Cabo Polonio, Uruguay

This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Cabo Polonio, Uruguay.  Since we had a four-day weekend due to a holiday on Thursday, I was able to leave Wednesday (only missed one class..) and stay until late Sunday afternoon.  And if you've never heard of Cabo Polonio, Uruguay don't worry, you’re not alone.  A little background information on the town or as it’s sometimes called “hippie colony”: it has a population of about 80 during the summer season and 40 in the off-season, there is a school, but only about 10 kids, there are no roads, and for the most part no electricity.  So now that you know about as much as I did before I left, I'll fill you in on the rest of the trip.

Wednesday, March 23rd

Drinking mate at the hostal

On Wednesday I woke up at 4:50AM since I had to meet two friends, Sam and Arthur, at their house by 6:00AM.  We left their house and took the subway then a taxi to the ferry station.  At the station we met up with the rest of our group, Qi and Sergio. Qi is from Maryland and Sergio from Mexico. Both are also studying in Buenos Aires, but at different universities than me.  On the way to Uruguay we opted to take the SeaCat, which is a smaller, faster ferry.  Unfortunately it was rainy and windy that day so we didn't have the smoothest sailing across Rio de la Plata. So needless to say that wasn't a very comfortable start to the trip, but luckily it only lasted an hour.  We were greeted with more wind and rain in Colonia, Uruguay.  However, the bus terminal is very close and we only had to walk about a half block in the drizzle. From there we had a three-hour bus ride from Colonia to Montevideo. In Montevideo we had to wait for a couple hours before our next bus.  We took the time to get some food...at McDonalds. No seriously, there weren’t very many options and the McNifica burger looked too good to pass up. So I had my first foreign McD's and it was pretty good.  The conversion from United States dollars (USD) to Uruguayan pesos threw me off though.  A combo meal (burger, small fry, coke) cost about 136 Urg pesos, but in reality that's about 7 USD.  I'm not positive, but I think that's pretty average for a McDonald's meal in the states.  Either way though, it seemed very strange to hand over 136 pesos for some fast food.  Soon enough we were able to board our bus that took us to the outskirts of Cabo Polonio.  

One of 4X4 trucks

While on the bus, we realized the rain stopped, but it had gotten a lot darker.  When we arrived in Cabo at 8:00PM it was literally pitch black.  The bus driver basically pointed us towards a small building with a light on and we went there to buy our tickets into Cabo Polonio.  At this point I should also update you all on the bathroom situation.  The buses don't have toilet paper or soap for the most part.  This situation didn't change in Cabo.  Sam and I checked about five different bathroom stalls by the ticket station in Cabo and none had toilet paper, water, soap, paper towels, nothing.  So while we decided we would just wait a little bit longer, the 4X4 truck that takes people to Cabo Polonio almost left with out us.  Luckily the three other people we traveled with had them wait. 

Cabo Polonio, Uruguay

The truck is really big with a giant stand type thing over the top that allows for people to sit up top and provides more benches in the bed.  The drive through the dunes was pitch black except for the headlights and all of a sudden we were driving on sand through ocean water.  It was amazing.  We went from having no idea where we were and lurching through sand dunes to smooth driving on the beach and still having no idea where we were.  We drove up to a small village and through some more sand to get to the town circle.  They dropped us off and pointed us in the direction of our hostel.  Luckily two of our cell phones have flashlights so we could see a little bit.  After we found our hostel, Hostal del Cabo, one of the workers showed us our room.  It had three bunk beds and at the time three of the beds were taken. So three of us stayed in one room and two were in another.  We didn't stay long to check out the place though since we were all hungry and thirsty.  We met two people from the States right away who showed us where the store was. One of them also helped us find a restaurant to eat at and then invited us to their cabin that night for a party.  Before the festivities though, we ate a small restaurant that soon became our favorite because of their milanesa pescado.  After dinner we decided to stop at the cabin.  There were quite a few people there for a town of 80, the majority speaking Spanish.  However, we were all pretty tired from traveling all day, so we left after a little while for the hostel.  I was definitely excited for a good night's sleep, however when I pulled back the covers on my bunk, I saw that my sheets and pillow were covered in sand.  This is before I had even sat on the bed, pretty disgusting.  But at that point, it was late and I was exhausted, so I ignored the sand and the flies that constantly landed on us in the room and went to bed.

Thursday, March 24th

Hostal del Cabo

Sergio and I jumping down the dunes

Apparently the sand and flies weren't enough to keep me awake, because the next day I slept until about 10:00AM.  The hostel provides a breakfast of bread, jam, coffee, and tea.  You can toast the bread if you want or use the kitchen to make other food as well.  Right away we put on our swimsuits and went out to the beach.  We were on the South Atlantic Ocean and at first it was freezing.  Eventually though, we got used to the temperature and it was amazing to swim in.  The sand on the beach and the ocean floor is so clean and smooth.  Along the beach there are little sand crabs that bury themselves in the sand.  Even though it's gorgeous, there are also dead fish, jellyfish, and seals dotting the beach.  It sounds gross, but really the beach is so big that it really isn't. We laid out and kicked a soccer ball around for a while after swimming, then went for a walk down the beach.  On the opposite side of the water there are sand dunes.  We climbed one and from the top saw a herd of wild cattle.  It's such a great view from the top; getting pelted with grains of sand is worth it. After our walk back to the hostel we decided to go get some delicious milanesa sandwiches.  Milanesa is like a breaded meat filet.  The restaurant we went to either had beef (carne) or fish (pescado).  They also offered it "completo" meaning that along with the milanesa there was egg, ham, cheese, lettuce, and tomato.  It's a huge sandwich and it is so good.  We picked up some mate, snacks, and drinks after lunch and headed back to the hostel.  Our hostel’s front porch was literally on the beach so we sat out there talking and drinking mate for a while.  Cabo Polonio is like ocean on three sides and sand dunes on the other.  So you can watch the sunrise on one side and then see it set on another.  We decided to try to catch the sunset on the other side of the beach, but missed it. We still walked over to the other side of the town though and on the way ran into a boy who must be one of the 10 local kids there.  He was pretending to race cars so I raced him and listened to him explain that we was Batman.  I think that's what he was saying anyways.  Kid's are harder to understand since sometimes their grammar is just as bad as mine and they talk very fast, but it was still fun even though we might not have understood each other the best.  Playing cars and Batman is the same in most places I would guess. 

A view of the main town circle

On the other side of the beach when we were walking towards the water a guy stopped and introduced himself to us as David.  After talking for a little bit he invited us to his cabin for some wine with his mom and friend.  Seemed kind of strange, but as I'll explain it was actually very cool.  First though, we explored the beach a little bit.  There was a rope swing type thing on the beach and some stars were out.  After taking it all in, we walked to the cabin David had pointed out as his.  Inside there is a hammock that hangs across the living room as well as a couch and some chairs.  So we all sat around talking with David, his mom Maria Rosa, and his friend Sarah.  All of them are such interesting people with so much life experience already.  David and Maria Rosa are from the Dominican Republic originally, but he is currently living in Buenos Aires and she has spent the past four years in Israel.  Sarah is from Ireland, but also living in BsAs.  All of them have done a lot of traveling though and it was very interesting hearing their stories.  Eventually Maria Rosa went to bed and so we all went to the local bar for caipirinhas.  Caipirinhas are a Brazilian drink that is made from sugar, limes, and Cachaça.  We were basically the only people in the bar besides the owners/regulars (hard to tell the difference).  It was a great night though and much earlier than a night out in BsAs. We were back to the hostel by about 12:30AM.

Friday, March 25th

At the point

This morning Arthur, Qi, and I were the first ones up and after hanging out on the hostal porch for a little bit, we walked to the store for eggs, cheese, and shampoo/conditioner since neither Arthur nor I brought any.  I would say really not having shampoo or conditioner is a big deal there, but after going the ocean it's just nice to have.  After breakfast our new friends David and Sarah showed up, so we went for a swim in the ocean.  The water was even colder that day because it was overcast and windy, but like before after a little bit, you just get used to it.  Afterwards we started to walk towards a point at the end of the beach.  Unfortunately, our friend Arthur couldn't make it the whole way because he had just gotten a cast on his foot off the weekend before and was still healing.  So he, Qi, and Sergio went back towards the hostel.  David, Sam, Sarah, Mario (a guy from Germany staying at our hostel), and I all continued towards the rocks at the point.  There was also a stray dog that we named Pancho, walking with us.  The walk there was against the wind and took about two and half hours we think (no one had a watch so we don't know for sure).  The view at the rocks was completely amazing though.  The ocean would smash into them and spray upward.  This is really cheesy, but what it reminded me of was in the opening scene of the movie Grease, when Danny and Sandy are sitting on rocks by the ocean.  If you know what I'm talking about, picture that, but on a much larger scale and so much more impressive.  Really it was awesome.  Our faithful friend Pancho even followed us across the rocks and then on the two-hour walk back to the hostel.  However, on the way back a huge dog with a very droopy face came running up barking at us.  He had a collar and long leash on, so we knew he belonged to someone, but he really wanted to get to Pancho.  Pancho decided to run behind us though, so the big dog basically had us all circled up and scared when he owner finally came running out. 

Mario, Me, Sarah, David, Sam, and Pancho

Our Irish dinner

Even though I was determined to shower when we got back, my hunger won out and I went with everyone for some lunch. Then went back to the hostel to shower and rest a little. We all ended up taking naps, but when we woke up the weather had gotten worse.  It was colder and windier, ruining our plans of having an outdoor barbeque that night.  We still met with Sarah and David at the store though and picked out food to make an Irish stew and summer squash that Sarah knew of.  By this time we also had an addition to the group.  Sarah's friend Louisa, also from Ireland, just joined us from Buenos Aires on the start of her trip around Uruguay.  We bought beef, sweet potatoes, onions, tomatoes, red peppers, summer squash, fresh bread, and some wine.  We took everything back to David's cabin to cook it. The kitchen is very small so the cooking process took a while.  While we waited David took out his guitar and played some songs we knew and some of his own.  He actually had a number 1 hit with his band in the Dominican Republic.  Understandably so because the songs he played that night were all very good.  At one point we were surprised by a stray dog jumping up on the window sill and then again later when some cows were wandering through the houses towards the beach.  Finally the food was done and it was delicious.  The rest of the night we spent talking and left in the rain around 1:00AM or so.  The whole day was such a cool experience.  It's so cool hearing about the experiences different people have had, whether they're from a different state or different country.  

The whole crew

Saturday, March 26th

View from the lighthouse

Our last full day in Cabo started out rainy and cold.  I woke up early, around 9:00, and couldn't go back to sleep because of the flies and my extremely sunburned legs.  I got up and sat in the hostel kitchen writing down the events of the last night until one of the workers, a man named Marco, came in with breakfast for the day.  I ended up having a conversation with him (in Spanish!) and found out he's originally from Switzerland, but had been in Cabo for five months.  I can see why someone would want to stay there after just going for a visit.  I don't know if I would be able to last five months though, it seems like a longtime of having basically nothing to do.  By the time everyone had woken up, the weather improved a lot.  The sun had come out and the wind died down.  Sam and I went out on the beach to kick a soccer ball around and a guy from Germany who was staying at the same hostel came out and joined us.  Eventually we changed into swimsuits and went to meet Sarah, David, and Maria Rosa to say goodbye since they were leaving that day.  We walked over to their cabin to find that they weren't there. We walked down towards the ocean though and saw dolphins swimming pretty close to shore.  Mario (the German guy living in Ireland) and I went in to see if we could get close to them.  We didn't get too close, but it was closer than I had ever been to a dolphin before at least.  After "swimming with the dolphins" we found the rest of the group and went to the bar for one last caipirinha before they had to leave.  One of the bartenders/regulars, named Druga, commented on my extreme sunburn on the back of my legs.  They ended up giving me a bottle of aloe vera and then taking a picture with us. After our friends left, we walked to a little restaurant for some lunch.  I ended up getting pizza with cheese, green olives, and bacon.  We decided afterwards that we should walk towards the light house and try to see some of the sea lions that are supposed to live near there.  Once we got nearer we could see some sea lions sun bathing out on the rocks.  They have the rocks roped off a ways away from them though so you're not allowed to get too close, but they were cool to see.  Then we went up in the lighthouse, for a price of 15 URG pesos (~. 75 USD).  There seemed to be about a million stairs (really only like 105, Louisa counted), but eventually we got to the top.  We walked outside around the top platform. There was so much wind; it felt like at any time you could be blown over the edge. Luckily, it didn't happen and we all were able to enjoy the view then climb back down to safety.  The view from the top is amazing. You can see literally the entire town and so far out into the dunes. 

Louisa, Sam, and I at sunset

When walked back to the hostel and after freezing showers, Sam, Louisa, and I walked to the store before heading over to the beach for the sunset.  The store offers electricity for 20 URG pesos per hour starting at 6:30 PM so you can charge your ipod, cell, phone, camera etc.  I brought my camera to charge and we picked up a bottle of wine to have while watching the sunset.  It was really windy down on the beach, but some people let us share the lifeguard hut (there are no lifeguards) with them so we could stay away from the blowing sand.  The sunset went so quick, but after the sky was such pretty colors.  While sitting in the stand we saw cattle, someone riding horse bareback, and a man with a horse and buggy cross the beach. It was another relaxing night where we just talked and enjoyed the amazing landscape.  When we decided it was time to head back and find everyone else, we climbed down the stand and noticed the stars.  Since I grew up in the country, I always thought I had a good view of the night sky.  However, my view from New Richmond can't compare to how many stars were visible that night.  We laid on the beach and just stared at the sky.  The Milky Way and stars were so bright.  It was a great way to end our time on the beach that night.

Milanesa Carne

Eventually we pulled our eyes away from the sky and stopped for some milanesa sandwiches and then went back to the hostel. While we were gone they had started a bonfire on the sand in front of the porch and everyone staying at the hostel was sitting outside around it.  We joined them and started playing games like telephone and charades, all in Spanish though.  I definitely messed up the passing of the telephone phrase, but it was really fun.  Later we went to the cabin owned by the guys we had met the first night in Cabo because they were having people over.  We got there and there was someone playing guitar, another playing the didgeridoo, and someone playing a bongo.  We stood around listening to music and talking for the rest of night.  It was another fun night of hearing different people's traveling stories.  I can't wait until I travel more and can contribute some of my own. 

Sunday, March 27th

Our last day in Cabo and it was a gorgeous day.  I started the day out on the porch with coffee and toast catching up with writing in my journal about the trip. Then we had to clean out our room and get our stuff together to be out by noon. We all went for one last milanesa pescado then got onto a packed 4X4 to take us back towards the bus stop.  It was hard to leave that beautiful place.  Like I said I don't know if I could stay for 5 months, but I definitely could've stayed for at least another couple days or weeks. Our bus from Cabo left at 3:15 for Montevideo.  It was a long bus ride, but we had some down time in the Montevideo station. We all went for McD's again, where I had my first Big Mac! Funny that it was in a different country, but I'm sure just as delicious and bad for you as in the States.  We boarded our bus to Colonia and I ended up sleeping the majority of the time.  We got to Colonia at about 12:30AM, but the ferry didn't leave until 4:30AM so to kill time we all tried to sleep on the metal benches in the lobby.  I must've been really tired because I did fall asleep for a while even though they were super uncomfortable.  Finally it was time to board the ferry.  This one was much bigger and took three hours instead of the one-hour trip on the way to Uruguay.  Some of us had first class tickets since we booked ours so late.  I'm not complaining though.  Those reclining, cushioned chairs were a very large step up from the station's metal benches.  Finally we got back to BsAs around 8:00AM.  It was a very long night of traveling, but well worth it.

I would have to say Cabo Polonio was the trip of a lifetime.  I have never been anywhere like that before and would go back at any time if I have the chance.  I hope to return at some point in my life.  Up next though is Mendoza, Argentina this weekend with my program CEA.  Mendoza is considered the wine country of Argentina and I've heard it is a very beautiful place. I leave Thursday night and get back to BsAs Monday morning. Until then!