Hello from Uruguay

I admit that part of the reason for coming to Uruguay was to get another country´s stamp in my passport. I can add a new name to the list of countries visited. It´s quite a small country squished in between Argentina and Brazil on South America´s Atlantic coast. The population, I´ve been told, is 3 million and it doesn´t have any must-see attractions like Machu Picchu or Iguacu.

I did toy with the idea of visiting the capital, Montevideo, where the Graf Spee took refuge after the battle of the River Plate in WW2, but Buenos Aires was quite enough big city for a while so I settled for sightseeing in Colonia del Sacramento and a boat trip through the delta back to Argentina.

Getting to Colonia is easy. Buquebus runs several fast ferries daily from BA across the river direct to Colonia. It´s a popular destination for Porteños (citizens of Buenos Aires) particularly in the summer. The journey is only one hour each way so it can be a day trip. I chose the 2pm sailing, which doesn´t take cars and is therefore probably less prone to complications.

The journey itself was rather dull. The River Plate is prone to fogs, and a light mist restricted visibility. There are no decks for the passengers to take the air. All I could see thrugh the window was the water rushing past at 30 knots. Accoding to Buquebus literature the vessel´s top speed is 50 knots. I get excited if my little yacht goes over 6 knots.

The hostel I had selected from the guide book had plenty of room. In fact I had a dormitory to myself.

There was enough daylight left for a wander. Down by the river a group of schoolchildren were flying kites. The lack of wind made this much more difficult, but it didn´t appear to dampen their enthusiasm. I hope they had insect repellent with them, because some biting things found me. Luckily their range did not extend to the town.

After the noise and bustle of BA, Colonia is delightfully peaceful. Most of the streets are lined by trees and the old streets are "cobbled", although the paving is so irregular that they are a danger to anything less than a Land Rover.

There are many restaurants in the old town, but they are distinctly upmarket. Only a couple of them advertised specials. The one I chose was having a particularly slow evening. I was the only customer. The waitress assured me that they had the opposite problem in the summer season.

In the morning I followed the guide book description of the old, colonial period town. This included the local museums. Each is quite small, but one inexpensive ticket admits you to all of them. And it was a good day to be indoors. Dark, thick clouds hung threateningly overhead and the heavy showers started as I made my way to the bus terminal.

My destination was Carmelo, the departure point for the slower ferries that take the scenic route through the delta to Tigre in Argentina. The bus took me through undulating green fields with cows or soggy crops. It could have been almost anywhere in Northern Europe or NZ´s North Is.

I managed to get off at the right place and find the cheaper hotel listed in Lonely Planet. It had put its prices up, but cunningly not so much that it was worth looking elsewhere. In truth it was a bit of a dump, but the manager was cheerful and very helpful with directions. It was clean, had a private bathroom and it was only for one night.

Or was it? My first excursion was to the ferry company´s office. Alas for my dreams of a picturesque cruise through the islands of the delta. The Saturday sailings were before dawn, which was fully booked anyway, or after sunset. I could wait until Sunday when the sailing was just after midday, but that would arrive in Tigre too late to catch the Sunday bus to Bariloche. If I caught the Monday bus I would not arrive in Bariloche until Tuesday. Carmelo has no particular attractions to enhance an 18 hour delay.

After tossing all the options around I settled for the Saturday evening sailing and hope that the light will linger.

Dinner was grilled meat and salad with a half-litre jug of house wine. Most satisfying. And only two thirds the price of the tourist restaurant in Colonia. The TV news was full of the rain and its effects. It seems that this area got off lightly.

And now it is Saturday. The sun is shining, a little wanly to be sure, but there are shadows. Carmelo has just about shut down. This Internet cafe will close at 12:30 and reopen at 4:00. I did some shopping this morning so I have bread and cheese and fruit in my pack. But surely the cafes will be open at lunchtime?

In other posts, I have added a few words and several pictures to the Uyuni-Tupiza story and redated it 1 October. The Salar de Uyuni Part 2 is now complete with lots of photos.

Keep the comments and emails coming.