It's not a slow car, it's a fast house

While we hung out in Southern Brazil (state of Rio do Sul) we realized that we were extremely close to the Uruguay border.  We had heard about the pandemic border closures, but we hadn’t see it for ourselves. So what the heck, we packed up the camper and took a trip to check it out.  The three day drive passed through some beautiful regions of Brazil. 

Our first night we slept in the dunes of a beach.  Nearby was a miniature lighthouse.  The night was a welcome reminder of the sand between our toes, and sand tracked inside the camper by dogs.

Driving along the highway we passed through a few different animal refuges and spotted terrific animals near the road.  One day we saw large turtles along the roadside and on the road.  We stopped to help a few of them get off the pavement.

   

We took one of them over to the truck to meet the dogs.  Nica stayed away, but Pacha had to get close and take a look.  That encounter ended with a sharp turtle bite on Pacha’s nose.

We also saw some slow capybaras.  Just in case you were wondering, they do cross the road!

While passing through a city for groceries and gas and geocaching we stopped at this huge tree.

But we did not choose to sleep in the city, we headed for a waterside, grassy field to camp for the night.

Nearby we passed through a pine tree zone with baggies attached. The cross-hatched areas cause pine pitch to drain into the baggie.  The raw product is gathered in large barrels located nearby and used for manufacturing varnish.

Finally we arrived at the Uruguay border and looked around the small town of Chui.  We pulled up to the sign and looked at the invisible line, but were too chicken to pass that point.  The customs building is about four miles away, and we did not want to take a chance on getting in trouble.  So we just looked and took photos.

After shopping at the duty free stores, we went to the beach to find parking again.  This time we were near the base of another light house, and extremely close to the line between the two countries.  The lighthouse looked magical with the full moon over it.

The next morning started with a beach walk with rowdy dogs.  First we saw the dividing line between Brazil and Uruguay.  This line is defined by a berm of concrete “jacks” with rocks and sand on top, and a small channel of water.

Along the beach we spotted interesting items washed ashore.  I tried to take photos of each item, with my shoes, foot or hand for size perspective.

 

After a fun time relaxing and enjoying the beach, we turned and headed north, back to our rental home.  However, we were nervous about passing the Brazilian customs facility.  We did not want to have to answer questions about why we were there, if we had crossed the border and why our passport stamps were long expired.  So we found a farm road way back in the fields and passed along there for many miles.

This road crossed through the wind turbine farms that generate energy for this region of Brazil.  Nica was fascinated with the huge machines. And we felt satisfied that we were as close to Urugauy as we could legally be at this time in the world.  Someday…….