Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

To begin, this was the coolest part of my trip to Argentina . . . and it's not even in Argentina. Colonia is about an hour's ferry ride away on the southwest coast of Uruguay. It was founded in 1690 and is famous for it's Portuguese influence. Basically, it's awesome. Odd though it may sound, I recommend Colonia over any other place I have been so far. Here's why. . .

When we arrived in Buenos Aires, we actually weren't so sure that we could stay busy and happy for all 5 days. What can I say? We have short attention spans. I asked the hostel receptionist if she could recommend anything around Buenos Aires. Colonia was her immediate suggestion. We did some investigating and found out that a ferry was $60 (expensive but worth it) and entering and leaving each country was really easy. My friend Nate wasn't ready to part with his $60, but Cassiel and I decided to go for it.

We had originally planned on going on Saturday, but there was some miscommunication regarding whose alarm would wake everyone up. In the end, no one's alarm did. Oops! So we moved our plans to Monday.

We woke up bright and early at 7:00 to make our way to the harbor. Figuring out the ferry and going through customs was easy enough and off we went. The ferry was more like a plane ride with assigned seats, tray tables, and minimal leg room. No complaints though. We were there by 10:00 and set off. As usual, minimal planning was done beforehand. We embarked into Uruguay with Chilean and Argentinean pesos (but no Uruguayan pesos), no map, and no clue what we were actually going to do in the little town. Open-mindedness or unpreparedness? You be the judge.

We had heard that you could easily and cheaply rent a golf cart to roll around in for the day, so we made that priority #1. We walked up a street with sketchy rental dealerships, and we saw it. It was perfect. A rickety, old dune buggy. Dirty, rusty in spots, beautiful. Cassiel and I looked at each other. We decided to ask the attendant--a portly, chain-smoking Uruguayan--how much for the day. About $40 was his answer. We decided to look a bit more, but how can you put a price on fun? We walked a block before Cassiel turned to me and said, "Let's get it." She had her license, so we returned and after a thoroughly incomplete training session, we were off.

Enjoying our new found freedom, we zoomed around for a few minutes. The fun nearly ended when she began to go onto the freeway. Bad idea. Our top speed--which we obviously had to find in the first few minutes--was a respectable 60 kph, but that was definitely not freeway speed. After some frantic navigating, we began to head through the newer areas of Colonia. We spotted a tourist center and nearly went down a one way street in the wrong direction--which drew as many honks as a Santiago traffic jam--but arrived safely and found a map of the city.

The old neighborhood (called Barrio Historico) is snuggled up against the coast of the Rio de la Plata on a small peninsula. It's maybe 5 city blocks in total. But it's incredible. Rugged cobblestone streets, vine covered houses, an old lighthouse, quaint cafes, and surprisingly few tourists. To the northwest, there's a strip of beach followed by the wealthier neighborhoods and an American hotel. But this is one of the least disturbed tourist locations I've ever seen. At times, we thought we were the only ones in the town. We rolled around not-so subtly in our loud, popping dune buggy through the streets to get a feel of the town. All of the little shops retain a very Uruguayan feel--something I can't describe except to say it's not Chilean, Argentinean, or anything else I've seen. Everything is handmade, unique, and detailed. Uruguayans may just be that way. Unfortunately, we could only spend a day there. They walk around with their mate (pronounced "mah-tay," it's a dried, hollowed-out gourd) filled with yerba mate--bitter green tea, high in caffeine and tons of vitamins. It's customary to carry the mate with a thermos of hot water wherever you go in Uruguay.

However, back to our day. With a map, we were able to navigate our way through the town. As we rode through a little plaza, three dogs jumped to attention and began to chase us. They nipped at the tires and barked as we rolled past tour groups (who found our predicament hilarious) for at least 3 blocks. However, besides that encounter it's such a sleepy, little town. Nothing opened until 12. We explored a bit before we stopped at a little cafe on a quiet cobblestone street. It was the definition of quaint. And it was cheap. All in all, a fantastic lunch of a sandwich, wine, gelatto (called "helado" in South America), and coffee. This was our table. Quaint, right?

After lunch, we decided to work off some calories by climbing the lighthouse. On the top, we were rewarded with a great panoramic view of the town. Probably the best view you could ever get for the 30 cent entry fee.

We continued to explore, meandering through the streets and stopping as we pleased to ponder centuries-old buildings or look through a little handicraft shop. It was an incredible change from the concrete fortresses of Buenos Aires and Santiago.

Soon enough, the beach was calling to us. We drove the few blocks in our dune buggy--recently deemed "The Whip"--and collapsed on the beach for an hour or more. One of the reasons I suggest Uruguay is the safety. It's totally different from the rest of the cities I've been in. We were reassured by many people and left our bags and coats on the sand and walked a ways in either direction. Trust me, you don't do that anywhere else. I haven't been able to relax like that in a long time.

Time had flown by on our day, so we returned "The Whip" and set off in separate directions to explore alone on foot. I wandered down some random streets and came across this old railroad warehouse and abandoned tracks. I don't know what attracted me to it, but I still think it's just cool and old. Coupled with the vintage, abandoned cars scattered around the town, it seems as if the town just stopped moving long ago. Everything has stayed as it was at a single moment in time. I don't know how else to describe it.

Reluctantly, we boarded the ferry bound for Buenos Aires. I don't mean for it to sound as if I didn't enjoy Buenos Aires, but this little town has a special air about it. I really hope to go back one day. Time will tell.

This is one of my favorite pictures that I've taken so far. I think it adequately captures what Colonia is all about.

Chao.