride were much more pleasant and overall I loved cycling along Montevideos coast. 

Uruguayans love drinking Maté. See the thermos hooked under the arm and the mate cup in his hand. This is very common.

This is the grill at Mercado del Puerto where I ate the fantastic Matambre.

And here it is... Matambre. Yummo! Basically it is the part between the ribs and the skin on the cow, rolled with spices, capsicum, more stuff... yummo!

Notes:

Accomodation, Montevideo, El Viajero Downtown and Suites. ok.



Colonia

Colonia, Uruguay
16-17 October 2010

   Colonia is just across the massive River Plata from Buenos Aires and should be visited if you have the opportunity to pass this way. The town isn´t big and you you could do it in a few hours and then keep going to Montevideo without passing a night in Colonia. Many people do Colonia as a day trip from Buenos Aires. It is a very pretty town. If you want to do museums there, remember that they close early or you will miss them as I did.

 Street of Sighs.

Ruins and Lighthouse 

Streets of Colonia

Notes

Accomodation: Hostel Colonial $12.50 dorm. It just a one night stop, so OK, but the hostel lacks in a lot of ways if you want to stay longer.

Boat from Buenos Aires to Colonia www.buquebus.com

Protests in Buenos Aires

The people here (Buenos Aires and Uruguay) have turned the protest march into a meer protest. They sit in cars and buses while travelling down the road (together, multiple vehicles) and honk horns, bang drums, and wave flags out the window. Sometimes an entire bus of men will get distracted by a female pedestrian and honk and yell at her instead.
It all looks like more of a party to me than a political move.