Punta del Este, Uruguay

We decided to get out of Montevideo for a day trip and picnic to Punta del Este. It was a two hour ride in a very comfortable bus. All along the two lane highway were laybys with a numbered bus shelter and the locals waved the bus down and it stopped to pick them up. As we left the city we passed through an industrial area and then a expensive area of huge houses all well kept. All the side roads off the highway were unsealed and unlit with the occasional horse and cart. It was surprising to pass thatched houses along the road as well.

The bus emptied at Maldonaldo and we were the only ones on it. We assumed that the workers reside there as it is too expensive to live in Punta del Este. We know the name of this place from the Round the World yacht races as it is one of the stops on their races so it is good to get to know more about it.

 The fingers are a well known site on the beach.

 We found this building interesting with its own wind turbines on the roof.

 The port was pretty quite with it being winter.

 The fishermen had just come in and the South American sea wolves or sea lions were diving for the scraps of fish but we couldn't see where they were to photograph them. However we saw quite a few sea birds that posed for us.

There are hundreds of high rise apartments lining the beach and more being constructed because South American celebrities have holiday places here and come for the summer. At this time of the year it is deserted and lots of places are closed.

It was so lovely to get out of the smells of the city and enjoy the peace and tranquility of the beach again.

We said good bye to Noel and cleaned up ready to head to Brazil.