UruguayLiving.com

More than 15 days after arriving at the port of Montevideo, and some 12 days later than I was promised by the “professional” whom I had hired specifically to handle the matter, I have my van. I almost had it yesterday—in fact, Borko was even called to the port to pick it up. But, when he got there, the person who had to sign off on the release had left for the day.

Fortunately, Santiago found a very nice gentleman in the Customs Staff who was extremely helpful and got the van released today. I owe him a great debt of gratitude. (I will not print what I owe the “professional” I hired…)

Of course, it was originally promised before Christmas, then on the third of January, that on the 11th of January, that on the 15th of January, and last week… I had been assured that the holiday season would not delay the processing of the van to customs. Of course the 12 days of delay were blamed on the holiday season.

Nevertheless, I guess all is well that ends well. The Southron is now fully equipped and ready to begin explorations of the great unknown Uruguay and the hinterland. I already have my first trip planned. As soon as I can, I am going into the hills above Piriápolis to take a look around. I am thinking of looking for a weekend to place there for next summer. It is about an hour from the office and less than an hour from Punta del Este. That makes it convenient for regular use any time I feel like getting out of the city.

My plan is to make that the first of many trips exploring the entire coastal littoral with a few excursions into the heart of the pampas. I am hoping to get a new G3 modem for my laptop next week, which means I will be able to send reports from the road–I always wanted to be a roving correspondent…

Posted by The Southron on Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 at 17:18.