Tacuarembó, Uruguay, has a population: 55,000. Tacuarembó sits in the northern half of the country and a little to the right of center, meaning a bit east of the center.

Between 1804 and 1807, José Gervasio de Artigas established a camp along the Tacuarembó stream, and he and other soldiers would provide security to the people who lived in the region. In 1817, he build a chapel and called it "Santa Ana del Tacuarembó Chico". This chapel became a gathering point for the local indigenous people, but it only lasted until 1825. Still, the town had not yet been founded, it was only a camp. But the then President decreed that a city should be founded in the area. He sent Colonel Bernabé Rivera and a caravan of wagons from Montevideo to settle and found the new city. In January 1832, they founded the city of San Fructuoso. By 1837, the town had a population of more than 500 and a mayor, a military chief, a public works department, a parish priest, and more. The city continued to grow and by 1912 its name was changed to Tacuarembó.

The economy is based mostly on cattle and agriculture, with some flour and rice mills as well as a couple of sawmills in the area.

Tacuarembó has a termperate climate. The average daytime high of 23° C (74° F), and the nightly average low of 13° C (55° F). The city's elevation averages 137 meters (449 feet). The average yearly rainfall amounts to 1428 mm (66 inches) of rain.

So, my impressions: I like this town, it's clean and quiet. It has two plazas and a lot of 100+-year-old houses and buildings. There's a dedicated bike lane that goes almost all the way around the edge of town and many parks. What I don't like, and this isn't about the town, is the climate, it's just too cold for me.

My goal is to find a new place to live. So to reach that goal, I am traveling most of South America, visiting the countries of Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, and Chile, passing through Argentina, visiting Paraguay, passing through a bit of Brazil, and finally visiting Uruguay. I have a list of towns, about 70 that meet these qualifications: Cities with average day temperatures of 22-28° C (72-83° F) and night temps of 14° C (57° F) and higher; and a population between 28,000-300,000. I analyzed climate and population data of around 700 towns in the countries mentioned above and then pulled out the ones that meet the previously mentioned criteria, which leaves about 70. My preference leans towards towns of less than 100,000 people.  And, now that I have visited more than 30 towns/cities, I've decided I will probably want an inland town. I love the beach and walking in the warm water, but getting sunburned is just too easy, even on a cloudy day. At least here in Ecuador. I've also decided that any town with more than 100,000 population will be too big. I've decided that any small town/city (less than around 80,000 population) that meets the temp specifications and has a supermarket and ATM is one worth considering to live in.

My goal is to visit the towns and discover which one calls out to me - "Chip, Chip, make your new home here, this is your new home town". That hasn't happened yet, but the towns listed below are very close to giving me that feeling. At any rate, I am not visiting tourist attractions or archeological sites, etc, those will have to wait for another trip through South America.

At this point in my journey, I had ten towns on my Top 10 list, but I narrowed it down to four:

• Tingo Maria, Perú
• Moyobamba, Perú
• Catamayo, Ecuador
• Puyo, Ecuador

In my travels in Ecuador, I visited 32 towns/cities. In Perú, I visited 26 towns/cities; in Chile, only five towns; and in Argentina, I visited 14 towns. I visited 12 cities in Paraguay, and in Brazil, three.

Next up: Melo, Uruguay.