Hola Uruguay - Visiting Colonial Colonia

Before I had to say a heartfelt goodbye to Maria, a couple of days earlier, I had received unfortunate news. My Antarctica cruise on which I was supposed to go on after Atacama, was cancelled due to damage on the ship (no further information was provided than that - I hope all the penguins are okay). Luckily, I got a full refund, but now I needed to adjust plans and find a new cruise to the white continent.

Let's untangle all of these things first, however. After all, traveling at times can be chaotic and you definitely learn to adapt and be spontaneous. After a bit of contemplating how to reorganise the rest of my trip, I decided to go to Uruguay for two weeks, before I would meet up with my dad, who would join me on 10th December in Ushuaia, Argentina.

Two weeks in Uruguay was plenty from what I could gather. Plus, I would get some time on the beach and in the sun after weeks in colder climates in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

So, I spent a few more days in the Atacama desert not really doing much except meeting up with Ruud and Kim as well as Val and Chloe who I knew and met in Cotopaxi, Lima, Cusco and now Atacama. It was mostly catching up over drinks and dinner, which was perfect given the action-fuelled past couple of weeks.

Then it was off to Uruguay. New country, of which I really didn't know much about. After spending a night in Buenos Aires, I jumped on a ferry to Colonia de Sacramento in Uruguay.

It is a small, but cute colonial town that was heavily influenced by the Portuguese. There isn't necessarily much to do except explore the colourful and lovely town, watch the sunset and stroll around a little promenade by the water with an ice cream in hand. Its charm is that of a colonial past that can still be seen and felt when walking the cobblestone streets.

I spent just two nights there, which was plenty given lots of people come here for a day trip from Buenos Aires. Nevertheless, I liked the colonial architecture of the town and thought it was a nice first impression of a new country.Read more