Cheap wine, sea breeze and kamikaze bees.

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After leaving our hostel in Buenos Aires we headed for the port to catch our ferry. Luckily we left plenty of time because we showed up to the wrong one to begin with. Some minor problems later and our voyage to Uruguay had begun.

Our first stop was Colonia where, impressed by its laid back feel, we intended to rest and spend the following day enjoying the sights. However a shortage of beds and a glut of other tourists meant that we ended up traveling on to Montevideo a day earlier than expected.

During our short stop in Montevideo we went to have a look at the plazas and buildings of the Ciudad Vieja (old city). Unfortunately we didn’t find all that much to hold our interest and soon travelled onwards to Punta del Diablo on the east coast.

Punta del Diablo was an entirely different affair. We were picked up from the bus ‘terminal’ by Sebastian, the owner of the hostel, and driven along the sandy tracks to where we were to stay. We spent most of our time visiting the beautiful beaches, chomping on fish empanadas and drinking cheap wine with the other gringos in the hostel.

On one of our more active days we visited the nearby Santa Teresa fort and national park. The fort was really interesting and well-kept and we enjoyed a picnic lunch in the forest before undertaking the trek back to the hostel via the Playa Grande, which lived up to its name of “Big Beach”! Whilst the walk back was mostly pleasant (if hot), a bee decided to kamikaze dive straight into Charlene’s forehead.

Disgusted by the behavior of the bees in Punta (or perhaps because we had a flight to catch), we packed our bags and returned to Colonia for one night. Before the ferry we managed to see some of the sights, including the lovely Old Quarter and managed to climb the lighthouse.

We arrived back to a rainy Buenos Aires and made our way to the airport ready to cross the pacific to Sydney…

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