Days 16 & 17 – Punta del Diablo
We managed to wake early on Sunday and the bus drove up to our stop just as we arrived. The bus was almost at capacity before 8 in the morning – we needn’t have worried about the Sunday schedule! The trip to Punta del Diablo was long but uneventful. We managed to text Juan en route and he met us at the bus terminal to take us to our cabin – and I even remembered to buy our next leg ticket this time 🙂 Our cabin was reminiscent of a rustic cottage rather than a hotel, but all the basics and even decent wifi, so no complaints. Juan, who was very much a senior hippy, gave us a quick tour of the town – highlighting local spots to eat, shop and where to get food and find the ATM. He was extremely helpful – he and his wife spend 1/2 the year here and the other half in Spain – pretty nice setup!
For the next two days (Sunday & Monday) we basically beach bummed and I fell in love with Punta del Diablo. We toured the town, checked out the unique local ‘architecture’, walked the beaches with their old fishing huts and amazing rocky outcrops, watched people collecting clams and seaweed, sat on the beach and read, and sun worshipped. The beaches are wonderful – not white powder sand, but the water is clear and clean and the beaches are long; particularly Playa Grande.
We tried a couple of Juan’s recommendations with good success. And of course we fulfilled our duty to keep the local caiparinha peddlers in business. The local dogs provided quite the entertainment. Each seems to have its own restaurant territory and occasionally a turf war arises when someone tries to stray into another’s territory. The dogs go from table to table very subtly. They lay low and look at you with big puppy eyes, and they only stay as long as you drop them food (or not), and then they quietly move on to the next table, or go for a lie down – they are not annoying at all.
We met some younger folks from the hostel – one girl had been on our bus from Montevideo. There is a mix of local Uruguayans, other South Americans, as well as international people here (met Aussies and English also). We met one young English fellow who is spending 5-10 years travelling around the world running his online business on the road. After his travels he’ll pick a favourite spot or two and settle there. There is a wide range of ages of people here, although mostly free spirit types as it really is a laid back vibe through the whole town. And as you can see from the photos, this old fishing town turned beach getaway has tons of character. Did I mention I love it here?
In keeping with the laid back vibe, we took a bit of a break from photography and diary keeping, but we did still squeeze in a bit…
