Punta del Este

Unfortunately over the following days Mark became unwell with uncontrollable fever and horrendous headaches - it turned out he had caught Dengue Fever which is particularly unpleasant, he spent most of the cruise in bed! We had been bitten to death by mosquitoes in Buenos Aires which we learnt was unusually plagued by mosquitoes due to heavy rains in the proceeding months and associated with this was elevated rates of Dengue Fever.

Helen took the children off the ship via a tender as we were anchored offshore to enjoy the white sandy beaches of Punta del Este, Uruguay. This was going to be our final beach day for quite some time as we were heading further and further south into colder climates. Punta del Este is often described as a glamourous seaside city on the Atlantic Coast southeastern Uruguay, sometimes called the ‘Monaco of the South’. It was indeed very nice. The bay of white sand was surrounded by small apartment blocks and you could access the beach at any point along the main strip. We headed slightly out of town in search of a quieter, pristine location. The sun shone occasionally but it was still warm and we were able to see a couple of sea lions lounging in the dock, as well as a lonesome penguin floating along the shoreline whilst we were at the beach. This was obviously a lovely opportunity for the children to get up close to a penguin as we were in the water at the time but it soon beached just along the bay and it was clear that it wasn’t well or it had certainly lost its way from rest of the flock.

Back on the ship we enjoyed the amazing food selection on offer!Read more