Escollera Sarandí

Sarandi is the name of a native tree. It also names the main street of the Old City in Montevideo. If you walk right on Sarandi street until it reaches the coast and then cross (carefully) the Rambla, you get to the Escollera Sarandi.

This is a nice place to go in the weekends if the weather allows. You may see the large ships entering and leaving the Port of Montevideo.



Many fishermen go to the Escollera since the water is quite deep around it. You may see a lot of different fishing techniques. Also, many families just sit there and let the afternoon go by, or see the sun set beneath the Cerro.

Gozadera

Candombe is the drum rythm of the African slaves that were left in Montevideo. Although there were no plantations here, the city was a port of scale in the trip from Africa to the Pacific coast, and some slaves did stay here, mostly to work in the city itself. Black population is small and concentrated in Montevideo. They contributed to national culture with candombe.

Candombe is played with three types of drums of different size. This is, I think, the large one.



La Gozadera is the name of a candombe group that rehearses in the streets of Malvin every Sunday at noon. They prepare for the Llamadas parade in Carnival. Their colors are yellow, violet and green.

A typical rehearsal starts by giving tension to the drum heads, for which they must be heated first.



Drums are played with the bare hands (for the smaller size) or with a stick and hands.



Super-Isolette, Konica VX-400 (five years expired, hence the bluish colors)

These are dancers during a street parade in October 25, 2005 (Heritage Day) at night. Dancers wear the Gozadera colors too.



Some images before and during the street parade of February 11, 2006:

Fishing wharf in Buceo yacht dock

In the Buceo harbor, a number of small fishing vessels have their home.

In the early morning they go fishing in the River Plate. In bad weather they stay moored and I can get at them with my old cameras.



Ikoflex 1b, PanF+, Rodinal 1:50.

The smaller boats are tied one against the other to save mooring space.







Olympus Pen EE-3, Agfa CN-135

The skies of Montevideo are well known for their deep blue colors and the cloud effects after a good storm.







Pentax K-1000, 35 mm lens, Fuji Superia 100

A full catch in a winter's day






Olympus Pen EE-3, Agfa 200.