Uruguay?     Why?

In the course of looking for a calm, peaceful place to retire, Uruguay came up and we went for look. Here is some basic information about the country and then you can look at the pictures of our trip. Additional comments are on the pictures, along the bottom edge.
Uruguay is in South America, south of the equator, below Brazil. It is as far south of the equator as Los Angeles is north of the equator.

Some of the pros of living in Uruguay:

• Stable, secular democracy
• Socially progressive
• Excellent healthcare
• Excellent cell phone and Internet access
• Temperate climate rarely gets below freezing

 
Some cons:

• Highest point in the country is 1685 feet (513m)
• High humidity year-round
• Most of the countryside is ranchland
• High import duties

We flew in to Montevideo and drove one and a half hours to Punta del Este, which is essentially a resort town attached to the city of Maldonado, roughly 100,000 inhabitants together. This swells in January which is “high season” and Punta del Este is swarmed with tourists taking advantage of the extensive beaches. Our rental car was an anemic creature with manual transmission – but the muscle-memory kicked in pretty quickly. With all the stop-and-go traffic in the city and towns, we’ll opt for an automatic on any return visits.

We stayed in a hotel in the center of Punta del Este, close to restaurants and shopping. Since we were not quite sure what we were getting ourselves into, we wanted to be close to resources, and potentially English-speaking staffs.

You should maximize the slide viewer (in the top left corner) to properly appreciate the pictures. All were taken with Galaxy S23 5G phone.

Some observations…

The Uruguayan economy depends heavily on dairy and meat industries, and it seems that every house, large and small, has a significant outdoor grill. In spite of this, we were able to find good vegan-friendly options in the restaurants. We also appreciated the restrained use of oils and salt in the dishes.

Driving takes a little getting used to. There are few signals or signs in the neighborhoods, and round-abouts are the primary traffic controls on larger roads. Learning to go with the flow is a major skill that must be adopted. Drivers will collectively slow and speed up so everything flows smoothly. If you see someone ahead of you stepping off the side of the street to cross it, don’t slow down. The pedestrian will have already timed the crossing, and slowing down unexpectedly will disturb the pattern.

I could not locate a library, or central repository of natural and cultural history. There are a number of book stores, each having a slightly different collection, and there were books by local (Uruguayan) authors, as well as books on local flora and fauna. The shops attached to the arboretum and museums had books related to their subjects.

Additional Information

You can find out more about MACA here.

More information about the arboretum is here.

The undulating bridge at La Barra has a Wikipedia page.

The Museo del Mar has a Wikipedia page.