Just outside the department's second largest town, Castillos (pop. barely 8,000), about 45 minutes from Rocha city and even closer to the beaches, the Palmares de Rocha are a 70,000-hectare (270-sq,-mi.) swath of indigenous butia odorata palms, some 200 to 300 years old and up to nine metres (30 feet) tall. These palms also yield a fruit, called butiá, which is locally made into sweets, jams, and liqueurs.

Read more in our post The Exceptional Ecotourism of Uruguay´s La Rocha Province.

Eduardo Amorim