Hasta Luego Uruguay!

We are about to check out of the beautiful Regency Suites in Carrasco, an upscale area of Montevideo and I am making my final blog entry before we leave for the airport.

This has been one of the best travel experiences we have had to date. A beautiful country and people; a place where we have made friends and experienced local living. In spite of our poor Spanish, everyone we met was respectful and could not do enough for us.

A couple of weeks ago we returned to Chuy, the border town between Brazil and Uruguay. Bob found it really difficult to capture the place with photo's and so we only have a couple to show you and they definitely are not exciting....just like the town itself. You know that old saying about silk purses and sows ears.....uh huh...that's pretty much it.

Below: We thought it a nice touch to name the Brazilian side of the street "Ave. Uruguay" and the Uruguayan side "Av. Brasil". Friendly!

Below: This is it! The boulevard that separates the two countries. Not much to look at is it?

We had a chivito (aka heart attack on a platter) for two at a restaurant with great Coca Cola memorabilia

On the way home, we stopped in the tiny village of La Castillos to visit our friends at Karumbe, the tortuga (turtle) research centre. We learned even more about their research and saw the very rustic accommodation where the biologists and volunteers live. The centre will close at the end of April for the winter months.
Back in Punta del Diablo we continued our daily walks and sought photo ops. We loved the one below because it wasn't the least bit contrived. Perfect!

A flock of parakeets landed in the grass for a snack, directly across the street from our house

Below: Darla, this one is for you...a unique dragonfly on a clothes peg right outside our kitchen window.

This man's dog had been dragging his sorry butt alongside his master until the dear man stopped to allow his buddy to hop up for a ride.

This week is "Tourism Week" in Uruguay when many places of business are closed and people flock to the beaches. We watched this young busker preparing on the beach.

I don't recall if I loaded this photo on the blog previously and don't have time to look. Anyway, it bears repeating. This is the simple system of garbage pickup. Each house has a few nails on a post, high enough so that animals can't get at the bags and rip them apart.

Below: Our last (and only) photo of sunrise over Diablo

One more pic of our lovely home; The cabin where Dahianna and Josef live

It was a teary farewell with Josef and Dahianna. Bob forgot his sunglasses and we had to go back to retrieve them whereupon, Dahianna said that they believe when leave something behind, it is because you do not wish to leave and definitely will return.

Our last shot of Punta del Diablo

On our way to Michael and Margarita's home in Punta Bellina, we stopped in Rocha for lunch and groceries. We found the main street blocked off for an international bike race and when we went to our favourite cafe for lunch, found ourselves right at the finish line and just in time to watch the winner cross the finish line. This race involves a week of long distance racing and is so rigorous that competitors drop out like flies.

We arrived at the Arsenault's home by late afternoon and went out for pizza at a great little restaurant.

The next morning (Saturday) Margarita and Michael took us to Minas, a lovely town in the interior. Along the way, we were stopped by guess what? The bike race! We sat by the side of the road for an hour or so as the riders passed by. Timing is everything and it was perfect timing and exciting to watch.

Below: Support vehicle

Margarita, with her excellent negotiating skills, managed to convince the owner of a leather shop, to open his doors to us during siesta. The shop caters to gaucho's and beautiful boots can be purchased for $40 U.S. Margarita ordered a pair for herself and we found some treasures as well.

That evening we were invited to the home of Omar and Pat, friends of Michael and Margarita, for dinner. Omar is native Uruguayan however lived in the U.S. for several years. Pat grew up in Argentina and her parents were from Kitchener but lived in Argentina for 50 years, returning to Kitchener until their passing in their late 90's. It was a great evening. Omar is a musician (among many talents) and gave us 3 of his cd's to take with us. Beautiful music! Pat is quite the historian and gave us a Reader's Digest version of South America generally and Argentina specifically. Very interesting and knowledgeable woman and we were stunned that, although she has lived in South America all her life, she has a completely Canadian accent.

On Sunday, we drove to Faro Jose Ignacio for brunch. The rich and famous flock to this fashionable little beachside town and while we were there, Margarita pointed out a European baroness, a ballet dancer and a financier of dubious repute. The meal was fantastic and the people-watching superb! It is almost winter here and yet the place was packed.

Driving back through Punta Del Este, Margarita pointed out Michael Cain's Uruguayan property and told us that Julio Iglesias owns a large property outside of town. Uruguay is becoming a destination for many famous people and we know why. Here is how The Lonely Planet describes Punta Del Este:

"Ok, here's the plan: tan it, wax it, buff it at the gym, then plonk it on the beach at "Punta". Once you're done there, go out and shake it at one of the town's famous clubs. Punta del Este, with its many beaches, elegant seaside homes, yacht harbor, high-rise apartment buildings, pricey hotels and glitzy restaurants, is one of South America's most glamorous resorts and easily the most expensive place in Uruguay. It is extremely popular with Argentines and Brazilians. Celebrity watchers have a full time job here".

I could not say it better myself!

Below: The view of Punta del Este from Margarita and Michael's road

Below: Home of one of Margarita and Michael's famous neighbours in Punta Bellina

Below: The view from the Arsenault's house. They own a piece of property on that beach over there

Bob and I had planned to take the bus from Punta Bellina back to Montevideo on Monday however, true to form, the fantastic Arsenault's drove us! Could we have met a more wonderful couple? They did have business in town however they just cannot do enough for everyone on the planet. We are grateful for everything they have done for us. Muchos gracias Michael and Margarita!!

We checked in at the Regency Suites on Monday while they went to a hotel downtown. Yesterday morning they called to ask if we could meet them in the old section of town where we walked, had lunch and spent several more hours with them.

Below: All that is left of the old city wall

Below: Old building that is now expensive apartments right on Independence Square

They dropped us back at our hotel around 5 pm and at 5:05, Gaston, a young banker friend of Dahianna and Josef's picked us up to take us on a tour to an old fort above the city, the parliament building and new administration building

Below: Views from the fort; Gaston and Bob

Below: Spectacular parliament building; New administration building

Gaston then took us to dinner and, although we did our best to make it our treat, he wouldn't hear of it and actually strong-armed Bob out of the bill.

We are grateful to the following people who made this trip so special:

Margaret - for suggesting Uruguay in the first place

Linda Banks - for introducing us to Maria Gomez and Carlos, a fantastic source of great recommendations in Uruguay

Maria and Carlos - for your friendship and guidance. See you in Canada soon!!!

Nicholas Arsenault - for introducing us to your parents. Can't wait to meet you and Lara!!

Margarita and Michael - we just cannot say enough about you two! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Gaston - Wanted to meet with us and show us his city, even though he works full time and is studying for his Masters.

Dahianna and Josef - the cabana was perfect and so are you! Such gracious and fun hosts. We will stay in touch.

Our friends and family at home, in Florida and Australia - for staying in touch and keeping us current on the news.

Wayne and Jan - for the regular updates on Mom. It meant the world to us.

See you soon!

Un Abrazo

Bob and Sharon

Fun Times!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR JENN ON ST. PADDY'S DAY!!! We hope it was a fabulous one! St. Paddy's is not celebrated here but we drank a beer for you anyway!!

Our grandchildren and children of friends are very much in my mind as I write this blog. One of the many advantages of living in one place for a time, is that we get to see and experience the community. We are learning so much by interacting with the locals and we want to share some of what we have learned.

A local Uruguayan told us that when the sky is filled with dragonflies, as we witnessed a couple of weeks ago, rain is on it's way.

Summer holidays ended here and school commenced on March 8th. We have a school very close to our house and it was both interesting and delightful to watch the kids walking past our place.

All children up to Grade 8 wear smocks. Kindergarten boys wear blue checkered smocks and girls wear pink checkered smocks. When they move into Grade 1, they all "graduate" with a ceremony where the mothers, in front of the entire school, remove the kindergarten smocks and replace them with white smocks with large black bows. This will be every child's uniform until they graduate Grade 8.

Below is an example of how innovative people are in this town when it comes to transporting their little people.

Last Friday set out once again, for Santa Teresa National Park for a four hour walk. When we left the beach to enter the park, this vehicle appeared before us. A 1988 VW van with California license plates. No one was around and we hoped that at some time, we would get to meet the travellers. On our way out of the park and back to the beach, we saw the van coming slowly toward us. Bob flagged them down and we met a great couple from Long Beach, California; our age and living their dream. They have been travelling around South America for 7 months and will return home in May for the birth of their first grandchild. What stories they told us! All fascinating and educational. We saw them camped by the ocean in Diablo, a perfect site, free of charge! Beside them was camped a couple from Switzerland who have been on the road for 10 years. They return home for 3 months each year and plan to keep on trucking as long as they can. Apparently there is another family in town who have been travelling for at least 6 years. The little girl is 5 and has never lived in a house....only a tent. She is home-schooled, bright and highly educated. We didn't meet them but heard all about them from the Americans and the Swiss.

Early Saturday morning, Diana dropped in to let us know that there was to be a "liberation" ceremony down at the town beach. A juvenile Green turtle that was being tested and studied at a research centre in the next town north, was to be released at 5 pm on Saturday. The research team was there all day and Bob and I headed down to check it out. The organization is called Karumbe and the biologists and volunteers from all over the world, devote their time to learning more about turtles in this part of South America. The Green turtle lays it's eggs on the beaches near the Brazilian border however the juveniles are found here around Punta del Diablo and so the intention is to determine what occurs between hatching and the juvenile stage.

We always seem to have great breezes here however on Saturday the wind was quite strong. As we walked down the hill to the beach, we noticed a fishing boat towing a catamaran that seemed to be on it's side. Everyone was rushing to the waters edge to see what was going on and we were relieved to see someone onboard the fishing boat dressed in a wet suit. He got caught fairly far out into the ocean and one of the fishing boats went out to rescue him.

With that excitement out of the way, we bombarded the Karumbe team with turtle questions.

The blonde fellow above is Gus, the biologist. He is fantastic with children and the children pretty much wanted to adopt him.

Below: Carrying "Freddy" (that's the name Bob gave him) to the waters edge; The Liberation! "Freddy" performed brilliantly with his little feet propelling him faster than we expected.

Meanwhile, as we were all applauding Freddy down by the water, this little fellow jumped into Freddy's pool. Even after the water was emptied, he sat on the wet ground.

Sunday morning as we set out for our daily walk, we learned that the research team was on Playa Grande (the next beach) and were capturing turtles for further study. We caught up with them and watched as they worked with Maria, a juvenile that had been tagged and released this past January. They measured her, removed some of her shedding shell as well as leaches that had burrowed into her skin. She also had quite a few barnacles on her and we were told that some of the turtles have as much as 3 kg attached to their shells. They have re-caught as many as 20 turtles and have learned a lot about their rate of growth and their trek from Brazil. We asked them how many turtles they catch on a daily basis have ingested plastic. Sadly, they said that almost all of them have plastic inside them. They operate or attempt to remove it naturally. When a turtle has too much plastic inside them, it creates air bubbles that prevent the turtle from diving and eating and eventually it will die. A very sad story about the careless behavior of man. More on that in another blog.

Below: Gus with Maria

Below: The Karumbe Team. Only Gus is a paid employee, the rest are volunteers from Czech Republic, Norway, U.S.A. and Argentina (the child attached herself to this volunteer).

Back in Diablo, we watched a horse-drawn cart meet a fishing boat and pick up a few boxes of fish for delivery somewhere....we know not where....

Below is how the surfing school transports surfboards back from the beach

Below: An interesting relic parked near our cabana

For the readers who are plant lovers (Christine?? Margaret??), what do you think of this yucca plant? The bloom is about 15 feet high.

Monday morning we decided to visit Cabo Polonio and drove around 20 kms south to get there. This place is protected and therefore, we had to be transported 7 kms by truck to the town of Cabo Polonio. We thought that Diablo was rustic....well....this place is beyond rustic. A charming and beautiful place. We boarded the truck...Bob and I scrambled up top at the front to get a good view and to get some rocking and rolling experiences to prepare us for our trip to Africa (some time in the near future...we pray).

We drove among sand dunes on a very rutty road and were amazed to see owls on the ground right beside us as we passed. Sorry folks, no pics....too rough! Finally we could see the ocean and in the distance, the town.

We then drove right along the beach where there were several interesting huts for rent!

Arriving in town, we wandered around and found a terrific restaurant right on the beach. The "Paella for Two" was fantastico!!

We didn't eat at the restaurant below but give it the "most creative" award.

How about this unusual dining companion?

Walking along the rocks we encountered this really unusual sea lion. Body like a sea lion and a head like a big shaggy dog or lion.

Below: I appear to be showing off for the camera but in actual fact, am trying to get the sea lion to roar up behind Bob and startle him. No luck on that one! Must have lost my charm!!

On to the lighthouse. What a climb! The reward however was worth every step.

There are several ships at the bottom of the ocean around this lighthouse. The Captains didn't pay attention and ran onto the treacherous rocks just off shore.

Below: Other sites around town

Below: A children's playground in the shape of a ship

We are told that after 9 pm, all generators are turned off and the only light is from the stars and the lighthouse. A truly beautiful and peaceful place.
Below: A cute little insect we found sitting on top of our car. Notice the pom-poms on it's antenna? Unfortunately, the white of the car prevented the camera from picking up the brilliant orange and green of the body.

Below: A great little shop in Diablo that sells fruit soaked in liquor, cheese and our fave dessert!

Only one week left in Diablo and two weeks until we return to Toronto. We just cannot believe that the time has passed so quickly. We will be at Margarita and Michael's in Punta Bellina from the 26th to the 29th when we will be in Montevideo until the 31st when we fly via Santiago to JFK then home.

I plan to publish one more blog prior to our return. Be well everyone!