9 Cabo Polonio in the rain

Pictures
Route
1 Slow boat to Uruguay
2 En route to Fray Bentos
3 Meat pies and baths
4 North to Salto
5 Across to Tacuarembó
6 Treinta y Tres Orientales
7 South to Rocha
8 On to Cabo Polonio
9 Cabo Polonio in the rain
10 On to Punta del Este
11 Cloudy day in Punta
12 Up to Minas in the hills
13 From Salus to Atlántida
14 Final leg to Montevideo
15 Montevideo

Uruguay

Cabo Polonio

Friday 3 June 2005 (day 12)

Bring me sunshine

It is still raining hard, and has been all night. The sky is totally grey and I don't think it's going to change all day. Our dream of waking up to see the sun rise through our window has been well and truly quashed. Let's hope tomorrow is better.

With the weather set to be foul we camped out on the patio of the hosteria to write diaries and read. There's a cool breeze and I finally succumb and put on my fleece. Just as I think the clouds are lifting, mist drifts in off the sea and/or it starts to rain heavily again. It's not what we had hoped for today as we planned a long walk along the sandy bay. Victor, who owns/runs the hosteria, chats to Stef. I can follow the conversation and knew most of what Stef said. It frustrates the heck out of me that I can't find the words myself.

Thoroughly cold, we headed up to our room to thaw out. We finish our picnic lunch from yesterday and decide to head out even though its still raining - we're both twitchy after a few days in the car. We don waterproofs and set off across the beach. The rain eases from time to time but never ceases. It wasn't long before we were pretty wet and Stef was regretting buying walking shoes not boots - the rain was dripping into them off his waterproofs.

Part way round the bay we came across a dead sea lion. There were tracks from other people and from horses so I reckoned that if help was possible it would have already come. It was well and truly immobile and I reckon it had been dead for a day or two.

The beach is beautiful despite the rain - soft sand, with odd swathes of broken shells - and its a long uninterrupted bay. At Cabo Polonio there is a collection of ramshackle beach houses. There's no order to them in terms of their design of their layout. None of them look very solid but they all look as if they have endured many seasons so far and that they'll stand the test of the weather for many more years to come.

I had half-heartedly been watching the tide during the day and couldn't make out if it was coming in but it looked as if it was. As the weather closed in again we turned around and headed back walking into the rain. We headed into the village and popped into the shop to have a look. It's dark inside (no electricity). There's a main counter with all the goods lined up on the wall behind. Its difficult to get a sense of what's in stock as we can't really see. Not wishing to just look and walk out, we bought water and a packet of biscuits. The lady in the shop was very apologetic that the water wasn't cold.

Juan explained to us last night that in Southern America people are keen not to offend others. This means that they won't necessarily say directly what they want, but will build up to it in a round about way. If there's a problem, they'll explain it in such a way that the person causing the problem doesn't lose face. Declan and I both share the view that we'd run out of patience with this!

Round the fire

Walking back through the hosteria, there were two of the staff sat in front of an open fire. They were surprised we'd been out walking in the rain - or perhaps were thinking about how much extra dirt they'd have to clean up tomorrow! Back in our room we stripped off our waterproofs and sat watching the rain. I almost suggested another walk at one point as it looked as if it was clearing up - five minutes later, the rain, mist, thunder and lightning were back in full force.

Lost for something to do we hunkered down in the growing gloom - we were saved from boredom by the pack of patience cards Shaun and Suzanne gave us before we left (we had packed ours into store without thinking as we normally take cards with us). The rest of the afternoon was spent playing cribbage. We played by torchlight and despite Stef being in the lead most of the way I pegged out with an exact score of 120, just beating him!!

Fed up of the dark and cold we headed down into the bar/restaurant and the open fire. All staff and guests were there with a paraffin storm lamp and a few candles providing the light. Its a great atmosphere with everyone reading, doing crosswords, writing diaries or just chatting. Stef is trying out more new settings with his camera as an excuse for not finishing the current Su Doku puzzle he is on (Caz and Andy gave us a book before we left, we've done the easy ones and are now onto the ones that need brain power).

After a while the generator is switched on so there's electricity. This means the TV and DVD go on, tonight's film being American Pie 2 - no sound, Spanish subtitles and only about 75% of the picture showing on screen. It was still easy to follow the plot!! After another over priced dinner, we shared a beer with Declan and headed off to bed with the storm still raging.

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