Colonia, Uruguay – Sand Castle Central!
Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay is a good excuse to fill a passport page from a day trip from Buenos Aires (That is, Exit: Argentina, Entry: Uruguay, Exit: Uruguay, Entry: Argentina again).
Colonia is easily reached by ferry from Buenos Aires, and Uruguay on face value seems similar to Argentina in many respects (for example, they both knocked out the Socceroos from qualifying for the Soccer World Cup), except it’s a bit poorer than its giant cousin.
Colonia was formerly a Portuguese port later invaded by the Spanish.
A photo of one of Colonia’s quaint streets is shown below:
Argentina and Uruguay have the same affectionate relationship as Australia and New Zealand – Uruguay is jokingly referred to by Argentines as ‘another province’, however, I’m unsure if Uruguayans cop the same jokes regarding amorous liaisons with attractive sheep (ironically, its economy was heavily based on wool).
Colonia – Uruguay’s Hidden Gem
I enjoyed walking around charming cobble-stoned Barrio Histórico or La Colonia Portuguesa at Colonia, shaded by the sycamore trees and whitewashed buildings.
The most interesting part of this trip was discovering a sand sculptor who created a series of 10 upper torsos in the sand, meticulously painted with the national soccer team jerseys of 10 South American countries – Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia.
Bienvenidos a Uruguay was sculpted in a semicircle beneath the sand soccer torsos. I moved closer and discovered a photo portfolio of other sand sculpting conquests from other parts of the continent.
And here is some photographic evidence
Hmm, a decent way of making a living – building sandcastles all around South America. Another way to become a professional backpacker!
More Colonia and Uruguay Stuff
Find out more at Uruguay & Montevideo.
Other things to do in South America after checking out Colonia, Uruguay – have ‘Coffee With Legs’ or check out the Day Of The Dead.
Nice story, and great picture of the guys on the beach. I had to look at this for a while before I worked out what was going on!
I loved visiting Colonia too, and for anyone who has an extra day to spare would recommend overnighting here, as the quaint streets and pretty plazas are even more photogenic in the twilight.
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Wish there were more pictures of Colonia. What an evocative scene, I can imagine walking down those romantic cobblestone streets in the early evening feeling the heat of the day rising off the stones. Thanks for giving me a mental vacation, if only for a few minutes!
Great idea if someone is travelling the globe, after all it’s about visiting as many countries as possible and this would surely count even though it is just a day trip!
Colonia looks like a really nice setting and I especially like the sand sculptures, which alone would be worth a visit.
From the picture it seems like Argentina and Brazil have had a disagreement and trying to get away from each other!
Im actually going to Uruguay this summer. This is the type of stuff that I would love to see. I really want to bring home some of the really cultural artwork.
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The sculptures at the second photo look very realistic.
If your wondering what Uruguayans thinks of Argentina think of what people think of reality TV stars and that pretty much is why you’ll hear “Porteños” in a disgusted term, but of course it is a stereotype. Howeve,r stereotypes exist because they are partially true.