Uruguay, Come and Gone

February, 2004

Dear family & friends,

The Rio de la Plata originates in Uruguay (as the Uruguay River), and forms the boundary for Argentina and Uruguay. I do not know why it was called the 'silver' river as, like all large rivers, it carries a lot of silt with it as it wends it's way to the sea, consequently it is much more brown or red than silver. Maybe it was so named in the hopes that it would lead to the silver and other riches that South America was known to hold, and which were the stimuli for all early European exploration. In any case, it is a grand river and a three-hour ferry ride took me across from Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. The ferry was new, quite modern, and very comfortable, even in 'turista class' where I was.

Colonia, a lovely little city of some 30,000, was established by the Portuguese in the 17th century as an outpost opposite Spanish Buenos Aires across the river. UNESCO recently declared Colonia a World Heritage City. The 'Barrio Historico', Old City, contains many beautifully preserved buildings dating from those early days. Interestingly, there are also many antique automobiles parked and driving around; Fords, Chevrolets, and Plymouths dating from the 1920's, '30's, '40's, and '50's as well as old Fiats, Renaults, Citroëns and others are to be seen. I spoke to one local who happily showed me his 1962 "English Anglia" which I spotted in his garage. The car was in great shape and quite original, paint and all. Porteños commonly visit the city as a day trip, and although I do admit most of it could be seen in one day, I spent two very satisfying days there, just wandering around the Barrio Historico and sitting under sequoia trees sipping a coffee and soaking up the colonial atmosphere. As much as I enjoyed Buenos Aires, Colonia was a nice change.

Uruguay borders Brazil and Argentina and is the second smallest country in South America. It only has 3.3 million inhabitants, almost all of them European stock, the indigenous having been displaced early by the Spanish and Portuguese settlers. It was the site of struggles between Spain, Portugal, and England, but Uruguay did gain its independence from Brazil in 1858. Although ruled by the military in the 1970's and 1980's, today it is quite prosperous and peaceful with well developed social programs; its medical system is regarded as a model for all South America. It was noteworthy for me to learn that nearly 100 years ago President José Battle y Ordóñez introduced pensions, farm credits, unemployment compensation, and the 8 hour workday.

Trivia question for the day, "Which is the most southerly capital city in South America?" No it is not Santiago, Chile, and no, it is not Buenos Aires. Although Uruguay is almost wholly north of Buenos Aires, the most southerly capital in South America is, in fact, Montevideo, Uruguay's capital. Montevideo is not as European as Buenos Aires is, nor does it have as much colonial architecture to see, but it is pleasant enough and the people are very friendly and gracious. Simply stop and open a map to see where you are and you will immediately have a local at your side to point out the way.

Montevideo became the focus of international attention in late 1939 when the badly damaged Nazi battleship, Graf Spee, sought haven there after being engaged by three British ships. Neutral Uruguay, under intense diplomatic pressure from England, ordered the Graf Spee out to sea. The captain of the ship evacuated the crew and scuttled the ship 7km off the coast in only 12 meters of water. And there it has remained. But just last week, plans were announced to finally raise the ship (the last salvageable German battleship in the world) and convert it to a museum.

After three very enjoyable days in the city, I caught a ferry back to Buenos Aires ending my brief visit to Uruguay. My next destination is Patagonia and points south, and I am anxious to be on my way. I hope you are all well and surviving the winter; and I do hesitate to tell you the weather so far for me has been excellent, sunny pretty much every day with the temperature just over 30 degrees.


Merv.