le Smoosh: Punta del Este

I owe y'all something about the Tigre/Delta area ... where the massive rivers come together and create this maze of canals and small rivers and waterways that people have built into this lovely wonderland of vacation spots ... but right now, we're in glorious Punta del Este, Uruguay (http://www.vivapunta.com/en/index.html).

Punta is the international summer party mecca of South America, basically. It's fabulously cool and realllly nicely done. Very upscale and very expensive and plays hosts to all kinds of beautiful people, royalty, stars and so forth. On the Atlantic coast north of Montevideo (between MVO and Brasil) ... it's an area that starts with sparkling highrises on the beach and chills down to ultra exclusive resorts and mansions and then eventually to surf camps and sandy streets.

Punta is huge in the summer. Basically a lot of Buenos Aires empties out and comes to Punta, as do tons of people from all over. But in the winter, Punta is a cold windy coast inhabited by only 10,000 people. Plus, it's Uruguay ... meaning, it's run by pretty cool people. It's a good deal, but it's not at all a poor country ... the people are graceful and chill and lovely, and the country has a long distinguished history as one of the most stable in South America. Good times here.

I've been terrible about taking photos, but look at the official website (http://www.vivapunta.com/en/index.html) to get the idea. Sandy ground ... lowland pine forest ... dune grasses and all kinda tropical plants ... miles of beaches and lagoons ... plus really amazing development that's pretty much all really great looking with chill vibes and lots of parties from huge clubs to beach bonfires. It's pretty much the spot. Some of the houses here will just make crazy with envy. Right out of Dwell and right on the beach.

We've been staying in a hostel here ... up the coast a ways in a residential area. It's way nice and way chill ... the 5 of us and a random guy from Argentina in a 6 bed bunkhouse. It's totally like summer camp all over again. Place has a pool and a bar and a party vibe and all the amenities (lounge, wi-fi, kitchen, etc.). We adopted some guy from Portland who's randomly here on his own and we're dragging him along for the ride.

But tomorrow we're heading out, unfortunately. Could totally see renting a house here for the summer and just posting UP, this place is super fun ... but ... we only just discovered it and we gots ta go! We're catching bus back to Colonia for the afternoon and then the early AM ferry back to Buenos Aires ... and then an evening flight to Bariloche .. in the northern Patagonian Andes for some mountain/lake time. It's rough, I tell ya.

We stayed at this BnB when we first got here: