When most people think of beaches in this small South American country between Argentina and Brazil, Punta del Este and other strands along its "Gold Coast" most readily come to mind. But two hours north, among the charms of Uruguay´s appealing capital (pop. 1.8 million) are several beaches of its own, bathed in the waters of the Río de la Plata (River Plate), an estuary which empties into the South Atlantic and is so huge that locals refer to it as el mar (the sea). So in addition to admiring
Uruguay (4)
TitiNicola
by Marita Acosta
Two hours' drive east from Montevideo and a little over an hour from Punta del Este lies a stretch of coast some 180 kilometres (112 miles) long that's been the secret of a few in-the-know Uruguayans and fewer neighboring Argentines, and even fewer other foreign visitors - with wild sand dunes, little villages, sea-lion colonies, whale watching (October and November), and unspoilt white-sand beaches such as Punta del Diablo, Cabo Polonia, Santa Teresa (top), and La Palo
Argentina may be famous for its pampas (lowlands plains), ranching, beef, and of course gauchos (cowboys, such as the one above and those in the video below). But fewer people are aware that these characterize its much smaller next door neighbor Uruguay, to an even greater extent. In fact, unlike Argentina, here the pampas cover practically 90 percent of the country beyond the coast and capital Montevideo, and the gaucho tradition and culture is if anything a more de
Kobby Dagn
Way down South America way, one of the hemisphere’s most chichi beach resorts sits astride the Atlantic coast of one of South America’s lower-profile countries, Uruguay. On a narrow spit of land separating the Atlantic from the Rio de la Plata, Punta del Este is a 90-minute drive east of the national capital, Montevideo, and a 45-minute flight from Buenos Aires. Why do I mention the latter?
Because as popular as Punta is with many Uruguayans, it would be pretty much nowheresville wi