Blogs from Tacuarembó, North, Uruguay, South America

Colonia was nice as I mentioned and quiet. And that was what I expected of such a small little town. What I wasn't expecting was that Montevideo, the capital of Uraguay would also be to a large extent. Obvioulsy not to the same degree, but for what should be a major city it was rather small and quiet. Which I'm pretty sure was the reason why we spent such a short amount of time there. Only 1 day. But we enjoyed ourselves anyways. Lunch was at the old markets. It used to be a food market, but in more recent years it's turned into a series of restaurants. Fernando recommended that we try the big BBQ plates which had far too much meat or the paella. I chose the paella and it was incredible, but I ... read more

From the bus terminal in Tacuarembo we were met by Susann, the co-owner of Panagea - a traditional Uruguayan estancia (cattle farm). We had signed up for five days of living the life of a gaucho (cattle farmer). We left Tacuarembo and were driven along the motorway to Argentina before we turned off the main road and onto gravel, leaving the modern world of Uruguay behind… The car continued deep into the farmlands of the north of the country. Noticeably the small farmhouses we passed became more simple, electricity lines disappeared along with the bridges that should cover those rivers running over the roads. We were about to experience a different world within a modern country, where living simply is a way of life as there isn’t any other way of doing things. We arrived at ... read more

Tacuarembo is a quiet, traditional, gaucho farm town in northern Uruguay which also happens to be the birthplace of the lengendary Tango singer Carlos Gardel. Chrissy and I were on our way to the Pangea Estancia to work as ranch hands. We enjoyed the pleasant little town for 4 days and got to know the owners of all 3 local restraunts and its only internet cafe very well! We were later informed that 4 days is the longest any gringo has ever stayed in Tacuarembo! haha This was the first time on the trip that we were forced to relax. Businesses started their day around 8am and by 11:30 they were closing their doors for a seista that lasted until 5 pm! By 9 o´clock in the evening we were the only two still awake. Quite ... read more

Having arrived in Salto, our first task, as usual, was finding somewhere to stay. We also needed to get some Uruguayan money, have lunch and sort out our onward ticket to Tacuarembo. Sounds easy....... The hotel was simple enough, we checked into the Hotel Concordia, reputedly the oldest hotel in Uruguay and frequented by Carlos Gardel (the legendary tango singer) in the 30´s. It was an amazing place with a beautiful tiled courtyard and some wonderful old furniture in the bedrooms. We asked where the nearest ATM was and set off to sort out some cash. The nearest machine spat out both of our cards and no money. We asked the security guard where there was another machine and he told us that none of the machines were working (apparently all of the teachers had just ... read more

I will do the laundry if you pay all the bills CHORUS: Where is my John Wayne Where is my prairie son Where is my happy ending Where have all the cowboys gone Where is my Marlboro man Where is his shiny gun Where is my lonely ranger Where have all the cowboys gone Where have all the cowboys gone Where have all the cowboys gone Yippee aw, yippee yea (6 times) ("Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" Lyrics Artist(Band):Paula Cole) Day 2 in cowboy land. Sleep was perfect - hotel so quiet, air con and no plastic bags or late night revellers to be seen or heard. We went down for our breakfast and early mate and planned the day - a trip to the bus station to find out what to do and get ... read more