Lying here in my bed top bunk at 04:10 reminiscing about my trip round South America. I had reservations about exploring this continent as it had a reputation of not being safe for a lone woman to travel but I can honestly say that I have never once felt in danger. There were times I felt insecure and maybe a little vulnerable but I had learned from my experiences and moved on.

This was my last day at Karumbe and I was catching the bus back to Montevideo at 1pm – after almost 3 months, I was heading home.

It wasn’t difficult for me to get out of bed this morning, this was my last opportunity to see the sunrise and it was a poignant end to my trip. I wanted to sit in solitude for a while at the shoreline to listen to the crashing waves and watch the waders forage for breakfast while contemplating which direction my life should take now.

Down the rickety wee stair to the waters edge

Placing my cushion on the wet sand, I sat in silence and watched the sun slowly rise from below the horizon. It was truly beautiful and quite comforting. I didn’t mind being alone, in fact I preferred it that way as I had a lot to think about!

I had walked the soles off my (actually my daughters) sandals and had decided to leave them in Karumbe and it felt fitting to take them to the sunset and place them on the beach,

Strolling on the familiar sand route for the last time, along to the suspension bridge and up the stairs to the high bank to look for the otters then back down to sit at the side of the bridge to watch the kingfishers dive for minnows in the wide murky canal – complete bliss.

As I was walking along the beach, two beautiful horses came trotting along side, their riders bareback, I didn’t even hear them as I was so deep in thought.

And then while I was so busy looking at broken egg shells on the ground, I never noticed the jagged sturdy branch of a tree and walked straight into it and nearly knocked myself out resulting in a big bruise on my forehead 🤣. That wasn’t the only injury incurred on this short morning, I had woken up to an almost shut right eye. During the night I had been bitten on the eyelid by a mozzie and now looked as though I’d gone 6 rounds with Mohamed Ali – between my puffy eye, bruised forehead, bruised shins, blistered feet and cracked heals, I looked as though I was returning home from war!!

I was reluctant to leave my little bit of paradise but I had to go back for breakfast and eat enough to last me 5 and a half hours on the bus to Montevideo, go through the painful process of pack – unpack my rucksack routine, book a hotel for the night and order a taxi from the bus station to take me to which ever hotel I had chosen. Time to move!!!

Actually, because I was going home I didn’t care much for the way I packed my bag. I stuffed everything into all the wee nooks and crannies and was able to squash three bags into two leaving behind toiletries, towel, sandals, soups, etc. It was closed and staying closed.

I had fed Segway in the morning with sausages as there was no fresh fish available and it was time to see if he could fly. He was confident paddling round his wee swimming pool, his legs were strong and I hope his wings would be too once he got down to the ocean.

He got so excited when the sound of the waves crashing on the shore reached his ears and he began wrestling beneath the towel. Nervously, I opened the towel and placed him on the sand. I knew he might take off and run away from me as far as he possibly could and I may never catch him again. But he still wasn’t strong enough. His little legs ran along the sand towards the open sea and he flapped his wings desperately trying for lift off but they just didn’t have the strength and wouldn’t support his body. The muscles in his wings were still weak and he needed to be taken to the beach for a few more days to flex and build them up. Thankfully he was so tired and it was easy to catch up with him to scoop him back up. I wrapped him in the towel and took him back to the centre

I had hoped to be cleaning out his accommodation before I left, but it wasn’t to be so with some sadness I returned him back to his blue plastic enclosure after giving him a little affectionate squeeze to wish him well 😢

Nothing left to do but charge my battery pack, phone and have a wee cup of English breakfast tea while waiting to say goodbye to everyone who work so incredibly hard to get these beautiful green turtles back to the ocean.

Good luck team ☘️

Alejandro was concerned about the weight of my rucksack and very kindly offered to take me to the bus stop but I’d rather walk, I just needed some time alone. I went into the little shop where the bus stops, bought a large family size packet of crisps for the journey, sat on the seat and waited. It was 12:50 and the bus was due at 13:10 – not long!

The bus was slightly late but I didn’t care, I enjoying sitting alone, taking in the scene for the last time. This was it, I was finally leaving this wonderful continent and I was homeward bound.

The journey back to Montivideo was long, I slept, listened to my playlist on the phone until it ran out of battery, went to the smelly toilet as an excuse to get my battery pack from the overhead luggage rack, noisily munched my family sized packet of plain crisps and re-read my WhatsApp messages for the umpteenth time until I finally arrived at Montevideo bus station where Christmas spirit was in full swing

Jumped in a taxi, that cost me the earth – it said 315 soles on his meter but for some reason I got charged 1072 – no idea how he came to that conclusion – a vulnerable tourist I guess!!

The hotel was beautiful, just what I needed. Who could blame me for wanting a bit of luxury before being subjected to a 12 hr bucket seat journey in the morning (and that was just to Madrid 😱 ✈️

The bathroom was huge, with both arms stretch wide, I couldn’t even touch the walls

And in the wardrobe I found an iron, the only iron I’d seen in the whole of my trip. I had carried round one of my favourite blouses should I go out to a restaurant for a meal but couldn’t possible wear it. So it stayed squashed and crushed inside the hump for my entire trip and now was the opportunity to air it in public, the only problem was I had left my half decent dress sandals at Karumbe and I had to wear my walking shoes which completely let the outfit down but I reckoned if I kept my feet under the table no one would notice.

The dinner was mediocre, nothing special for the price, the best thing about it was probably the delicious IPA beer.

I couldn’t wait to go back to the land of comfort. It was already 10:30pm and I had discovered how to change the TV channel from Spanish to English so I decided that was the better option- to sprawl out in my bed like an opulent octopus 🐙

Couldn’t be bothered with the TV, flicking channels drove me nuts so off with the light preparing to meet the next day – The start of my long journey home.

Nite 😘