Bonito downtown
I took a walk around town and here is some of what I saw.
Bees at work in the yard of the hotel. They are really small and don’t ‘bite’ the guy said. They give a very special high priced honey that is good for everything.
Honey bees X
Flowers X
Hotel dog X
This is the way some of the sidewalks are done. It is really confusing to look and walk on.
Wiggles X
This is easier to navigate and it sure is pretty when washed like this section has been.
Black and white X
I saw this guy setting the stones for a new pavement project. He taps each stone down hard in a bed of sand with a hammer. Then they grout the stones in place.
Paver X
Paver work X
I was going down the street and came to the Moto-Taxi depot or at least where quite a few of them were hanging out. They were more than pleased to pose with their motos. One guy is holding what they called in Argentina ‘yerba mate’ but I think they call it something else here. it is some sort of leaf ground up and they put that in a gourd cup and add hot water. They have a straw with a strainer at the bottom that they drink out of. Everybody is drinking this stuff and they add hot water to the cup and drink again. almost everyone carries a vacuum bottle for their drink. Anyway, I talked with a one of these taxi drivers last night and it cost three ‘reals’ to go anyplace in town. They have a helmet for the passenger and off you go. Three reals is about a buck and a half.
Moto taxi X
Not far down the street I saw this guy delivering packages. I saw him several other places later so I guess that is one of his businesses.
Delivery hack X
There is a water supply store in town and I caught this hack there all loaded up.
Water hack X
There were three guys that were unloading the truck and all by hand, or back.
Water delivery X
I went up the street a couple of blocks to see the feed store where I had seen some saddles the night before. I wanted to take some photos for my friend Charlie.
Here is saddle blanket that I think is made out of wool and woven together with cord.
Saddle blanket X
Next comes the saddle and they are quite different than western ones.
Saddle X
Here is another saddle that is locally made.
Local saddle X
Next over the saddle is this pad with some sort of hair and I am not sure what kind. The guy seemed to say that is was horsetail hair but I think it was some sort of coarse sheep wool that has been tied in half hitch fashion to the topside of this coarse weave blanket.
Pad X
Pad detail X
Tied on X
Here is the saddle with the top layer on and a chinch strap over it that evidently holds it all in place. There is a chinch rigging on the saddle too but this chinch holds the pad and top layer in place.
Saddle and chinch X
Ah, here is the store clerk with a cattle-calling horn that he took out in
the street and gave me a demo. Evidently this is the way they call the
cattle in from the bush. There was a smaller horn made from only one cow
horn but this one is made from five or six horns. It was way cool and makes
a great sound. Gosh, I wish I could have gotten it and brought it home, then
I could hire out as a cow caller….
Calling cows X
The store clerk was really nice and when his brother came in he introduced
me to him as a ‘real’ cowboy. It would be really cool to be able to talk
with these guys in Portuguese.
This was a really nice ranch supply store. There was a good supply of gate
hardware, fencing supplies, vet stuff and a wide variety of cool stuff. Here
is a nice little milking machine setup.
Milking machine X
They had a good selection of rope and lariats.
Rope X
I liked this little wood stove.
Wood stove X
Bonito is a nice little town and has been fun to walk around in. It is going
to become a tourist town and I am glad I had the opportunity to visit it
when it was still somewhat ‘real’.
