The time came to leave Argentina and our next stop was Uruguay, a country with a population of about 3.5 mil, a high quality of life, and a record as one of the safest countries in South America. Our aim was to reach Montevideo, Uruguay's capital, for New Year's Eve.
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| Marg in Montevideo, Uruguay |
But first we had to cross a river, so we caught the Colónia Express ferry from Buenos Aires. It took us across the very wide Río de la Plata river that flows between Argentina and Uruguay, to Colónia del Sacramento (Colónia) in Uruguay where we disembarked
The ferry left on time, despite the chaos of loading a huge number of families who were visiting or returning to Uruguay for the Xmas and New Year holiday period.
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| Colonia Express ferry from Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay |
We then had to get a bus from Colónia to Montevideo, our destination for the next 12 nights. However, the queue for the bus in Colónia was massive, and we arrived at our accommodation an hour later than planned.
We had rented an AirBnB apartment in Punta Carretas, a suburb of Montevideo, and were really looking forward to seeing it. Luckily, we were able to communicate to the owner that we would be late and so learned where to get a key to get in.
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| Sunset over the Río de la Plata from our AirBnB apartment in Punta Carretas, Montevideo |
When we finally arrived, we loved it. The set-up was trendy, and it was on the ninth floor with river and sunset views. The fantastic owner had left us lots of food goodies to go on with until we could get to the market, so we felt very welcomed.
The location was great as the apartment was near two beautiful sandy beaches, close to restaurants, and right opposite Parque Rodó, a large leafy park.
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| Sunday fair at Parque Rodó, Punta Carretas, Montevideo, Uruguay |
We could see the lovely Parque Rodó from our window, and visit it by simply crossing the road. They have a Sunday fair there which we enjoyed going to, seeing interesting handicrafts, clothing, and local food.
This park is also used for practicing candombe, the music and dance that came from Africa with slaves over 200 years ago. Candombe has now been recognised by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage activity. We spotted drummers in the park and could hear them occasionally from the apartment. It was great, and added to the vibrancy of the area.
Only one block from the apartment, we found the Rambla, the longest continuous sidewalk in the world.
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| The Rambla, Montevideo, Uruguay |
We arrived on the 30th December, and we wanted to shop before New Year’s Eve, as almost everything would be closed from then until the 2nd of January.
So we walked the Rambla for 7 km into Ciudad Vieja, the old city of Montevideo, to pick up some supplies and do some sightseeing.
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| Marg in Ciudad Vieja, the old town of Montevideo, Uruguay |
Montevideo was founded by the Spanish in 1724. It was developed as a strategic move, to stop the Portuguese in Brazil from extending their hold on the important and fertile river basin of the Rio de la Plata.
The old town is attractively built on narrow streets that lead down to the old market and port area, with plenty of cafes, restaurants, and upmarket shops. It is a vibrant and charming city.
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| Interesting mix of architecture in the old town of Montevideo, Uruguay |
It has an interesting mix of colonial, neoclassic and art déco architectural styles, reflecting its southern-European heritage. This is also the case in the long main street leading out of the old town, Avenue 18 de Julio, where we saw more art déco and neoclassic architecture, particularly around the beautifully treed Plaza de los Treinta y Tres.
While in the old town, we found the Mercado del Puerto, a covered market dating back to 1860. It is open daily providing shops and food. But it's particularly known for meals of meat and seafood cooked on the parrilla (grill). Judging by the large crowds, it is a very popular meeting place.
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| Pedestrian streets in the old town of Montevideo, Uruguay |
We got around by using the many pedestrian walkways in the old town, and often saw people from nearby apartments setting up a table in the walkway for an outdoor group/family lunch.
Other interesting places were the Plaza Independencia which is the main town square; the beautiful and huge Teatro Solís; Palacio Legislativo which is the national parliament; and several museums, churches and beaches (of which there are several).
Over the next few days, we walked into town a lot, usually going in via the Rambla, and home through the small inner-city neighbourhoods.
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| Interesting houses and shady trees on our walk home from the old town of Montevideo, Uruguay |
The Rambla was always busy in the afternoon with people walking, running, cycling, out with their dogs, or on one of the many river beaches. It was all so vibrant (but had no shade).
Initially we thought Montevideo was dirty with rubbish and graffiti everywhere. However, very soon after the short holiday period, the municipal cleaners got to work, and it totally changed our view. We really like this place.
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| New Year's Eve fireworks in Montevideo, Uruguay |
Montevideo, unlike many capital cities, does not celebrate New Year's Eve with a huge central fireworks display. Instead, people let off their own fireworks all over the city. From our apartment, we had a fabulous view of several firework events.
There were a few early in the evening, but by midnight, we were surrounded with lights and bangs everywhere. Come on in 2018!
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| Interesting homes in the neighbourhoods of Montevideo, Uruguay |
From our Punta Carretas base, we did several long walks to neighbouring suburbs. We particularly liked the modern, trendy, colourful and eclectic housing styles we saw, and the many parks and street-side activities.
We also walked a lot around our own Punta Carretas area. A favourite walk was to the quaint little lighthouse at Punta Carretas point. Known as the Punta Brava Lighthouse, it dates back to 1876.
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| Marg at the lighthouse at Punta Carretas, Montevideo, Uruguay |
Built to guide boats into the entrance of the Santa Lucia River west of Montevideo city, this modest little lighthouse is 21 metres high and now has an electric light that can be seen from around 24 km away.
After a few days of exploring Montevideo city and suburbs, we hired a very small car to do some touring further out from the capital.
Firstly, we drove to Colónia where we originally arrived into Uruguay on the ferry. It had caught our eye when we were first there, but we had no chance to look around at that time.
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| Marg in Colónia del Sacramento (UNESCO) |
It didn't disappoint on this second visit, being full of lovely and interesting narrow, cobbled streets.
Colónia is located on a peninsula on the Rio de la Plata, around two hours west of Montevideo. It was established by the Portuguese in 1680, and is one of the oldest towns in Uruguay and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Its old town is full of lovely colonial buildings built right on the river-front. There were a lot of tourists about when we were there. However, everyone seemed to move around easily and we had a good time exploring without it feeling crowded.
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| Us at lunch in an historic café in Colónia del Sacramento (UNESCO), Uruguay |
Later we wandered around and visited several of the grand buildings in the old town including the Basilica, and some museums. Nearby we found the Portón de Campo, the City Gate and wooden drawbridge that was once the entry to the old Portuguese fortification.
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| Street in Carmelo, Uruguay |
Later, we drove further west to Carmelo, another historic town on the river, but it was very quiet. At the end of the day, we drove home by a different route to see more of the country.
The next day we drove east alongside, then beyond the Rambla, past lots of very busy beaches. On the way, we went through the pretty beach city of Piriápolis then on to the rocky cliffs of Punta Ballena.
In Punta Ballena, we went to see Casapueblo, an amazing piece of architecture built in 1958 by Carlos Páez Vilaró, a famous Uruguayan artist.
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| Casapueblo |
He built it as his home and workshop, out of white-washed cement, without plans, and in the form of a maze with no straight lines.
Over time, it was added to in a haphazard way, and now includes a museum, art gallery, café, and hotel. As we wandered through it, we enjoyed the fascinating art of its creator.
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| The art of Uruguayan artist Carlos Páez Vilaró at his home, Casapueblo |
Driving on, we passed through more beach towns, heading for Punta del Este, a popular beach-side holiday spot of Uruguayans. We found the place full of high-rise buildings and teeming with people, with overflowing cafes, and beaches swarming with baking bodies.
Driving around the very attractive harbour, we reached the river delta to see the Atlantic Ocean, the world’s 2nd largest after the Pacific.
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| Left: Rio de la Plata beach. Right: Atlantic Ocean beach, Punta del Este, Uruguay |
So this city enjoys beautiful sandy beaches of the Río de la Plata on its western side, and dramatic rocky beaches of the Atlantic Ocean on its eastern side.
We have followed the Atlantic on several of our travel experiences, with the northernmost point being when we were in Norway in 2013, and the southernmost being in Antarctica two weeks ago.
Because Punta del Este was extremely hot and crowded with so many people everywhere, we didn't stop for long.
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| Typical houses at Jose Ignacio, Uruguay |
Instead, we headed further along the coast to the small attractive but touristy village of José Ignacio. It has narrow streets and quaint houses. Very nice, except if trying to drive down to the beach.
It was so busy that we found it hard to get through all the parked cars on either side of the road, even in our very small car.
After that, we drove to an interesting bridge over protected wetlands at Laguna Garzón.
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| The interesting circular bridge at Laguna Garzón, Uruguay |
The bridge forms a complete circle and was designed to slow down the traffic as it passed from the highway, over the quiet and environmentally protected area of the lagoon.
It was definitely different, and we had a chance to see it properly due to the very low speed limit.
After a full-on day, we headed back to Montevideo via an inland route to try to avoid the homeward beach traffic.
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| Good use of Uruguay's roading reserve on hot days |
On the way, we saw people stopped at the side of the highway, sitting in their fold-up chairs. We have seen a lot of this in both Argentina and Uruguay where people stop anywhere there is shade, seemingly oblivious to the traffic noise, but grateful to be outside with a tree and a bit of green space.
The next day we headed north-west, on one of Uruguay’s wine routes.
We started at Bodega Bouza which is a large commercial winery set in lovely grounds. The wine tasting and food area was in a building displaying some beautiful antique cars.
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| Leigh with an antique car at Bodega Bouza, Uruguay |
After sampling some delicious wine, we drove on seeking another bodega experience.
But the next bodega was booked out so we drove on through several attractive villages, toward the city of Canelones. There were three bodegas on the way, that we thought we could visit. However, they were either closed or booked to tour groups only, so no lunch and no wine tasting.
Feeling a little despondent and getting hungry, we headed back toward Montevideo. Then we found Bodega Pizzorno, a family business, where we had a lovely welcome by the winemaker, Lucio. He fed us, then told us about this boutique bodega’s history and wines.
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| Leigh tasting and Marg with Lucio at Bodega Pizzorno, Canalones, Uruguay |
We went down into the cellar where they produce, bottle and store their wines, and had several tastings. Their specialty of course being tannat, the wine of Uruguay. But they also had a wonderful merlot.
It was a great visit with a New Zealand connection as their sauvignon blanc advisor is a Kiwi wine maker! After a couple of happy hours there, we headed back to the city.
We really enjoyed our stay in Montevideo and exploring other parts of Uruguay. We were able to have a combination of sightseeing and also relaxation, which was great as it was very hot.
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| Rainbow on our last night in Montevideo, Uruguay |
Uruguay is the only place on this South America trip, that we found a real supermarket with a great range of goods. All other food shopping on our trip has been in towns or villages where there was a limited range of stock. Even in Buenos Aires centre, the shops were small and local.
Interestingly, the people of Uruguay seem to be addicted to drinking maté as in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. It's basically a herbal tea, drunk out of a specially made cup through a specially made straw called a bombilla. People carry their maté cup everywhere, along with a thermos of hot water tucked under their arm to top up their maté on the go.
Too soon, it was time to leave for our long trip home.
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| Coming into Buenos Aires from Colónia del Sacramento ferry on our way home |
We caught a taxi to the Montevideo bus station, then a bus to Colónia, then the ferry to Buenos Aires port, then a taxi to the airport, then a flight to Santiago (Chile), then a flight to Auckland (New Zealand), then a fight home to Wellington - whew!
Our homeward journey was not without is problems. At the airport, we found that LATAM airlines (via Qantas codeshare) seemed not have Leigh booked on the Santiago to Auckland flight. We finally sorted it out in time for departure; although we were not seated together despite booking the flight and seats 8 months prior!
Our luggage didn’t arrive in Auckland, but as with the same LATAM flight last year from Santiago, it arrived the next day. Our advice….don’t use LATAM Airlines.
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| Crossing the Andes Mountains on our flight home |
Despite the tricky homeward flight, we loved this side of South America as much as we loved our tour of the other side last year.
We've had an amazing journey through five countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay), and the Antarctic continent. We’ve seen some fabulous scenery, spotted remarkable wildlife, been in stunning (and not so stunning) cities, towns and villages, and met some really lovely people. A fond farewell South America.
We are now planning to take a short break from travel; but the next adventure is never far away.
The above is part of our 4-months of independent travel in South America.
The above is part of our 4-months of independent travel in South America.
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