January 20, 2025

VALPARAISO, CHILE - Vino del Mar Neighborhood

Day 2 in Valparaiso I spent with Whitney exploring the Vino del Mar Neighborhood. We took the train from the port to this beachside area North of the city center. We walked the streets in this bustling part of town and was warned, by a young lady walking her dog, to keep our alerts up and be mindful of how we hold our phones. The area is known for snatch and grabs. We had gotten the same warning the day before. Luckily, we witnessed none of this.   

Museo de Arqueologia e Historia Francisco Fonck - large Easter Island collection with their own Moai statue out front.

We had lunch at this cute bistro Romeo sin Juliet - owner Romeo, who is camera shy, says his patrons are the Julietas! Lunch was so fresh and yummy, had a great salad with falafel and he had the best music playing - Loved it - total indulgence!

After lunch we walked along the beach front, admired the remains of Wulff Castle ( German built) and finally saw the "cruise ship shaped" building we had heard about the day before and never really saw anything that measured up. Looks like a run down restaurant these days, especially from the back side. Lastly, we saw the famous flower clock and then we got an uber back to Ship.

PORT DEARAU, FIJI - Naidiri Village

By Patricia Patrick • December 4, 2025
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.

LAUTOKA, FIJI

By Patricia Patrick • December 1, 2025
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!

RIVER TUBING DOWN THE NAVUA, SUVA, FIJI

By Patricia Patrick • December 1, 2025
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!