MAR AZUL & VILLA GESELL--TRIP TO THE BEACH!!

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Hello from Buenos Aires!

I had such a relaxing, peaceful, beautiful time at Mar Azul (the Beach!!)

We left BsAS on Thurs. Had to meet up at Retiro for the bus departing at 10 pm. It is ONLY due to my roommate, who drew me a map and told me EXACTLY what to expect, what to look for, even where to sit and drink coffee (the safe places, where I wouldn't get robbed) where to wait that I was able to (barely!) negotiate the frenzied MOB of people and activity at the Bus Station.



We met at Plataforma 37. We divided up the list between us so everyone was carrying the things we needed. So In adddition to my clothes for four days and three nights, I had a bottle of dishwashing detergent, two pounds of sugar, a bottle of liquid sweetener (that's what they use here), two pounds of tomatos and onions (for the salad), a big bottle of vodka (we'd be celebrating New Years!) and who knows what the heck else.

Everyone was similarly loaded. Luis , for example, had the tent, the inflatible mattress, the pump for the inflatible matttress, a big huge warm blanket, a flashlight and plenty of other stuff.

We were at platform 37. One of us heard them announce our bus at Gate 50. So we pick up ALL OF OUR STUFF, this was NOT a SMALL Bus Station, and head to Gate 50. We get there, wait in line, the bus guy checks one of our tickets and tells us this is NOT our Bus. We have tickets with the Plaza Company. OH.

So. We wait wait wait and finallly we hear- an announcement for a Plaza Company Bus to Villa Gesell (that's the Village closest to Mar Azul where we have to get off and buy food and take another bus). This MUST be us! SO we pick up our stuff AGAIN and head to the correct platform. Wait in line. Nope. This isn't our bus, either!

I look at my watch at 10:19 and say to myself : "That's it. We're not going camping. The bus was supposed to depart at 10 am!"

After three or four falser alarms, we finally find the correct bus! Phew. That'sw TYPICAL BUENOS AIRES for you.

Six hours later, we arrive in Gesell. Head (with all of our gear and clothes!) to the Supermarket to buy water, more food and drinks. I had to buy lettuce for the salad. After the Supermarket, we head back to the bus Station to catch the bus from Gesel to Mar Azul.

Maybe 25 minutes? or a half an hour later we arrive at the Camping Mar Azul. At the Registration Office everyone pays (100 pesos each for four days and three nights) and gets their bright green neon wristband. We start for our campsite. With all the gear and after all the travels,
it seems FOREVER away. We walk for a good few minutes, through other tents (this place is crowded!) by parillas (grills, bbqs), by the bathroom, by another bathroom and another, through a football (soccer game) and up a HUGE hill.

The area is lovely and wooded and pretty close to the beach. There's some quiet restaurant at the bottom of the hill. Even though its VERY FAR from the bathroom, I don't mind because -- A MIRACLE!!-- we pretty much have this area to ourselves! So we begin to unroll our tents. We unfold it, put the poles in, we have our tent up and staked in and so does everyone else when...this woman comes out of the Restaurant yelling at us!! " You can't camp here! You don't have permission!! This area belongs to the Restaurant! Its more expensive! You can't be here!" blah blah blah. Pablo tells her we have a reservation. Back and forth for a while. She tells us to consult the Camping People. So we sent Pablo back to the Registration Office.

Well. We have to take down our tents Yup. The ones that we JUST put up and staked into the ground. Had to unstake, take out the poles, lay the tent flat and fold it up again.

Diego (he and Pablo arrived a day before us because they couldn't get tickets on our bus) says he knows a better spot. SO I pick up all my crap and follow him down the path and up another hill. This was a NICE SPOT. IT took my breath away! Right on top of the beach! So we start to set up again. But after a while we realize that only half of us are here. Where is everyone else??

Then, Dovi, (the Israeli guy) comes over and tells us that we'll freeze here because it's so open. So for THE SECOND TIME -- I start collecting my heavy loaded laden bags. I barely have the strenth to argue. The THIRD SPOT was very crowded 😞 but VERY CLOSE to the bathroom & shower and that was perfect for me. Anyways, it was getting dark and we had to hurry if we were going to have the tents set up before then. There was only one hammer and we had to wait for it so By the time we were staking in the waterproof covering -- we had to use the flashlight. It must have been nine or ten pm.

We sent some of the guys to go buy meat. Emily and I made the lettuce and tomato salad. The guys brought back chicken. And Diego, who is an amateur chef, grilled it on the parilla. We ate grilled chicken & salad and it was delicious!

Then, we gathered wine and champagne and cups and the fireworks and headed to the beach! Even in the dark, it was beautiful. Ah--the sand, the moon, the stars!! THE QUIET. No busses belching black smoke. No taxis honking. No cars. NO HOARDS OF PEOPLE PUSHING & SHOVING YOU!! No incredibly loud assholes yelling on their cellphones. For me, I think the best part was the Quiet, Relaxing, Peaceful, Tranquility. It was like I was in a different country.

We drank and toasted and counted down and set off fireworks -- it was a blast (ha ha)!!

At night it rained and Luis and I were the ONLY ones who had a waterproof covering! EVERYONE ELSE GOT SOAKED 😞 😞 (the next night, when it started to rain again some people put their bags in OUR tent ha ha ha it was no problem but our tent got considerably smaller)

The first day I had a long, hot shower, ate breakfast with Emily which was this canned fish, like tuna or salmon in a can (I forget the name) with fresh tomatoes on crackers-- it was delish! Then we LATHERED ON the sunscreen spf 50 and headed to the beach. It was not as empty as the night before but not particularly crowded for BsAs. It was a good thing we applied the sunscreen because the sun was strong!! Every day I applied sunscreen like there was no tomorrow. I actually managed to NOT get burned!!!!!!

That night we ordered pizza and empanadas and drank and played cards and talked and danced. Nobody really wanted to be sitting on the beach from 12 until 2 So The next day we walked to Villa Gesell and found a nice place to sit and eat lunch together. I ordered a big salad with lettuce, tomato, carrot, mushrooms, artichokes, hardboiled egg --mmm. Took the bus back. And headed to the beach around 4 or 5. It was still sunny and beautiful!!

The last night Diego made pasta and a sauce that was to die for. Elvira made guacamole which was also very good. Ate it on crackers. We sat around drinking and talking again. Nobody wanted to leave! All of us were feeling pretty depressed/sad the next day.

We took down the tents, packed up everything and took the bus to villa Gesell. Here we had two hours to kill. I wanted to see the beach again. And it was only five or six blocks away. So Luis and I walked to the beach. This beach had soft clean sand and the clouds were soft and puffy and the water wasn't cold. It was even nicer than the beach at Mar Azul! It was more crowded, of course -- but I didn't care -- it was worth it! So we walked with our feet in the water and it was so romantic and lovely. (I didn't want to leave!)

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