Fray Bentos
Trip Start
Nov 01, 2004
1
87
133
Trip End
Nov 01, 2005
Fray Bentos,
Uruguay
Monday, June 13, 2005
We wandered through Colonia in the morning and sadly it has turned cold and dull. Itīs not as nice to wander through in this weather :( We had a Mexican lunch (told you there were some interesting restaurants) before catching an afternoon bus to Fray Bentos. We arrived about 8.30 and walked into the centre of town to our Hotel. We found a lovely pizza restaurant with a wood fire and a wood oven - which warmed us up nicely. (oh - and a litre of beer for about a euro!!!!!!!!!!).
Day 227 Tuesday 14/06/05 Fray Bentos - Santa Fe (Argentina)
After a quick visit to the tourist office we headed off in the direction of the money changer - which they had pointed out to us and explained in Spanish. We walked across the main square and into what we thought was the money changer...but alas...no, it wasnīt. Gill`s Spanish isn`t quite fluent yet and the money changer actually turned out to be the old one armed man sitting on a stool on the pavement outside the credit office we went into! We changed money at a rate which was far better than the local bank - 8.5 compared to the bankīs 7.5. We then walked down to the riverside park with a lovely open air theatre and then followed the coast round towards the main tourist attraction here. The walk round was nice but most of the park beside the river was actually flooded. We arrived at the Fray Bentos Anglo Factory and were met by a lovely friendly security guy called Roman who called a guide for us and chatted to us in Spanish.
01 View Over Hotel Courtyard And Beyond
The Anglo Factory was at one point the World`s Biggest Kitchen - producing meat extract and various other products that were shipped around the world - yep, those Fray Bentos pies originally came from here!! We got a tour of the animal corrals, had the slaughterhouse design & procedures explained, saw the plant rooms (the first electricity in Uruguay was produced here), had the refrigeration process explained and saw the port that they used - up to 10 boats a day used the port at one point. They have a little museum too which we toured and they explain the history and processes behind the factory - and have lots of exhibits for you to look at. What we think was the most gruesome museum exhibit from our trip so far was left until last - the preserved "heads" of a Siamese calf found in a cow that they killed here - nice eye-lashes. Sadly what the museum missed out was some of its more controversial history - the fact that there are no natives left in Uruguay as they were driven off their lands and/or exterminated to make way for cattle. In the late 70`s the army moved in here when a military coup took place - our guide made the comment that nobody knows what they did here and quickly moved onto another topic. Uruguay (like many South American countries) has many people who disappeared during the military reign - so did this factory have a more sinister recent history? After our tour we headed back into town and after a poor lunch in a local restaurant we visited the Luis Solari museum - and we have to say that the artist was not to our tastes...... thankfully it was free. We then caught our bus at 3 which took us back into Argentina - our passports were taken by the bus staff and stamped at the crossing - we didnīt even need to leave our seats. We arrived in Gualeguaychu at 4.30, bought an onward ticket to Parana and left at 4.40. We arrived at 9.10, bought an onward ticket and caught our bus at 9.30. We finally arrived in Santa Fe about 10.30 and walked down to find a hotel. We picked a lovely old (read...musty) hotel with a lovely old (read...slow) man on the desk. It`s family run and although quite run down...it`s lovely. The doors on the first floor are very gothic. Sadly heating costs extra and consists of an electric heater which couldn`t heat the wardrobe. Lovely warm shower though! 
