After a quick trip on the boat across from BA we arrived at Colonia de Sacramento, a small but well traveled town which centres around the historic cobbled streets on the peninsular. We checked in to our dubious room and headed out to explore. We stumbled upon live music in the plaza and climbed the lighthouse for a spectacular view of the town and coastline. It was then time for a well earned meal in one of the restaurants right on the shore which consisted of lots of fresh fish, barbecued chicken and vegetables, delicious although more expensive than Argentina! This was followed by an absolutely glorious sunset over our first destination on the Atlantic Coast.
The next day was another scorcher and we headed to the local beach which was beautiful and surprisingly, almost deserted. As the sea is still half Rio de la Plata at this point the water was a little murky but that didn’t stop Dan diving straight in.
The next day we were back on the bus to Punta Del Este, the next stop is traditionally Montevideo but we were keen to get moving up the coast towards Brazil. Punta Del Este is Uruguay’s answer to St Tropez although not quite as exclusive! Our hostel was nice but the room was a shoebox and it was boiling so we went straight out to the beach and into the waves to cool off.
That evening we were keen to sample the local nightlife but headed out about 5 hours too early as things don’t kick off until around 2am. We settled in at one of the bars on the marina with a litre of sangria and some tasty food and watched as the bars slowly filled up, we were even treated to some Christmas songs on the saxophone. Despite our best efforts we couldn’t quite finish the second jug of sangria and rolled on home.
In the morning we got chatting to our neighbour a 71yr old guy from London who now lives in Ibiza and relished in telling us his life story which basically involved living illegally all over the world, it was an amazing tale. After many poses with the giant hand in the sand we spent another day at the beach where I got slammed by the waves more than once much to Dan’s amusement. We also checked out the beach on the other side of the town which has calmer waters. Dan went on his second run of the trip right round the headland and then after a mammoth booking session trying to plan our time in Brazil it was back out for tea, Dans steak was easily on par with those in Argentina.
Back on the road to La Paloma a little surf town, not much going on here but a nice place with some huge waves which made Dan very jealous of the surfers. We stayed in a really quirky little hostel with an ocean view room, where we cooked up that classic traveller banquet… Pasta and tomato sauce. We also came across the same recycling system as Argentina, when you buy a beer you must bring an empty bottle or be charged extra, simple but effective.
An early start, walking as the sun rose to catch our ride to Cabo Palonia, a very remote but beautiful town just up the coast with only solar power. We had to get a giant 4×4 across the sand dunes to reach the town but it was well worth it, the first thing we saw was a pair of Dolphins playing in the surf. We checked in to our hostel which was a ramshackled little place but full of charm and literally on the beach with plenty of hammocks! It has a super laid back vibe and after breakfast we walked up the coast to the lighthouse where a colony of 100’s of huge sea lions were basking in the sunshine. After a few hours in the hammocks we made our own tennis court on the beach, I smashed Dan 6-2, and celebrated by diving into the refreshingly chilly sea. The hostel owner Alfredo used to be a chef so we were looking forward to sampling his cooking but unfortunately he’s retired!
Next day we headed back out to reality and a few buses later arrived in Chuy which is a town on the Uruguay/Brazil border, only 12 hours until our bus… BEERS!
If you like Piña Coladas... 