South America

Travel through South America by country:

Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela

Travel through South America by popular city:

Bogota, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro

Travel through South America by popular things to do:

Adventures in the Amazon, Falkland Islands, Iguazu Falls, Tierra del Fuego

Migration junkies, unite.

by Iva Skoch on

Migration Information Source (migrationinformation.org) was started as a hobby by its an American-born editor, Kirin Kalia, 32, who describes herself to the NY Times as “half Dutch, half Indian, 100 percent American and total migration geek.”

The Source covers a wide range of migration topics: from giving advice to asylum seekers through listing the top migration issues facing the world today to focusing on Tajik construction workers in Russia, Latvian mushrooms pickers in Ireland, farmhands from Burkina Faso who pick Ghanaian crops and the Peruvians who take jobs left behind by Ecuadorean workers who have migrated to Spain.

There are about 200 million migrants in the world (probably a record in both relative and absolute terms) and more than 80 percent live outside the United States. I can’t wait ’til we live in a world where everybody is a migrant. It seems like it would eliminate a lot of issues. Go migrants!

Photo of the day (02/04/08)

by Iva Skoch on

Whenever I travel, I always come back with a few door pictures. I don’t know what it is about doors that I find so fascinating. I would get into some metaphysical thing about spaces behind closed doors, but I will spare you.

This is a photo by tysonwilliams, taken in Buenos Aires. I like the kitschy yellow job on the door. I never know how these things are done. Do you first make the photo black & white, then color the door yellow? Or, do you start with a color photo and make everything–but for the door–black & white?

***To have your photo considered for the Gadling Photo of the Day, go over to the Gadling Flickr site and post it.***

Dollar: the not-so-universal travel currency

by Iva Skoch on

If the dollar continues its downward spiral this year, it may be necessary for people to switch from dollars to euros for their travel cash.

According to this NY Times article yesterday, many countries are no longer willing to take dollars instead of their currency as a way to get into museums, and pay for hotels and restaurants. While many countries in Latin America still happily accept the dollar because they currencies are either pegged to the dollar or it is the dollar, an increasing number of countries in Asia and Africa, for example, prefer the euro over the dollar.

The Taj Mahal, for example, no longer accepts dollars for the entrance fee. Tourists used to be able to pay $15 to get in. Now, they are required to only pay in rupees (750), which is actually $19. You would think they would just increase the entrance fee in dollars, but maybe they actually really don’t want dollars.

The most remote (and beautiful) corner of Costa Rica

by Iva Skoch on

If you want to experience Costa Rica for its natural parks and avoid beautiful-but-touristy places (such as Quepos) head over to Osa Peninsula, home of Corcovado National Park, which is the largest park in the country (and much of Central America). I was just there in November and would recommend it to anybody who is looking for adventure travel. November is a good time to go, too, because it is the end of their rainy season but not quite their high season yet. You will end up doing a lot of trekking–both in jungle and on the beach–so plan accordingly and bring a lot of sunscreen.

We took a local flight on Sansa from San Jose to Puerto Jimenez and rented a 4X4 car from there. You can also take a “colectivo” shuttle bus (cheaply) or a taxi (expensively). It is about a three hour drive to Carate. This is where “the road ended” and we hiked 3 miles on the beach to the eco lodge. The beaches are amazing and so are most of the eco lodges. Still, the key here is modest: tents, simple meals and lots of scenery. Anyone looking to get “eco-pampered” with a massage in the sunset should probably go to Quepos instead.

Costa Rica is a beautiful country that has so much to offer to different types of travelers. Don’t get discouraged just because your neighbor told you it is getting touristy. There are still real gems to find in Costa Rica.

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Also: Check out the story + gallery (below) of Gadling blogger Jerry Guo catching bats in Costa Rica.

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It takes $60-80 to tango in Argentina

by Iva Skoch on

Argentina is seeing a comeback of tango, according to the International Herald Tribune. The so-called tango economy is growing 25 percent a year, which experts attribute to the jump in tourism to Argentina after a deep economic slowdown in 2002. Because the peso currency plummeted, travel to Argentina suddenly became cheap.

When tourists visit Buenos Aires, they want to see tango. That is the “it” thing to do. The easiest way to do this is by booking a diner table at one of the dinner theaters, such as Esquina Carlos Gardel, and eat steak while watching tango. Most such shows go for $60-80, making the tango business a $450 million a year industry. Industry of primarily observers and dinner-eaters, not dancers, that is.

I guess you’ll have to bring all that passion back to the hotel room if they won’t let you butcher the dance on the floor.