October 28th

October 26th

We woke to the sound of our home being surrounded by chickens.  This isn't the most beautiful or remote place we have stayed, but they all can't be awesome.  We headed over the the rental property of Mascha, the owner of the olive farm we will be working on.  After some confusion about where it is(she gave us the wrong address) we made ourselves at home.  She gave us a list of chores to be done so we got to it(after a hot shower for me).  We raked, moved brush across the road, and got the front gate ready to be painted.  Then we went out for lunch and walked to the beach.  At some point a stray horse made its way into the yard.  We made pizza for dinner and relaxed for the evening.

October 27th

After making breakfast we started yard work again.  There was more to be raked and drug across the road and the fence still needed painting.  Mascha showed up around noon so we sat around and got to know each other for a bit.  Then she brought us to their other rental property in town to show us what needed to be done.  Looks like a bunch more painting and a little hedge trimming.  Then we went to the beach, but didn't last very long due to the wind.  Mascha brought vegetables, fruit, eggs, and olive oil from their farm.  She also picked up some short ribs and flank steak.  We spent the evening preparing the fire and cooking, eating, and enjoying wine with her over conversation.  Our little yellow lab friend stayed around all night.  He must only be a year old because he has not learned his manners yet.

After making breakfast we headed out to the beach for one last attempt at fishing in the lagoon.  All the local fisherman are using live bait and extremely long fishing poles.  Then we drove into the town of Poloma.  We stopped at a supermarket to get a few things then we hit the road to go to Valizas.  We spent the day exploring the quaint little town.  We stopped and had lunch and wine at the only place open called El Rey de la Milanesa.  The bottle of wine only cost $3.  We then found our sleeping spot and parked the truck.  It was an unproductive afternoon.  We made dinner and a couple of stray dogs visited us.

October 23rd

We woke to the wind whipping and the truck rocking.  Seemed like a good day to go to a coffee shop and work on the blog and download some movies.  Bart made breakfast and then we organized the truck.  The smallest amount of clutter makes things much more difficult.  We walked to a nice coffee shop called Startup Cowork Cafe and enjoyed a cappuccino(and the nice bathrooms).  Then we walked to a post office.  After that we had lunch at The Rustic Restaurant.  We went back tot he Disco supermarket and bought food for the next few days.  We packed up and headed out of town towards a workaway we will be starting on Friday.  After missing our exit for the planned spot on Laguna de Rocha we decided to try the other side of the Laguna.  It worked out in our favor.  Down a long dirt road we parked at the at the end.  It appeared to be a park of some sort.  All the houses we passed were definitely living off the grid.  Uruguay has been a bird watcher paradise.  There have been hundreds of new species.  There were a handful of flamingos off in the distance in the lagoon.  We walked around to check it out.  The lagoon was much more calm than the ocean.  We went for a swim and fished a little bit.  Then we made some pre-made ravioli with butter and cheese.  Homemade pasta of all sorts including canelones are very popular in Uruguay.  Olives and wine are also very popular.  We watched a movie and then went to bed.

October 24th

It was a very unproductive day today.  We made the typical potatoes, red pepper, onion, and egg breakfast and then headed out to the beach for the day.  It was fairly cold so we didn’t last very long.  After warming up in the truck we went back out to try fishing.  We came upon a baby sea lion curled up on the shore.  At first we were very excited to see a deal this close.  We quickly realized that this poor little guy would likely not survive.  Maybe he was hurt, but either way it was too young to be without it’s mother.  The excitement turned into sadness.  It started raining so we spent the rest of the day in the truck.  Lentils and rice for dinner.

We went to bed with the sound of the waves crashing against the shore.  Our own personal noise machine.  We were then woken by the sound of a bird walking on our roof.  It was so nice to open our back door and  take in the view of the ocean.  We made coffee and breakfast and then went to the beach for a cold dip.  We decided it was time for some exercise.  We drove about 6 miles to Reserva de Fauna Autóctona.  We generally skip all zoo type places for ethical reasons, but it was free and we are on a budget.  We felt bad for some of the animals, especially those in the feline family.  Others seemed to be happy to bathe in the sun and be fed every meal.  This was also the entrance to Cerro Pan de Azucar, which was the hike we decided to do.  It surprised us how out of shape we were from the 2 months back home.  It was a nice technical hike and there was a huge cross at the top where we hiked into to get to the top.  When we got back to the truck we decided to head down the coast to Punta del Este, which is a huge party city during peak season.  Lucky for us it is low tourist season so the place was pretty quiet.  We are learning that many Uruguayans are very well off.  Many families have multiple homes.  The roads are well maintained and the tolls to drive the roads are very expensive.   It feels almost like we are in the US at times.  This is definitely a country where it is cheaper for us to cook rather than go out to eat.  We found a place to park at the end of the peninsula and set up camp.  We made some tasty lentils, carrots and beans for dinner.  We are finding that it is easiest to team up while making meals and doing dishes.  One person is the sous chef and one mans the gas grill.  We siphon gas out of our gas tank for this-it's pretty ridiculous.  I read for a while and Bart fished.