As we boarded the bus that would take us away from La Paloma the clouds completely dissipated and the sun started to shine brighter than it had since our arrival in Uruguay. It was annoying to look out the window and see the beaches twice as beautiful as they had been when we were laying on them. At any rate, it made us excited to get to our next destination, Punta del Diablo. When we arrived there a few hours later it immediately became apparent that we had made the right decision to keep moving- Punta del Diablo was much more ¨us¨; The sandy roads are lined with open air restaurants serving the catch of the day, hippies are selling the fruits of their artistic efforts in the market next to the beach, and the vibe emmited by everyone speaks of nothing but complete relaxation. We wandered down the road and decided to have a quick bite while we figured out our next move. While our waitor served us skillets full of calamari and fresh shrimp in garlic butter he also arranged accomodations for us. The cook in the back, a replica of Aunt Jemima, kindly rented us one of her cabanas a few blocks from the beach for CDN$20 a night- which, split three ways is a steal. Although the bathroom smelt like a porta-potti that hadn´t been emptied in weeks and the doors were 3 inches from fitting the frame, we were quite smitten with our temporary home. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach relaxing until Morgan and Travis were sure they were going to peel again for the umpteenth time on the trip. Our humble abode had a fully equiped kitchen, so we went into town and bought groceries for the next few days.

After eating pizzas, empanadas, and pasta over and over again at every restaurant, it was fantastic to be able to cook our own meal- with the added bonus that it is quite a bit cheaper. We didnt stray too far from our regular diet in the end however, electing to make our own seafood pasta dish. Morgan made garlic toast, Travis helped out with the pasta, and I cooked up some amazing ¨angelita¨ fish (yes I am tooting my own horn). We were exhausted after all the effort that went into preparing our meal, so we decided to take a nap before hitting the town. We set the alarm for 12 o´clock because that´s when people start to think about going out around Uruguay- we didn´t wake up until 10 the next morning. O the party animals we are.

The next few days were spent lounging on the beach, cooking fantastic food in our little kitchen, and spending hours on end soaking up the relaxing Uruguayan culture that we have come to love. We did manage to go out our final night in Punta del Diablo, treating ourselves to a good dose of reggaeton and salsa music. Travis went home defeated after the ladies at the first club weren´t biting, while Morgan and I followed the sounds of Daddy Yankee down a dark dirt road to a club in the middle of nowhere. Who would have thought that a barn-like building on the outskirts of town would draw so many more people than the clubs in the downtown core? It was definitely our highlight of the night, as we were able to lose ourselves in the middle of the dancefloor amongst a young Uruguayan crowd. On the way home Morgan only had to pee in the ditch once, and we only got lost twice. At any rate, we made it home safe with very respectable levels of alcohol in our systems! :) The following afternoon we had to trade in the beach for yet another bus ride- little did we know it was the first of MANY to come in the following 2 days...