IHANA.COM big trip - diary - December 2002 - Santa Teresa and Punta Del Este

The furthest north east corner of Uruguay borders Brasil and the town of Chuy is split down the middle of the street, one half Brasilian shops, the other Uruguayan. We filled up with some foreign diesel and continued on our way to the fort at Santa Teresa. It was getting late so we looked for the nearby campsite, eventually finding it hidden behind an army base. In the morning we checked out the fort which was built in 1762 and is well restored with a characterful coating of moss and lichen.

Arriving at the famous Punta del Este seaside resort we were disappointed to find it deserted, the (mainly Argentinian) tourists not due to arrive until after Christmas. To make matters worse there was a howling cold wind blowing in from the Antarctic. We chanced upon the start of a flag lowering ceremony near the lighthouse so parked up and watched the action. T noticed a wicked doris about to do a TV thing and steamed over with the camera to ask her if she was a famouse Uruguayan personality. She turned out to be a past Miss Uruguay and she was amazingly normal and chatty.

Click to see whats so minging!

Big houses with no barred windows or fences

Perfect Series 1

We enjoyed what little nightlife there was before spending the night in a campsite and waking up to hammering rain all day the next day. After a day of trying to keep dry the sun came out and we popped down to the sheltered part of the beach for a stroll before heading off to Montevideo for a no doubt exciting xmas.