Anchorena

The Handlers took a road trip while the Abuelos were here to the Uruguayan Presidential Retreat up the road called Anchorena which is now a park open to the public on certain days of the week. This park was originally part of the estate belonging to Aarón de Anchorena (Aarón Félix Martín de Anchorena Castellanos) of Argentina who was one of the early aviators of Argentina. In 1907, the same year that Anchorena made the first ever flight over the Rio de la Plata, he also bought 11,000 hectares on the Uruguayan side for his family estate. During the subsequent years, he travelled the world searching and collecting unique species of plants and animals that would thrive on his piece of paradise. Consequently there are many plantings today originally from South Africa and Australia on the estate. 

Upon his death, per his request, the estate was given to the Uruguayan government as a retreat with the understanding that it would remain a public space for research and conservation. Supposedly in the next couple of years, the park will become an educational institute of sorts and so they might start limiting the number of visitors.

Here are a few pictures from the park:

Axis Deer

The view along the river northward

The President's Retreat

The Lighthouse

The view northward from the lighthouse

The lighthouse stairs looking down

The lighthouse stairs looking up

The view of the lighthouse from another point on the park