Our South America Tour

Brazil:
  Rio de Janeiro
  Olinda
  Amazon
  Foc do Iguacu
 Uruguay:
  Montevideo
  Colonia del Sacramento
 Argentina:
  Buenos Aires
  Salta
  Altoplano
  Peninsula Valdes
  Cruce de Lagos
 Chile:
  Santiago

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Rio de Janeiro

View of Sugarloaf from Corcovado during the one morning that the clouds lifted enough to see anything!
The girl from Ipanema (my aunt Joye).
Fishing boats in harbor near city center.
Cool sidewalk mosaics of Ipanema. The famous statue atop Corcovado.
Colorful lichens atop Corcovado. Lush coastal rainforest on slopes of Corcovado.

Olinda

View toward Recife.
Olinda is a beautiful but sadly underdeveloped old colonial town.
Brazil continually surprised and delighted us with its colorful and exotic cuisine.

Amazon

Square near the famous opera house in Manaus. There is little to recommend in Manaus.
Giant lily pads along a stretch of highway.
Typical little town along a little river in the heart of the Amazon.
One of the little boats our guides used to ferry us around the jungle near the ecolodge -- safety was clearly not a major consideration!
The ecolodge. A bit rough around the edges, but we didn't expect much in the middle of the jungle!
The ecolodge in the evening. The stars and the night sounds were breathtaking after they turned off the generator.
A typical lazy hazy afternoon siesta. Temperatures reached 100 to 105 degrees in the shade. A crystal clear breathless morning on the lake.
Late afternoon out bird-watching on the river. Speeding back at sunset after playing with the dolphins at the confluence.
Palms made up some 40% of the trees in this part of the jungle.
These epiphytes were a common sight in the canopy and on mossy palm trunks like this. Graceful buttresses of a young tree.
Cute little frog hiding in the leaves.
Semi-poisonous coral snake found prowling about the ecolodge during siesta.
Our fearless guide, Rildo, wasn't joking about catching a caiman for us!
Thatched hut of some natives living nearby.
Mending holes piranhas have torn in their fishing nets. Mother and son, swapping family stories with us while our guide translated.
Canoes at the lodge, filled during afternoon and evening thunderstorms.
The wake of our canoe.

Foc do Iguacu

Various views of the world famous falls from the Brazillian side. Hard to believe the falls were only at 10% capacity!
My aunt and me.
Just a few of the many flowers: This one is clearly an <i>Oxalis</i>.
I've got no idea what this is.
This looks related to the <i>Penstemon</i>. An exquisite <i>Coprinus</i> in the early morning.
And a few lichens: two <i>Ramalina</i> and perhaps a <i>Teloschistes</i>.
An inquisitive toucan we met in the aviary.
This cute lizard was everywhere.
Coatimundi on the grounds of the Hotel Tropical. Praying mantis lurking on the bell-hop's trolly.
The Hotel Tropical das Cataratas at night.
Graffiti, such as this graphic one I found in the city of Foc do Iguacu, doesn't seem to represent the prevailing opinion of the people. We, despite being obvious, undisguisable American tourists, have felt welcome everywhere we've travelled throughout the world, not just in South America. (Incidentally, what exactly is the artist trying to say here, anyway?!)

Montevideo

Random building in the center of town. Out for a walk at twilight on the waterfront.
George's uncles, Jimmy and Gordon, joined us here for a week. Jimmy and Gordon heading out for dinner with Joye.

Colonia del Sacramento

Colonia is a beautiful quiet little colonial town along the coast of Uruguay across the water from Buenos Aires.
George and uncle Jimmy.
Pigeons living in the walls of the old lighthouse.

Buenos Aires

Joye taking a picture of the Casa Rosada.
Joye and Gordon along Av. 9 de Julio. Exquisite wrought iron and stonework is found everywhere.
The Obelisk: the ubiquitous symbol of Buenos Aires.
Some beautiful church somewhere or another.
Various random "artistic" shots of the extremely photogenic city.
Line A of the subway still runs these picturesque old wooden cars.
A bunch of wacky hearts crowding a square in the middle of the city, made recently by local artists in celebration of something or other.
Mother and daughter feeding the pigeons in Congress Square. Kids playing on a street grate.
Toing -- what more do I need to say?

Salta

Courtyard of an old monastery near the center of town.
Various shots of a photogenic church on the main square

Altoplano

View of ruins at Tastil.
Spectacular mountain scenery from near Abra el Acay.
Abra el Acay: at 16060 feet, reputedly the highest pass in South America.
Descending from the altoplano on the way back to Salta from Cachi.
Bridge along the route of the Tren a las Nubes in Canyon del Cobre. Some yellow cactus.
Vicunas near Abra el Acay.
Funky alpine flower.
Some sort of lily.
Looks like a <i>Centaurea</i>.
Church bells in Cachi.
Inside a tiny mountain store on the way to San Antonia del Cobre.
Selection of pottery shards in the ruins of Tastil.

Peninsula Valdes

Cliffs of Puerto Piramides at sunset.
Lighthouse in southeast corner of Peninsula Valdes.
Several shots of southern right whales, seen up close and personal from a Moby Dick tour.
Colony of Megellanic pinguins at the estancia.
Joye with our guide Jorge Barrionuevo.
Signs outside the restrooms in the estancia.
Seals snoozing at low tide.
Sealion pup.
Sealions playing.
Burrowing owl. The rabbit-like rodent called a mara.
Sheep at the estancia.
Baby guanaco rescued by the estancia.
Random pretty pictures in and around Puerto Piramides.
Looks like a <i>Grindelia</i>.
Some sort of bushy pea.
Beats the hell out of me.

Cruce de Lagos

View from San Carlos de Bariloche.
A lake on the Chilean side.
The craggy Cerro Tronador near the border, 11453 feet.
Another lake on the Chilean side.
Nutro trees blooming on the hillside.
Southern beach forests of the temperate rain forest.
Leaves of an <i>Araucaria</i> tree.
Cascades at the foot of the extremely photogenic volcano Osorno on the Chilean side, 8701 feet.
A young nutro in bloom. Full moon rising over Osorno, seen from Puero Varas.

Santago

Panorama from top of some hill. Doesn't this look like the San Gabriel Valley?
Inside of the fish market. I thought this was worthy of Soviet-style communist monuments!
South Americans sure seem to like Fidel (and Morales).
Celebrating surviving five weeks together.
Collage of coins from five countries.


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