Punta del Diablo continued....

It is impossible to describe the feeling that Bob and I had last Saturday morning when we turned on the tv (something we never do!) to see the catastrophe in Chile. We recognized some of the damaged buildings in Santiago and Valparaiso where we had been only a few weeks before. Two of our guides in Chile had mentioned earthquakes and that there hadn't been one for a few years. The mines in the Atacama desert (where we had spent time in San Pedro) were temporarily closed due to the magnitude of the thing at 8.8. We were pretty much glued to the coverage and all thoughts of the Olympics were put aside and pre-empted here in South America.

When we recovered from the shock of the news, we were thrilled to hear that the Olympics were such a success and so were our athletes. Lovely that it all went well. Thanks to all of you who kept us in the loop about the events.

Feliz cumpleanos #sesenta tres Roberto...on March 3rd!! That means "Happy birthday #63 to Bob" and we had a beautiful day! We walked over 20 kms return trip along the beautiful beaches of this country, north to the national park of Santa Teresa. We had a picnic in a eucalyptus grove above the beach then spent time sitting on the beach listening to and watching the waves.

The young man below must be a 'Survivor Man' (Les Stroud) fan! He built a shelter for his friends. Note that the young man inside the shelter prefers to indulge himself in Uruguayan's favourite activity....mate sipping!!

Late in the day we came to our favourite WiFi cafe where I ordered sangria ($2 for 1/2 litre, $4 for a litre...guess which I ordered???) to celebrate the occasion while Bob opened his birthday greetings. He was so thrilled with the videos (you clever people) and all the messages. A great day for sure!!

Below: Emailing in the park. We can see the ocean from here and there are cute shops and a restaurant. Wooden wind chimes make it even more beautiful...not to mention the sangria! The owners of the shops presented Bob with a birthday card. He was really, really shocked and happy.

Feliz cumpleanos Peter, on March 4th.....#cuarenta (#40!!) Wow...it just doesn't seem possible! Still looking like a kid so the life must be more than agreeing with you!

Below: Fish drying on the line; Main street from our bedroom balcony...yep...those are dirt streets!; The view of a magnificent moon from our bedroom balcony

Diablo is a really cute town and every kind of lodging is to be found. Some of the rentals are quaint and some of them are....well....more quaint. Here are a few for you to choose from for your next vacation.

We are loving Punta del Diablo! What a great town for people-watching, walking and generally doing nothing but relaxing, reading and exploring.

This morning I opened all the sliding doors and saw the sky filled with huge huey dragonflies and butterflies! What a sight it was in the sunshine.

We found the following snippets of information about Uruguay interesting.

-Every school child in the country has a laptop. I had heard this on CBC radio prior to our trip and was amazed to hear that this is the only country in the world where every child has a laptop.

-Anyone in the country can take courses free of charge...even visitors! All you have to do is give a copy of your passport and you can take anything from languages to sculpting. The government offers this to all people no matter where they reside. The tiniest villages have courses available.

-All major highways have tolls.

Blessings to everyone!