2017.02.11 Punta del Este, Uruguay

Renowned as the getaway spot for Argentinians, Chileans, Brazilians, and international celebrities, Punta del Este is an upscale resort with towering condos on the beach, long waterside rambles (promenades) and casinos. Traditionally an elite playground with expensive suburbs and over the top beach houses, Punta del Este now also attracts a more middle class visitor. The town’s main draw is its wide, sandy beaches, especially the Playa Brava, on the Atlantic side of town, where I got some sand. Water sports such as surfing and kiteboarding are big here, but many vacationers just relax on the beach. For those looking for a little culture, there’s the Ralli Contemporary Art Museum. Punta del Este is known for its nightlife, and the areas restaurants serve everything from Brazilian to French to Italian food in addition to the local seafood and sandwich specialty, the chivito, a sandwich made from beef, cheese and tomatoes. The rugged coast outside town includes Casapueblo, the fantastic home of artist Carlos Paez Vilaro. All white and hugging a cliff, the Gaudi-esqe structure is an homage to the artist’s son, one of the survivors of the “Miracle in the Andes” plane crash of the 19070s. Nature lovers find much to see on the coast too, including Isla de los Lobos, a large sea lion colony about five miles from Punta del Este.

We decided to take our own walking tour of the island as it was a gorgeous day with temperatures in the high 70s. This was also a tender port, but we had two nice tenders from shore along with our life boats.

This is a beautiful island and reminds you a little of Miami beach.

To give you an idea of the size of the island and where we walked here is the map that we used. We started at 1 and only skipped 9 and 10.

When we got off of the tender we were in the port (1). There was a big fish market right next to the docks as well as many, many big yachts.

Our first stop on the tour was the lighthouse (2). It was built by Tomas Libarena and started working on November 17, 1860, with the purpose of guiding navigation in the Atlantic Ocean and not the River Plate. It is 45 meters high and works on electricity, and the crystal prisms that compose its lighting system were brought from France. It is in beautiful shape with very nice buildings attached to it, which I assumed were keepers and workers’ homes. It was not open to visit. On our way the shore was mostly rocky, except for one small beach. The water here was the Rio de la Plata, very brown.

Directly across from the lighthouse was the weather station.

Opposite the Square of Punta del Este Lighthouse is the Parish Church (3).

Our next stop, quite a ways up, and not memorable is Great Britain Square (4). It is located on the so called Salinas Point on the Coast Road. The anchor of the ship Ajax, which was one of the participants in the Battle of the River Plate, which took place in 1939 off the shore of Punta del Este, can be seen. Opposite this Square, the limit between the River Plate and the Atlantic Ocean was established.

Now we are walking along the Atlantic in search of the Image of Our Lady of the Candelaria (5). This is a work of art created by local sculptor Mario Lazo, installed February 2, 1982.

Now here is where we made a slight error. We came up from the water into the town, but were not on the right street. It took us a while to figure it out. But, we finally found Plaza Artigas (6). There is a statue here in honor of Jose Artigas who was a liberator of Uruguay. It is also a large Arts and Crafts Market, but at 11:30 on a Saturday, they were not open.

Since we were on the wrong street, our next stop was Paseo de las Americas (8). This sculpture is located on Playa Brava and shows the works of Latin American Sculptors, selected at the first Meeting of International Sculptors.

Now we got back on track and walked up Gorlero Avenue (7). This is Punta del Est’s main avenue. Shopping, restaurants, banks, casino, bars and art galleries are mainly on this avenue. The circle is the beginning of this avenue. We made some purchases and moved on.

We then went to see the Gazebo (11) that is on the Sea Front Boardwalk (10).

Then it was back to the port and our tender back to the ship. It was a very nice day, beautiful city, but we were tired. As we sailed away in the evening, here are a couple of pictures of the shore and some of a lighthouse on Gorriti Isle, which is locate in front of Maldonado Bay, across from Punta del Este. It used to be a shelter for pirates and navigators in the early 16^th century. There is an old military headquarters built in the time of the Spanish domination. We sailed by this island.