Tofino's Wild Pacific Coast is a coveted destination for surfers, hippies and nature lovers, not to mention dreamers and rebels.
I started coming here to visit my daughters, and quickly fell in love with the wild ocean. If hiking is your thing, try Tofino's many trails that follow the ocean's edge. A long time ago, this area was a place of refuge for free-spirits, who could pitch a tent and stay for the summer, the month...years.
Cold Water Surfing is what Tofino is about. Also fishing, whale and bear watching, the flight of the eagle, incredible food; the list goes on. Last but not least, Tofino offers eco-tourism. My first stay and so many stays after that have been at the Tofino Botanical Garden's Eco-Lodge.
Twelve acres of intercoastal mud-flats, gardens, temperate rainforest and an exploration of the relationship between nature and people.
The gardens supply the eco-lodge, Darwin's Cafe - an on-site eatery, and celebrate early Japanese fishing families and the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations. I've become an addict of the serenity here, and there is not one visit to Tofino where I do not find myself ensconced in it's borders.
As a writer, I am always on the search for places that feed my soul. Tofino's wild waters and rainforest never fail to inspire me.
What I love about the Eco-lodge is what it offers a link between my travel bug and my desire to be mindful in my travels. Tofino, like many coastal tourist spots, has a sensitive eco-system, which not all tourists value or protect. But so many now are hip to the fact the traveling must be paired with protection of the environment. Here is an article I wrote for elephant journal about why I plant a tree (or three) when I fly.
http://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/02/if-i-must-fly-i-must-also-plant-a-tree/
The basic concepts of eco-tourism include:
Minimizing physical, social, behavioral, and psychological impacts.
Building environmental and cultural awareness and respect.
Providing positive experiences for both visitors and hosts.
Providing direct financial benefits for conservation.
Delivering memorable interpretative experiences to visitors that help raise sensitivity to host countries' political, environmental, and social climate.
Designing, constructing and operating low-impact facilities.
Recognizing the rights and spiritual beliefs of the Indigenous People in the community and working in partnership with them to create empowerment. Source: https://www.ecotourism.org/what-is-ecotourism
I find this and more at the Eco-Lodge in Tofino.
Walking the beaches, I am impressed with how little garbage I find and how many people pick it up when they see it. Amidst the driftwood and the ancient rocks, the tides and the crashing waves, one can truly stock up on bliss.
What has Bit-coin and Steemit got to do with all of this? I see an opportunity for all the environmentally aware travelers, many of them young people with little money to spare, to write about their adventures, earn some bit-coin and in whatever way they can, share their eco-wisdom. I see dreamers who want to start eco-tourism ventures also funding their projects by sharing on Steemit. In a symbiotic relationship, writers, travelers and Steemit can partner towards a greener future. Those of us who can't or do not wish to travel, can participate with comments or votes, and together, we lighten our footstep upon the planet.
Bitcoin is already a counter-culture movement, a decision to take back the power from the hands of the few and into the hands of the many. It's a grass-roots movement towards social empowerment. I'm not an expert on crypto-currency, but I do know when entrepreneurialism meets brilliance meets conscious change.
We're in this together; creating a future our children can partake in with integrity.
Thank you for spending time with me here! Hugs and Kisses, Paris-Loves-Her.
All Images: Paris-Loves-Her