On Monday we headed out of the hustling and bustling city of Buenos Aires, across the river estuary to Colonia, Uruguay. We got up early and caught a cab to the ferry terminal where cleared Uruguayan customs and boarded our ship for the 90 minute trip. We got into Colonia and it was quite odd, as this was the furthest north we had been in over a month, and we were still at 34° 28’ 21” S. We headed into the old town centre which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has a unique layout and architecture as it was conquered 13 times over it’s 450 year history. It is located in a unique place along the estuary as, as all the deep water channels to get from the ocean to Buenos Aires pass by Colonia. Thus whomever controlled Colonia controlled the shipping to and from southern South America.
They have kept a portion of the city wall and main gate and much of the old (and very rugged) cobblestone.
We went to all of the historic and noteworthy places there including the old theatre which has a brick cistern beneath it.
We climbed to the top of the old lighthouse, which was tough as it was built for much smaller people than us.
But it did give a great view.
You could even see the skyscrapers of Buenos Aires over the water.
We went to the Colonia visitor centre where they had an amazing video display on Uruguay. It was a long 20m hall with curving walls and 8 projectors on each side, turning it into a giant screen. They did an amazing job showing parts from the entire country and really showcasing what Uruguay has to offer.
We went to an artisan cafe for dinner and had some great artisanal cheese and chorizo with Uruguayan wine.
From there we headed to the waterfront to see the sunset.
Kind of fitting that the first sunset we saw on the trip was on our last day.
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