Cabo Polonia

I started the day with a beach walk in La Paloma, what an perfect start to the day! I took some time to sit down and watch the surfers doing their magic. Suddenly I saw a fin in the water with the surfers and almost had an heart attack, until I saw more of them and understood it was dolphins that wanted to have some fun in the waves as well - amazing!

At 14 I took the bus to Cabo Polonia visitor centre. From there you need to take a 4WD vehicle to get to town. Cabo Polonia is a national park, and regulare cars is prohibited. Already at this ride I understood that I am going somewhere very special. It was a bumpy ride on dirt road, heading towards beautiful sand dunes and beaches as long as the eye can see, and in the middle of this you find the charming small town called Cabo Polonia. I was super impressed by the scenery during the drive to the village.

I went to my hostel (Lobo bar) and checked in. The staff was super friendly and welcoming. When I entered the door one of the guy told the other one "es la chica de noruego". I guess they don't get many of them here, and my pale skin made it quite obvious for them. The hostel is simple, but that is what you should expect here. The whole town is without electricity and running water. They use sole cell panels, and get water from a well. It is around 100 habitants here. A lot of the houses looks empty now that the summer is over.

The town is super charming and hippie. I loved it from the moment I saw it! The nature is beautiful, with sand dunes and amazing beaches. I went for a walk with a German girl that I met in the hostel. We saw most of the city, the lighthouse where you have Uruguay's second largest sea lion colony, and then went to watch the sunset at the beach while enjoying the "Marley" alfajores. That's a chocolate/dulce de leche thing that I was told is made for people craving sweets when smoking marijuana (which is legal in Uruguay, I stick to the chocolate tho). The sunset was beautiful. A dog came and cuddled up with us at the beach. What an beautiful day!

After the sunset we went back to the hostel to take a shower, and I was happy I brought a head torch. The hostel has some light, mostly candles but some running on the power from the sol cells. They do also have showers with water from the well / the earth. Very simple, but enough to get away most of the sand.

I went out in the garden and laid down on a bench to watch the stars. The town is almost completely dark except for the lighthouse, so the sky is super clear. It was the perfect day for star watching. No clouds, amazing view!

The hostel offered dinner for the guests, fish and potatos. I really like the staff and the vibe here. Such a good atmosphere.

Today was a perfect day! I will stay here until Friday, but no more because of the bus schedules. I could probably stay here for a week, just soaking up sun and the amazing atmosphere in town. This is the definition for chilled out. All of Uruguay is a super chilled country, but this must be the most chilled out place there is. My tips will definitely be to skip Punta Del Este, that for me was soulless, and go and spend time at one of the beautiful small beach towns a long the coast.Read more