A Road Trip to Treinta y Tres

Suffering from typical restlessness, Cesar and I decided on the perfect treatment for what ailed us – a road trip. We loosely planned a three day, two night circuit that would take us through the departments of Rocha , Treinta y Tres and Lavalleja. After securing house-sitting services from a trusted friend, we were off.

Then it began to rain. And rain and rain and rain. That meant our scheduled stop to explore the isolated sandy point of Cabo Polonio was a no go. So, with desultory stops to peek at Aguas Dulces (not worth even the short drive from the interbalnearia to the sea) and Punta del Diablo (a tiny but bustling beach encampment with a young, hippie feel) we pushed on the border town of Chuy. Chuy (Chui on the Brazilian side) sits astride a wide main avenue which also is the international border. On one side of the street is Uruguay, the other, Brasil. Chuy is essentially one big duty-free shop. Uruguayos travel here to stock up on inexpensive wine, liquor and to buy Christmas presents. The larger stores here look just like every airport duty free shop you have ever seen – liquor here, wine there, a large cosmetics and perfume counter with overly helpful sales assistants, and a smattering of electronics, clothing and imported chocolate. There are also wine and cheese shops, stores that sell only leather goods, and clothing. Also, on the Brazilian side, there are churrascarias with rodizio service – Brazilian steakhouses where various cuts of meat are brought around the dining room on large skewers, sliced off directly onto your plate. Chuy, however, dies at night, so the churrascarias are open only for lunch. We did find an open parrilla at which at 9:00pm (typically when restaurants start to get busy), we and a Portuguese-speaking family were the only diners.

The next day, rather than stick around and buy things we really don’t need, we headed northwest into the department of Treinta y Tres. Along the way we saw flooded rice paddies, dotted with an amazing collection of colorful birds of all shapes and sizes. Every once and a while, Cesar would stop the car so I could stalk some exotic winged creature with my camera. This area is a paradise for that odd species, the birder. We took in great views of more birds and the surrounding flat and wet landscape from the bastions of Fortin San Miguel.

This restored fort was built by the Portuguese in 1734, and later claimed by the Spanish. In 1933 began the restoration project to bring it from its ruinous state to a well-kept, if not often visited, national park. Its grounds are well manicured, but the fort itself is covered in yellow lichen, probably not conducive to its preservation. After looking at the ombu trees growing nearby, we were back in the car, headed for Treinta y Tres.

The capital of the department of the same name is a pleasant clean little city whose town square is a lively place centered around a large fountain. We were there to visit a 4000 hectare ecological reserve north of town, the Quebrada de los Cuervos (Gorge of the Crows). This is a misnomer as there are no crows in the southern hemisphere. It got the name because of the vultures that cruise the thermals above the deep gorge at the heart of the reserve. As we descended into the gorge with the help of first a wooden walkway and then ropes secured to a steep slope, we entered another world. Gnarled old trees dripped with sphagnum moss. Everything was moist and green. For the first time in Uruguay, we walked in a dark canopy of indigenous trees. This really is a rarity in this shadeless country where the only large stands of trees are non-native eucalyptus. We plan to come back to this place.

The next morning we were ready to go home, taking a different and more direct route back. We stopped just outside of Minas in the department of Lavalleja for lunch at the lovely Parque Salus, where Patricia beer is made and Salus water is bottled. As usual, their elegant restaurant did not disappoint and we had a memorable meal.

We came home to find our pets happy and home well-cared for. As for us, our wanderlust was satisfied by new sights and our little break from suburban life in Atlántida the perfect cure.