World's Largest Litter Box?

Our cat's new wonderland of sand probably is not the largest litter box in the world, but it is definitely the largest I have ever seen. We got the idea for it after visiting friends who are in the midst of a huge construction project. Behind their house are large piles of sand and gravel to be used for a soon to be constructed concrete roof. We noticed how their two cats frolicked in the sand.

That was two days ago. We did not waste any time in ordering our own. So, today we had five cubic meters of fine sand delivered to the chacra. I was wondering what the man delivering it thought of us having a truckload of sand delivered just for our cat. Something along the line of “crazy gringos” was what I was expecting. But no, he does the same thing for his cats. His advice – just show it to kitty and she'll know what to do. And indeed she did.

I am always glad to hear people tell me they have cats. Uruguay is for the dogs, literally. There are dogs everywhere and it seems that everyone has their own pack, especially out in the country. Cats here just don’t get any respect. However, bit by bit I am noticing that people do have cats. You can buy kitty litter, but it is quite expensive, about $35 for a 40 lb bag of the clumping kind. If our cat takes to her giant outdoor litter box, it could save us quite a bit in kitty litter.

Patagonia

One of the objectives of our move to Uruguay is to travel in other South American countries. After our first four months in Uruguay, we finally ventured out. Neighboring Argentina with its incredibly varied landscape offers quite a lot to see and do. It dwarfs Uruguay in variety of climates, terrain and sheer size, being over fifteen times larger than its tiny neighbor to the northeast.

I had been feeling a little fenced in and was getting bored with the flat landscape in Uruguay. Cesar and I were both antsy to get out and see something new. We had planned on going to Córdoba, a province in the northern part of Argentina and within driving distance. However, a friend had just come back from Santa Cruz province in Patagonia and was just glowing with happiness about what she saw there. I had a dim understanding of Patagonia and had it listed in the back of my mind as a place to visit someday. However, after our friend’s trip, we could not wait to see it for ourselves. And, it has mountains, real mountains – the perfect antidote to Uruguayan flatness! It occurred to us that we only had about a month left to see that particular part of Patagonia before winter, when hotels and restaurants close and roads become impassable with snow.

So, we quickly booked a flight with LAN from Buenos Aires to El Calafate, in Santa Cruz province. We spent four nights there then took a bus to a town to the north called El Chalten, Argentina’s self-styled national capital of trekking. It deserves its title. We spent four nights there and went on day hikes each day, all of them spectacular.

The first words that come to mind when describing Patagonia are immense and expansive. It struck me as a playground for giants – everything there, from the mountains to the rivers to the steppes is huge and impressive. Usually I keep a journal when traveling, but had difficulty putting pen to paper on this trip. This bothered me a little, was I experiencing writer’s block? – but then I realized what the problem was, I didn’t want to take my eyes off the landscape for long enough to write. In the evenings, we were either tired from the day’s adventures, nursing sore feet or planning our activities for the next day. We saw glaciers, turquoise lakes, savage electric blue rivers, snow capped mountains, lush emerald green forests and steppes that seemed to go on forever.

We are back in peaceful Uruguay now, with many photos, sore legs and memories of a great trip. Here is a teaser photo until I get the others uploaded:

At Laguna de los Tres midway of a challenging 25 km trek. Fitz Roy towers behind us.

A New Home for Tip

There was a happy ending to the story of the puppies left by the roadside. Tip, the sprightly and spirited female, now has new guardians. When we rescued these pups, we did not think much beyond taking them home and getting them into good health. Later we would worry about what to do with them. However, we soon learned that finding good homes here for dogs is not so easy. Unwanted dogs are seen everywhere wandering the roads. Who would want to take in strays? There are exceptions, but for the most part, North Americans and South Americans have very different attitudes towards animals in general. We wanted to make sure that whoever adopted one these dogs would treat them as a member of their family, as opposed to attaching them to the end of a chain in the yard.

Enter a lovely and kind couple from Canada. When I contacted them, they seemed to want a dog, but had reservations because they already have an older terrier who apparently hated puppies. However, they came out to our place to meet Tip and seemed to like her well enough. Goodbyes were tough for us. I felt like a monster for sending her off. Cesar didn’t help - I think he may have even called me cold hearted.

All that night I worried about whether they were happy with the dog and whether things would work out. The next day I received two emails describing in glowing terms what a great dog she was. I was relieved. Cesar’s non-deserved guilty feelings were put to rest.

So, Tip – now called Kiya (pronounced Keesha) – has a happy home. She is a smart dog and will adjust to her new environment very well. This story had a happy ending for everyone – our friends have a nice addition to their family, Kiya has loving owners who will shower her with attention, and I have a little more peace around the house and a good feeling for doing right by this dog.

Kiya is being pampered by her new parents.