J & RAE'S BIG ADVENTURE: PART 2

We are rousted from our rooms at the evil hour of 9 a.m. which still gives us twice the amount of sleep we had in the previous 24 hours, so we set out to explore San Gregorio de Polanco. It is a sleepy little town and therefore so fitting for our somnambulist stroll down its one main street to the plaza, where there is a small amusement park, a few shops selling comestibles and some inviting cement benches, one of which we promptly usurp to sip mate tea and attempt to revive.

 

 

Aggh! I'm having a very bad dream!

The townees cruise slowly past on motorcycles, scooters or cruiser bicycles, and the local dogs go about their dog errands, sniffing butts and peeing on tires, while some of the older women share a mate and gossip in lawn chairs on the broken sidewalk.

Camera shy.

 San Gregorio is a tourist destination, although from the stares we are getting, I would venture to guess that it caters strictly to Uruguayan tourists who have come to enjoy the large man made lake, on whose shores it rests, rather than tourists of the international gringa type that we are.
Eventually we abandon our bench and venture down to the lake to see what all the fuss is about.
We pass houses of brick and mortar and whatever other building material is at hand, and occasionally spot thatched roofs which look odd, like badly fitted toupees perched atop the brick walls. Most of the houses have overgrown yards filled with flowers and weeds and random structures for hammocks and to tie up horses. In some, great vines of morning glories threaten to bury piles of bricks set aside for more building.

San Gregorio lawn mower

the littlest caballero

Fancy drain

At the lakeside we find a park and a campground which resembles a refugee camp for vacationing families who are fleeing the city. There are inflatable toys of every shape and size as well as laundry hung from every tree but everyone seems relaxed and enjoying the day and the water looks inviting in the heat of the sun.

 

duck?

We sit at the lake for a bit and then wander over to a nearby cafe for sustenance before walking to the main street to see if the bank machine has been refilled so we can clean it out again and move on. (In Uruguay $3000 pesos equals about $150 so making a withdrawal can be quite exciting!) We have hostel reservations in Montevideo and we have decided to forgo the scenic
route this time and pay for the toll roads so that we might get to our destination in the actual 6 hours it should take.

The road is well marked, sans potholes and still scenic enough for us to spot a flock of fuzzy baby rheas (look like smaller versions of the ostrich) and their mother who gathers them all up in a frenzied heap when we stop to photograph them. Squatting down to hide in the reeds, they resemble the white fluff of Yucca plants. We also see a stork standing in a pond, a multitude of Osprey nests, and a few Uruguayan gauchos decked out in tall boots and berets, herding sheep on horseback.

Rheas...

on the run

It's a beautiful drive and we arrive in Montevideo just as darkness is falling so we don't have to blind too many other drivers with our malfunctioning headlights before we reach our magnificent hostel, a going to seed mansion tucked away in the Palermo district a few blocks from the river.
Stay tuned for further adventures,
Ciao for now,
J



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