Departed Buenos Aires to catch the first Catamaran over to Colonia de Sacramento.. An early Spanish settlement town now on the World Heritage list.. It started out cold and blowy.. I downed 2 travelsick pills so when we got on board I just fell asleep.. I was woken when we docked as the boat was coming in a tad fast and with the rough water we like Crash landed.. It was supposed to be a 1 hour trip and it took an extra 30 minutes due to the wind.. This River is the widest in the world .. Up futher from where we crossed... Anyway off we went on our little jaunt around the old quarter and the wind just picked up and it was freezing.. Eventually we got to a warm spot in a restaurant and had a lovely lunch.. After lunch some off us took off to shop for some warmer clothes and when we went outside it was pissing down.. We persevered though and found the "Columbia" store and I bought a weatherproof jacket and a thermal under shirt... Now the credit card is starting to bow ! By the time we made it back to the restaurant we had pretty wet pants and shoes and socks. Finally the bus came and we all had to run for it as it was parked a fair way away so everyone got wet.. We went back to the boat dock and you couldnt even see the river because of the rain & wind.. After a 4 hr wait we were told that all boats were cancelled until 2000hrs tomorrow...So we were finally put on a bus for a 3 hour trip North to the capital..Montevideo, Arriving at 2230hrs.. We are staying at the Raddison.. Tomorrow we have a 5 am wakeup for a 6am departure. .. Hopefully my shoes will dry a bit. I dried my socks at the boat place under the hand dryer in the Washrooms.. One of the ladies took her trousers off and stood in her undies while she dried her pants.. Lol, hopefully the weather will ease off tomorrow so the plane can take off.. Poor Fernando is freaking out with all the changes..he is a mini Elton John in all ways, with a dash of Graham Norton...He is very dramatic !!Early start today with the wakeup call going off at 5am, we got to have a shower and put the same clothes back on...even the socks. My shoes had semi dried so they wernt too bad. Fernando did get us a toothbrush and toothpaste thankfully.. Downstairs we got tea & coffee and sweet biscuits as we were too early for breakfast..The weather was still crap, blowing gale force winds and sheets of rain just non stop all night and most of the day...As we were having our tea & biscuit some Pilots arrived and we asked them about flying and they said they had flown in from Lima and the airport was open..So we piled onto the bus and went to the Airport..Which was really flash for Uruguay..The even had a McCafe no Burgers though so David was unable to forfill his dream of having a Big Mac in every country he goes to...We had to go through all the International customs etc which was far easier on the boat..Anyway they plane was delayed about an hour but we managed to fill our time looking through the duty free shops, We were all starving as we hadnt had any dinner or breakfast ..eventually the plane came and when we first got on the plane you could feel the plane getting blown about by the wind but thankfully it did take off and it was the roughest flight I have ever been on, food service was cancelled so we still didnt get fed...When we landed I thought we were surely going to crash as we wobbled from side to side and thumped down..the whole plane cheered..I was ever so thankful to get off. Buenos Aires was still cold rainy and windy but not as bad as Uruguay..Coming through customs we discovered because we arrived on an International Flight (40 min) we had to pay for a Visa..$100 U.S. residents $156 !!! Apparently when we first arrived in Argentina we crossed the border in Iguassu Falls by bus so we didnt have to pay it...Had we just come back on the boat like we were supposed to we wouldnt have had to pay...So when I went to pay I only had my Visa card and it didnt work !!!! Talk about frustrating...my choices were Jail, return to Uruguay, or pay..Peter had already gone through, thankfully David & Pat were behind me so he paid for me...So we were not happy campers when we got on the bus..
We had 30 minutes back at the Hotel to change and be back on the Bus for our trip out to the Argentinian horse farm Santa Rosanna for a BBQ ..and a Goucho horse show.. Thankfully Novak and Fernando had got some biscuits which we chowed down on the trip out. It was a lovely Ranch and the Lunch was good, plenty of fresh salads and BBQ meats, all drinks were included and the Beer Peter got was a 2 litre bottle..huge , red & white wine so we all had a crack at that. After lunch they put on the Typical Tango dance show and they had a folk singer..The horse show afterwards was great, their horse skills are fantastic. Everyone was asleep on they way home..
Had to do some internet banking once back in the room, I discovered my credit card which I have been using due to all my travel cards being comprimised and cancelled...So the cash I had loaded onto my card had disappeared...So once again I had to call the bank to sort it out...My finances have been a disaster this trip..This is the 3rd lot of trouble I have had...Apparently in Rio the machine I used must have had a scammer on it...That was the one in the Sheraton Hotel ! They are certainly making it difficult..I have 1 card left so fingers crossed it holds out until the end....