EXPLORING
URUGUAY
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We
headed to Argentina after selling our Caribbean home in Montserrat.
My dream was to see icebergs and glaciers, but our visit to this
extraordinary country opened our eyes to so much more. Having traveled
first to Ushuaia the Antarctica staging point and worked our way
up through Patagonia to Calafate, we had settled into Buenos Aires
as if it were to be a new home. But, winter was coming and we'd
made a reservation in Guatemala for a lovely home on Lake Atitlan.
So...once again it was time to go.
Timing
is everything as has been said and our's couldn't have been worse.
One of neighboring Chile's volcanoes had chosen to erupt spewing
volcanic dust high into the atmosphere. With winds not in our
favor, airports in Buenos Aires were shut down for days and maybe
weeks. Ever flexible, we opted to travel to Uruguay naively assuming
we'd be easily able to fly north to Miami from there and then
hop the short flight to Guatemala.
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We
traveled from Buenos Aires to Colonia, Uruguay, thinking to
have some adventures in the days along the way to the airport.
Everyone in Buenos Aires spoke well of Colonia actually singing
its praises. It sounded good and a day later we were off on
the ferry.
Loving
ocean transport of any kind for us this was the day's highpoint.
The ferry was a hoot, a little worn, but showing evidence of
a
more glorious past. We arrived in
Uruguay at a stylish new ferry port facility with shops and
car rental agencies where we got a car and were on our way
to Colonia, an Uruguay UNESCO site. These sites are not usually
our favorite places as they invite the "universal UNESCO" shops
and services and most often lose all the character that attracted
the UNESCO award in the first place. Colonia proved not to
have been too much affected by its new status. It was a simple
port side town that had been in existence for some time and
it showed every evidence of that. In
Colonia one could see what had attracted it's UNESCO award,
but it had a long way to go in restoration of its colonial
buildings.
We
walked the historic district and found a small welcoming guest
house for the night. We hopped into our little bed and pulled
the
covers up. Even with the little heater in the room going full
blast, it was freezing!! Having lived in the Caribbean for
several years,
we were truly
unprepared
for
the
cold. |
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In
the morning we drove around the little town, both the tiny colonial
section and the more modern
section where most people live and where most commerce takes place.
We stopped at a small neighborhood supermarket to pick up supplies
for the road and were surprised that it held only canned goods
and other hard goods. There were no fruits and vegetables, no cheeses,
no meats. I don't even think they had bread. When we asked about
it they had a giggle and told us "across the street and up
the road a bit." There we found just what we were looking
for and it seemed surprisingly sophisticated in relation to the
supermarket. This would be the tale of Uruguay, a peculiar combination
of sophistication and a very rustic rural nature. We were there
such a short time it was hard to put the two together. |
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| Ocean
side residences in the old city seemed to offer few amenities even
remembering my youth
on the ocean in New England. I imagined these folks were also very
cold much of the year, but they had a lovely view and much can be said
for that. |
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Some
of the more recent changes in Colonia are lovely and sophisticated,
again
the juxtaposition of rustic and modern. When you read about the
unusual President of Uruguay, you get some idea of how different
this country is. Here's a President giving back much of his
salary
saying many of the people of the country have to live on what
he keeps so it is only right that he does too. How novel
is that idea in today's world?
We
drove toward the capital city and the country's major airport
hoping to arrange flights out. The news we got wasn't good
as the volcanic dust was now affecting flights out of Uruguay
as well as those from Buenos Aires. We figured we'd give ourselves
a few days exploring and try again. |
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We
were soon on our way north of the city as we always look
for someplace
a little out
of
the
way.
We found it in a little beach side community all but abandoned
for the season. We came upon a small guest house
still open and checked into a unit with a fireplace and the
ubiquitous eucalyptus
firewood. We walked the town shut down for winter and imagined
what it must be like in the summer. Glorious is what we
imagined.
I
have to say at this point that the cold dramatically affected
our feelings about Uruguay. Many homes and guest accommodations
in the country side are heated with wood fires using eucalyptus
a wood I am allergic to. I woke in the mornings with eyes
burning, chest tight and nose raw from the simple smell of
the wood. |
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On
waking our first morning, we went walking around this little summer
resort area and this is more of what we found. This alone
might be a reason to move to Uruguay. I felt I had been transported
to
the
Cape Cod of my childhood.
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Leaving
the little beach side town, we headed north again following
the coast. Eventually we passed through the pride and joy
of modern
development in Uruguay -- Puerto Plata or Silver Port.
This huge high rise beach city was a ghost town at that time
of year.
We were told though that it is a magnet for the wealthy from
Mexico, through Latin and South America. Argentineans who
had talked to us about it seemed to believe it some kind of
heaven. For us it was a horror and we continued north. |
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| This
is what seemed so shocking about the country. Below are photographs
of pastoral Uruguay. Trying to put these images together seems
an impossibility. |
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| Toward
the last few days of our trip we passed this ferry across a missing
bridge.
The folks in the truck beside us were decidedly in the bag and very
friendly. I just can't really imagine how they navigated their passage
on to and off from the ferry, but they did it with perfection. We followed
along and stopped on the other side to see one more of Uruguay's conundrums.
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Look
at this project for "sustainable tourism." Would it surprise
you to see something so innovative in San Diego? Not at all.
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CRAFTS
AND SHOPPING
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we drove on and on. We found an interesting cemetery and the farms
and farm animals were enchanting. There truly was little else. We
did pass through some small towns with crafts for sale though the
restaurant options were few. I bought a heavy huge brass bell for
the gate on our home's wall in one of these towns. In another we
found the yarn for sale and I wished we still lived in a cold climate.
It would have made lovely sweaters. |
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| I
was impressed with the almost primitive quality of the country. It
seemed we had passed back a century or so. People were kind and friendly,
but not truly living in the 20th century, let alone the 21st. Is
that a bad thing? I don't think so, but it was somehow shocking.
Reviewing the photographs I took in Uruguay, I am totally rethinking
my first impression of the country.
We'll go back again and maybe find a home there. |
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| What
I remember most about Uruguay is driving. There is an incredible
coastline with clean dune protected beaches and relatively small
low scale residential developments. There are farms with acres and
acres of green grass where calves recover from nursing. Horses run
about as in a dream we once had. Sheep are very fat and walk about
in fields of deep green food. It doesn't get better than that! |
