Monday, April 10, 2006

Trekking in la Sierra de las Animas, Maldonado

<<previous next>>
Panoramic picture of Sierra de las Animas, Maldonado, Uruguay La Sierra de las Animas is the name of a couple of hills in Maldonado (actually a sierra) of no more than 508 meters high (did I ever mention that Uruguay is a flat country?). It's actually the second highest "peak" in Uruguay, being the first one el cerro catedral with something like ten more meters high, not much more (dont take my word for it, go get some encyclopedia and correct me).

It's a very popular trekking spot in Uruguay, there are a couple of different walks to choose from. The one we did was to make it to the top of the hill, which is about a two to three hour walk, but there is also another one called "El cañadon de los espejos". The last one is named after pools of rainwater with small waterfalls you arrive to when you reach to the end of the path. The place is said to be very beautiful after rainy days with the waterfalls in their full glamour.

Arrival at sierra de las animasSierra de las animasSierra de las animas

There used to be a third walk to the "pozos azules" (or blue pools) which is now closed, and there is also a whole discussion about which ones are the true legendary blue pools which I won't go into.

La Sierra de las Animas is also very popular among mountain bikers who carry their bikes to the top and then slide from there.


Once we arrived to the place we payed the 40 uruguayan pesos fee, and listened carefully to the pleasetakegoodcareofthepark fifteen minutes lecture. The place is maintained as an ecological park and we learned that it's forbidden even to spit fruit seeds while walking in order to protect the original flora (killing anything that walks or crawls or flies is of course out of the question).


When you are on the top of the hill you understand why they used to call it Mirador Nacional (National watcher...err, no.. watchpost, sightseer...err, something like that) as you can see a great part of Maldonado and even Montevideo or so they say in clear days.

We crossed a bunch of horses on the way to the top, and one snake and one impressive tarantula on the way down.



If you are the kind of person that likes walking, watching nature and just talking with someone in the way to the top (to the peak) you probably would've enjoyed it.

Sierra de las animas
...

30 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:56 PM

    Thank you for your blog. I am an American who has only lived here for 7 weeks--I have started my own blog about moving and living here. I would appreciate knowing what you think of it. You can find it at www.UruguayLiving.com. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey this is a really cool blog. I'm Uruguayan myself and I recently took some pictures of Uruguay I thought you might enjoy. It's over at www.auteurslust.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. socalledchaos-xl,

    the spiders are harmless (but scary) and the snakes may be poisonous but there hasn't been any snake related issue in decades (so the the park ranger says). the advice was not to wander off the road and to check the bushes and surroundings of rocks before sitting on them

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous1:12 PM

    Merci pour ton blog qui me permet de mieux connaitre un pays qui m'attire beaucoup mais sur lequel je n'arrivais pas à trouver beaucoup d'informations.C'est chose faite grâce à toi,et les photos et les témoignages que tu as postés me donnent encore plus envie d'y faire un petit tour.Mais bon pour l'instant je suis bloqué en France(bon y a pire comme pays de résidence) donc je me contenterais de tes infos pour satisfaire ma curiosité.Donc continue ton blog,il claque,et merci encore!!(Sorry I wrote in French I am not very fluent in English and I thought you were fluent in French(I saw you diary tripping).But I forgot the other members of the team,so I congratulate you too!!)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Merci beacoup pour une tres tres gentil commentaire. j´m bien ton pays et parfois il me manque un peu. Desolee on fais pas d'article en francaise, mais a vrai dire j'uis pas tres bonne en écrivant en francaise (j'uis super lent et incapable sans google ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you guys for the feedback in name of tali and me, helps us keep rolling.

    I´d like to ask you for not so positive feedback if you have it, what would you like to see and you don't?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous9:05 PM

    Hello gabriel

    it's me Oskar from Peru.Your blog is very interesting for people that are curious about uruguay.
    I would like to see for example the main soccer teams from your country, Peñarol and Nacional(a little bit of history, anecdotes,records,etc)

    I'm looking forward to meet you and tali in montevideo!

    take care

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous7:11 AM

    Hehe
    Well i know the dispute between
    peñarol and nacional about which of these teams is the real "decano"..
    Nice to see that there is still passion for soccer in Uruguay! :)
    For myself as i'm not from Uruguay i regard sympathy for both teams, although i have to admit that a little bit more for Peñarol because a peruvian soccer player was a glory of this team and is part of the Hall of fame of Peñarol..
    He was the one called "Negro el once" :)

    Greetings from Lima

    ReplyDelete
  9. uruguay's football is not exactly in it's highest moment right now, but I agree is something to write about.

    it'll be a pleasure to write how crappy is peñarol :p

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous5:58 PM

    be fair with el manya! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous4:10 PM

    Beautiful countryside! I cannot wait to see it!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi! I would really love to move to Uruguay in the near future and am hoping to meet someone locally. If you would be interested in corresponding with me, please write! mari at conpoint dot com. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is the right blog for anyone who wants to find out about this topic. You realize so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually would want…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just great!

    Onshegoes.com
    Information
    Click Here
    Visit Web

    ReplyDelete
  14. An impressive share, I just given this onto a colleague who was doing a little analysis on this. And he in fact bought me breakfast because I found it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the treat! But yeah Thnkx for spending the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love reading more on this topic. If possible, as you become expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more details? It is highly helpful for me. Big thumb up for this blog post!

    Mibotanicals.com
    Information
    Click Here
    Visit Web

    ReplyDelete
  15. Nice post. I learn something more challenging on different blogs everyday. It will always be stimulating to read content from other writers and practice a little something from their store. I’d prefer to use some with the content on my blog whether you don’t mind. Natually I’ll give you a link on your web blog. Thanks for sharing.

    Blog.clickteam.jp
    Information
    Click Here
    Visit Web

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh my goodness! an amazing article dude. Thank you However I am experiencing issue with ur rss. Don’t know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anyone getting identical rss problem? Anyone who knows kindly respond. Thnkx

    Devpost.com
    Information
    Click Here
    Visit Web

    ReplyDelete
  17. After study a few of the blog posts on your website now, and I truly like your way of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website list and will be checking back soon. Pls check out my web site as well and let me know what you think.

    Addandclick.com
    Information
    Click Here
    Visit Web

    ReplyDelete
  18. You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this site!

    Radiovybe.com
    Information
    Click Here
    Visit Web

    ReplyDelete
  19. Can I just say what a relief to find someone who actually knows what theyre talking about on the internet. You definitely know how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More people need to read this and understand this side of the story. I cant believe youre not more popular because you definitely have the gift.

    Fmfreaks.dk
    Information
    Click Here
    Visit Web

    ReplyDelete
  20. This is very cool, I want to go to La Sierra de las Animas with my friends. Lanai Screen repair Bradenton, FL

    ReplyDelete