Uruguayans: Mate fiends

 

Mate drinker on the street

 

Uruguay has a been a pleasant surprise for us, the people are really laid back and very friendly, and there aren’t many tourists here.  Like Chileans and their mullets, Uruguayans are really obsessed with their mate.  Our guidebook says the average person in Uruguay consumes more mate per capita than Argentinians, but at first we couldn’t see how that could occur.  Once we arrived here, we realized it could be done, but only by drinking mate all the time (such as while driving, cycling, at the grocery store, or driving a motorcycle), which they do here with surprising consistency.

La Sirena

La Sirena

We just treated ourselves to a few days of luxury living  at an estancia in Uruguay, called La Sirena.  Though it was above our daily budget for our year long trip, it was a great experience and worth the extra cost.  Our hosts were great and it was a nice experience to ride horses and see some of the countryside here in Uruguay.

Uruguay

Historic quarter in Colonia, Uruguay

Since we have been to Buenos Aires before and it isn’t the cheapest city (although it is very nice), we decided to go across the Río de la Plata to Uruguay for our few remaining days on the continent.  We took the ferry from Buenos Aires over to the town of Colonia del Sacramento and we are eventually going to an estancia (a large old school cattle ranch) up near Mercedes for two days of luxury living before we head to eastern Europe.