It is so easy to make a quick visit to Uruguay from Buenos Aires on the Buquebus catamaran. We didn’t know a lot about this small nation before we visited (the second smallest in South America) but it appears that it has an excellent track record on a variety of important issues. Uruguay is the top dog in South America for democracy, peace, low levels of corruption, freedom of the press and quality of life. It has also managed to make the important shift from fossil fuels to wind and solar power, generating 94.5% of its electricity from renewable energy sources. Amazing, so what is our excuse again?!
Famous for being “the poorest president in the world” former President José Mujica lived an austere lifestyle during his term in office. He shunned the presidential palace for a small farm and gave away 90% of his salary, mostly to single mothers. His legacy is the introduction of 3 progressive laws; the legalisation of the production, sale and consumption of cannabis (currently for medicinal use, but with recreational use to follow shortly), the legalisation of same-sex marriage and the legalisation of abortion. In the context of a heavily catholic continent plagued by conflict caused by drug trafficking, these are major achievements.
Colonia del Sacramento
We started our short visit to Uruguay in the pretty historic town of Colonia del Sacramento, possibly a contender for the cutest town in the world! It began life as a fortified Portuguese settlement and you can still see the remnants of the city walls around the historic centre, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Control of the town ping-ponged between the Portuguese and Spanish until Uruguay’s independence.
Colonia is only 1 hour on the Buquebus catamaran from Buenos Aires, so it would be possible to visit it in just 1 day. Activities are on the slow side, but sometimes that is just what one needs! These include wandering the cobbled streets, climbing a lighthouse, having a leisurely lunch and an ice cream and pottering along the riverside of the Rio de la Plata. You really have to remind yourself that it is a river and not the sea/ocean at certain times of day when the brown expanse looks silvery.
Unfortunately you can’t go outside during the catamaran sailing because it is going too fast, so the journey is a little dull, but it certainly gives you an idea of the size of the Rio de la Plata.
We stayed in the delightful Posada Plaza Mayor (thanks Alex’s Mum and Dad for that one!).
Montevideo
Montevideo, the capital, can be reached from Colonia by bus in just a few hours and is where most of the population lives. Whilst having plenty of architecturally interesting historic buildings (many of them in a crumbly state of disrepair), it cannot compare to Buenos Aires, but it is worth visiting for a couple of days. We took a short city tour, which covered the highlights in just a few hours.
We particularly enjoyed the port market which, oddly, is full of meat. It is truly a cornucopia of asado (BBQ), steak, sausages, entrails for the brave and so on. Uruguayans and Argentinians will both claim to have the best asado! Be sure to try a Uruguayan classic called “chivito” which is a kind of elaborate steak sandwich and check outside for some live tango dancing. You can also try a drink called a “media y media” which is half white wine, half sparking wine – nice and refreshing for the summer. Another popular national pastime is drinking yerba mate, for a full explanation see here.
If you are into beaches then there are many, although it is slightly strange looking out at muddy brown river water, and being surrounded by skyscrapers!. You can also go further round the coast to Punta del Este where the river meets the Atlantic Ocean, we sadly we didn’t have time for this or to visit the countryside of the interior.
So, our visit to Uruguay was short but sweet, and we learnt something about how this little country is setting a shining example for the rest of us in terms of some of its progressive achievements.
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