Birds of a Feather
13 Feb10 Flirting With the Devil
Posted in Culture, General from Punta Del Diablo, Uruguay by Dan
Fabulously remote, seriously underdeveloped and stunningly picturesque, this little fishing-surfing village of wooden cabins and winding dirt streets is like an anti-Punta del Este. – Lonely Planet
This incredibly brief description was what inspired us to visit the small beach town of Punta Del Diablo, the town that made me realize how difficult it must be to write a guide-book. I have a great deal of sympathy for whoever was charged with the task of describing the allure of this town in only one paragraph.
One paragraph does not provide enough space to mention the swarms of dragon flies that hover in the sky, like predator drones co-ordinating a sophisticated attack. Or the fishing boats that lie on the beach, moored to ancient pulleys.
Or how it seems like an invisible artist applies a fresh coat of paint to all buildings and signs, ensuring that the sun (which shines constantly and without the interruption of pesky clouds) does not dull the vibrant colors of the town.
A paragraph doesn’t leave room to mention the beaches that stretch for miles and there is certainly no room to describe the millions of uniquely colored specks in each handful of sand.
Our guidebook neglected to mention that the people of Punta Del Diablo haven’t realized the exploitability of tourism or that the phrase ‘all-inclusive resort’ is not in their vocabulary, and so we had no advance warning that conversation had replaced the peso as the town’s official currency.
And while we expected the picturesque dirt roads, we were pleasantly surprised by the scent of wood-burning barbecues that waft through them each evening.
Maybe it’s best to visit the town without expectations. Maybe the brevity of our guide-book was intended as a filter to attract only the most enthusiastic and curious travellers. Regardless, Punta Del Diablo is secret that is impossible to keep.
All the sweet secrets of South America, the food, the smells, the unutterable beauty, the sounds of those vast sweeping beaches, it is a giddy punishment for us here, deeply wished for, with every glorious entry on the blog.
With love and appreciation.
It sounds like a secret you should reveal only to your loved ones. It reminds me of the feeling I had when we visited ko Pi Pi off of Phuket in Thailand when Calina was 19 months. It was at that point still fairly safe from huge tourist invasions with mostly day trippers and people who didn’t mind living in hut-like accommodations but of course that changed and especially after Leonardo Di Caprio shot a movie there. It is now overly developed I here. So yeah, keep it a secret.
I know what you mean Toni, the whole time I was there I had this sad sort of feeling that something this good can’t last. But speaking to the locals I got the impression that preservation and respect between locals and visitors are huge priorities. So hopefully this place can grow in a way that preserves it’s charm. The place already has been discovered by many Uruguayans and Argentinians as a summer home destination, and it is definately popular amongst the backpacker crowd. My biggest fear is that it will be discovered and developed by some foreign resort conglemerate that will only care about the number of pools and all-you-can eat buffets they have, and will ensure that the only locals you meet are underpaid employees. As for that town in Thailand, I hope I’ll get to visit that part of the world at some point! Maybe Calina and I can give you an update on it’s status! It’s so cool that you guys were up to the challenge of travelling to such a remote place with a young’un!
I wonder what the tour book writer was thinking when they wrote that short paragraph… Will this go overlooked? How can I make each of the allotted words powerful enough to convey this place? I wonder if they had experienced what you had, I wonder if they were worried about the danger that could ensue if they were to lead the wrong people to this little piece of paradise.
Alas, we will never know. Great pics and text, tho! I definitely had similar feelings when I was in remote locations in Indonesia. The fear that one day what I was seeing would not exist, replaced by a Starbucks. I think that was what made leaving so difficult. Knowing that nothing would ever be exactly the same again.
just proves that we still live in a wide wide wide wide world! Great post, and so beautifully written!!!!
Well, I know where there is a fantastic wind blown picnic spot somewhere on an island in the Mediterranean, tippy-tippy mountaintop where Gods once lived. From there you can see the whole island’s golden topography, the colour of it’s people, undulate seductively to the sea. You know where it is Calina, but I’m not in the giving vein today on this world-wide internet, fearing that loose lips can plant a Starbucks anywhere.