When we were thinking about all that we’d be doing in South America, we hadn’t thought too much about the countries of Paraguay and Uruguay. A lot of travelers don’t spend much time in these countries if they even go at all. But we’re really glad we’ve had this time to visit them. Our Paraguay time wasn’t very in depth for a few reasons but the couple of weeks we spent there were really sweet. We spent all of that time socializing with old friends and made several new ones too. The Mananchial campground is an overlander’s hub and we had a really good group. It was full of trails, pasture, animals, a pool with a slide, red dirt that turned to mud in rain and too many weddings that caused us to have to move out of the way so that we wouldn’t be in their pictures. We shared many happy hours, meals, walks and laughs together. We biked to old Jesuit missions which are pretty but don’t move us in a big way and a national park that seemed like the last bit of forest left because everything has gone the way of agriculture. And we pigged out on German bread, pizza, beer and treats until we were absolutely stuffed! They even come to the campground to sell their homemade items! It was hard to say goodbye but we felt like we needed to get moving across the border back to Argentina. We will never forget Larry, Jochen, Alex, Paul & Emil, Mark & Liesbet!
Argentina is such a country of contrasts with every kind of landscape it seems and although the northern part isn’t as dramatic, it has a lot of neat animals and it holds a special place in our memory of the first month we got here. That feeling of peace that we had arrived and our truck had too was similar to the feeling we had when our boat arrived safely to Greece and we were once again whole. Ibera Park was a place we didn’t want to miss going back to. As I’ve mentioned before, this vast wetland is preserved because of the persistent efforts of the Tompkins Foundation. There are various points of entry and they all have their own feel. We entered at Monterey and loved that area. We saw capybaras, caimans, lots of birds, marsh deer, water buffalo and had the place nearly to ourselves.
Then we tried another entry that we’d visited previously and it was totally flooded. There had been a lot of rain and the area is subject to flooding- the wetland! So we moved to Mburcuya National park on the western side of the wetland. We settled in for 2 days of pouring rain and hung out with 2 other overland couples, one from Germany and the other Swiss. When the road was dry enough 3 days later, we all left together. It was a nice place to be in for the rain. When we parted ways we got out and said a proper goodbye and took this picture.
Having missed going back to the fantastic sushi place we went to for Jon’s birthday, we sought out another one and went for dinner but even though it was presented with a little fire on a scallop shell, the sushi was not as good as last time!!
The area of Salto on the border with Uruguay has a lot of geothermal activity and thermal pools. Mark & Liesbet had recommended one in particular, the Termas de Ayui. It was like an all-in-one great spot to be. We had a lake, places to walk and bike, the termas with waterslides every day and capybaras at our doorstep. The peacocks at the termas reminded me of my childhood visits to Ponce de Leon Springs in Florida. The slides were so fast and fun but I realized I was 2 for 2 on holes in my swimsuit from the friction of that on both the recent slides I’ve been on. I’m butting ahead of kids to get on the slide so what does that mean? Surely it can’t be that I shouldn’t be sliding anymore does it? After 3 days, we dragged ourselves away from there.
I tried to block out the fact that we’d be leaving Argentina for good for now and crossing in to Uruguay. You can’t see the world if you stay in one place. And I don’t believe we will live long enough to see all that we want to see so there is impetus to keep moving.
Crossing the border was easy. I like to chat with the agents in my broken but ever improving Spanish. While Paraguay drinks their mate’ cold, Argentina and Uruguay would never consider drinking it any other way than hot and it is a true national obsession. You’d think it was a drug but instead it is a culture. Like Moroccan tea perhaps, it is a sign of something more than just a habit, in my opinion. We get a chuckle of all the ways there are to carry one’s mate’ cup and thermos, and all the places we see it consumed. You’d have to come here to really understand how important it actually is.
Right across the border in a town called Fray Bentos is the old UNESCO recognized OXO beef cube factory. They made all kinds of other canned meats like corned beef but the product that made them most famous was this concentrated broth cube. It was a real hit during WWI when soldiers were using them in the trenches to get something hot and soothing into them without giving up their cover. The company was supplying them with a tiny bit of fuel to heat up the water. It was a neat place to explore even if it was a rainy, crap day. We had a lovely, enthusuastic German lady for our tour guide, Ciri. There is a program in Germany where young grads can come to South American countries to volunteer at their UNESCO sites in exchange for an opporutunity to explore other parts of the world. At the height of the factory’s success, they were rendering 2000 animals per day which is nothing short of disgusting really, but it also was attributed to the start of the industrial revolution because of the mechanization of the process. Today, what stands are all of the old buildings, the machinery for the power plant that was all brought from Europe, the relics from that time and the stories told in the museum. It was a great day and we found the only place in the little village on the river open that day and had a nice lunch afterward.
It always blows me away how much we can do in a day, in a week and how hard to is to remember everything. These are the highlights, but there are all the little things in between that we see every day that make this life really fun. Many walks, talks with locals, big plazas to explore, visits to stores to get our provisions, fuel, museums, campspots, curiosities, wildlife, people you meet on the road, you name it.
We moved down to the historic town of Colonia del Sacramento where the Uruguay River empties out into the Rio de la Plata. It sits right across from Buenos Aires where it all started for us 2 years ago this past July. It has cobblestone streets and old city walls from it’s time as a Portuguese settlement. Now its UNESCO for the history. You can camp right in the thick of it and we enjoyed walking around exploring the town but for some reason it didn’t blow us away. Maybe its because we have old European cities on our minds now.
We headed back northward a bit to visit Islael Cortinas Municipal Park that is one of many free parks in Uruguay with pretty forested areas and peaceful surroundings. We stopped for a couple of days to relax, run and do a few truck projects. We got to talking to the caretaker Horacio and then ended up with a picture to remember him by.
I wanted to get to the eastern side as it’s one of the most popular places to visit in Uruguay. You can drive for hours through agricultural scenery which gives me the feeling that these two countries have been flattened for pasture. But then you get to the coast here and well, it has beaches that go on forever, loads of parks and a whole lot of massive old trees. Phew. It supposedly gets nutty busy in the on season but right now it is still quiet. The locals are busily painting and freshening up their businesses for the summer onslaught. We’re back to our pattern of covering a bunch of miles a day on foot which makes us happy. There have been lighthouses, sea lion colonies, sand dunes, woods, lakes, a fort, gardens, a little zoo, a mating crab gathering and time to ponder it all sitting in our chairs at the end of the day. We drove up to the Brazil border and are now working our way back down slowly towards Montevideo. We really have enjoyed the parks here and the animals that live in them. Here is a study of the behavior of a rhea. Interesting postures and then hiding next to a tree with its wings out, probably if feeling nervous.
And another on a huge grouping of crabs getting ready to mate I guess.
Here are a few more pics of these days.
Lunch with sea lions..
