Happy New Year from Uruguay
31 december 2000
Hello All
To anyone thinking that we are going to make it to Tierra del Fuego for the New Year, guess again. We are not even in the right country much less anywhere near Tierra del Fuego. We are sitting in a cyber cafe just off Avenida 18 de Julio here in Montevideo, Uruguay where we will bring in the New Year and the 21st century barring a world catastrophe during the next few hours.
We spent yesterday at a park on the eastern side of the country where we body surfed at the beach and then had a wonderful drive across the countryside of Uruguay--a beautifly tranquil and bucolic passage where we saw horses, cattle, sheep, few people, old cars dating from the 30s and 40s and monk parakeets who had built huge nests in the eucalytus trees.
Since we have abandoned any sort of schedule (actually, we never had one), we are just going from place to place whenever we feel like it. We will try to look up an old friend of mine here in Montevideo tomorrow morning after we stay up for the fireworks tonight. Then after a visit with him (if I find him) we will head off to Colonia del Sacramento across from Buenos Aires and from there we will either take the ferry or drive to Fray Bentos and take the road to Buenos Aires. After a visit with friends there, we will head across for our first glimpse of the Andes. Then we will head down through Argentina and Chile to Tierra del Fuego.
Amazingly we are still together and although we do occasionally have difficulties, we surmount them somehow and continue on our way as a group since traveling this way as a group is more fun than two or three people traveling together.
We wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year from Uruguay and a Happy New Millenium.
Larry and Will not lost but wondering through Uruguay
December 31, 2000 - Second post to Caravana Panamericana from Les, Vicki and Jozey, Kai and Valeria, Larry and Will in Montevideo, Republica Oriental del Uruguay
Here are some more of the THINGS WE HAVE LEARNED while traveling in South America
BLACK SKID MARKS ON THE ROAD: Always be aware of these since they often foretell a dangerous situation that everybody realizes only at the last minute. Sometimes the 'dangerous situation' has been corrected and therefore no longer exists but slow down anyway, it may be a trick. In cities and towns where the road is not marked with direction signs, you can often tell how to get through simply by following the black oil droplet lines that 'most' cars make since 'most' of those cars are indeed going through the town.
QUEBRA MOLAS: Sometimes these 'spring breakers' are announced by 'sonorizadoras' or large areas of rough and tumble rumble strips; and sometimes they aren't. Sometimes they are painted and sometimes they are not. Sometimes they are camouflaged or hidden in the shadows of a tree. Sometimes there are signs that announce that they are there and sometimes the signs say they are there and they aren't. What I'm saying is that at least twice a day you will have your foot jammed on the brake sliding to a stop just before self destructing your suspension on yet one more hidden quebra mola or worse if you don't see them at all, you will be airborn just before nose diving back into the pavement. Paraguay has removed hundreds of quebra molas but there are still some to 'surprise' you on occasion.
ON-OFF SWITCHES: I have often thought that it would be better if Brasilian cars were offered with ON-OFF switches instead of accelerators so the driver could just get in and flip the switch to 'ON', the engine would rev to 8,000 rpm, the driver pops the clutch and takes off in a cloud of smoke. Revs then automatically drop to 2,500 which is sufficient for cruising. Then they could go, go, go to within a mile or so of their destination and then flip the switch to 'OFF' and coast to a stop.
WATER: In my experience, it is not necessary to buy bottled water. We fill up our Vanagon 16 gallon water tank at a service station when we fill up with gas and we drink the water and we suffer few if any ill effects. Do on the other hand take at least 100 Lomotil (diphenoxylate, atropine) with you if you plan to make such a trip as ours because you will occasionally have diarrhea and one or two Lomotil will generally stop it. Do take 100 Flagyl (metronidazole) tablets just in case you get Giardia lamblia which you will recognize by diarrhea and rotten egg breath. In Parque Nacional dos Orgaos when Kai and I took a walk to Pedra do Sino, I drank almost exclusively from the streams which far below were collected behind a small dam and used for drinking water. A doctor here has told us that Lariam is not necessary. He recommends nothing; treating the malaria if you get it. We took the Lariam but I have traveled twice before without it and nothing happened. Take a short section of water hose to get the water from the spigots in service stations to your water tank.
SALADS: We have eaten salads everywhere and we have eaten fresh vegetables everywhere. When we buy them, we wash them with some kind of soap before we peal them. I myself soap up my hands using handsoap and then wash the vegetables with the soap that's on my hands rinsing both at the same time. Sometimes we have had a little diarrhea but most times we have not.
LOUD MUSIC: Like the US, the smallest cars seem to have the people with the smallest egos and therefore the largest possible speakers which again like the US, they want everyone to hear. The unfortunate thing about South America is that these 'sound maniacs' believe that going to a tranquil park by a stream and setting up portable speakers that can blast sound for a mile 'is the thing to do' on a weekend.
ROBBERY: Clearly there are many thieves in South America since economic conditions tend to favor in many countries a large poor population to supply the needs of a very much smaller rich population or in the case of Brasil, Argentina, Chile and somewhat in Venezuela, a growing middle class population. The salario minimo in Brasil that most workers like guards, restaurant workers, etc. plus retired people receive is Rs$150 ($US75) per month. In Venezuela, I believe I remember that the salario minimo was equivalent to $US90 per month. Yes, you may be attacked and robbed but if you are careful to stay in touristed areas in the cities like Salvador and Rio (where there are tourist police to protect this money making industry) and you don't go out on the streets at night unless there are other people there and you don't stray into unknown areas in the cities, you will most likely be OK. When driving, we always seek out the safety of a guarded service station to spend the night or some other guarded place. Everyplace has a guard of some kind at night. Guarded service stations where truck drivers stop are large, have facilities for eating, drinking and showers that are free if first you fill up with gas.
Many times we have stayed in peoples' yards. The poorer segment of the population is much more receptive and protective of you than the richer population. Poor people open their homes, rich people want you off their street as they would in the US. Sometimes on the road, we have hidden in gravel pits that were excavated when the road was being built - entering when no one saw us and grouping around each other while there. In Rio, we stayed in a long term parking lot within sight of downtown. It cost the equivalent of $1 every 12 hours renewable at the termination of each 12 hour period.
GUIDE BOOKS and MAPS: The South American Handbook is the Bible of travel to South America but it has poor city maps and many of the phone numbers are incorrect as are entry fees but the bus numbers tend to be accurate. Lonely Planet's and Roughguide's BRAZIL books have better maps and more detailed information. Quattro Rodas for Brasil has a small atlas which has good maps for each Brasilian state and they also have a capital city atlas which is helpful since Brasilian cities tend to be large and poorly marked. Quattro Rodas maps are readily available in Brasil and are cheaper than buying them through the internet in the US.
INTERNET: There is internet access widely varying in speed (faster in Venezuela than Brasil) in many places but generally they are to be found in large shopping malls where young people like to go. Usually it is OK to ask any student and they will know. Also, you can go to an expensive hotel where Americans usually stay and they will know where the internet café's are. Don't ever ask if you can use your floppy in the A drive because they won't let you but if you cough when you put it in the drive to cover the 'click' sound, then it's OK.
VANAGONS: Prepare your vehicle well especially anything that has to do with suspension for that will invariably take a beating. Take spare parts since the chance of finding them here is slim to none - no fan belts, no oil filters. We have difficulty even finding SAE SJ Castrol 20-50W motor oil - we can however find SAE SF. When we took our vans to a VW dealer to have them aligned, had we not had the Bentley service manual, an alignment would have been impossible since few Vanagons were ever imported into South America. You may want to consider using synthetic oil because oil changes can be prolonged. Pay attention to your vehicle. If it makes an unusual noise, find it right away. Check tire pressures every day and check your oil each day. Look for spots on the pavement each night and each morning to see if any leak has developed.
EXTRA BATTERIES: Outfit your van with an auxiliary deep cycle battery (or two), as many fans as you can manage (we have three but would like to have six; one of ours is a large one mounted in place of the skylight) and some kind of shower so you can wash off the sweat and road dirt at the end of each day or sleeping will be impossible. Mosquito nets all around are essential. An inverter is essential for charging batteries or using a laptop and a 220V-110V transformer might be helpful sometimes. You may want to bring a small battery charger with you that would work off 110V or 220V since occasionally when you are in one place for a couple of days that has an electrical outlet, you could recharge your batteries instead of having to run the engine. A short extension cord might be helpful.
POST OFFICES: Non-existent in Venezuela. Efficient and safe in Brasil. FEDEX can be done from the US to South America in a matter of days but it is expensive; US$98 to send a two pound package from West Virginia to Venezuela.
PHONES: All phones are operated using phone cards purchased locally but you can also use access numbers that don't require phone cards to access companies like MCI in the US but that way is costly -- perhaps a $10 service charge for simply placing the call. In Venezuela, you can go to CANTV and get a 'cabina' and place several calls easily paying for all calls when finished. You may find phones like these at internet cafes and that is the least expensive option we have found. E-mail is much cheaper and DIALPAD works OK once you figure it out.
That is all I can think of right now that would help the South American traveler. We will be posting in the future things we have learned that might benefit those that come here later on. Let us hear from you if you have specific questions. Will's and my address is: WillandLarry@yahoo.com.
Larry Calhoun, Will Foertsch, Kai Fremgen, Valeria Babocsi, Les, Vicki and Jozey Kovach
