Last week four gals from the US stayed a few days at the hostel. One night they asked me how to get to Minas, a small town about 2 hours inland from Montevideo, where there is a nature reserve. Turns out I had just been talking about going there for a day but didn't want to go by myself... some things are just best shared. Well we got to thinking and decided that the cheapest (and funnest) way to get there was by renting a car between the 5 of us and hitting the road... which is precisely what we did!
Minas and the surrounding park were absolutely picturesque. Rolling hills and rock formations, miles of unocupied space, and winding dirt roads streching on as far as the eye could see. We enjoyed the journey, always taking the scenic route when there was the option, and I reveled in the freedom of traveling by car rather than long distance bus... It was a beautiful day and we rolled the windows down, turned up the random local radio stations, and stopped frequently to do all the stuff your supposed to do on a road trip. Like buy yummy local pasteries. Or ask for directions. Or stop along the highway to take pictures. Or take a killer nap next to a waterfall... It was also interesting to interact with uruguayans from the coutnryside. While I have found Montevideanos to be very well educated (Uruguay has 98% literacy, the US has about 88%), cultured, and curious, I was not sure how people from other regions would compare. I was very plesantly surprised to find that the people I interacted with were equally well informed and very well spoken.
As for the scenery we encountered along the way, I thought pictures would serve as a much better description. Also, Gomez the hostel cat got a little jealous when she saw that I hadn't put a picture of her on the blog, so she snuck one in there too... enjoy!
It's a hard life being the resident hostel cat...
An old truck along the route to Minas.
The "panoramic route" back from the water fall had some great views.
Salto del Penitente- outside of Minas.
The waterfall from above.
An authentic gaucho... like the slip on knee high boots, chaps and a beret to take my horse to the grocery story kind of gaucho...
Horses grazing on someone's front lawn.
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