Jim & Barbara Burton Travel

Uruguay Part 4

Punta del Diablo

Thursday, December 12, 2013 we set out in an easterly direction on our way to Castillos a little old town towards the border with Brazil. We understood, wrongly, that it was the town of Castles. However, it apparently got its name from St Vicente Martir de Castillos, the martyr San Vicente for which there is a chapel bearing his name and around which the town grew. It has a population around 8,000 people and is part of the Rocha department (Province, State, County) with Rocha being the main city for the area. When we arrived at Castillos it was for the most part closed up. Siesta we presumed. It was a dusty little Main Street town, with no castle to visit, so we decided to carry on to Punta del Diablo. Information for this part of the country is sparse but it has seemingly evolved from the influences of the Portuguese and Spanish eras, with the area changing hands many times. The majority of the buildings are more of Portuguese influence being predominately brightly coloured.

Although we did not visit the city of Rocha, population around 26,000 it is supported, it seems, by agriculture and dairy farming with a notable military presence. In 2012 Uruguay announced plans for a new deep water port on the Atlantic Coast, in the department of Rocha, to facilitate the movement of materials and mining, but also to accommodate the many cruise ships now visiting this coast, presently with stops in Uruguay being Montevideo and Punta del Este. This project is slated to begin in 2014 with completion in 2017. This will have a major tourism impact on this area and many sleepy little towns will suddenly be awakened for the summer season.

After driving through the main hub of Castillos we made our way back to the highway and drove on towards Punta del Diablo.

On our way we passed this amazing lake and large grove of palm trees. Never in my life have I seen so many Palm trees. This ancient grove of Butia Palms or Feather Palms is an incredible sight. It is the oldest and largest grove of wild palms in the world, numbering around 500 trees which are between 200 and 300 years old. Unfortunately, cattle graze beneath them so the new sprouts were being eaten, hence the grove was not sustainable. A conservation project is underway to regenerate the palm grove but this will take many years to acheive. Although these palms are not coconut bearing, their fruit being used for jelly, three thousand year old coconuts have been discovered in the area. The world's largest Ombu forests are also found close by, with some of the trees being 500 years old. The Ombu is a very large, spreading evergreen tree which is highly valued for its shade, shelter and mystical properties.

In this same locale we came across this huge lake which, from our vantage point, looked black. Hence its name Laguna Negra. The lake is surrounded by native forests, palms, wetlands and a diversity of wildlife. It covers an area of approximately 70 square miles and at its deepest point is 16 feet. We also saw Greater Rheas in this general area, which are large flightless birds native to this area and south east Brazil.

Unfortunately, due to the distance we were away from these last few sights and not having sufficient time to explore them in more depth, we were unable to capture them in our photographs. However included are some that I found on the internet.

After travelling further north we came to the intersection for Punta del Diablo. We headed east towards the ocean, on very dusty, red dirt roads. We came upon the small town and then drove down to the sea. Punta del Diablo is known for its very colourful cottages or huts as they are often called. It is a fisherman's village with brightly coloured boats. After being so excited to see this pretty little place we were quite shocked to see its rundown condition. Some of the houses were fine but many were just uninhabitable. The streets down to the sea are very narrow and no parking allowed. We found a car park down by the beach and went for a walk. The Atlantic Ocean here is very rough and the rocks are rounded and smooth due to erosion. Despite the dilapidation it was a charming place and we had lunch in a nice little restaurant, just off the seafront. There was a huge amount of reconstruction being done and we thought that this was just for the upcoming tourist season and the destruction was due to the storms from the Atlantic. We were later to find out that Punta del Diablo was almost totally destroyed in December 2011 by an enormous inland forest fire which raced to the ocean, practically unabated. This town of less than a thousand people, in summer swells to 30,000 with tourists from Brazil, Argentina and Europe. Enjoy the photographs of this magical little spot................

Barbara - Punta Diablo

Punta del Diablo

Monument to Artigas de Bolivar

Rocks at Punta del Diablo

Cormorants and Black Backed Gulls

Rocks at Punta del Diablo

More Rocks at Punta del Diablo

Rocks at Punta del Diablo

Jim surveying the moonscape like vista

Rocks at Punta del Diablo

Restaurant by the ocean

Artisans Huts

Gutted by fire

Fishing Boats - They fish primarily for shark

Looking towards the dunes

Mirjos where we had shark for lunch

Looking out over the Atlantic Ocean

More rocks!!!!!

Looking up the hill

Looking down the hill to the ocean

One of the better houses

View of The Bay

Some of the colourful dwellings

Laguna Negra - sunset *

Laguna Negra *

The Old Palm Grove - note the cattle *

*The last three photos were taken from the internet.

Uruguay Part 3

Colonia del Sacramento

Sunday 8th December, 2013 we left here early to drive 4 1/2 hours to Colonia del Sacramento, or in our case somewhat longer, after getting lost in Montevideo for a while. Had we travelled further around the port the first time we were in the city we would have realised that was the most direct route. Maps here are somewhat deceiving and no one way streets are marked.

Once on the highway out of Montevideo, it is a pretty straightforward journey. Entering Colonia del Sacramento is very impressive as the main road is lined with huge palm trees either side. Amazingly we found our hotel right away even though it was tucked down a little old street with no sign depicting that there was even a hotel there.

Colonia del Sacramento is a Medieval walled city, centred around the old port, now the yacht club. The new town is an extension of the old but although quite separate merges quite seamlessly. However even the new town is old. Not knowing what the hotels would be like in such an old place, with mostly street parking only, we elected to stay at the Radisson. We thought it might be a little out of place until we arrived and found that it was for the most part hidden, not detracting from the authenticity of the locale, underground parking, beautiful rooms and an infinity pool.

There is a ferry from the new port to Buenos Aires, Argentina, which is directly opposite, on the other side of the Rio de la Plata and many people travel back and forth for day trips.

Colonia del Sacramento was founded by Manuel Lobo in 1680 and initially belonged to Portugal. Over the next 100 plus years, the town, now a city, changed hands numerous times between the Portuguese and the Spanish, eventually being incorporated into the Independent country of Uruguay. The city has since expanded to the north and east but the Barrio Historica (Historical District) remains essentially unchanged.

The district is not that vast, up hill and down dale, covering approximately 40 acres of land, which we were able to circumnavigate quite easily in the time we had available, with the exception of visiting the various museums. That being said, we climbed the 118 steps, of the very narrow spiral staircase to the top of the lighthouse, for the magnificent views across the Rio de la Plata and the old city. ((20 Uruguayan pesos or 1 us$) The lighthouse was commissioned January 24th, 1857, is solar powered, flashes every 8 seconds and has a graphical reach of 16.5 nautical miles. The city is built topographically, according to the suitability of the land and not on the Spanish grid system, making it unique for that time period. The city gate constructed around 1735 had a moat, now a lawn and a drawbridge. The gate and the drawbridge have recently been restored. The streets are very quaint, the first ones being of Portuguese influence and the latter Spanish. The streets are all cobbled and many are tree lined, with the older ones being less uniform in structure than the later Spanish era. There is a very interesting central square where it is thought that a community well existed. The cathedral is quite magnificent but we were unable to see inside due to a religious service being in progress at that time. Good walking footwear is highly recommended for the uneven footing.

Colonia del Sacramento is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a site to behold it certainly is. With not too much imagination one can definitely envisage life as it was 300 years ago.......