Equipo Williams

We’re out of Uruguay and in Argentina, but I think there are a couple of Uruguyan experiences that never made it on to the blog. 

The kids didn’t enjoy it as much as I did, but about half way into our stay and before we got the car, we took a trip to the Industrial Landscape UNESCO World Heritage site in the western Uruguayan town of Frey Bentos.  In the late nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century it was home to a massive meat processing plant that started off as a German “extract of meat” company and turned into a corned-beef and frozen meat exporting operation.  The initial idea was that the extract would be a cheaper alternative to meat but it was quickly figured out that what was essentially beef stock isn’t a substitute for real food.  The company pivoted to selling the extract as a stimulant with medical properties, but also expanded into corned-beef.  The plant fed armies in the Boer and First World Wars, and operated into the 1970s before closing. 

The town and village that grew up around the plant are still populated, but the plant itself is crumbling.  Perfect for a tour.  I think the kids didn’t enjoy it as much I did, especially vegetarian and animal-loving Sydney.  I thought the story  of the plant and the influx of immigrants it brought was interesting, but I really enjoyed the tour through the decaying factory.  “Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair.”

Leaving Uruguay was a nearly Sartre-esque endeavor.  When we received the car, we were supposed to receive the title with it.  We opened the container: no title.  We checked with Eduardo: no title.  We called the shipper: “oh, yeah, we still have it”.  Apparently a significant amount of their business is shipping cars to people who don’t need proof of legal ownership or some such thing.  We need the document to cross borders, so not having a title was A Problem.  The shipper said they’d get on it, but it was four business days before it actually shipped and then another five business days for the title to show up in Montevideo.  It wasn’t too stressful: we had things planned in Uruguay for most of that time, but then we had to go back to Montevideo to pick up the title and that added a few days.  We caught up (somewhat) with schooling and got ready for Christmas.  We only found out the title had arrived late Tuesday evening as we were planning on extending our stay for another day, so I raced across town to pick it up and changed our plans back to a Wednesday departure.  We were on the road to Colonia and the ferry to Buenos Aires first thing Wednesday morning.

The ferry to BA turned out to be a better way of getting back to Argentina than driving from the northwest would have been.  There was the usual amount of confusion: I had to turn in my temporary import permit for the vehicle to the customs agents, but they weren’t in their office, and I couldn’t find any of them in the terminal.  Eventually the shipping company directed me to a guy who seemed like he could have been with customs and I gave it to him, but who knows?  Then loading my 2.3-meter-tall car onto the ferry I was met with a big “Max height 1.96 m” sign: it turned out there was a little landing at the back of the ship with a more headroom and they parked me there.  That also turned out well, as I was first off the ship in Buenos Aires.

Bringing the car into Argentina couldn’t have been easier.  Friendly immigration agent, the customs team was impressed with the vehicle, and getting the temporary import permit was also a non-event. 

So now we’re in Argentina.  We spent Christmas around Pinamar on the coast, a four-hour drive across the pampas from BA.  Summer season hasn’t fully started yet (we expect after Christmas) so things were quiet.  It was nice to decompress for a week before we started the long run down to Tierra del Fuego.