chasing unworldly sunsets

📍 Punta Ballena, Uruguay

For our first travel break me and my friends decided to stay in Punta Ballena, just outside of Punta Del Este, Uruguay. We took the Buquebus to Montevideo first and stayed there for a night to celebrate carnival. If you’re asking me, even though getting dressed up is fun, I recommend skipping out on Montevideo and going straight to Punta Del Este. We did stay in a beautiful penthouse with a view of the water but Montevideo itself wasn’t too exciting. After bussing to Punta Del Este, we checked into our hotel, put our stuff down, and went immediately to the beach. I have been living in Malibu, California for the past year so I have pretty high beach standards … with that being said, Punta Ballena passed the test. The sand was soft and white and the water was clear and perfectly warmed. I laid on the sand and basked in the sun next to a beached sailboat for hours. I went for a long swim in the perfectly heated Atlantic ocean. On our beach walk we stumbled across a beach front restaurant, obviously we made it our dinner location. Little did we know, the sun would set perfectly over our beach front seafood dinner. Our food was incredible along with the desert, in which we tried every kind they had. There was a man playing guitar which just completed the ambiance and vibes. The craziest part of all of this is that after we bought our ferry tickets, the weather forecast stated a 100% chance of rain all weekend. The storm clouds blew in around sunset and dispersed into delicate colorful pockets that made the sunset 10x better. The sky quickly turned to the most beautiful pinks and reds that reflected over the calm ocean. I ran towards the sun, into the water, and was mesmerized by all the colors being expressed in the sky and on the reflection of the waves. For another hour the colors changed through oranges, reds, pinks, and purples like I have never seen. The walk back down the beach to our hotel under the pink sky was glorious, the sunset seemed forever setting. The sun hit the houses on the peninsula perfectly, creating a beautiful reflection in the windows of an almost coast of Europe like town. The following day looked the exact same. As if the day prior’s sunset was incomparable, this sunset competed. I have never in my life seen sunsets so beautiful, that is what I am taking away as the staple of Uruguay. The next day we went to the famous Carlos Paáez Vilaró museum to do a little hiking and exploring. On one side of the point the water glistened so perfectly, we watched sailboats pass by peacefully. The hill was covered in beautiful bright purple flowers. On the other side, there are natural caves and swimming pools that become exposed at low tide. People surf and paddle board here, swim and scuba dive, and others bask in the sun and explore the rock formations.

I am always reminded in little ways, and grand ways like overwhelming sunsets, of how small I am and how vast this universe is. It’s crazy to think that no matter how small I am I have the power to make of this life what I want.

the versatility of the sky in only a few minutes:

Pro tips: Punta Del Este is a very touristy area and it is expensive, like worse than LA expensive. The taxi’s into town are around $30 and your meals will also be about the same. I imagine there are many great places to stay closer in town. This would be convenient to walk to the restaurants, clubs, and beach;

however, I suggest hotel Terraza Del Mar in Punta Ballena. It was quiet and secluded and covered in green grass, beautiful hibiscus and palm trees. The staff were so amazing and the property was perfect, they have a pool and a restaurant with great food. On the beach you could rent kayaks, jet skis, and boats. This area is less touristy and the perfect getaway.

📍Carlos Paáez Vilaró

We met some guys that were also there on holiday who invited us over for a previa (pregame) and we went to the clubs with them. I love meeting people when we travel. I think that my friends and I attract the most amazing people because everywhere we go we meet the most fun groups of people who always match our energy. They stayed out clubbing with us until the sun rose (yes, this is very common for South American culture.) As we left the clubs, we walked to the docks to the sailboats where we ran into sea lions. So naturally, we saw the sun rise, on the docks, with sea lions roaring next to us.

We bussed back to Colonia to catch our Buquebus back to Buenos Aires. The sun set while we were on the bus and it was still an amazing sunset like the others. The 5 hours bus ride was through a very hilly and green terrain which was very unexpected. I wish we would’ve had more time to explore the surrounding areas and go on hikes.