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................