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Published: December 23rd 2005
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Being almost seven months to the day that I left the cold and rain-sodden shores of my beloved Wales for my Latin American adventure; it has seen its ups and downs which was to be expected. Some I have documented, some I haven´t. The truth is, upon arriving in Uruguay, after some heavy days and nights in Rio and seven months of travelling just a bit too fast from country to country, I was ready to come home - shattered an exhausted, mentally and physically. I had almost had enough, worn down by my own design. So I decided Uruguay was the place to take a break, sit back and relax... Well, almost.
I arrived in
Montevideo ,the capital, after an eight hour overnight bus from Porto Alegre in Brazil. I instantly liked Montevideo because it is a small, manageable city. Certainly not a bustling metropolis like other cities I have been to so far, although it does have its fair share of traffic, people and shopping centres! Its people and streets partly reminded me of Paraguay, quiet, amiable and just ambling along to the rythym of daily life; the men sipping maté with their girlfriends on one arm and
Leaving a lasting mark
Yours truly painting the Welsh flag at the estancia in Northern Uruguay! the flask under the other. A sweet concoction of brown and light blue eyes and more brown hair and frowns than you could shake a stick at. Also of note, the guys here kiss each other on the cheek when greeting each other - can´t see that tradition spreading very far. But I liked Montevideo and the people are certainly friendly if you can make contact with them. There is a section of the capital called Ciudad Vieja (Old City) which looks very much like Havana, Cuba. Apparently it is where they are filming parts of the new Miami Vice film because of its likeness and it has good and cheap hospitals for Colin Farrell to collapse into. And what I really like about Uruguay is that they are big meat eaters, so I look forward to getting to Argentina also for more monstrous steaks and meat for every meal.
From the capital I paid a fleeting visit to
Punta Del Este, said to be the premier beach resort in South America, well, for Argentinos anyway. This place is not as impressive-looking as you´d imagine. Just the usual mix of sky-scraper Benidorm-esque apartment blocks, tourist shops, expensive restaurants
Punta del este
The famous fingers in the sand, statue-object-thing? and average looking beaches. The aforementioned beaches were half-empty and the weather on my second day was bloody awful to say the least. But at the end of December and all January it is usually packed to the rafters with 15,000 or more holidaying, affluent Porteños (residents of Buenos Aires).
After this place I moved onto my own personal oasis of relaxation... The lovely
La Paloma.
This is quaint, dusty little beach town two hours east of the capital by bus. I loved it for it tranquilness (nothing really happens), it´s near-empty beaches (which admittedly weren´t amazing, but, ugly lovely all the same), the woods with their tall swaying trees, the birds chirping and swooping away, the incredibly shy and scruffy stray dog at the hostel, the lonely proud light house on the craggy shore, the crashing thunderous waves at the golden waterline, a wonderful lack of traffic give or take a few bikes, the horses roaming around freely, easy-picture raging sunsets, the soundless streets and the innocent-of-the-city people. It was just what I needed. The hostel was tucked away in the woods off the main road where I passed away the hours slouching, reading, cooking, drinking, chatting, listening
Good ol' country boy...
Me and the level 1 horse... almost an absolute beginner. to the Stones and playing cards with travellers from Scotland, Australia, Switzerland and Brazil and practising my spanish with a wily old fella from Montevideo who reminded me of my grandad.
I decided to rent a surf board and wetsuit and give it another go. I´m getting there slowly, although I can´t yet stand up I can get up onto my knees and ride a wave for a few seconds... But at this rate, I´ll be a hundred and six by the time I´m a professional. But I enjoy it all the same. I went cycling along the shoreline for a few hours but got blown back by the powerful wind. I spent a week at La Paloma in total and loved every slow minute of it, a tonic after the seven months of zipping from place to place in an unnecessary hurry.
Then I made another good decision... I went to a farm in the sticks for a week!
Out here farms are called
estancias and I travelled to the north of Uruguay to a hostel/estancia called Panagea near
Tacuarembó. The north of Uruguay is the gaucho heartland. For your information, gauchos are the cowboys of
Good ol´country boy 2
Juan injecting and Jamie marking the lambs, ready for separation from their mothers. Oh yes, and that´s Susanne´s thumb in the bottom left of the picture. Uruguay, although being a gaucho is more a way of life, not simply an occupation. They wear unusual trousers, hats, shirts and other associated adornments and are highly skilled individuals in the farming of the land and the riding of horses. This was a totally new experience for me and a wonderful one too which I am thoroughly glad I took part in. The idea is this: you pay to stay at the estancia, you can take part in the real work that goes on there (if you like early mornings and you want to do it!), all meals are included, you get to learn how to ride horses, take long walks, go fishing and walking and watch some violent pirate DVDs from Paraguay.
The estancia is run by Juan and Susanne (Swiss), with Barco (the gaucho) and Yolanda cooking the delicious home-made food and helping out. The estancia was an hour drive from Tacuarembó in the gently rolling and green countryside, with small forests and undergrowth to break up the view under the sweet blue sky of Uruguay. There were many many animals. At the estancia were horses, cows, sheep, pigs, hens, dogs and cats. Not to mention
The woods...
Taken at the estancia. the wild ones surrounding us such as armadillos, ostriches, turkeys, lizards, vultures and some others I couldn't name or identify! General duties I took part in and helped with included herding the sheep and cows (on horseback), branding the cows, marking and injecting the lambs against worms and setting up the saddles on my horses. I also helped add a glorious Welsh flag to the side of the house (as seen in the pictures) and regaled Juan with stories of famous Welsh people from near or in Swansea (Dylan Thomas, Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins, Andy Melville and Cyril the Swan) and how Catherine Zeta Jones is a close friend and member of my family. In the end he thought Swansea was an amazing place, a virtual conveyor belt of artistic talent unrivalled the world over!
Anyway...To you all...
Nadolig llawen
Feliz navidad
Merry Xmas
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime. Mark Twain
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Chris Mastidings
non-member comment
Mistletoe and wine
Sounds like you are still enjoying yourself Jamie,have a nice Christmas and dont eat too much Turkey and all the trimmings !