The map was pretty accurate. Where it was green was grass and the tic tac toe board of brown were the dirt roads. Bikes, cars and foot traffic determined where the ‘road’ would be. You could tell that grass used to cover the now exposed dirt.

As we pulled down the final stretch of dirt road to Paula’s house, I realized this was not at all what I was expecting, AND it was perfect.

This was not a hostel as I thought I knew it. On Paula’s property were a few cabins. Romina took Mariela and I to the one she had already secured. The room had three bunk beds and we’d quickly learn we had the room to ourselves.

The room would have been tight with six people, but for the three of us, it was perfect.

We dropped our bags and Romina gave us the grand tour – the bathroom, which was in a ‘cabin’ a few doors down, the kitchen, where we would put in our dinner order for the night and the backyard.

Paula’s backyard was huge! There were tables surrounded by hay bales to sit on and looked so relaxing.

We went into the kitchen and met Esteban, the chef at the hostel. We placed our dinner orders and then headed to the market to get wine and snacks.

The directions to the supermarket/liquor store/pharmacy (all one shop) were something along the lines of turn right at the big tree, left at the blue car and find the white house on the end.

It was about a ten minute walk but we found it. We picked up necessities (wine and snacks – see we really all hav the same needs!) and headed back to Paula’s.

This is the bus stop. This was the view from where the bus dropped me off.

Can you see the ox and the cart in front of the building?

Behind me is a little house/hut for tourist information. It was a small room with a woman behind the desk.

The two biggest takeaways from spending time on the beach in Punta del Este.

There were a lot of bronzed butts.

On the beaches in the States where I spend my time, women have full sized bikini bottoms, skirts, skorts and cover ups. You don’t see many bottoms, much less a beach full of women flaunting their bottoms, and since it was the middle of summertime, they all had gorgeous tans. Sorry guys, no photos!

There are a lot of soccer balls!

Forget frisbee. On the beaches of Uruguay you might not want to doze off. Every few feet was a different game of football (soccer) and fancy footwork. You definitely have to pay attention when you are on the beach because there are soccer balls flying overhead everywhere you looked!

Mario Irarrázabal was inspired to make a sculpture of a hand “drowning” as a warning to swimmers.

I learned it had many names – the Monumento al Ahogadoto (Monument to the Drowned), Monumento los Dedos (Monument of the Fingers) or La Mano (The Hand).

The warning was because the waters at La Barra had rougher waves which were better for surfing only, while the other way, waters at Solanas were much more suited for swimming practice and windsurfing activities.

While I had seen pictures before I arrived, they were nothing like the day I was there.  was lucky to get a photo with only four people in the background. The place was teeming with people!