The road to Punta del Este, and a glass of Uruguayan white
From a city of broken streets to bohemian Pueblo Garzón and its eco-vineyard, former fishing villages studded with art galleries and Uruguay’s biggest resort city, Mark Footer’s journey is full of contrasts – and capybaras
Cuarenta kilometros” are not words you want to hear when your fuel warning light has suddenly blinked on and you have just asked how far it is to the nearest service station. Nevertheless, 40km is how much further I must coax my thirsty hire car, according to the woman manning the toll booth on the border between the departments of Rocha and Maldonado, in eastern Uruguay.
I have come from the city of Rocha, a place of broken streets and even more broken vehicles, and the service station that is now the focus of all my attention is in the upmarket seaside village of José Ignacio, which happens to be where I’m staying. The road, Route 9 (which is paved, unlike much of the bumpy Route 10, which runs parallel along the dramatic coastline and drank much of what fuel my car was delivered with), is a lonely stretch that dissects the flat, uniform pampas.
I pass the occasional tethered horse and catch sight of a pack (or is it troupe?) of capybaras, the world’s largest rodent (about as big as a medium-sized dog), some scampering through the grass, others standing with heads held high, alert for danger.
To help deal with the stress of imminent breakdown – I have no phone, no pesos and minimal Spanish, not that there are many passing motorists to use it on – I imagine the reward I’ll treat myself to should I make it back: a glass or three of chilled albarino.