Keeping to our theme of seeing all of the world wonders, we headed to Christ the Redemeer, or “Cristo Redentor”, in Rio de Janeiro. Constructed in the 1920’s, it is the newest of the New7 Wonders of the World. The statue is made from reinforced concrete with small triangles of soapstone coating the outside. It is 30 meters tall and weights 635 metric tons. Continue reading
Category: South America
Itaipu Dam
In Foz do Iguacu we also visited Itaipu Dam. Voted one of the seven “Modern Wonders of the World” by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Being the geeky engineers that we are, when we heard that we could visit the world’s second largest hydro-electric dam in the world, we made it a priority to go. Continue reading
Iguazu Falls: Visiting the Argentinian and Brazilian Side
Iguazu Falls – Cataratas del Iguazú (Spanish) or Cataratas do Iguaçu (Portugese) – is actually 275 waterfalls making up one of the most spectacular sights I’ve ever seen. We visited them from both the Argentinian and Brazilian side.
Argentina’s Famous Wine Region: Maipu
From El Chalten we took a 12 hour bus to Los Antiguos (a small lake-side town famous for it’s delicious cherries) where we spent one night. From there we bused another 12 hours to Bariloche – an extremely over-priced ‘resort’ town (we paid 90$ CAD per night for a tiny private room and shared bathroom). *No post on Bariloche* After three nights, we hopped on a ‘super-cama’ bus (executive class) to Mendoza. 19 hours later, we arrived in Argentina’s famous wine region.
El Chalten, Patagonia: A Hikers Paradise
El Chalten, a young mountain village in Patagoniadeclared “Argentine’s Trekking Capital” is a hikers paradise. We spent six nights there giving us plenty of time to enjoy the outdoor activities including breathtaking hikes, stunning views and beautiful waterfalls. Continue reading
Perito Moreno Glacier – El Calafate, Argentina
We stopped in El Calafate for two reasons: it was on the way and to visit its famous and easily accessible Perito Moreno Glacier. We arrived in El Calafate after an 11 hour trip with two buses. We stopped at the border for almost two hours – the most inefficient system ever. Give your passports to the driver, wait 20 – 30 minutes, get passports back; think you’re good to continue – wrong. Wait in the bus for another 30 minutes. Then the driver tells everyone to get off the bus and bring all of their baggage (including checked bags). We then all piled into a small customs building and lined up behind an old x-ray machine which took nearly 5 minutes a bag – partially due to the ladies behind the counter squinting at a 10-year old monitor. Almost every bag was searched by hand; while at the same time there was no system to prove we even went through the x-rays. For example, we had left a carry-on bag on the bus my mistake – no one noticed. Some people walked through with their purses over their shoulder – some had to have them scanned. Oh, and the machine wasn’t even booted up when we walked in. Overall, we wondered why any of this was done when clearly none of it was effective – and all the cars that passed the border while we were inside didn’t even step foot out of their cars… Continue reading
Magellanic Penguins: A Jounrney to Punta Arenas and Isla Magdalena
After a lot of thought and discussion we have decided to bus from the southern tip of Argentina all the way to the northern Brazilian border making many stops along the way. This is roughly equivalent to busing from Vancouver to Toronto (over 4000 km). Our first stop was Punta Arenas, known for it’s proximity to Isla Magalena and it’s Magellanic Penguins. Continue reading
Ushuaia: The End of the World – “Fin del Mundo”
Ushuaia: the end of the world – “fin del mundo”. As my grandmother quickly pointed out, the world is round and therefore has no end. However, as the southern most city in the world, Ushuaia has been nicknamed “Fin del Mundo” or in English, the end of the world. And that is where we have gone to start our journey through Patagonia. Continue reading