Heading to check the surf on Estrella...
During a late drinking session at a remote beach in Northern Uruguay, a couple of New Yorker surfers told me about their experience with the mysterious El Russo of Chapadmalal. El Russo was a Buenos Aires city slicker who deflected down to the sleepy coastal town of Chapadmalal to escape the hustle and live as a free spirit. I was told that traveling surfers and musicians are welcomed by El Russo who lives in a silo. When asked how I could contact him they just told me to rock up and ask around till someone knows him. After telling the adventure loving Catalina this tale, we took a second then our fate was decided - we were going to search for the mysterious El Russo in the Easter holidays...
We boarded an overnight 8 hour bus at the packed terminal and woke up at the coastal city of Mar Del Plata. We then sleepily jumped on a smaller bus that took us another hour south and dropped us off in the tiny town of Chapadmalal at the awkward time of sunrise. We asked an old couple about El Russo, they said they had never heard of him though kindly offered a place at their place. We almost accepted the offer before a young local lad eavesdropping exclaimed in Spanish " Hey I know El Russo, Vamos!".
After driving through some lonely fields a few kms back from the beach we stopped to talk to this eclectic looking guy in his 30's wearing reggae pants, sporting short black hair with a mullet of dreadlocks walking a dinosaur of a dog. Apparently this was they guy - so I got out, introduced myself (he spoke no English) and before we knew it we were warmly welcomed into his silo and he was preparing a couple of fine steeds for an afternoon ride to check the surf...
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