Uruguay was not in our initial route but we are lucky that we change it because we liked a lot the coast of that country.
In Montevideo we didn’t make any tourism, we were just running from a place to another organizing the paperwork needed to pick up cactus. We had wait too much for cactus, we want to start the route as soon as possible and the first day a taxi driver rips us off… so we didn’t wanted to spend any more time in that city! The only think that I have to say is that the entire city is open to the see, it has like 20 kilometers of coast, beaches and paths, and this is really beautiful…
Our first stop was Punta del Este, we already knew that it is a really touristic city with a lot of skyscraper, so we though we would not like it, but the beaches are really beautiful and we could find a nice place to sleep close to the see, hearing the sound of the waves… In the morning went we woke up, we run through the beach and when we came back we found a notification saying that we were not allowed to sleep there. Luckily it was only a notification and not a fine! We take a bath in the see, a short shower in the showers of the beach and we run out of there!
The next destiny was La Paloma, our GPS showed us two possible routes and we took the one which was closer to the coast, more slow but for sure more interesting. The views were worth and the half of the way without paviment. We were enjoying to test cactus off-road, so we decided to enter in the national park from the “Laguna de Rocha”, a place mostly deserted, where the white of the sand stand out with the blues of the see and the sky, building a wonderful image. We made a little bit more off-road throw the sand to go close to the beach to have lunch. A huge beach only for us J We wanted to continue till la Paloma throw the park but at some point, to drive was not allowed anymore…
Finally we arrived and we camped in a police camping! This was much more cheaper than the other ones. There we spent two nights organizing the things inside the van and Jose fixed also the water tank that was not working properly.
Once we went to the beach to see the sunset. It was a bit cloudy but it was beautiful! And there we meet Tina and Joffrey, they were really nice and our time ended very late at the beach drinking fernet-coke, listening Joffrey playing guitar and watching the stars… We also discover what a murga is, it is like the chirigotas in Cádiz. They are form by 17 people who play and sing songs very funny with a lot of satiric component and social critic.
We were having fun but it was time to continue, we just empty our tanks, fill the water and we were ready to go. While driving out of the camping cactus got stock with an electricity cable! With so bad luck that it broke one of the boxes we have in the roof and bend our roof rack. Someone to came to the camping while we were there use this cable to fix his tent, setting lower the cable than when we enter and that’s why we got stock… Now we are really concern about that and all the time checking if we fit or not.
Next destiny was Cabo Polonio, a small town inside of a natural park where there aren’t cars, running water or electricity. A paradise! To get there, the cars have to wait like 8 kilometers away and there are a few old trucks (IFA) that bring you there. It would have been so cool if we could have enter with cactus, but if we enter all the people will do the same and the magic of this place will be dead. We can’t relax at the beach because was too windy but the best was to take a walk around the seelight and observe the see wolfs that are living there. Was amazing to watch them directly, in his own habitat, playing, swimming, eating…
To sleep we went to Valizas, very close from Cabo Polonio and also impressive. There are huge dunes at the beach in front of the Atlantic Ocean. We walk around them and we saw the sunset from the top, in one side the see and in the other a view like a savanna or how I imagine Africa. Lovely!!
The last stop very close to the border with Brazil was Punta del Diablo, another natural town, without paviment, with incredible virgin beaches, so unspoiled that we saw a lot of shells, mollusk, fish eskeleton and also a marine turtle putrefying L We meet there Beatriz and Antonio, they were our neighbors at the beach. They are a really nice Brazilian couple who gives us maps, information and tips about Brazil.
And when we were in our way to Brazil we could avoid stopping in Santa Teresa, because many people recommended us that place. The thing that most surprise me was the change of the landscape in that zone; there were more vegetation and more green everywhere. A fortress, jungle and see, it could be the scenery of a good movie…
