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

Yale to Hand Back 4000 Artifacts to Machu Picchu

by Iva Skoch on

After years of battling over the thousands of pieces of pottery, jewelry and bones, taken from Machu Picchu 90 years ago, Peru is winning the war. The artifacts were lent to Yale University for 18 months but the university has apparently kept them ever since one of its alumni, U.S. explorer Hiram Bingham, rediscovered Machu Picchu in the Andes in 1911.

Like museums in Greece or Egypt trying to get the United Kingdom and other countries to return their ancient treasures, Peru has been fighting to get back theirs from the US. Since we officially frown on imperialism, why do we drag our feet returning that stuff?

Rate Airlines on Zagat.com: See Results on the “Today” Show

by Iva Skoch on

I don’t know about you but I rely heavily on Zagat restaurant ratings, especially when visiting a new city. Because they use consumer-generated reviews (not food critic-generated ones) I have never found any of their reviews to be completely different than my experience at a particular restaurant. If a restaurant gets a rating of 23 or above, I know it will be good.

Zagat is not stopping at restaurants and hotels reviews, it looks like. They have created an airline survey and are asking passengers to rate “the good, the bad and the ugly” by Sunday, October 7. Results will be revealed live on the Today show in late November.

Air travel has rapidly become the fast food of leisure time. I wonder if any airline gets 23 or above…

Venezuela to Change Time Zone by 30 Minutes

by Catherine Bodry on

In October, Venezuelan clocks will be set at Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) minus 4-1/2 hours, compared to the previous GMT minus four hours. This move by president Hugo Chavez is one of many recently in his drive to achieve a socialist state. The time change, Science and Technology Minister Hector Navarro argues, seeks “a more fair distribution of the sunrise,” which would particularly help poor children who wake up before dawn to go to school. “There have been very rigorous scientific studies that have determined that … the metabolic activity of living beings is synchronized with the sun’s light,” he says. Navarro also suggested that the government will be announcing additional measures to make better use of time. I can’t imagine what might be next… a 26-hour workday?

Good Bye, Cocaine. Hello Coca!

by Iva Skoch on

Bolivia, the world’s third largest cocaine producer, has escaped US drug sanctions because it met the counter-narcotics commitment of eradicating at least 5,000 hectares (12,360 acres) of coca crop. According to Reuters, cocaine seizures were up 17 percent to 11 tonnes in Bolivia from October 2006 to May 2007, while coca leaf seizures increased by 48 percent. However, this could paradoxically be the result of higher production of cocaine.

Last year, the US imposed a “zero cocaine, but not zero coca” policy, allowing coca growers to develop a market for legal coca products. Bolivians believe that coca leaves are healthy. They have chewed them for centuries as a mild stimulant that reduces hunger pangs and altitude sickness.

Seems to me that Bolivians will have a hard time importing legal coca leaves to the US arguing that Americans need to cure their hunger pangs. Hunger is quite possibly the last thing Americans need cured.

However, I was surprised to find that you can buy coca tea in the US on ebay.com. I was even more surprised to find that they mix coca leaves with, of all things, chamomile. “Sleepy time, brought to you by coca.” It is a strange, conflicted world we live in, folks.

What Is Panama Like?

by Iva Skoch on

I am planning a trip to Panama. Not sure why. I don’t know much about the country but I have a free Continental voucher to use up and they fly there directly from New York. That’s a good enough reason for me. Plus, it sounds like a pretty interesting place.

I am sure many of you have been there already. I hear that Panama is trying to brand itself as the new, wilder (and possibly more dangerous) Costa Rica. Any recommendations? Any must sees and must avoids? Are there good diving/rafting opportunities?