Colonia del Sacramento was built by the Portuguese so they could smuggle goods into Buenos Aires, being just across the Rio de la Plata (about an hour trip on a modern ferry). The point is the old part of town, characterised by cobblestone streets, quaint old buildings, ornate lamps and flowers, which was fortified to the outside world. We arrived late afternoon and had a chance to have a quick look around town and head out to the jetty in time for sunset, an ea...

Arriving in the capital Montevideo we're quickly reminded that we hadn't been in a big city for a while, with footpaths crowded with people displaying purpose in their step. We had booked a hotel that we found online as the rates were considerably cheaper than a double room in a hostel. It was not so conveniently situated 3km from the bus station which made for a nice walk with our luggage, but it was located in the Centro area and close to the Ciudad Vieja, the ...

The good old Lonely Planet had described Punta del Diablo as the anti Punta del Este. Punta del Este is described: 'OK, here's the plan: tan it, wax it, buff it at the gym, then plonk it on the beach at 'Punta.' Once you're done there, go out and shake it at one of the town's famous clubs.' So having spent time in one, we decided we should spend some time in the other. Given the only buses that went direct from Punta del Diablo to Punta del Este were at some rid...

We decided to go the 'back way', a road not really travelled by tourists, to Punta del Diablo, on 4 separate buses via Melo, Trienta y Tres then Chuy on the border with Brazil. We had very little idea of how easy that would be, knowing only that Juan and Susanna said that it may take a couple of days. We started with a 6:30am bus from Tacuarembo, getting to the bus terminal with only a few minutes to spare, as it wasn't as easy to find as we'd hoped, we were tol...

The drive to Panagea took about another 20 minutes or so from our roadside collection point at kilometre marker 189. Juan told us a bit about his ranch, asked us about ourselves, then we pulled up at his house. We were given a tour. Our beds were in an outhouse and the shower block across the yard which has solar heated hot water. The main house contained more bedrooms, as well as the kitchen and TV. The lights were all on, though the generator only runs for abo...