Rough Roads Empty Country

 Sunday was a day of driving across country, the part of Uruguay that they say is empty and they aren’t wrong. For a small country Uruguay has vast empty spaces strewn across the north of the country, ranch land with cows sheep horses and cowboys. 

According to something called the worldometer Uruguay has a population numbering three million four hundred thousand which translates to 19 people per square kilometer which in old money is 7 people per square mile. Either way it’s not hitting the average out here.

And on Sunday traffic was equally sparse. 

The road was a mixed bag, some pretty good and some pretty terrible. 

We made slow progress toward the beach which is my goal for a few days rest. The coastal strip is also where most Uruguayans live. 

The day started rather briskly with sunshine and barely 50 degrees at the abandoned roadside park. I think I d been rooming in SouthAmerica as some kids showed up in the early hours speculated loud music for a while. I had actually expected it being a Saturday night and I even fell back asleep during the performance. I never bothered to look out and they never bothered me. Perfect. 

I ghost a call from a friend in Key West and that made my evening. We reminisced and I wished I had taken the time to go to Key West on my last visit. I thought my time was limited by the Machu Picchu tour I had booked and then I was too sick to do that either. Annoying. 

Rusty and I left around ten and it was a slow drive as the roads were crap to start with.

The villages I did see were small, no gas stations or supermarkets for instance but lots of horses. 

We drive and paused to give Rusty a rest and drive some more. I was ready to be done with the interior of the 134th most populated country in the world and get to see some ocean. Patience grasshopper.

Finally I reached a town with a supermarket called oddly enough the Ta-ta, promising to lower prices for Uruguayans. I thought that was just advertising as I spent a hundred bucks easily and bought no meat or alcohol or weird foreign foods.

I first had to walk himself of course. 

Then this guy approached me and asked me about the trip I was on. You need anything he said I live here. 

I could easily have spent the night on the street had I wanted to. And after I got back with my shopping another guy approached me to practice his English to invite me back to his ranch. He told me there is a man from Oregon ranching in the neighborhood the only known foreigner in the town of Melo. I mentioned his WhatsApp number to Layne and she sounded interested so we’ll see but it’s a long way to drive from the coast.

It felt like it wasn’t going to end this  road through the wilderness even though it got smoother and my dues increased. 

The bushes growing alongside the highway have been cut back and Sunday entertainment for some couples is to come out and pick up some free firewood. I’ve seen people doing this all over Uruguay. Pretty smart. 

With 45 minutes to go to my planned stop I saw this pull out, a bit trashed but a hard surface and flat and it was past five so close to Rusty’s dinner time. 

It was cold as the sun went down so I hit the gasoline cabin heater for a while. Pretty luxurious this set up. Next I hope the beach. Interior Uruguay is explored.

An Open Border

Saturday morning we woke up in a gas station and Rusty was energetic enough we circumambulated the gas station before I brewed my first cup of tea. Then I developed a cunning plan. 

I wanted to have lunch in the border town of Rivera only 45 minutes away so I had a few hours to burn to avoid getting there early and sitting on the street so I decided to back up ten minutes to go back to the spot by the side  of the road where I had let Rusty rest on Friday afternoon. He approved heartily of my cunning plan. 

I’ve started in on a book by Buddy Levy, an author I like on the subject of the first Europeans to travel down the Amazon. Yes they were terrible conquistadors of course, but my experiences driving the Amazon give me an unusually high level of empathy for their troubles on that terrible journey.

If you are looking for something to read Webb Chiles has published a short story in four parts on his Internet page. Years ago he published a collection of stories titled SHADOWS and this story is from among them. It’s thought provoking and well worth your time. Here’s the link to part one:

https://self-portraitinthepresentseajournal.blogspot.com/2026/09/hilon-head-island-shadows-part-one.html

My reading was interrupted by some howling and crashing in the shrubbery alongside the road  and it was loud enough it woke Rusty. I looked outside. 

Boy howdy! Some cows were making a break for it apparently and cowboys were hollering to round them up. 

And Brian was posted alongside GANNET2 to stop the runaways getting into the road. 

I went to put the kettle in and in the time it took to do that everyone, cows and all were gone. Back to peace and quiet.

The drive to the Brazilian border was straightforward and my goal was the center of town at the International Plaza. 

The Brazilian town is Santa Ana Do Livramento (Saint Ann of the Deliverance) while the Uruguayan town of Rivera is to the south and they are separated by nothing at all.

To cross officially you have to hunt down immigration and customs offices and do your paperwork, otherwise you can come and go as you please. I pleased you have lunch in Brazil at a typical buffet restaurant  so I did.

It was the usual process of getting a card on which the servers note the weight of your plate and any drinks.

When you pay you get another card which you hand in at the door to show you paid. Pretty simple and it’s fun to be back even if just for a day. My Portuguese hasn’t improved but they could mumble some Spanish too.

Then it’s time to enjoy the border. Kind of weird but rather pleasant to sit in the park without walls barriers or stress.

The family below is stepping from Brazil to Uruguay. 

I’m practicing my selfie skills. I think I look smug. Getting better I guess, at least o don’t look pissed. 

Rivera downtown is not my kind of place. There are crowds and everyone (except me) had a plastic bag. 

How they police a city split in two like this I can’t imagine. 

I walked back to GANNET2 and I spotted a couple of useful stores as I got away from the frenetic downtown. One selling cheeses from across the country.

And the other a tailor and cobbler in one shop, a reminder things can be repaired and not just replaced.

Rusty got his city walk which he really enjoyed, circling around the block taking his time sniffing everything.

Duty free I think:

And then we got on the road. This is an empty part of Uruguay, it is really underpopulated, no towns to speak of just ranches and cattle and sheep and cowboys. And nowhere much to park for the night.

iOverlander doesn’t show much of anything up here:

So I drive for the abandoned park which I figured would take two hours to drive and there weren’t even any nearby gas stations for back up.

It’s pretty run down but it works for us. There was even a toilet that you’d not like to use but which worked fine to dump my porta potty. I think there were electrical hookups too but I didn’t test them. My batteries are fully charged of course with sunlight and driving. 

I fed the inevitable hungry dog that disappeared back to some miserable life in an impoverished farm house nearby and we settled in. Luckily Rusty hayes intruders coming into his life ordered no telling how many dogs we’d be hauling around. I do what I can for them. 

The plan is to get back to the beach soon, probably not Monday as it’s six hours away at least but by Tuesday I want to be back in well to do Uruguay looking at some waves even if it’s too cold (70 degrees air temperature) to swim.