Colourful Colonia del Sacramento

Just across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires is the little Uruguayan town of Colonia del Sacramento, commonly called 'Colonia'.  Strategically located, over the years Colonia has changed hands numerous times belonging variously to Spain, Portugal, and Brazil.  It is the oldest city in Uruguay and its beautiful old town, built in Portugese style, is a World Heritage Site.

We spent two relaxing nights there - there is not much to do but wander the old town and check out the beaches along the Rio de la Plata, and it was just what we needed to chill out after hectic Buenos Aires and so much Patagonian trekking before that.

There are three companies running faster catamarans and slower car ferries across the river.  We took the Colonia Express for about an hour long ride (over 40 km).  The Rio de la Plata is a huge river!

Happy to escape the general strike in Argentina!

You can't tell from this picture, but the Rio de la Plata is a gross brown colour.  This is from sediment from the interior of South America (much like the lower Fraser river in BC).

 Our first day in Colonia it was lovely and sunny, and we wandered through the old town.

The view from our room - an old tin fishing shack/occasional hang out for drunken teenage guitar players.

Looking back towards BA - on a clear day you can just barely see the tops of the skyscrapers there

Ubiquitous mate (see gourd + straw and thermos) on the beach at the edge of town.

People from Colonia (Colonians?) will tell you that they have the best sunsets in the world.  This one wasn't too shabby.

The next day we started with a visit to the very fancy Uruguay visitors' centre across the street from our hotel.  It wasn't particularly informative, but they did have a wall with cartoons depicting the chronology of the town of Colonia.  This is Colonia today:

Muchas touristas.  [Chad: I don't think the caricature of Asian tourists would fly in Canada...]

A French farmer-settler dreaming of cheese and dulce de leche.

Afterwards, we took the bus through town up to the beaches recommended by our hotel.  The bus driver dropped us off at this lonely tourist site, the Plaza del Torres or Bull Ring.  It opened in 1908 with room for 10,000 people, but only eight events were held there before the government prohibited the event in 1912.  Today it is an empty shell.  [Chad: It was built by a rich person, together with several other edificies, in an attempt to build a fancy resort area on the edge of town.  But it was never fully completed.]

And just down the road, the beach!  Lovely sand stretching for at least seven kilometres.  Not pictured: the numerous school groups kicking up sand.

Not so lovely were these new additions to the mosquito family swarming alongside the river in some still water.  No wonder they have a few warnings about not leaving standing water around!

Chad braves the brown water for a swim.  The verdict?  Thumbs up!  And not salty - definitely river.

The second night's sunset wasn't quite as nice, since it had mostly clouded over by then.

Chad's dinner, a traditional Uruguayan sandwich called a chivito.  Steak, ham, cheese, fried egg,  lettuce, tomato, palm hearts, red pepper, mayo, etc.

Like any meal, best eaten on a patio overlooking the Rio de la Plata.

The next morning was perhaps an ideal day to leave - we woke up to cloudy skies and within an hour it was pouring with rain.

Just a taste of the rivers we waded through to make it to the bus station.