Sant'Ana do Livramento, Brazil, has a population: 75,000. Livramento has become an extension of the city Rivera, Uruguay. Livramento was founded in 1857 while Rivera was founded in 1867. Now, the two are one city with the border splitting them right down the middle. "The border" is nonexistent here, people can freely pass from one to the other with no need for checking in at border crossings or immigrations. There is no wall, no fence, nothing but a few markers (see the photo album) spread out along the line where such things would be.

The economy is based on the free trade shops, of which there area MANY! As well as general services, also livestock, rice, soy, and fruit. Vineyards growing several varieties of grapes for wines are big here, especially the ones owned by Almadén.

Livramento was started, as a community, in 1810, by Portuguese troops who had been sent to the area to secure it.

Sant'Ana do Livramento has a humid subtropical climate. The average daytime high of 24° C (75° F), and the nightly average low of 13° C (57° F). The city's elevation averages 208 meters (682 feet). The average yearly rainfall amounts to 1518 mm (60 inches) of rain.

So, my impressions: This small city is decent enough but the streets are littered, the sidewalks crumbling, the parks outside of the city center are nothing special. There are a lot of classic houses and buildings from the late 19th century and early 20th century (see the photo album). In general, in comparing it to Rivera, I like Rivera much more. It's obviously a much better taken care of city. Livramento shows there has been a lot of neglect for many years.

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, Peru, 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, Peru
• Moyobamba, Peru
• Catamayo, Ecuador
• Puyo, Ecuador

In my travels in Ecuador, I visited 32 towns/cities. In Peru, 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: Tacuarembó, Uruguay.