The once sleepy fishing village of Punta Del Diablo, with its vast unspoilt beaches and dirt tracks is fast becoming a tourist hotspot. This remote part of Uruguay was to be our home for the Christmas period. Even though the summer had begun all of the Argentinian and Uruguayan tourists that flock here in January and February were at home celebrating Christmas.
Punta Del Diablo was still quiet except for a few people building popup beach side bars ready for the 30,000 or more visitors expected to arrive after Christmas. All this meant we had the choice of many discounted rooms as it was still officially the off season.
Getting to Punta Del Diablo from Buenas Aires did not take too long when taking into account the scale of South America. Taking the Colonia Express Ferry from Buenas Aires to Colonia was a straightforward procedure, the company even organised a direct transfer to Montevideo which was waiting for us as soon as we stepped off the ferry. Five hours after setting off from Buenas Aires we arrived in Montevideo at the Tres Cruzes Terminal where it was a further five hour bus ride to Punta Del Diablo.
For reasons beyond comprehension the bus drops you off way outside of town. There’s only one taxi servicing the whole village and when we arrive it looks like he has already been booked. We did manage to get a lift in a shared van but then it was still another thirty minute walk to the hotel.
Arriving at the apartment we were pleased to see it had all the amenities we could ever wish for, our own fully equipped kitchen, swimming pool, balcony and roof top terrace and best of all it was only a five minute walk to the beach.
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve was spent exploring the amazing beaches around Punta Del Diablo.
The small fishing houses added to the beautiful landscape.
The sand dunes and cold wavy sea reminded us of home.
Christmas in Uruguay is traditionally celebrated on the night of the 24th so we were invited to a BBQ at one of the hostels. We clearly weren’t going to be having turkey this year, this is a land where cow is king and every field we passed was full of herds grazing. BBQ beef or asadas as there known here are a way of life which is not surprising as the beef here is some of the best in the world!
So we spent the night drinking Caipirinhas and feasting on meat, salad and sweet potatoes whilst trying to make conversation in Spanish.
This was followed by a late night Christmas bonfire until the early hours.
Christmas Day
If there is ever a day when you miss home Christmas day is the one, but we couldn’t exactly complain waking up with the sun shining and the beach and sea within view. The hangover was quickly soothed with a Christmas morning bucks fizz.
And then off to the beach to drink beers.
Our Christmas dinner, not surprisingly, consisted of beef. 1KG of beef tenderloin which would of cost a small fortune in England cost only £5. Trying to make some resemblance to an English Christmas dinner we cooked roast potatoes, carrots and onions. The plan went out the window and we simply ate them fresh from the oven on the roof top terrace with a bottle of amazing Uruguay Tannot (red wine).
Not you’re typical Christmas day but then again nothing this year has been ordinary.
