On January 31, I drove out Route 11, which most directly connects Punta del Este, summer glitterati HQ of the southern hemisphere, with Colonia, embarkation point for the quickest ferry to Buenos Aires. It marked the second biweekly turnover of holidaymakers, and the road appeared to be a river of black license plates in both directions.
The ones inbound picked poorly: they have anything but beach weather since. But yesterday it got hot, almost Paraguay-hot with humidity. When I took the top photo it seemed to me the pine tree was sweating as well. And here we are today.
A Uruguayan told me the other day that summer here used to mean temperatures in the 80s Fahrenheit. Not this summer. Not last summer.
Part of me is a little more convinced there is no normal anymore. Cambio climatico, as they say here.
This is our 7th summer in Uruguay. We have never seen anything like this one. The rain this month is unbelievable. It simply doesn´t rain like this in the summer. Until this summer, of course.
We have tickets for the llamadas this evening in MVD. It has now been rescheduled for Saturday, which wunderground.com says will be 100% rain. Oh such fun!
I've been reminded of my first summer as a summer camp counselor: kids arrived and we had 18 days of rain…on an island with no electricity and no running water, and most living in tents on platforms. Captain Mildew had a field day.