A Year in Uruguay

I uploaded a few photos from our trip to Cabo Polonio. You can see them here.

Labels: interior, Rocha, Uruguay, waterfront

We had a really nice time visiting Cabo Polonio, a beach settlement about 4 hours from Montevideo. In some ways, it´s similar to Punta del Diablo. Cabo Polonio is harder to reach since there´s no road access. You can reach it by 4-wheel drive truck or horseback from Ruta 10.

This is very much the off-season, so we needed reservations to ensure someone would open the hotel. We were the only tourists in the entire town. In the high season (January) every room in every building is filled with artists, hippies, and miscellaneous visitors. Most of the casitas are very small-- merely beach shacks. A few are more substantial. We stayed at La Perla del Cabo, the nicest place in town. (Although it was still very simple-- 2 hours of electricty daily, hot water some days but none while we were there, and for winter a propane heater in the hallway and extra blankets for the beds.)

The town itself was very quiet. All the little souvenir stands, shops and boliches were closed for the season. One almacen offered snacks, fruit, and staples like dulce de leche. The restaurant attached to the hotel opened for us. Their fresh fish was great.

We climbed the lighthouse, which gave great views of the coast. On the rocky point beneath the faro, hundreds of sea lions bathed in the winter sun. We saw a lone penguin, apparently off-course from its annual migration to Brazil from southern Argentina. It´s whale season, but we didn´t happen to see any.

update:A photo album from Cabo Polonio

Labels: interior, Rocha, Uruguay, waterfront

In Michigan, January and February mean lots of snow and this year has been no exception. It's been great for cross-country skiing and my daughter enjoyed several days off school because of snowstorms. In Uruguay, January and February are beach time. I must admit that when the temperature dropped below 0° F (-20° C) my thoughts turned south to summer on the Río de la Plata.









Here's a video slideshow of my photos from the beaches of Uruguay. From Montevideo to Punta del Este to Punta del Diablo:

Labels: seasons, travel US to Uruguay, Uruguay, video, waterfront

The Represa Salto Grande is a dam on the Rio Uruguay just north of Salto. Construction of the dam, a joint Argentine-Uruguayan project, started in 1974 and was completed in 1979.

We didn't have time to take the guided tour to see the hydroelectric generators inside the dam, but we drove across it into Argentina. (Both Uruguay's and Argentina's Customs facilities are on the Argentine side of the river now, so it's possible to cross the bridge without going through Immigration.) Argentinian protesters, who have closed the southernmost bridge between the countries for nearly two years, only occasionally block the bridge at Salto.

The huge reservoir behind the dam in known as Lago Salto Grande.

Labels: Argentina, government, interior, Salto, Uruguay, waterfront

The Museo Naval is a small museum in Montevideo located on the waterfront between Pocitos beach and Buceo's harbor. It has two rooms packed with models and artifacts of Uruguay's navy. Perhaps the most impressive piece is the big 150mm gun from the Graf Spee displayed outside the building.

Admission is free. Closed Thursdays.

Labels: Montevideo places, museums, Uruguay, waterfront

Landboarding, or land kiteboarding, uses an off-road skateboard towed by a huge kite. I'd never seen it until this afternoon at Playa Malvin. There were several kiteboarders in the water and one landboarder on the sand.

Here's a short video of the landboarder.

Labels: sports, Uruguay, video, waterfront

Today I saw another sign that summer is over. A front-end loader was removing the lifeguard huts from Pocitos beach. People were still on the beach-- jogging,walking dogs, and playing soccer-- but I guess at 60 degrees no one's planning to swim.

Labels: seasons, Uruguay, waterfront

Yesterday we saw a couple of hang gliders launch from Punta Ballena. It was a beautiful spot high on the crest across from Punta del Este. The gliders seem effortless-- a few steps and they launched into the air, then soared above the coast. No engine, no fuel, no exhaust. After 15 or 20 minutes they landed on the beach.








Here's a short video:

Labels: interior, Maldonado, sports, Uruguay, waterfront

La Mano is the symbol of Punta del Este. It's by Chilean sculptor Mario Irrarazabal (according to the plaque at the site, although a Google search suggests his name is spelled Irarrazabal). It's one of the most popular pieces of art that I've seen-- people are always climbing the thumb or having their photograph taken by the fingers. It also attracts graffiti. Eight years ago the fingers proclaimed "Vegetarian Resistance" and "Carne es Crimen" ["meat is crime"]--definitely out-of-step with Uruguayan society.

Punta del Este was pretty quiet this weekend, which is typical of its season.

Labels: interior, Maldonado, Uruguay, waterfront

Pocitos beach is no longer packed like it was in summer . The soccer stadium is gone, as are the volleyball nets and port-a-potties and the beach cleaning seems much less frequent. I'm sure there will be more nice days full of sunbathers but today the beach had a real off-season feel.

Labels: seasons, Uruguay, waterfront

We first saw the worshipers of Iemanja, the goddess of the sea, around midnight on February 1st. We returned the next day to see the big gathering.

In the afternoon, it was quiet. Vendors sold candles, styrofoam boats, and other offerings for the goddess. The remnants of the previous night's offerings-- broken boats, waterlogged watermelons, floating flowers-- cluttered the surf line.

By sunset, the beach was mobbed. Celebrants lit candles and left flowers at the statue of Iemanja. Hundreds of people waded into the Río to release their offerings. Individual congregations staked out small areas on the sand, and each seemed to have their own ritual. At one, a woman held a large shell and wailed. In another a teen-aged girl staggered in a trance. Many performed symbolic cleansings. Others danced. Drums beat and bells rang all around us. Uruguay is a very secular country, so this mass spiritualism was surprising.

See some of my photos from Iemanja
or a video from the first.

Labels: customs, Uruguay, video, waterfront

Iemanja or Yemanjá is celebrated February 2 in Uruguay. The origins of this ceremony are African and it seems to have reached Uruguay through Brazil. Umbanda mixes African, Catholic, and spiritualist traditions.

We were driving home from dinner around midnight last night and saw activity had already started on Playa Ramírez, near Parque Rodó. We parked and walked down to the beach, where we could hear drumming. Small groups of people were digging holes in the sand and lighting candles. Other groups, wearing white clothing, had waded out into the Río, to send small boats to the goddess. Others were blessing their boats in a ritual with bells, candles, and prayers.

The boats are put to sea with various offerings-- watermelons, flowers, a chicken-- to the goddess. If the boat is blown back to shore it means the goddess has rejected the offering. If the boat disappears, she has accepted it.





For more information:
Discover Uruguay describes the Festival . From Uruguay also writes on Iemanja. An evangelical missionary seems appalled by Yemanjá in this detailed account. Studio Stonek has a page of photos.

Labels: carnival, customs, Uruguay, waterfront

The Yacht Club Uruguayo, at Buceo harbor, is just over 100 years old. My father-in-law got thrown out of it 60-some years ago for dancing the jitterbug, which was too risque for the era.

Labels: Montevideo places, Uruguay, waterfront

Activity along Pocitos beach doesn't stop at sunset. Families stroll along the Rambla; friends share yerba mate or beer; couples kiss. Informal soccer games last well past midnight. Summer nights are cooler, making the waterfront very pleasant after dark.

Labels: Montevideo places, Uruguay, waterfront

Pocitos beach is really full of people now. (Compare to this photo from October.) Sunday is still the most popular day, but every sunny day brings crowds. There are more structures on the beach, too. Lifeguard stations were the first to be erected, followed by porta-potties. The ministry of sports brought volleyball nets, soccer goals, a stage, and a small soccer stadium.

Labels: government, Montevideo places, Uruguay, waterfront

Laguna Negra is a big lake in the departamento de Rocha, near Punta del Diablo and Santa Teresa. It's surrounded by pasture and when the nearby ocean beaches were crowded (at the peak of tourist season), we only saw a handful of people at the lake. The shoreline alternates between marshgrass and rocky bluffs. Above the lake, grazing cattle created a parklike network of paths through the brush, leaving behind cactus and thorny bushes.

Laguna Negra's water was black, although the color may have been exaggerated by the strong winds. Earlier in the afternoon, huge strips of eucalyptus bark were flying across the road between Fuerte San Miguel and Chuy.

Labels: interior, Rocha, Uruguay, waterfront

Punta del Diablo in January was much different than it was in November. Instead of a handful of visitors watching the fishing boats unload their catch of sharks, the beach was packed with young people. It seemed like all the hitchhikers we'd seen along the highway had ended up in town. Punta del Diablo had an interesting hippie vibe but it wasn't a quiet fishing village.

Labels: interior, Rocha, Uruguay, waterfront

Trotsky Vengarán, a popular Uruguayan rock band, played a free concert Friday on Pocitos beach in Montevideo. The crowd wasn't as big as when the band played at the Fiesta de la X but they were loyal fans in black t-shirts who knew all the lyrics. (Trotsky Vengarán t-shirts weren't the most popular; the Ramones out-shirted them.)



Here's a short video:






For more: another blog has an MTV-style video or see the Trotsky Vengarán website for upcoming concerts, photos, etc.

Labels: music, Uruguay, video, waterfront

Aguaviva, or "living water" is the Spanish name for jellyfish. We saw them washed up on the beach in Piriápolis, and we saw hundreds of live ones in the yacht harbor at Punta del Este.

They're fascinating, if a bit scary. They are so different from anything found on land. Watch them move in this video.

Labels: nature, Uruguay, video, waterfront

Everyone seems to escape Montevideo during January. We decided to take a mini-vacation (one-night) up the coast at Piriápolis. The day was overcast, but the Piriápolis beach was full of people playing soccer, drinking mate, and chatting. There were a few games of bocce ball and more people were playing a related game called tejos, which uses wooden discs instead of balls. Not many people were in the water, but it was a cool afternoon. There were a lot of jellyfish washed up on the sand.

Piriápolis is a nice enough place, but a bit faded. I think Punta del Este took its glamour and wealth. Restaurants and gift shops line the street across from the beach and the sidewalks are full of vacationers. It reminded me of some of the beach towns in Florida south of Fort Lauderdale.

Labels: interior, Maldonado, Uruguay, waterfront