January 24, 2025
CASTRO, CHILE
This tender port provided a nice relaxing day. I spent the day walking around taking in the highlights, browsing in shops, picking up some supplies and checking out all kinds of local crafts and arts with Sherrie and later Delia joined us. There are 4 Castro signs throughout town. We walked about 3-4 blocks up the hill, from the port area to get to the large town square at the top of hill.
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Church of San Francisco is located on one side of the Plaza de Armas, it is the main Catholic church. Gorgeous wood interior!
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The stilt houses are the trademark of the artist in this town. Unfortunately, it was low tide when I saw stilt area so not as picturesque!
Today we went to see the coastal Naidiri Village that has recently won the Top Prize in global restoration, for their ocean reef project. The reef restoration was borne out of necessity to solve their dwindling food/ main protein source for the village, of fish. It was started by 2 of the villages rugby players and today is run by the local teenagers (mostly boys) in the village. It was great seeing how empowered and proud they were of their amazing efforts.
The port agent offered several trips to areas around Lautoka . We chose the trip to Serenity Island Resort which included van and boat transfers and lunch. It was a really nice day enjoying the sun, reef, pool, turtles and amenities!
I organized a group tour for a fun day experience. We had a great day despite the rain that decided to join in. We started with a 45 minute van ride out through the city, into the countryside. Then we got in long boats and went up river to a waterfall, some swam or cheered on the guides to cliff dive. Then back in the boats to visit Sabata Village where 50 family members live as a community existing totally off the land, along the river. Next was a quick boat ride to our BBQ lunch spot. After lunch we got to tube down the river, through light rapids, for just about an hour. We ganged our tubes together with the guide - we had a chain of 14 in my group and the guides totally blew us away singing hymns for a good chunk of the journey. It was truly moving in that place with the rain drizzling and all of us linked together. Loved it!