Colonia del Sacramento

After we received the camper, we bought some supplies, and we decided to stay one more night in Montevideo. Compared to the draconian European bans, in principle in South America you can do free camping if you don't disturb anyone. So free camping is permited. There are also organized campsites, but they are quite rare and are only in the vicinity of major tourist attractions or important cities. After trying to find an organized campsite (we tried two places, but both were closed for the moment - open only in the summer high season) we decided to spend the night as free campers near a beach in Punta Carretas. In this particular place, safety was not a problem, about other five campers with European registration numbers (the cargo ship unloaded about 30 European cars & campers) were around. In addition, several Volkswagen minibuses with Brazilian or Uruguayan registration numbers, whose passengers had been staying in the beautiful beach location for several weeks, were at "free camping". On top of this the police made several rounds in order to o make sure that everything is in order. In Europe, the police would have come to fine the "bastards" who had dared to stay outside a ridiculously overpriced camping ground. :) Of course, an European problem is overpopulaton, if everyone decided to do free camping...

The next day we drove via Nueva Helvecia to Colonia de Sacramento. The small but extraordinary old town of Colonia is a Unesco site and a place that exceeded our expectations. The history of this town is fascinating and very complicated, being at the intersection of the interests of different colonial or local powers. Over time, the city was owned by the Portuguese, the Spanish and even the Brazilians. Since 1825 it has been an integral part of Uruguay. Losing yourself through the labyrinth of narrow streets of the old town is definitely a highlight here.

On the link below, you can see our intinerary on the map:
https://de.mapy.cz/zakladni?planovani-trasy&amp…Read more