Following our previous trip to Ecuador and Peru, we continued to learn the ABC's (Argentina, Brazil, Chile) of the South American continent: Specifically, we visited three major cities (Rio de Janeiro of Brazil, Buenos Aires of Argentina, Santiago of Chile) and one natural attraction—the Iguazu Falls on the border of Brazil and Argentina, on our 13-day tour to South America in August.
Rio de Janeiro, the city by a river (Rio) discovered by the Portuguese on a January (Janeiro) day over five hundred years ago is a geological spectacle, straddling over a river mouth dotted with rock islands, surrounded by mountains and peninsulas, beaches and bays and lagoons, all under the watchful eyes of a man-made wonder, a 30-meter tall 28-meter wide Christ the Redeemer Statue standing on top of a hunchback-shaped mountain. It's a lively city with year round beach parties and "Samba schools" preparing for the annual carnival parades that vivify the heart and soul of the city!
Located on the river that separates Brazil and Argentina, Iguazu (Indian word for "big water") Falls are wider than the Victoria and taller than the Niagara Falls. We walked one trail on the Brazilian side and three on the Argentine side to view this great natural wonder from afar and aside, above and below, up close and personal on bridges that led us to yards away from the roaring downpour whose water flutters had us wet all over.
Buenos Aires was yet another city by a (way wider) river mouth, but without the jagged geography, only a serene waterway with silvery glitters and a city landscape reeked of European charm (the "Paris of South America," as they say). We went to a dinner theater and enjoyed a great Tango show and a suburban ranch that took us for a wagon ride and a cowboy skit for a taste of the Argentine "Wild West" of the old.
Crossing the Andes, we landed on Santiago, the capital of Chile. Landlocked by the snow capped Andes and a coastal range, the city seemed to hold a dignity of its own, yet felt more approachable than Rio or Buenos Aires. We also went to a winery for the country's famed wine production (Chile is the world's fourth largest wine exporter), and a seaside city donned with cliff top houses, colorful stores, artistic murals, and street musicians.
Then there were people we traveled with: Bob and Judy were a couple from Florida in their mid 70's who'd been traveling around the world since Bob's retirement a decade ago, while Julie and Ron, another couple from Florida in their early 60's who still owned and ran their own business, just started their traveling track now. What's strikingly similar was both couples married young, to their high school sweethearts, and had their first kids while in college!
Ryan and Molly were a young couple in their early 30's from Texas. Molly was born in Palestine but grew up in LA and still had a father living in Lebanon. Ryan was a Walmart project manager who carried a GoPro stick that automatically recorded 360-degree high quality videos as a drone would wherever he went, from whom I asked and got a couple of great clips of the Iguazu Falls scenes for my own records!
Aline was a true-life coal miner's daughter from West Virginia, who joined the Navy to escape poverty when she was young. Now in her 70's, she still walked big, steady strides that oftentimes left us youngsters behind. Unfortunately she got struck down by Covid during the last couple days of the tour and we missed our chance to say goodbye to her at the farewell dinner.
There were two multi-generation families in our group: Margaret was a quiet African American old lady who had worked all her life in a Queens' school district in New York, her daughter a school counselor, and the granddaughter a sweet, disciplined, athletic teen-ager who jogged every morning throughout the tour.
Rosie was an energetic, passionate Latina who loved her job at Southern California Edison helping vendors do business with SCE. She brought her two aging parents who at times needed wheelchair assistance for sightseeing. Her father came to the States as a dirt poor immigrant and through hard work and a bit of luck had become owner of a tire store that he now delegated to his two sons to manage. He and his wife were quiet and probably didn't speak much English but had the bright smiles of happy, contented parents who had worked hard all their lives and were now being taken good care of by their loving offspring.
Ryan and Molly were a young couple in their early 30's from Texas. Molly was born in Palestine but grew up in LA and still had a father living in Lebanon. Ryan was a Walmart project manager who carried a GoPro stick that automatically recorded 360-degree high quality videos as a drone would wherever he went, from whom I asked and got a couple of great clips of the Iguazu Falls scenes for my own records!
Aline was a true-life coal miner's daughter from West Virginia, who joined the Navy to escape poverty when she was young. Now in her 70's, she still walked big, steady strides that oftentimes left us youngsters behind. Unfortunately she got struck down by Covid during the last couple days of the tour and we missed our chance to say goodbye to her at the farewell dinner.
There were two multi-generation families in our group: Margaret was a quiet African American old lady who had worked all her life in a Queens' school district in New York, her daughter a school counselor, and the granddaughter a sweet, disciplined, athletic teen-ager who jogged every morning throughout the tour.
Rosie was an energetic, passionate Latina who loved her job at Southern California Edison helping vendors do business with SCE. She brought her two aging parents who at times needed wheelchair assistance for sightseeing. Her father came to the States as a dirt poor immigrant and through hard work and a bit of luck had become owner of a tire store that he now delegated to his two sons to manage. He and his wife were quiet and probably didn't speak much English but had the bright smiles of happy, contented parents who had worked hard all their lives and were now being taken good care of by their loving offspring.
Traveling is a journey of discoveries, and sometimes you bump into things you have never heard of, or "myths" that nobody has definite answers for. For example, before this trip, I didn't know there were rumors that long before Christopher Columbus "discovered" the New World, ancient Phoenicians had appeared in the South American continent and left their marks on a rainforest mountain outside the city of Rio de Janeiro:
And have you heard of the urban legend: As storms in the Northern Hemisphere always spin counterclockwise and those in the Southern Hemisphere always clockwise due to Earth's rotation movement, so does toilet water in the Northern Hemisphere always spin down counterclockwise while that in the Southern Hemisphere always clockwise?
Well, I cannot give you definite answers on whether Phonecians had arrived in South America long before Columbus did since I am no archaeologist nor geologist, but as for the toilet water swirling down thing, I can tell you something about it since I had done some experiments of my own at various locations of the Southern Hemisphere continent I just visited.
Well, I cannot give you definite answers on whether Phonecians had arrived in South America long before Columbus did since I am no archaeologist nor geologist, but as for the toilet water swirling down thing, I can tell you something about it since I had done some experiments of my own at various locations of the Southern Hemisphere continent I just visited.
But that'll be another story for another day!
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