La Paloma, Uruguay

The harbour with a bit of everything.  All the fishing boats had those bazooka looking things on top?

We had a very pleasant six day stay in La Paloma, a small surfing town that was in it’s quiet, post tourist season.  Gorgeous, wide and wild beaches that went for miles and miles and miles and miles - really the entire Uruaguayan coast is one long beach - and sand dunes were spotted with very occasional bathers and surfers.

We got our bikes out and set off into the rolling, agrarian countryside. One day we rode to a large laguna with a small fishing village on the stunning sand duned shore.

Tiny village situated on dunes about 100m across between lake and ocean.

Fishing in the lake.  Once a year shrimp somehow got from ocean to lake for frenzied shrimping.

The next to a genuine “hippie” surfing village - one main street lined with small cafes and a high sand dune on which to perch while watching surfers ride huge swells.

Even the memorials to grandparent surfers showed their passion.

 La Paloma harbour was small but hosted a variety of activity.  There were about 20 sailboats at dock, a navy "base" without any boats,

The Armada also had a rural navy base.  

a fleet of small time fishing boats at a separate quay and a lumber industry dock where a ship came into harbour turning in close quarters a bit too close to Milly twice in the six days we were there.

Taken from Milly!

  Loading of lumber then went on incessantly for about 36 hours.  Fisherfolk and boat gazers came to the boating dock each evening.  Milly attracted a lot of cameras.

Also from Milly.  This guy is gazing at us while cradling a large thermos for his mate which is in his other hand, ubiquitous in Uruguay.  Mate is a tea - we haven't found out it's chemistry - a stimulant, for sure.  The leaves are stuffed into the cup, often made from a gourd and always with a flouted edge.  The leaves are strained through teeth and a special straw made from silver.  People carry thermos and cup everywhere and drink it throughout the day.

Beside us was another catamaran with a very unusual jury rigged mast made of what looked suspiciously like a radio/TV antenna.  We learned that this youngish South African couple had been sailing up the coast with spinnaker when the wind shifted and accelerated, bringing down the mast.  They had been in harbour six months and had designed this alternative mast.  Still didn’t have a boom though.

A radio tower mast?

Across the quay was another motor/sailboat owned by a Dutch guy.  He had sailed it from Holland, single-handed but had to be rescued off the coast of Brazil - full story not told.  Both tales unnerved me a touch.

While in harbour, we were hailed by a English speaking dog walker who explained to Peter that he lived at Spadina and Bloor in Toronto half the year painting houses and the other half in Uruaguay.  The next day he brought us seven fish he had caught and some herbs from his garden.  Peter cleaned and I filleted.

Boat in harbour, sorting his haul.

Another guy stopped us on the road as we were biking.  As another Bike Friday owner, he recognized our bikes.  He was from Oregon, had married a Uruguayan born woman who grew up in B.A. and they had bought land and built a house in this small town in which a number of expats seemed to have made home.  Steve kindly invited us to lunch, picked us up and hosted us in his beautiful home with a spectacular view of the ocean.  He is a furniture maker and had finished the house and garden himself.  We chatted for four hours learning a great deal about life in Uruguay and Argentina.

Harbour entertainment

All in all, this part of Uruguay was quiet with friendly people and wild beaches and a rolling, pasture land and tranquil forest.  We very much enjoyed it but after six days and the oncoming, less friendly winds of autumn approaching, it was time to be on our way.