I woke up
and couldn't hear rain. The sky looked brighter and I made the
mistake of saying "its clearing up". Within 10 minutes the storm was
back raging. I'm now thoroughly fed up of being somewhere so
isolated in such foul weather. At least in a town we'd have options
of things to do, here we simply have to sit it out.
Nuestros compadres muchos simpaticos,
Juan y Declan
Mucho lluvio!!
The waffle-man of Punta del Este
They're still not risking using the generator (it was turned off
last night as soon as the lightning started again). Juan and Declan
joined us again for breakfast and talk turned to getting away from
Cabo Polonio. I was confident we'd be able to get the 4x4 back
across the dunes, I was more concerned about whether Chico would be
stranded in a muddy pool of water at the other end.
It wasn't clear what time the 4x4 would come but hearing that one of
the roads nearby was flooded and impassible we were keen to go as
soon as possible. One thing I've found, and I'm not sure it its just
a limitation of our Spanish, is that if you ask a direct question
you don't get a direct answer so despite asking about the 4x4 we
felt none the wiser. Our bags were all packed so we decided to
simply get them from our room and then just sit and wait to see what
happened.
The guy who had brought us to Pabo Colonio was waiting when we came
back with our bags. We settled up, said farewells to Declan and Juan
and headed off. It was still pouring as we left. We sat up front
with the driver with Stef's backpack and both day packs on our laps.
My backpack was wrapped in a tarpaulin sheet and left to fare its
best with the elements "atras". The seat was a bit soggy as the roof
leaked but it kept away most of the rain.
We headed back through the village, across the bay and into the
dunes. Even with the 4x4, care was taken to avoid puddles and ruts
where possible. There was about 1 inch of standing water on the bay
- in effect one big river running down to meet the sea. I haven't
felt this damp and wet since camping in Wales in my teens. Even my
book has curled up due to the damp!
It was great to see Cabo Polonio but had we known the weather would
have continued to be this bad, we'd have left yesterday. Apparently
its been like this throughout Uruguay. Bumping our way through the
dunes we had to stop a couple of times to rescue my pack as it came
close to falling off. Back at the road, Chico was fine but the 4x4
had stayed around to help pull us out if needed. We wanted to head
north to Castillo but as the road was flooded we'd have had to take
a big detour so decided instead to head to Punta del Este, Uruguay's
beach resort for the rich and famous.
The rain added a new dimension to our driving - we had to use the
windscreen wipers, heating and rear window heater for the first
time! Other than that it was long straight roads again. Our route to
Punta should have taken us through San Carlos but the road was
blocked by water. Driving back up from La Paloma to Rocha we crossed
streams we'd passed earlier in the week. The water levels had risen
incredibly and San Carlos was a more extreme example. You couldn't
see either end of the bridge, as both were submerged, but you could
just make out the road into town much further into the distance. A
barrier had been put across the bridge to warn that the road was
closed but even that was partially submerged.
We backtracked and went on the main route into Punta - another new
experience as we drove along a 2 lane dual carriageway, a sign we're
heading into a busy part of the country. Here too you could see
signs of the flooding. We passed a "Club Desportivo" only
identifiable by the top half of the clubhouse. I'm intrigued to know
if this is exceptional weather or just the norm for this time of
year.
Reaching Punta we drove around looking for a good value hotel (we
know this will be a comparatively expensive stop), in the end
plumping for a Days Inn, the same chain we stayed at in Buenos
Aires. This one is much better and, compared to the last few days,
is luxury. We have a comfortable bed, electricity and a very
powerful shower with loads of hot water (the shower in Cabo Polonio
was a trickle that smelled of putty). My pack is damp, so I fully
unpack and we also air the sleeping bags as they've acquired an
unpleasant Cabo Polonio smell.
Punta del Este is a small resort on an outcrop of rock, split into
two halves. At the point there's the older residential section with
smart houses and apartments and a yacht club at the harbour. Nearer
to the mainland is the more commercial and tourist bit, with high
ris blocks of apartments and hotels. We walked down and along the
harbour, stopping near the yacht club when we saw a sign for "Wafles
Belgica". The waffles man is Belgian and is selling his home made
waffles from his car (he's here every Saturday and Sunday). He moved
here 4 years ago with his Belgian wife who also has Uruguayan
nationality. The couple he's talking to moved here a few months ago
from Geneva, he's French and his wife is Irish. We chat for a while,
take a few photos and then move on and around the point.
Some of the houses are very smart. There's a real mix of styles with
European influences very evident. You need lots of dosh to be able
to afford one of these. They all appear to be summer homes. There
are
a few people fishing off the rocks but no evidence of any catches.
The sky, which has never cleared, thickens and darkens and it again
threatens to rain. As it gets dark we head up back through the
middle of the point, past the lighthouse towards our hotel where we
head for the pool - small but heated and very relaxing. I can for
the first time in my life truthfully say I've swum a length of
butterfly (OK - its only 3 strokes from one end of the pool to the
other but even so.....).
We splashed out on a good meal and a nice wine, amazed that at 9:30 we were
still early for dinner. People were still coming in as we
left well after 11. Tired, well fed and slightly tipsy we had quick
look at our site and picked up the sarky comments left against some
of our photos (thanks Andy!! :-) then crashed out in the luxury of
cotton sheets and a comfy bed.
