a dream

I'm in Montevideo. I go to the bus station to catch a bus to Valizas. There are other English backpackers there, who don't really know what they're doing or where they're going. I ask in Spanish, and the sales assistant smiles at me. My Spanish is just about good enough.

I arrive in Valizas and make my way to Polonio. I find a spot beside one of the little ranchos. There's a lot of people there. It's busy. Evening arrives and I head off for a walk. I walk down towards the sea and put my foot in a marshy spot (which would not exist) and a baby crocodile snaps at me but misses.

I head off along the coast. It starts to become built up. I run into Raquel. She's been there a few days. I tell her there's a good bit further down the coast. But as we walk it becomes more and more built up. There are cars on roads. I tell her when I was there last, there were no cars. There's a fancy hotel. The place looks more like Punta, or Brighton. I say we should go and see the sea lions. The sea lions have had a special sea lion run created for them. It's concrete, and shallow, so they can bask there. A building crosses overhead. They seem happy enough, but it's all one great big tourist trap. Raquel holds out something for a sea lion to eat. I tell her that they're dangerous, she shouldn't, but the sea lion just lifts it out of her hand, a trick it's perfected.

There are hundreds of tourists. TP arrives. At one point, I spot a little crevice full of broken up crates, rubbish from the sea. I tell them - look there, that's what Polonio used to look like.

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