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

December 2022

With all the dog paperwork prepared, we were ready to cross the border to Uruguay from Argentina.  This was to be a quick visit, as we didn’t find much we wanted to see or do there.  But some hot springs and an interesting cannery tour lie ahead.  But first, a detour to a little geocache, hike and religious grotto.

Religious grottos such as this are pretty common.  This one was a ways off the road and surrounded by a well-kept little garden.  Of course, the geocache was missing.  But the we enjoyed looking around anyway.  Many people must visit and leave items along with their prayers and wishes.  We found quite a few items tucked under rocks, into trees and amongst the blades of grass.  Talismans and tokens included small stones, jewelry, flowers, leaves, feathers, scraps of fabric and even hair clippings.  These items are not to be touched or moved- so we sniffed around and hiked back to the truck. Then headed to the hot springs.

The hot springs in this region are more like heated pools.  The water is chlorinated, the tubs are sparkly and the atmosphere is family oriented.  We enjoyed the soak and the freshness.  But it wasn’t like our usual expectations for a hot springs visit!

The other thing we wanted to explore was the former canning factory.  This was a huge supplier of canned meat products for South America and Europe.  It is a giant factory footprint, almost like a small city.  Housing, shopping, schools and large factory buildings were once operating.  Now it is used for a few other things, including this interesting museum.

In addition to massive machines, there were examples of the various meat products made at this location.  Uruguay was considered the largest meat producer on the continent at this time period.  They sold many canned meat products, under a wide variety of names and labels.  A few of them are shown above.  And of course, no meat processing plant would be complete without the two-headed calf in a jar on display!

But with that tour complete, we were ready to cross back across the border to Argentina.  It is almost New Years Eve and we need to find a spot to settle down and enjoy the holiday.

Follow us back to Argentina for additional exploration.  Remember to sign up to receive these updates directly in your email box.  We never sell or share your address, but you can be the first to get the news of our travels as we head toward the end of the American continent!