When you get cash out in Uruguay, you get thousands!
After a quick night in Montevideo, our next destination was Cabo Polonio. There are no roads into the tiny town, so you pay the drivers of these tricked-out diesels for a ride in.
There were two Argentinians visiting with their sons, a really cute family. We saw them everywhere we went, even Punta del Este, later in the week.
The beer all comes in 1 liter bottles. This is the view from our hotel's deck
Exploring on out first afternoon
The Cabo Polonio lighthouse (faro in Spanish)
Another shot of the lighthouse. For 75 cents you could climb to the top.
There were sea-lions and seals by the hundred, they were fun to watch
The view from our porch
Some cool artwork in the main square.
View from the lighthouse looking north
View from the lighthouse looking south
This rocky peninsula seemed to be the favorite hang-out of the sea-lions and seals
Apparently Cabo Polonio is an illegal settlement, and people are just putting up houses (shacks really) as they please. Only three buildings in town have electricity, the lighthouse and both hotels.
The next day we walked about 7-8K north along the beach. We did not see another person.
Had to get a little crack climbing in on one of the sea-side granite boulders
lunch/yoga rock
A surf shop and a cantina were the two primary businesses in the town sqaure
Cool old fishing boat
The next day we took a guided tour of the Ombu forest. We had to ride on a boat through an estuary for 20 minutes
Apparently it was okay to bring your yerba matte into the park with you. If it had been outlawed I'm sure some sort of populist uprising would have ensued.
The Ombu trees were incredible. Apparently you can find solitary specimens throughout Uruguay and Argentina, but nowhere else do they grow in such concentration
It seems there is a debate in the scientific community as to whether the Ombus should be classified as trees or shrubs.
Their growth pattern is somewhat random, and you can't cut the truck and count the growth rings because they don't have any.
The inside of the trunk tends to die away, leaving a hollow space. As a result the trees are very fragile
On the walk back we saw two of these huge lizards. The guide knew the name but I have forgotten
Our car battery was dead because we're morons and left the interior lights on. The guide was nice enough to charge it up for us.
Next stop was La Paloma, a small beach town 30K south. They also had a lighthouse you could tour
View looking up the light house steps
La Paloma
When in Rome...
The lighthouse at Punta del Este
Last stop on the trip, the beach-side resort of Punta del Este. Glitz and glam and high-rise condos
This is the famous sculpture "El Mano" on the Playa Brava at Punta del Este
