DAY-09: Punta Del Este, Uruguay
DAY-09: Punta Del Este, Uruguay
Day – 09: Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Starting Location: At Sea Aboard the M.S. Marina
Interim Location: Punta Del Este, UR
Ending Location: At Sea Aboard the M.S. Marina
Overnight we sailed up the coast about 60-70 miles from Montevideo to Punta Del Este.
Again we ordered breakfast brought to the room with the butler arriving at about 7:15; that is earlier than I usually get up in the morning. Breakfast today was similar to yesterday with the addition of a couple of eggs. We'll settle the breakfast thing over the next day or two.
From our anchorage the town at Punta Del Este looks much like Miami South Beach from offshore. Similar buildings, condos, hotels, etc. along a broad water front. The ship's tour description reads, "Spend the day enjoying this beautiful, chic, beach resort, its marinas and interesting sights. See amazing works by Dali, Chagall and Miro at the Ralli Museum." From the sea the city does give the appearance of a modern day resort area.
For our tour we were to take a ride to Sea Wolves Island. We were tendered ashore by a ship's boat and arrived in the harbor marina area around 9:30. The yachts in the marina were impressive and the working fishing boats colorful and aromatic.
Sheila had found seats on the upper deck of the boat and of course happened to sit next to a gentleman wearing a "B" ball cap; so you can guess how that played out; but you would be surprised just as she was when the gentleman advised that the "B" on his bonnet was for Bordeaux, turned out he was a Frenchman and knew nothing of the Boston "B's"; his loss I suppose.
The ride out to the island took about 30 minutes with seas relatively calm. Turns out we would only approach the island as landing was not permitted, so our view of sea wolves would be from the safety of our boat. Turns out that the "sea wolves" were seals and sea lions similar to those we typically see along the west coast of the U.S. and lounging on the piers and walkways of San Francisco and other sanctuary cities. The boat moved close to shore and there were thousands of seals. Upon moving to the lee side of the island we not only saw the seals we also experienced the smell of seals, quite rich. The island is also the home to a tall light house, the Punta Del Este light marking the the transition for the river to the ocean at the coast of Uruguay.
Not that we hadn't seen enough seals and sea lions but back on the dock there were the closeup photo ops.
From the harbor we boarded our tender and returned to the ship where we headed to the Terrace Cafe for a bite of lunch.
I hit the walking/jogging deck for a few miles (many laps at a 10:1 ratio) and Sheila headed off for Mahjong and/or bridge for the afternoon. Great view from the 15th deck.
Once again we found a specialty restaurant available for the evening meal, tonight it would be Toscana, the ship's Italian offering. There we sat with two other couples, one from Toronto and the other from Seattle. You never know how these pairings will work out but it turned out to be an entertaining evening with great food and a bit of wine.
We had a nice sunset, hoping we'll see many more along the way.
Though it was only about 10 PM when we returned to our room, that was enough, the day was over.
Interim Location: Punta Del Este, UR
Ending Location: At Sea Aboard the M.S. Marina
Overnight we sailed up the coast about 60-70 miles from Montevideo to Punta Del Este.
Again we ordered breakfast brought to the room with the butler arriving at about 7:15; that is earlier than I usually get up in the morning. Breakfast today was similar to yesterday with the addition of a couple of eggs. We'll settle the breakfast thing over the next day or two.
From our anchorage the town at Punta Del Este looks much like Miami South Beach from offshore. Similar buildings, condos, hotels, etc. along a broad water front. The ship's tour description reads, "Spend the day enjoying this beautiful, chic, beach resort, its marinas and interesting sights. See amazing works by Dali, Chagall and Miro at the Ralli Museum." From the sea the city does give the appearance of a modern day resort area.
For our tour we were to take a ride to Sea Wolves Island. We were tendered ashore by a ship's boat and arrived in the harbor marina area around 9:30. The yachts in the marina were impressive and the working fishing boats colorful and aromatic.
We boarded a "cat" hulled power boat appropriately named "Oceania"and began our journey to the island; was glad to see that they carried a back-up engine.
Sheila had found seats on the upper deck of the boat and of course happened to sit next to a gentleman wearing a "B" ball cap; so you can guess how that played out; but you would be surprised just as she was when the gentleman advised that the "B" on his bonnet was for Bordeaux, turned out he was a Frenchman and knew nothing of the Boston "B's"; his loss I suppose.
The ride out to the island took about 30 minutes with seas relatively calm. Turns out we would only approach the island as landing was not permitted, so our view of sea wolves would be from the safety of our boat. Turns out that the "sea wolves" were seals and sea lions similar to those we typically see along the west coast of the U.S. and lounging on the piers and walkways of San Francisco and other sanctuary cities. The boat moved close to shore and there were thousands of seals. Upon moving to the lee side of the island we not only saw the seals we also experienced the smell of seals, quite rich. The island is also the home to a tall light house, the Punta Del Este light marking the the transition for the river to the ocean at the coast of Uruguay.
Not that we hadn't seen enough seals and sea lions but back on the dock there were the closeup photo ops.
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| Garlic to serve with the fish & mussels. |
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| When you have an itch ... |
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| Not sure we need to be that close! |
I hit the walking/jogging deck for a few miles (many laps at a 10:1 ratio) and Sheila headed off for Mahjong and/or bridge for the afternoon. Great view from the 15th deck.
Once again we found a specialty restaurant available for the evening meal, tonight it would be Toscana, the ship's Italian offering. There we sat with two other couples, one from Toronto and the other from Seattle. You never know how these pairings will work out but it turned out to be an entertaining evening with great food and a bit of wine.
We had a nice sunset, hoping we'll see many more along the way.
Though it was only about 10 PM when we returned to our room, that was enough, the day was over.
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