Melo, Uruguay

2023-05-30

Melo, Uruguay, has a population: 56,000. Melo sits in the east of the country and about in the middle of the country.

Before the Spanish arrived and conquered the indigenous peoples, this area was inhabited by the Guaraní people. The explorer The Díaz de Guzmán, wrote in his journel (finished in 1612): "... The first is next to Los Castillos, the second is on the Grande River , which is 60 leagues from the Río de la Plata . It is difficult to enter, due to the great current with which it flows into the bordering sea of a small island, which it covers the mouth, and entering inside, it is safe, and wide, and extends like a lake, on whose banks on either side are populated more than 20,000 Guaraní Indians, who the people of that land call Arechanes, not because in the customs and language differ from the rest of this nation, but because they have messy and frizzy hair up, they are very willing and corpulent people and, they have ordinary war with the Charrúas Indians of the Río de la Plata and, with others from inland that they call Guirás, although this name is given to all who are not Guaraní, since they have other names of their own." In all of the historical records of Uruguay, that is the only existing reference to a tribe known as the Arechanes. The historian, Daniel Vidart, wrote in The world of the charrúas (1996): "... the arachanes, who never inhabited any territory other than that of the imagination, are nothing more than a historical ectoplasm, that is, an invention, like so many others, of Ruy Díaz de Guzmán."

The town was established in 1795 and in 1797 the first parish was installed. That original building was replaced by the "new" cathedral that was under construction from 1865 until 1962. There are a couple of pics in the photo album. In 1801, 1811, and 1816, the town was invaded by the Lusitanos from Brazil. After the 1811 invasion the town was taken over by the Portuguese. In 1816 the department (province) Cerro Largo was created and the town respected the constitution of Portugal, Brazil and Algarve. It was in 1827 that the national army came to the rescue of the town and evicted all the Brazilians. Shortly afterward, Uruguay gained independence and in 1830 Melo swore alligiance to the new National Constitution of Uruguay.

The town has numerous parks and plazas that are quite nice. In particular are the parks along the stream that passes alongside the town - the Rivera Park, Zorilla Park, Paseo de la India, and the Bio Park.

Melo has a termperate climate. The average daytime high of 23° C (73° F), and the nightly average low of 13° C (55° F). The city's elevation averages 80 meters (262 feet). The average yearly rainfall amounts to 1238 mm ( 49 inches) of rain.

So, my impressions: I like Melo, it's clean and quiet. It has some nice parks and plazas, and more than enough shopping to take care of just about anything you need. The only problem I have is the same for all these central Uruguay towns - the climate is simply tooooooo cold for me. I was told by at least one local that the climate on the coast is a bit warmer. I hope so.

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: Treinta y Tres, Uruguay.