Yerba Mate

Yerba Mate is a strong and bitter tea most common in Uruguay and Argentina. In Uruguay, it is common to see people carrying their mate (cup made of a gourd) with a thermos of hot water the way people in the US carry around water bottles. Well, maybe not the same way. They often carry a 1-2 liter thermos tucked under their arm which is carrying their mate to provide a free hand.

The yerba (herb) in yerba mate is actually a sapling of a type of evergreen tree. The flavor is closest compared to a bitter version of strongly brewed green tea. The drink is often simply referred to as mate, as is the gourd itself. Yerba mate is drank through a metal straw (bombilla) with many small straining holes at the bottom to prevent the bits of tea from getting in your mouth. Genius! I suppose you can drink any loose leaf tea in a mate through a bombilla. For now I'll stick with my Uruguayan yerba mate:

Yerba Mate from Uruguay

My mate I bought in Uruguay, fashioned from a gourd and wrapped with leather. This style was the most common I saw while in Uruguay.

I find it oddly fun to drink out of a gourd and straw. It seems timeless and I like the habitual and social aspect as well. Families and friends will often take turns emptying a single gourd, filling it back up and passing it onto the next person in the circle. Yerba mate also provides a decent, yet steady dose of caffeine without the dehydration or anxiousness coffee can often induce.

Mate y Bombilla

Montevideo, Uruguay

I gotta say, I was not very impressed with Montevideo. There was little to see and less to do. Granted, we were there first on christmas day so it was dead as can be. But we returned to Montevideo around 1 PM on the following Saturday to find it almost as desolate as it had been on christmas day. About 80% of the shops were closed on the "busy" streets. We assumed that the city empties in the summer and all life is found on the beaches further north. But regardless, the city itself appeared bland, with little interesting architecture (we walked pretty much the entire city), everything is expensive and we were told many of the streets are unsafe at night (especially if you are speaking English).

I don't mean to hate on Montevideo, but compared to the rest of the trip, it was pretty dull and I feel like I could have gone without it. Luckily we did meet some great people at our hostel. We had a jam session on the back patio with 3 guys from France, and went to lunch with a group of 5 brazilian guys. Maybe Montevideo is a whole different story in the Spring.

Bellyflop or dive?

These guys started a fire in this corner and started cooking up some random meat. One of the strangest public cooking performances I've witnessed.

random "controlled" fire in the gutter

I love my neighborhood

Public tango! Older couples gather to show off their skills on the streets of Montevideo

Whatever dude, I got a sling

Alex painting at our hostel

One thing that I did like, however, was how common it was to drink yerba mate.  The majority of people on the street were carrying a mate (tea cup fashioned out of a gourd) and a thermos of hot water. Literally, almost everyone was drinking it on the go, from bus drivers, to businessmen, to nicely dressed women. They all drank this strong, bitter, herbal tea from their bombilla (straw) and had the thermos tucked under their arm.

It was cool to see this practice for the first time and on such a massive scale. I was told that yerba mate is just as popular in Argentina but we barely saw anyone in the streets carrying it around. It's apparently more of an in-home custom in Argentina.

Horseback Riding in Punta Del Diablo, Uruguay

Caballos! I went horseback riding for the first time while we were staying in Punta Del Diablo, Uruguay. We booked it through our hostel, El Diablo Tranquilo (eldiablotranquilo.com), for $40 US each. It was a 3.5 hour sunset ride that started at our hostel. We rode down to the beach and entered a national park where we passed through uninterrupted fields and forests of green. We even paused halfway through the ride to dismount and drink a couple bottles of delicious Uruguayan wine provided by the tour. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and low cost of Uruguayan wine. After our break I was a little more daring with my horse, Diablito (Little Devil), and our pace.

The Riders

Diablito!

Happiness

We exited the park along a seemingly endless stretch of beach adjacent to the park. This empty, open white sand beach was simply named Playa Grande (Big Beach). We entered the beach as the full moon rose over the ocean, shining red from the tail end of the sunset. It was an absolute fantasy world. Once on the beach we paused for pictures with the beautiful moon before we all broke into a trot down the stretch of the beach. Giddy-up! 

Our master of horses with the red full moon behind him

Surfing in Punta Del Diablo, Uruguay

The conditions are ideal at Rivero Beach in Punta Del Diablo. The sand is pure with no seashells or rocks to cut you up and the waves are great for beginners with about a 150 ft (45m) ride in between the points of the devil. It was December 27th and my instructor noted that the waves were the biggest he had seen so far that summer. I took a 2 hour surf lesson for $20, which was the 2nd lesson in my life. In 2009, I took a lesson in LA on Venice beach for something crazy like $160 for the same amount of time.

Chris showing Jon and I how to "pop up"

The lesson was through the hostel where we stayed, El Diablo Tranquilo, with an employee, Chris, our Australian instructor. It was an excellent experience. Chris took me and a fellow traveler at the hostel, Jon, out for a two hour lesson. We spent a few minutes on the beach where he showed us the form and then we headed into the waves. At first Chris said we may only work in the white water, but after just a few minutes, we pushed beyond to where the big waves were cresting. Chris helped us with our timing and gave us a push into the wave. On one occasion, I paddled into my own wave, caught it, and stood up. Gnarly!

refusing to admit the ride is over

On many other occasions, when I was too far front on my board, the wave swallowed my face and sent me tumbling under water, and slammed me into the soft sand below. After the original tumble, the board (attached to my ankle) would catch the wave and give me a "thrilling" underwater ride with both arms stretched above my head. The waves, and wipe outs, escalated as the tide rolled in. However, despite the epic tumbles, I managed to ride quite a few waves before the day was done and I'm dying for another chance to ride. All in all, this was a perfect (and cheap) place to learn. If you find yourself in Uruguay, get to Rivero Beach in Punta Del Diablo and stay at El Diablo Tranquilo! eldiablotranquilo.com

Punta Del Diablo, Uruguay

I could live here. Seldom have I thought this with any level of seriousness on vacation, but this was one of those times. Punta Del Diablo (Devil's Point) is my paradise. There are endless beaches of white sand (the largest of which literally called Playa Grande) a national park, great surfing and an incredibly chill environment. There is also a beautiful lack of any hotels or any chain stores or restaurants. There are no high rises, there were no Starbucks.

This was off the path, with no ATMs or paved roads. "The path" in this situation is the incredibly popular vacaion spot, Punta Del Este 1-2 hours south. Because of this, I hear Punta Del Diablo is less expensive, and more relaxing with more space and nature to enjoy. We stayed at one of the very few hostels here called El Diablo Tranquilo (eldiablotranquilo.com) that was rustic yet new and a party yet chill. Yes, there were hammocks.

Enough talk. Pictures:

Rivero Beach in the background. Great surf!

Our Hostel: El Diablo Tranquilo (The Chill Devil)

View from the deck at our hostel

Santa Teresa box-o-wine!

Approaching El Punta Del Diablo

Alex and Sarah getting some ice-cream on the main drag

We ran into our Chilean friends, Jean Pierre and Max!

Deep fried empanadas made to order! That seems expensive, but the exchange rate was 20-1

The hostal had puppies! This guy just realized he was in a photo shoot.

Chomp!

Accidental Christmas in Montevideo

After a great two nights in Lima it was time for phase two of our trip. Our plane landed in Montevideo around 9 PM on Christmas eve. The plan was to get to the bus station for an 11 o'clock bus to Punta Del Diablo to meet Alex's cousin, Sarah, who was already there waiting for our 3 AM arrival. We went straight to the information desk to find out how to get to the bus from the airport. The woman at the desk was quick to inform us that the last bus was at 7 PM and the next bus wouldn't be until 11 PM the following night! We're stuck... panic.

We were fortunate enough to have free wifi access in the airport so we hopped on Skype to tell Sarah of our situation. We contacted every rent-a-car place in town, inquired about a taxi, and I attempted to ask 3 strangers in spanish if they wanted to share the cost of a ride with us 3-4 hours north to the beach. The two Chileans and one Peruvian from Lima politely declined. It was then, that I first learned how difficult it is to understand Chileans. These guys turned out to be incredibly friendly and cool, and we would meet again.

After 3 hours in the airport, it hit midnight and it was Christmas. Alex and I gave up on making it to the beach and her cousin that night. We called a hotel near the airport that wasn't expensive and had a taxi take us there. When we got there, we were hungry, thirsty and stressed. We asked the man at the desk if they had any food or booze. We grabbed a 40 of heineken for me and a bottle of wine for Alex and one of every snack they had. We spent the night watching fireworks from the 2nd floor deck of the hotel and trying to relax.

Our dinner at the hotel. Notice the Christmas ham in the middle. Yum.

The next morning Alex and I headed to the bus station in hopes of finding an earlier bus, as we had learned not to trust information we were given (the website for the buses never mentioned any change in schedule for Christmas). Upon arrival at the terminal we quickly spotted our 3 new friends from the night before in the airport. They were headed to a different beach that turned out to be on the same bus as us. Unfortunately the bus didn't leave until 7 PM so we had some time to kill. We teamed up with the three amigos to wander the seemingly empty city on christmas day.

Jean Pierre, Alex, Max and Ruben on the empty streets of Montevideo

Alex and our Chilean friends sharing a laugh and a Christmas Toast on the Beach

Us with Jean Pierre and Max

These churros were not only the only food place open within a kilometer, they were also incredible. 

El Circuito Mágico del Agua (Magic Water Tour)

The Magic Water Tour is a park of fountains located between two main streets in downtown Lima, Peru. This evening activity will cost you 4 soles (just under $2). There is some controversy over whether or not the city of Lima should charge admission at all but I can't complain. It will definitely hold your interest for an hour or two and worth the couple of bucks.

The park is full of many different kinds of fountains, some are constant and some change. Some incorporate lights and music, and some you can even get in and get drenched with unpredictability. Don't forget to bring a towel!

El Misti

loving it