Beachin' it in Punta del Este

I capped off my short stint in Uruguay by checking out the beaches near Punta del Este! This small peninsula town is often described as the Miami of Uruguay.. Ritzy, busy, touristy. I was lucky enough to be there during spring, low season, and still have great weather. So while I understand the 'Miami' vibes, it was quiet, peaceful, and perfect for me!
I spent my first day walking around the peninsula a bit. Starting at the surf side of Brava beach..

To the rocky outlooks along the peninsula's tip..

Through the puerto (port)...

And over to Mansa beach, the quieter, calmer side where I stopped to soak up the sun..

On the second day, I was reunited with Chelsea that I'd met in El Chalten (we had been lucky enough to be on the same walking tour in Montevideo!!), and we went to check out La Barra and the beaches there. Also beautiful of course..

We also managed to find a time on Brava beach where the Hand sculpture (called Dedos, which actually translates to fingers) was miraculously free of people!

The beaches in this area definitely lived up to their expectation. The sun was hot and I was left feeling appropriately sun kissed after only a few short days. Unfortunately that meant my time in Uruguay had come to an end and I was on my way back to Montevideo for a bus & ferry to Buenos Aires. Time really feels like it's flying.

After only a few short days in Uruguay my list of favourites would be huge! I think it's probably fairly obvious from how I've been describing things that I loved Uruguay and everything about it. The food, the beaches, cities, people, culture, values.... I'll skip the formal list that I've previously been doing and just leave you with this... For a bit more of a slow paced, relaxing and beachy (can't forget the beach!) stopover in South America, I couldn't recommend Uruguay higher!