Category Archives: Brazil

Iguazu Falls: 22 photos that will make you want to go right now (and bonus travel tips)

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What sets Iguazu apart from Niagara and Victoria: the spectacular setting
What sets Iguazu apart from Niagara and Victoria: the spectacular setting

Iguazu (or Iguacu in Portuguese) is often mentioned in the same breath as Niagara and Victoria when the world’s greatest waterfalls are discussed. I’ve been to all three, and Iguazu is the most beautiful. Niagara is too developed and the Batoka Gorge that the Zambezi River carves out at Victoria is so deep and narrow that when the water is flowing near peak rates there is so much mist that the only way to get a good view of the falls is via helicopter. Iguazu is comprised of some 275 or so (the number fluctuates by season) waterfalls set in a dramatic, lush jungle setting. You may have seen it in the Roger Moore Bond Film Moonraker or a certain, awful Indiana Jones film we will pretend was never made.

 

TRAVEL TIP #1: BRAZILIAN VISAS CAN BE OBTAINED QUICKLY IN IGUAZU

Iguazu is a great place to obtain a visa for Brazil, if needed. I’ve heard of turnaround times of as fast as the same day if you go early in the morning and leave your passport. I discuss Brazilian visas here in my post about Carnival. But typical turnaround times for visa approval are as follows: Tokyo Brazilian Consulate : 2~3 weeks, New York Brazilian Consulate: 1~2 weeks, Buenos Aires Brazilian Consulate: 2 days, Iguazu: 1 day. So if you have left home without one, are required to have a visa, and want to go to Brazil, don’t despair.

TRAVEL TIP #2: FLY FROM BUENOS AIRES DOMESTIC AIRPORT IN UNDER TWO HOURS (AND OFTEN UNDER TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS)

Ezeiza, Buenos Aires’ international airport is a big pain to get to, especially with traffic. Fortunately, there is a domestic airport right on the banks of the Rio de la Plata, code BUE (not EZE). Make sure you are looking up flights from there if you are going via Argentina and save yourself a lot of hassle, money and time. A quick glance of flights this month shows daily, nonstop options starting at $150 US. You can definitely tack this trip onto a 3-day weekend in Buenos Aires, or explore several short trip options from the capital city here and here.

Read my personal travel story from Iguazu here and see some of the interesting birds and wildlife here

Without further ado…

 

 

 

 

Top 10 Travel Stories #10: The Amazon (Or, “Why you should go to the Pantanal instead”)

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Think you're up for an Amazon adventure? Children swim in the Urubu Tributary
Think you’re up for an Amazon adventure? Children swim in the Urubu Tributary

Last night I had the occasion to meet a friend I had come to know through Instagram thanks to our mutual love for travel and photography. This friend asked me to tell my “Top 5 travel stories,” which, along with requests for my “Top five (or ten) travel destinations,” is one of the most common questions I get asked. I am sure many of you have been asked something similar in your experiences; these aren’t easy questions to answer. Nonetheless, I will give it a shot in a series of my top ten travel stories to date.

 

One story that I get asked to repeat a lot, however, is my story about my time in the heart of the Amazon in Brazil. The subtitle for this story is really “Why you shouldn’t go to the Amazon and go to the Pantanal instead.” And my story, I feel, makes a compelling case for this argument, but it’s a little long so you’ll have to bear with me!

A brightly-colored spider seems to warn predators to stay away. Amazonian wildlife watching tends to consist of looking under leaves and rotten logs.
A brightly-colored spider seems to warn predators to stay away. Amazonian wildlife watching tends to consist of looking under leaves and rotten logs.

 

The Amazon, easily the world’s most famous rainforest, conjures images of adventure, romance, and danger, as well as visions of wild animals such as pink dolphins, jaguars, piranhas, and monkeys. The reality of the place is far different from the romanticized narratives we may have floating in our heads. The Pantanal, the world’s biggest swamp land (nearly the size of France), with its more open expanses and waterways, is the place to go to view “jungle wildlife.” The Amazon at its heart is a complex biosphere of intermingled life, extremely difficult to unlock and unravel during a short visit. Most of the wildlife you see here is the micro kind: wedged into rotten tree bark and under wet leaves; you only see the larger animals at great distances: in the canopy 200 feet above you or on the riverbank across from you. And the conditions are nearly unbearable at times.

Continue reading Top 10 Travel Stories #10: The Amazon (Or, “Why you should go to the Pantanal instead”) →

People I’ve Met on my Travels Episode 1: Florianopolis

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The magic of travel is in the people you meet
The magic of travel is in the people you meet

Over the years, I have been so fortunate to meet so many amazing people on my travels. This has been the greatest gift of travel for me, and I think about my times with these wonderful people all the time. From time to time, I’d like to share some of these tales with you.

It was December of 2012. I was in Florianopolis in the south of Brazil. We were on the deck of a beach house at Santinho. The moon and the stars were out and it was a bright night–so bright we could see the whitecaps of the waves breaking on the beach. I had a drum between my legs, and recalling my high school concert band experience and my mother’s tutelage from when I was a child (she went to Jiulliard back in the day), I was focused on getting the rhythm right. My beautiful friends’ father looked at me and said in Portuguese, which his daughters translated for me: “No, with more feeling!” In a moment that was straight out of a cheesy movie a shooting star swept across the southern skies and soon we were saying our good-byes, and I had more than a little bit of moisture in my eyes.

Continue reading People I’ve Met on my Travels Episode 1: Florianopolis →