Punta del Este, Uruguay

 Since we have 3 extra days on our cruise, we have added one new port, and we will go there on 2 days.  The same tours are available both days, and then there are only 3 possible tours.  We chose the included tour, "Discover Punta Del Este and Punta Balena."  One of the others was a bike tour, and the other was longer than we wanted to take, so it had to be the included tour.

Punta del Este is the "Riviera of South America."  During their summer season, the population swells from 30,000 to over 400,000.  Since we are not quite into summer, the beaches were not crowded.  Originally, buildings along the beach were limited to 5 stories, but demand was such that the rule was abandoned.  Now they are a lot taller.

A lighthouse in
Old Town

If you have the penthouse apartment,
you get a special elevator.

We started out in the "Old Town", stopping to see the monument there, passing this old lighthouse.  The most interesting thing at this stop was the inset mosaics in the area.

In many areas new vegetation has been planted to slow down erosion from the wind.

Our next stop was to visit the famous         

"Hand in the Sand."  If the hand is this big, how big is the rest of the person buried there?

We stopped to admire the undulating bridge.  I do not know why they built it with permanent waves, unless it was to slow down traffic before we reached a very exclusive neighborhood.  How exclusive is it, you ask?  It is so exclusive that the houses do not have street numbers and the streets have no names. They are known by a name only.

Notice the sign with the name of the house.

One of the many multilevel houses.

The last stop was at Punta Balena to view, from a distance, the former home of a famous author.

 The cliffs opposite the house offer nice winds for parasailing.

We saw several of this type enjoying the afternoon winds.

The end of the point