The Festivities!

Christmas Day, rather unsurprisingly, was really hard this year; I think we all felt quite lonely so far away from family and friends and really felt the loss of those loved ones no longer with us. 

Naturally, we would never be able to recreate the Christmas Day festivities that we have all grown accustomed to; instead, we tried to make the best of the situation, do something different and go out exploring. We have heard about various waterfalls nearby but have yet to experience them, so instead of a big Christmas lunch followed by party games, we packed a picnic and headed to the river in a nearby town of Sardinal.

Finally the truck was used for what it was designed to do, off-roading! We had to drive for about 10km of bumpy, dirt tracks, through shallow rivers and teak forests in order to reach the waterfall. We followed some tourists on an organised tour on quad bikes who were having a great time, but other than them, we were the only people on the road. 

Naively, I expected the waterfall to be quite large, maybe not quite on the scale of the Angel Falls or Niagara, but still bit bigger than it actually was. Nonetheless, it was about a 5 metre drop from the top to the bottom, tall enough for the kids not to be brave enough to jump into the lagoon below!

The Drop! 

 Jumping into the Lagoon.

The Lagoon.

Then we took a drive to Playa Danta, so that the kids could try out their skim boards that they received for Christmas. Beautiful little beach, which we had not visited before with quite a cool, Mediterranean-style beach bar, where a live band were playing. The drive to this beach also tested the skills of the 4x4, as the pot holes were extremely large!

Then home, quick wash and out for Christmas dinner at La Finisterra a newly refurbished, local restaurant. Great Christmas dinner, although none of the trappings like 'pigs-in-blankets' nor cranberry sauce (but thankfully no sprouts!); no smoked salmon for starters and no brandy butter or mince pies for pud! Since we have been here, DH and I have taken to drinking beer, instead of our usual tipple of red wine. Tonight however we felt wine was more appropriate - mistake!! Vinegar was my opinion, but DH felt he needed a couple of glasses before he could give an accurate verdict. After an acrid second glass, the complaint to the waiter was just met with a Spanglish 'thankyou'; no apologies, no offer of a free drink, nothing but a friendly smile. Customer Service needs a little work still then?

However, the other patrons added to the enjoyment of the evening as they were so ... different; as DH noted, it was like having dinner in an OAP home! First there was the Jewish-Italian looking mother with her three middle-aged sons; no talking just an awful lot of time spent looking at their mobile phones, sipping on water. Then on another table there were a few greying gents accompanied with what looked like second wives, with extremely coiffured hair, tight tops and very high heels!! But my favourite of all the other diners was the Donald Trump lookalike! Yes, the best clone I have ever seen; even his blondish hairpiece was the same as Trumps' - incredible!! To top it off though, he was partnered by a much younger Grace Jones replica, all glammed up in a red, satin, backless floor-length gown. And sharing their table? A newborn baby dressed as Santa! 

All very surreal and nothing like our normal Christmas Dinner but certainly one to remember!