In a fleeting visit to my home country Uruguay, I had to reach Punta del Este to visit my family. Join me through this path in the dunes to have a look to this place!
This city is build mainly as a vacation location. With its green leafy vegetation, this peninsula cuts into the Atlantic Ocean forming beautiful white sand beaches for all tastes.
At the same time it has a very interesting architectonic side, and you can find yourself attracted to varios beautiful buildings and houses.
I liked this wavy building, mirroring the smooth waves of the ocean. This side is the "Playa Mansa" (gentle beach).
Very few people at this september monday sunset, beacuase the city is just starting to wake up after the winter. Slowly people is gonna start to visit more frecuently coming from Uruguays capital city Montevideo, and from argentina and Brazil: neighbour countries, and from all over the globe.
Right now it seems deserted.
Towards the summer, december and january will make this calm beach an ant nest. The tall empty buildings will receive thousands of tourists, and the roads will become busy with fancy cars and rollerblading.
To my surprise, sea-life doesn't seem to be disappearing with so much civilization. I feel so happy to find sea snail eggs on the shore! Amazing!!
In the next one you can sea (😁)SEE the end of the peninsula and the Island which is called "Isla Gorriti". In this bay big cruisers will anchor when the summer season comes around.
We were lucky to find Uruguays' National schooling tallship "Capitan Miranda" anchored there on arrival from seven months out at sea around the world.
That was when we visited the port, which was the part of the city with more activity in these days, as the fishermen and women continue their duties all year long.
I love fisher boats. In Uruguay they are mostly paintds orange, that with the green or blue sea makes a beautiful painting always, and this is a signature all along the coastline till Brazil.
Together with the fishing activities, come some other friends looking for food. Like this seagul guy:
Hey there, smile to the camera!!
Got ya! 📸
He flew up to the sky and danced with the others and the wind, while I stopped to observe a petrified tree trunk that reminded me of some Dali surrealist painting.
Then a strong loud sniff or breath surprized me, and scared me a little. The Sea-lions arrived to get their daily "Mc fish bowels". I tryed to have a picture of their head and face, but they were moving too fast. I just clicked one take after the other and didn't realize until I was back home, that I got a perfect portrait of this guy:
HA!!!
Way back to the apartment we were staying, I crossed a couple of streets with different dates around the year 1784. So I checked out what had happened in that time. I found out that that year was when the little village called "San Fernando de Maldonado" was updated to City level in the new spanish colony and the first government was elected. This little village, became a city, and today is part of Punta del Este.
The neibourhood is so calm, lots of vegetation and tall tall pines that hide human intervention. Turning round a corner you might find views like this:
I was told this tower is one of the oldest building around, that used to be a water tank before it was converted to a very fancy hotel.
There is place for all tastes in Punta del Este, from quite green spots to massive entertainment joints. The thing is to find yourself, and as the cute sign says: Hakuna Matata!!!
Thanks for your visit! Hope you enjoyed!
