Four Stamps and a Town

Day 15, Saturday, January 4, 1997

LP rates Colonia as one of finest tourist attractions in South America of the same caliber as Iguazú, Moreno, and Torres del Paine. Colonia is only a short ferry ride away from Buenos Aires, but on this hot summer Saturday, getting to Colonia and getting back turned out to be a royal logistical challenge. It involved a lot of unexpected running around just like in Punta Arenas, even though the anxiety was not there because we could always skip Colonia and spend a slow day in Buenos Aires.

Two major ferry companies, Ferrytur and Buquebus, operate a number of boats daily to Colonia. There are so many ferry sailings, I didn't think that going to Colonia would be a problem at all. The problem was that Ferrytur's hydrofoil Sea Cat was dead. Only slower boats were running and their schedule wouldn't leave us with more than a hour or two in Colonia.

We walked over to Buquebus's office. Local vacation spots like Colonia or Punta del Este must be really popular during summer weekends. The office was crowded. We took a number, but it was a long wait, even though there must be some ten clerks working the counters. While waiting, we checked the touch-screen computers for schedule and fare information. I was disappointed to be told that the 1:30 p.m. hydrofoil was completely full.

We walked back to Ferrytur to get more information about the regular boats. The next one would leave at 2:00. Since it's so close to departure time, the city office no longer sold tickets. The best thing to do would be to go to the nearby Dársena Norte, the North Pier, to get the tickets. The boat would leave from Dársena Sur, the South Pier, but a transfer bus would be at the office later on to take people there. However, by that time, the office itself would be closed for the day. We didn't know nearly enough Spanish to sort all these out, despite the valiant attempt by the friendly clerk to make us understand through a combination of drawings, maps, hand gestures, and simple words. He finally gave up, tried a phrase in English, "One moment," and grabbed someone else to explain things to us. The second guy looked like a maritime officer, and spoke excellent English. It's fortunate for us that most sailors know English.

We walked over to Dársena Norte. We saw Buquebus's sign, but not Ferrytur's. It occurred to me that we didn't need to get round-trip tickets, if two singles from the two companies could give us more time in Colonia. We checked at Buquebus terminal. Alas, their next fast boat would arrive in Colonia at about the same time as the Ferrytur's slow boat, and leave at about the same. We decided that we would use Buquebus's fast hydrofoils, since we'd waste less time on the ferry. The boat would leave at 3:45 p.m. and take about a hour to reach Colonia. The return ferry would leave at about 8:00. In the mean time, we hung around in the air-conditioned Galerías Pacífico.

The immigration officer at the pier acted exceedingly efficiently. He checked my documents, opened up my passport to a random page, chop, chop, chop, stamped my passport, my entry/exit card, and my boarding ticket, all in the swiftest motion. To my dismay, he had stamped over other stamps in my passport. He handed the passport over to the other immigration officer sitting next to him. She flipped through it page by page looking for something, and finally asked him. He replied that there was no visa needed for American passports, took my passport, opened it, and held it out for her to stamp the Uruguayan entry stamp, again all in the swiftest motion. "Welcome to Uruguay," he said.

Buquebus seems to run its ferries like an airline. The tickets are multi-part coupons printed on card stock with magnetic strips on the back. The hydrofoil is equipped with airline seats. Although the stewardesses are deeply tanned, unlike the comparatively more blonde and pale stewardesses of Aerolíneas Argentinas, they are equally attractively groomed and uniformed. Once the passengers have boarded, small bags of peanuts were handed out.

The ride, however, must be one of the roughest that I had been on. The small hydrofoil really rode with the waves. I settled into my optimal configuration for minimizing the effect the motion sickness, i.e., keeping my eyes closed and trying to sleep. It's a disaster scene on the boat. No one, including the veteran attendants, could walk straight without bumping into a wall or the seats or someone else. It didn't take too long before people started to visit the bathrooms. A stewardess opened a window to let in some fresh air. It was the right concept, but applied under the wrong conditions. The next splash promptly sprayed her and passengers in the three rows behind the window.

With the help of Dramamine, I arrived in Colonia feeling only a hint of nausea and dizziness. The area around the pier in Colonia was patrolled by a number of woman police in white sailor uniforms with pistol on one side and baton on the other. Yet, with every vibrant smile, every simple gesture, the irrepressible femininity shined through that air of authority. I would recommend that you go see for yourself before you read too much into what's said here or attempt dangerous amateur psychoanalysis.

Colonia is small, quiet, and clean. From the pier, we walked along the shaded Avenida 18 de Julio towards the historical section of the town. Old men drinking mate on the street in front of their homes would say hola to us. Most of the historical buildings are around Plaza Mayor 25 de Mayo. Several of them are small museums nowadays, but all were closed. There is a small section of the old city wall. Beyond that is Río de la Plata. Small old colonial style buildings line the narrow cobblestoned streets near the plaza. Most seem to be fairly well maintained. We took a slow stroll around the area. We spotted several antique cars parked around the plaza. We walked further down along the river bank to the end of the a pier. To our left is the raging river; to our right a protected area for small sailing boats. We walked back towards Plaza de Armas. We saw a Budget Rent-a-Bicycle. Yes, the same Budget Rent-a-Car company that rents cars elsewhere has a shop here that rents bicycles. Next to Plaza de Armas is Iglesia Matriz, Uruguay's oldest church. There was a service going on, so we didn't go in. We sat outside for a while. A group of three women in colonial dresses and four men with drums slowly approached, dancing and drumming. The small procession ended at the church. We gave a small donation. We sat for a while longer and then took a different route back to the ferry port.

We were directed to a different building to board the return ferry. Just like Ed had guessed, the hydrofoil was canceled because of the rough water. The regular ferry was a much larger ship with several decks. The airline style seats were all full, so we had to settle for the more uncomfortable lounge chairs in the main hall. It was scheduled to leave at 7:00, but was delayed to take on the passengers from the cancelled hydrofoil. When we boarded, a crowd had gathered around the customer service desk. Angry arguments could be heard from afar. The larger size of the ship made it more stable but slower. Still there was quite a bit of rolling. The night's entertainment was provided by a young woman who went to fetch drinks. She came back with several glasses on a tray. Cheered on by the other passengers, she carefully walked back to her friends without spilling a drop. The amazing balancing act ended amidst a round of applause.

I asked Ed if all that trouble we had gone through to spend a couple of hours in Colonia was worth it. He shrugged. No regrets. We took the Buquebus transfer bus from the port to their downtown office. By the time we got back to our hotel, it was midnight. So much for my plan to see a tango show or to visit Miss Wang's nephew's restaurant.