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Title: Don't Miss Places - Travel to Uruguay Post by: Anna on December 30, 2008, 12:12:40 AM Hi Travelers,
Having family in Uruguay, I Travel each year here is a list of Places you should definetly See When Traveling to Uruguay Uruguay Photo & Video Gallery For Uruguay Photo & Video Gallery Click Here (http://travelforumglobe.com/mgallery/?sa=album;id=9) ** You can also add your own photos from Uruguay to this Gallery :wild:)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Colonia del Sacramento Colonia is an Amazing old city, founded as Nova Colonia do Sacramento in 1680 by Manuel de Lobo, It is the oldest town in Uruguay and capital of the departamento of Colonia. It has a population of 21,714.
An interesting thing about Colonia is that its colonial center (Barrio Historico), offers an idea of what buildings in Buenos Aires might have looked like back in colonial times, before the city was successively modernized down the years. Colonia was recently made a UNESCO heritage site, so it should remain a time capsule of the Rio de la Plata's colonial past for many years.
Getting There By air: Aeropuerto Internacional de Colonia Laguna de los Patos is located 6 km from the city center for smaller airplanes and helicopters. By land: From Buenos Aires, by bridges Puentes Zirate-Brazo Largo and Internacional Libertador General San Martin From Salto, via Puente Concordia to Paysandu and then on From within Uruguay, by road. By water: From Buenos Aires, the choice of the Buquebus or Ferry bus Within the city and the province, taxis and bus service are available When to Go Uruguay's pleasant climate makes any season a good time to visit Colonia, one of South America's least visited treasures, but high season during the summer months may make reservations harder to get Check today's weather. Things to Do and See
I personaly suggest going thier at winter time, since it is nicer to be in the hot water at winter than summer. Water Dayman possess chemical components such as iodine, iron, calcium, magnesium and fluorine, arsenic remains negative and low in sulfates and nitrates and radioactivity clear and permanent, that is, eligible for the applications crenoterapia.
Santa Teresa National Park One of my favorite camping places in Uruguay, I go there a whole lot in January. The special thing about Santa Teresa is that not only you have a huge and incredible park, But when you cross the wonderful trees of the national park you suddenly find a wild and a great beach, just hidden by trees and nature, isn't that great :y:)
There are, for example: a "Rosedal" which have more than 330 roses of different spices, and a big greenhouse tempered with steam who have tropical rare plants, a museum, a huge bird cage and a "Carassius" fish hatchery pond. It also has 1050 acres, forested with native and exotic species from five continents, as well as their greenhouses and sombriculo. In summer, thousand of tourists comes to Santa Teresa Park to camping on a very comfortable accommodations (place to fire, showers, bathrooms, laundries, groceries and fruits Santa Teresa has also two great night clubs, just near the park, when young people can hang out ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdg3-aqwIZk#noexternalembed (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdg3-aqwIZk#noexternalembed) Cabo Polonio v:)
In fact, I hesitate to even call Cabo Polonio a town. Instead, it looks and feels like the final outpost on the edge of a rugged frontier. And it is. Cabo Polonio is surrounded by rugged frontiers. One of its particular features is that most homes have no electricity or running water, so the rhythms and tasks of the inhabitants are marked by sunlight, from sunrise to sunset, you could say. Cabo Polonio weather is very cold in winter and hot in summer, the station is ideal for the spring meet, because the temperatures are pleasant and not exceed 25C. Being in Cabo Polonio was like being in a galaxy far, far away. In Cabo Polonio, I was far, far away from any resemblance of my daily life in the United States. There was not a gas station, a Starbucks or a McDonald's in sight. There were no newspaper kiosks. There were no cell phone rings. There were no cafes with Internet access. Plus, for the majority of the day, there were no lights because there was no electricity. Cabo Polonio sits on the tip of a moon-sliver peninsula that sticks out into the Atlantic Ocean. On the back side, powerful waves relentlessly knock. But on the other side, on the inside of the moon, the water comes calmly to shore. At the top end, a lighthouse stands sure and straight over boulders tumbling into the sea. Two small, rocky islands dot the coast nearby. While the ocean presses against Cabo Polonio on three sides, sand presses against it from the last. The bottom end of Cabo Polonio's peninsula, the end that connects it to the rest of Uruguay, is covered by dunes of sand. Sand whips and whirls throughout Cabo Polonio. It slithers across the beach. It gathers in mounds the size of a VW bug. It settles against the walls of buildings. It would block traffic if it could, except there is no traffic in Cabo Polonio. Cars don't drive through Cabo Polonio's streets because cars can't make it past the sand dunes. But monster 4x4 trucks can. Sand, sand and more sand The monster truck that carried my husband and me into town from the nearest highway carried in 17 other curious travelers, too. One passenger rode in the cab with the driver, the rest of us, and all of our bags plus three surf boards, were loaded into the flatbed of the truck. The ride was tipsy and jolting. The truck faltered once or twice. The driver down-shifted, the gears grunted, the tires creaked and the weight of the construction-sized machine lunged through loose, deep dunes. Sand sputtered into the air, misting us all. Finally, Cabo Polonio came into view across a wide, long, flat beach. The truck picked up speed and barreled towards the outpost, passing several dead bodies of sea lions rotting at the ocean's edge. When we reached Cabo Polonio's center, a dirt-packed clearing surrounded by boarded-up, rickety-looking buildings with corrugated tin roofs, we all hopped out. A few townspeople gathered. One, a roughly bearded man with the nub of a cigarette stuck in his mouth, promised to guide any of us to a room. I accepted his offer. I didn't have a map, I didn't have the name of a hotel, and from my first glances at the buildings around me, I have to admit, I was a little anxious. My husband was nervous, too. Are you sure we should be here?? he whispered into my ear, grabbing my arm and tugging me close. The lighthouse at Capo Polonio. The scruffy-looking man with the nub of a cigarette led us and a handful of the other newly-arrived travelers down a sand-covered path and we soon arrived at Hosteria La Perla, a quaint, clean hotel with a large deck overlooking the beach where the water was just 15 steps away. It was low tide. The next morning, at high tide, the water lapped at the deck's edge. We checked in to a room and immediately sat ourselves at a table on the beach for lunch. Within 15 minutes of our arrival, Raul, an English-speaking local, was at our table offering his services. Did we want to go horseback riding? Did we want to see the Ombu trees? Did we know there were sea lions sunning just around the corner? What did we want to know about Cabo Polonio? All is Arranged We told Raul exactly what we wanted to do. He disappeared. Two hours later, he reported back. We had plans for the following afternoon. A monster truck would pick us up and take us back to the highway. A boat would take us to see the Ombu trees. Horses would bring us all the way back to the hotel. We agreed without haggling on his price: 1,500 Uruguayan pesos in total, about $75 U.S. The Hosteria La Perla Our lunch finished, our outing planned for the next afternoon, we had nothing to do. We lounged in the padded chairs at the hotel. We chatted with other travelers lounging in chairs nearby. We sipped coffee. We read. We decided to go exploring. Raul was right. A colony of sea lions was sunning just around the corner. We could hear them. They yipped and yowled and we followed their cries picking our way along slabs of rock slanted towards turbulent ocean waves. The noisy ones were fighting, waging private wars. They can rip bloody wounds and even kill each other, hence the dead sea lions washed up on the beach. Most of the sea lions, however, were sleeping. If we crouched low and didn't talk, a few of them let us creep close. Tiring of the sea lions after a while, we wandered the sandy paths of Cabo Polonio. Simple shack cabins dotted the sloping land. Most were shuttered. A few leaned. And all of them seem as if they had been spontaneously plopped where they stood. There was little rhyme or reason to their placement, there were no orderly, squared-off lots. People were scarce. According to Raul, about 80 people call Cabo Polonio home year-round. The crowds, he said with a slight roll of his eyes, come in January. We hardly spied a person in wandering around the town, but there was no shortage of animals. Horses grazed, dogs snoozed in patches of sun, chickens pecked, ducks waddled and one cow stood forlornly tied to a post. The sun sunk low, we returned to our hotel for dinner and headed to bed where we listened to the ocean swoosh right outside our door. The Ombu Tree Viewing the Ombu Trees The next afternoon, after a morning of coffee, reading and sunning, we headed out on our excursion. Nearby Cabo Polonio is a protected forest of Ombu trees. The Ombu is unique to the pampas of Uruguay and Argentina. Experts cannot agree on whether the Ombu is actually a tree or an overgrown bush. Part of the controversy stems from the Ombu's wood: it's not hard. The Ombu grows in layers, but its layers aren't dense like an oak; instead, they are flaky like a croissant. Plus, as an Ombu ages, its inner layers wear away, leaving it hollow. This makes it difficult to pinpoint the age of an Ombu, but many of the largest Ombues are estimated to be over 500 years old. However, since they are hollow, they are vulnerable. Strong winds can easily topple an Ombu. An hour long boat ride up a wide, low river delivered us to two protected Ombu forests near Cabo Polonio. We only entered one forest, the other was closed. As it turns out, Raul pulled strings for us when arranging our Ombu trip. The protected forests don't normally open to the public until January. It was the first week of December, but we were there anyway. A local fisherman showed us in and we ushered us through the still woods. The Ombues grow in funky clumps with wide, creeping trunks. Their branches reach high overhead and offer plentiful shade. It was quiet among the leaves of the Ombu trees. It was solitary, too, just like the town of Cabo Polonio hidden behind miles and miles of sand and facing the sea. When to Go :killtravel:) January is Cabo Polonio's busiest month. Much of Uruguay goes on vacation in January and summer is in full swing. The few hotels in town are booked in advance and rental cabins are reserved early. February is also busy, but you'll have more luck finding accommodations if you're arriving spur-of-the-moment. In March, summer weather lingers in Cabo Polonio, yet many Uruguayans have gone back to work, leaving the town quiet during the week. The rocky shore at Capo Polonio October and November are whale-watching season. Whales pass by Cabo Polonio, making their way north from Antarctica.
El cerro (Hill) del Verdan, which each year and over 100 on April 19 received tens of thousands of pilgrims climb a steep road to pray, to thank the Virgin. Beyond that date, you can move up company with fewer and more calm, and enjoy every part of the wonderful view of the city and the mountains that can be seen from the hill. Andalusia Verdun is accessible by car, but halfway down the final stretch can be done only on foot. The journey on foot over 1000 meters of undulating and steep path, strewn with stones not simple. For the faithful, are small monuments erected with Stations of the Cross for prayer and rest along the way.Still fresh in days, it's best to bring a bottle of water because between ascent and descent is not less than 1 hour delay. |