Panagea Estancia

Another very early morning start to catch our bus to Montevideo and then on to Panagea Estancia, Juan’s farm, where our group will be staying for the next three days.  We strap on our luggage and haul it down to the bus station in the dawn light and board our first bus of the day.

Along the way I see plowed fields, stacked bales of hay, livestock and horses grazing and small farms dotting the landscape.  I can see for miles in each direction as Uruguay is flat, which I wasn’t expecting.  There are a few hills but no mountains in sight.  

After three hours we arrive in Montevideo, the capital, and store our luggage for a few hours before we catch our next bus.  The bus terminal is very modern and attached to a large shopping mall with a variety of name brand stores.  I don’t know why, but my uninformed impression of Uruguay was that it was one of the poorer, underdeveloped countries of South America.  I could not be more wrong.  They have a strong dollar, the roads are in perfect condition, great shopping, strong wifi in public places, modern public transportation that runs on time and super clean public areas.  I’ve only been here two days and I absolutely love it.  I already want to return and explore the country more in depth.

We hop onto the next bus which will take us to Tacuarembo after a five hour journey.  Everyone’s exhausted due to the early wake-up and are able to  nap throughout the afternoon on the reclining seats.  My seat partner, Pritesh, is out like a light while I listen to podcasts in between my nodding off.

Our host, Juan, meets us in Tacuarembo to transport us via vehicle for an hour and half to the estancia.  We all hop into a dilapidated van that inches towards 50km/hr, although I’m guessing at the speed because the speedometer is stuck at 20km/hr.  The windshield is a spiderweb of cracked glass and the windows and doors rattle as we lumber down the road.  Driving through the lush countryside, small farms dot the horizon with cows and horses grazing in the fenced pastures.  The sun is starting to set and the sky has changed from orange to pinks and purples.  It’s absolutely stunning and I can’t wait to shoot some photos of it tomorrow.  

Turning off the paved road onto a red dirt track, we continue on for another 30 minutes before reaching Panagea Estancia.  It’s a sprawling ranch with several outbuildings beside the main house.  Inside, a fire is crackling in the hearth and large chairs sit alongside it.  I immediately plop into a chair closest to the fire and stretch out my legs.  Juan assigns our rooms and says to me,

“Sunshine!! Come with me.  Your room is down here.” 

We quickly sort our bags and then meet back in the main room for a briefing on the rules of the ranch.  Some are as follows:

• electricity runs from a generator between sunset to 10pm.  Candles are provided.  Don’t burn the ranch down by setting your bedside lampshade on fire 
• don’t hang your (and I’m quoting Juan) shitty underwear in front of the fire.  Hang your laundry outside to dry 
• close the doors at night or we’ll be woken up by skunks invading the house (and no, Juan does not raise skunks.  They’re wild)
• in the morning, it’s our responsibility to choose what we want for breakfast and to cook it on the wood stove.  This isn’t McDonalds.  It takes time for the pan to heat up to cook our eggs and bacon so don’t complain that the breakfast is taking too long
• Intrepid’s tour notes state that this is to be a “real” gaucho experience.  Juan advises that in his experience and statistically speaking, 2.5 of us will complain that the experience is a little “too real”.  His request:  take your complaints to Melany because he doesn’t care😀

Juan’s sense of humour cracks me up and I feel that we’re going to get along famously.  I tell him I’ve already decided to quit my job, stay in Uruguay and become a gaucho.  Melany’s on board with my idea.  

We have a late dinner and chat around the fire before all heading to bed just before Juan yells out that we have two minutes before the generator shuts off and we all scurry off to our rooms.