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

Is The Local Team Wearing Red?

by Brett Atkinson on

I dabble in a bit of sports writing in New Zealand, so when I’m on the road I try and get along to a local sports event. It’s a great way to get a feel for a place.

Here’s my top five suggestions for on the road sports experiences.

  1. Watching Boca Juniors in the cauldron of Buenos Aire’s La Bombonera soccer stadium
  2. Chowing down on hot dogs at a Yankees vs Red Sox game in the Bronx (and sorry New Yorkers, but the standard of food available was the worst I’ve seen at any sports event in the world)
  3. Discovering the joys of Australian Rules Football at Melbourne’s cavernous Melbourne Cricket Ground.
  4. Feeling every punch and sharp elbow watching Muay Thai (kick boxing) at Lumphini Stadium in Bangkok (with just maybe the best food)
  5. A day at the races (above) in the Sri Lankan hill town of Nuwara Eliya. I never did work out how you could place a bet on the horses, but the chill-laced snacks went great with a local Lion beer.

Click here for my article on the sleepy Sri Lankan town that’s surrounded by tea plantations.

Where else have readers sat in the bleachers drinking beer and cheering on the local team?

Thanks to PhantomMenace on Flickr for the pic.

Luxury Travel Extends Into the Amazon

by Catherine Bodry on

Which of these items doesn’t belong in the Amazon rain forest: an anaconda, a piranha, a giant spider… or a masseuse?

That was a trick question; they all belong, even the masseuse, since at least a dozen new resorts have sprouted up in the Amazon.

Larry Rohter of the New York Times visited several new hotels in the heart of the jungle. One is right on the river, another up in trees, but all are built with the comfort wealthier travelers have come to expect. While Rohter claims most of the lodges aren’t “luxurious” (you might not be able to run the air conditioner and the shower at the same time), they are far cry from a $3-a-night hammock hanging over a dirt floor.

Read is his captivating report here.

Top 10 “Worst Polluted Places” of 2007

by Justin Glow on

The Blacksmith Institute yesterday released a new list of the “Worst Polluted Places” in the world. This year the places spread out over 7 countries and effect over 12-million people. In Vapi, India, for instance, “Local produce has been found to contain up to 60 times more heavy metals (copper, chromium, cadmium, zinc, nickel, lead, iron) than non-contaminated produce in control groups,” according to the Blacksmith Institute. Appetizing. Here’s a list of the top 10 sites, along with a map containing the “dirty thirty.”

  • Sumgayit, Azerbaijan
  • Linfen, China
  • Tianying, China
  • Sukinda, India
  • Vapi, India
  • La Oroya, Peru
  • Dzerzhinsk, Russia
  • Norilsk, Russia
  • Chernobyl, Ukraine
  • Kabwe, Zambia.


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Slums Are Home to Almost One Billion People

by Iva Skoch on

I spent some time in London this week. The city has a special place in my heart and that’s not only because the Tate Modern gallery is located there. Although it’s a big part of it. This power-plant-turned museum can–perhaps like no other modern art museum–truly catch the Zeitgeist.

Fortunately, I was able to catch the very last day of the Global Cities exhibit; a fascinating expose of the changing faces of ten global cities: Cairo, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, Sao Paolo, Shanghai and Tokyo. It explores how each of them deal with its size, diversity, density, form and speed of growth.

Interesting stats:

  • In 2007, for the first time in history, one out of every two people in the world will be living in a city
  • One of of three city dwellers (almost one billion) currently live in slums
  • Cities produce 75 percent of the world’s carbon emissions
  • London is the world’s 360th fastest growing city, adding only 2.3 residents an hour
  • Shanghai is the 8th fastest growing city in the world, adding 29.4 new residents each hour
  • 66 percent of the population of Sao Paolo is under 20 years old
  • Cairo’s residential density is 36,500/km2, nine times more than London’s
  • Tokyo is the largest urban region in the world with 34 millions people, 80% of which use public transportation daily (comparing with 10% of LA residents)

Fascinating!

Geek Cruises

by Jamie Rhein on

If one has to be a geek to go on a Geek Cruise, then call me a geek. Looking over the itinerary choices of this company reminds me of looking through the course offerings of a community adult ed program–self improve while having fun.

The idea is that while you are enjoying the perks of cruise ship life in the Caribbean, the Panama Canal or the Eastern Mediterranean, you can feed your passions. That is if your passions include subjects like Shakespeare, digital photography, or chess. The folks who offer the workshops know their stuff. For example, Shakespeare at Sea is an Oregon Shakespeare Festival venture that includes a combination of lectures, performances and films. This year’s cruise that sets sail in November is sold out, but from the Web site info, it seems like it will repeat next year.

Each cruise gives you plenty of time to hobnob with the experts before and after sessions to further brush up on your know how. Except for the Shakespeare cruise, the others have room, but some are almost booked. I almost started to salivate when I saw the Bright Horizons cruise. Botany, cosmology and cognitive psychology are only part of the offerings. Yep, I’m a geek. The early bird discount, $100 off, is still available.

Here’s an interview with Leo Laporte who has taken several Geek Cruises. One of the things he likes about them is that they are a great way to take a multi-generational vacation. He’s taken his mom and his son on the same cruise and sees that it’s a terrific way to bond while learning something. As he says, he doesn’t like to sit around and let his “mind go to pot.”

The photo by DexStory was taken on a Geek Cruise that included Belize.

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