Spontaneously, we decided to spent a few days in Uruguay. Luckily, we met a great couchsurfing host, who gave us the possibility to learn and see much about the rural culture of Uruguay – including all the wildlife one could think of, such as venomous snakes!
Colonia del Sacramento (15.02. – 17.02.20)
The entry to Uruguay is still in Buenos Aires. Already at the ferry terminal we get stamped into Uruguay and after the ferry caused some confusion at the entry, we arrive after about 1.5 hours in Colonia del Sacramento. There we are picked up by our couchsurfing host Bernardo, as he lives a few kilometers outside the city, in the small village of Riachuelo.
One day we stand at the Ruta 1 and try to hitchhike into town. But in the scorching and sultry heat this is much more exhausting than we thought and only after about 30 minutes we are taken along. Our driver and his wife ask us what we did in Riachuelo and we tell them that we are at a friend’s house. „What is his name? We’re from Riachuelo.“ We answer that our host’s name is Bernardo. „What’s his last name? There are four Bernardos in Riachuelo“. We give the last name, and our driver and his wife know, of course, who is meant. „Ahh, the one with the bulls!“ It’s a small world in rural Uruguay.
Arriving in Colonia, we set off to walk through the UNESCO protected old town of the small town, which was originally built as a fortification against the Argentines. We stroll along many small alleys and old houses.
One street that is very popular with the Instagram lovers is the Calle de los Suspiros. There are colourful, but also old houses lined up. Hardly one of the tourists stopped there without taking a picture of himself. Some groups of ladies needed some minutes to get the perfect picture or video. We watched the hustle and bustle a little and left – of course not without taking a picture ourselves.
We return by bus. The lady at the ticket counter looks at us a little incredulous when we tell her that we want to go to Riachuelo. When we arrive there, the sun is already setting and the air is very pleasant.
Riachuelo & Santa Ana (17.02. – 18.02.20)
After arriving in Colonia del Sacramento by ferry, we are picked up by Bernardo, our couchsurfing host. He drives a classic Toyota Hi-Lux, probably the most sold off-road vehicle in the world, just like a farmer should. Around his home village Riachuelo he owns some fields where he keeps cows and bulls. Our time in Uruguay is very short, but Bernardo gives us an incredibly intense access to the people and habits of rural Uruguay.
Shortly after we arrived, Bernardo suggests to take us with him for a friend’s birthday – of course there will be an asado. Those were all the reasons he had to give to convince us. But first we drive past his second house, which is still under construction. There is a dead snake lying on the ground. „Oh yes, I killed it this morning. It is very poisonous when it bites you“. All right.
A few minutes later we arrive at his friend’s birthday party. Although nobody knows us, we are very friendly welcomed and immediately involved in conversation. We hear a lot about Uruguay, especially what the people are proud of. One of the ladies present tells us in detail about the high meat consumption in the country: The recommended daily amount for meat in Uruguay is no less than half a kilo per person! Moreover, Uruguayans adorn themselves with having the highest quality meat in the world – even better than the famous beef from neighbouring Argentina. „In Argentina, the meat is worse than in Uruguay, and in Chile it is cut far too thinly. This is too little for a person from Uruguay. We like to eat a lot here and are therefore often a little more chubby. People from Uruguay like to eat a lot!“ Meanwhile her friend shows us the pictures of his meat counter, because he is a butcher. We just nod, because we don’t really understand much about the mere sight of the meat mountains in the picture.
It is also very interesting to hear how those present talk about the people of Argentina. „We can’t stand the Argentines. They copy everything we do, like drinking mate. But Argentines like us a lot.“ We often notice on this evening that Bernardo’s friends have a strong urge to portray Uruguay as great. It is probably difficult to have such huge neighbours as Argentina on one side and Brazil on the other. In any case, there seems to be a strong competitive spirit. But in one point people are definitely right – the meat that is on the grill on this day tastes simply fabulous!
The next day we sleep in for a while. Bernardo who seems to be a bit worn out from the last evening (and still drove us home by car) drives to the field later to work and leaves us alone. We spend a little more time in his apartment: In the bathroom, for example, there is a catalogue with the inscription Razas de Carne, in English meat breeds. If one opens the catalogue one finds pictures of bulls that have to pose in full splendour for the camera. It is a seed catalogue that is meant for the cattle breeding, but the inscription meat breeds is a little strange for us. Nevertheless it shows again how much the Uruguayans live for meat consumption. On Bernardo’s Instagram account you can find pictures of his cows and bulls, a friend has commented how beautiful his Angus bulls look.
When we return the following day from Colonia del Sacramento, the air is cool and pleasant and we can watch an intense sunset:
After having spent the previous day in the city, Bernardo offers to take us for a day in the country. We are thrilled and already we are sitting with mate in hand in his pick-up truck and drive to Santa Ana to visit his grandparents. It is lunch time and therefore we have a long lunch break – Siesta! As we drive out of Riachuelo, Bernardo waves to everyone and holds a short, loud chat out of the car. At a street corner we see some workers preparing an asado for the lunch break. This always takes quite a long time, but the lunch break is also much longer than 30 or 45 minutes. In our case it lasted from 11am to about 4pm.
Arrived at his grandparents in Santa Ana, we are spoiled with food. There is pasta with homemade sauce, which of course contains meat. When asked if the meat comes from his own production, Bernardo answers laughing: „Yes sure, that was number 1308!“ We are actually not quite sure whether this was fun or serious.
As it is proper for a proper lunch break, we also drink beer together and fortunately his second house is quite close, so that we first take a nap. We use the time to go to the beach, which is not on the Atlantic Ocean but on the Rio de la Plata. The beach is not full, but we are by far not the only ones who relax here at lunchtime.
After Bernardo wakes up too late from his nap, we are now actually heading for the field. The cows and bulls have to be driven from one pasture to the next. We can watch the whole thing comfortably from the loading area of the pick-up truck.
A light drizzle sets in and as we curve over the country roads we get closer to the Rio de la Plata again. Bernardo has fields that border directly on the mighty river. However, these are not classic fields, but natural and impassable plots with sandy soil. There is a lot of undergrowth and we start (in the car) the search for the cows that should be here. All of a sudden Lucas sees a snake on the path and Bernardo makes an emergency stop and puts the car back. While we watch the same snake that we had already seen dead in front of the house, Bernardo gets out of the car, arms himself with a ski pole and starts to carry the snake out of its cover.
Then an unprecedented fight begins: Bernardo has managed to pull the snake out of the undergrowth. He quickly grabs nearby stones and throws them unerringly at the head of the snake. The snake rears up every time and opens its mouth threateningly and tries to snatch at Bernardo. Bernardo counterattacks again by throwing another boulder on the head of the snake. The snake’s attacks become weaker and weaker before Bernardo manages to stun the snake. Then he puts it in front of the car tyres and runs it over. „Poor snake,“ he says as he drives on. „Wrong place at the wrong time! It’s killing my cows otherwise!“
But we do not find these cows on this day. It is slowly becoming very stormy, the birds are flying very low and a light drizzle sets in. We make sure that we get back to the house before the real rain sets in.
When we arrive back at the house, our host’s wish comes true and it rains like hell. But will that be enough? „I wouldn’t mind if it rains two or three more days. The fields are much too dry!“ The effects of climate change are indeed being felt in all parts of the world.
After spending the evening with a couple who are friends of Bernardo, we take the ferry to Buenos Aires the next day to continue our journey to the north of Argentina.
Just Geography Things 