South America--Wrap Up 1 Blog 13

Wrap Up, Blog 13

We had a farewell dinner with the Brazilian national drink, the Caipirinha made from rum.  I loved it!   We went around the room sharing what we liked and didn’t like about the trip.  Everyone LOVED it—almost no complaints.  This group was extremely compatible—I don’t think I ever heard a negative word from anyone and other than our  similar ages (64-79) we had diverse backgrounds:

1.    A family of 7 Indians including 1 brother and 4 sisters born and raised in Kenya.  Three were doctors  (I think) and one was a pharmacist

2.    Two couples traveling together originally from New York or New Jersey now living in North Carolina—one a lawyer

3.    Two couples traveling together (one’s son is married to the other’s daughter) from Atlanta and North Carolina.  The husband from North Caroline is like the Pope of the Presbyterian Church (I exaggerate, but he is very high up in the organization).  He and his wife have been to many places in the world such as Haiti helping the people to help themselves.   After he became a minister, he got a degree in economics so that he could understand the impact of economics on Christianity.  He’s a real “mensch”.

4.    Two single women (both previously married) who met to share a room.  One was a delightful retired teacher and administrator from Tucson.  The other was a docent at the Monterey Bay Aquarium;  however, she enjoyed her alcohol too much.

5.    Two single men (one widowed) who had met on a trip sharing a room and became very good friends.  They travel all over the world together.  One is a retired professor of English literature and I enjoyed talking to him. When we went to the bizarre dance show in Montevideo (see Montevideo blog), he was the only who loved it.  I found out why:  his favorite writer is the existentialist Jean Paul Sartre.

6.    A charming couple from Lexington, Kentucky.  He still works for Dean Witter as a financial advisor. His wife was an art docent.  We especially enjoyed their company and spent many of our meals with them.

The entire group was very interesting and interested in everything, well educated, informed, and  mostly liberal—just an outstanding group to travel with to South America.

Our tour guide Roberto was beyond outstanding. His stories were so funny that many times tears were rolling down my cheeks. I would love to go on another tour with him, but his next tours are Macchu Picchu (Dan can’t go because of the altitude) and an around the world tour, which is too much both in time and money. 

A few of his stories: 

 He took a tour group to China in the 70’s just after it opened for tourism to westerners.  He said that every night his group had to change hotels.  They got to one hotel and the desk clerk said, “You’ll have to wait.  We’re making up your room.”  His group sat down in the lobby to wait.  First he saw a door go by, then a toilet.  Evidently they were really making the room! 

He was with another group in Santiago the day Pinochet overthrew Allende.  His group had to get out fast.  He told everyone, “Get your luggage, get down to the lobby now.”   Two women said, “But the brochure says we get a free afternoon today to go shopping.”

Another time he was in Macchu Picchu when terrible flooding occurred.  The hotels were on the verge of collapsing.  The train was unable to run.  His tour was stuck for 3- 4 days and had to wait 12 hours in line to try to get on a helicopter to get out.   Finally an announcement was made that everyone 70 and older would be evacuated.  He told his group, “You’re all 70.  Start walking.”  His group followed orders with the rest of the crowd yelling at them, “you’re not 70!”

Vantage, which does wonderful tours, is big on “Cultural Connections.”   We went to a private home for a wonderful lunch.

We had tango lessons.  We got to milk a cow and saddle a horse.   One of the couples on our tour was robbed (see previous blogs).  When we met for cocktail hour that night, Roberto who always put a positive spin on everything told us about the mugging but said, “Today was a wonderful day! The Oldhams were robbed, but it was a Cultural Connection!”  He is writing a book about his 35 years as a tour guide.  I had a hard time saying goodby to him.  A few of you know about my emotional affair with my European tour guide in the 1970’s, Edwardo.  Edwardo now has a new rival.

I’m in Miami airport waiting for flight to SFO.  I know I called this a wrap-up, but I may write about a few observations.

Rio, Blog 11

Rio Blog 12

Travel days are always exhausting and this was no exception.  We got up at 5:30 and went to bed at midnight.  Iguasu, Brazil has a small airport with only 2 gates.  LAN airlines, which we’ve flown throughout South America, has been very good:  on-time, clean planes, pleasant flight attendants, and they even serve a snack.  Supposedly they are eager to charge for overweight hand luggage so our guide has a system:  we leave our hand luggage outside with the bus driver guarding it, and after we check in, we retrieve it.

When we landed in Rio we went directly to Christ the Redeemer.  We traveled past Favelas, which are the slums of Rio so initially I wasn’t impressed.  However, my first impression quickly changed.  The traffic here is horrific.—the worst I’ve ever seen.   Our bus driver refused to leave us off on the wrong side of the street from Christ, so we had to drive about 20 more minutes just to turn around. 

We took a cog railway up to the top through a beautiful jungle like national park.  The statue is very impressive, and the view is amazing.  We could see both Copacabana and Ipanema beaches as well as a lagoon in the middle of Rio. Wherever you go in Rio, you can see the statue.  Our hotel is at the end of Ipanema, one of the more expensive areas, and our room overlooks the tree- covered mountains with expensive homes going up the sides to the very top, the hotel pool, and the beach.

Rio is a spectacular city.  I never think any city can rival San Francisco for the views, but both Buenos Aires and particularly Rio come close.  Dan thinks they are prettier, but just as some people are extremely loyal to a favorite sports team, I am loyal to my beautiful San Francisco Bay area.

At night we went to a typical Brazilian all you can eat dinner.  The waiters kept coming around with various types of meat and chicken and sliced off small pieces.  The salad buffet must have had 100 or more salads and other small dishes—no exaggeration.  After dinner we went to a Samba show.  I always thought samba was couples dancing.  This was quite different-not at all like Dancing with the Stars.   The entire cast was black (I can’t call them African Americans in Rio) with light to very dark skin and they performed as an ensemble to show the history of Rio.  I particularly liked a dance performed by 5 men.  It’s derived  from tribal combat moves that take amazing agility. It reminded me of the Japanese program where you kick your feet straight up in the air (judo, jujitsu?????0   At the end of the performance, men and women paraded in costumes actually used in Carnival.   It was possible to see why some cost up to $10,000.  Think Beach Blanket Babylon on steroids.

I had heard about Carnival but never understood exactly what it was like.  It is divided into 4 days and is a competition with 3 levels.   There are 3 groups in each level with 3,000-5,000 people per group!!  The third place groups perform the first day; the second the second day, and the first place the last 2 days.  Each group gets 1½ hours to parade with breaks in between groups so the whole show ends around 6 A.M.  We saw the venue where the parade takes place.  It’s about 2-3 city blocks long with bleachers on each side of a not too wide street.  When the winners are announced a few days later, they parade all over again.

We got to sleep in today and left the hotel at 10 to go to Sugarloaf Mountain.  We drove past Copacabana, which are guide says is the tourist area.  No thongs! No string bikinis! Disappointed Dan!  I thought Christ the Redeemer was amazing, but I liked Sugarloaf even more.  We rode up in  a tram stopping at a lower level before going to the top.  At the first level, adorable marmosets were playing in the trees.  Unfortunately it has been raining today off and on and it rained at the very top.  We could see still see the view, and it’s a warm rain. 

At Copacabana Beach we stopped for coconut water. The coconut with a smooth, green skin had a small hole cut into it.  Dan and I shared one drinking out of 2 straws.  No one really liked it, but we told our guide that it was refreshing.  I walked across the beach to the water, a wonderful warm temperature.

We toured Stern Jewelers. The chain is ubiquitous throughout Brazil where it began. It also has branches throughout the world. The tour is very orchestrated.  We got tags to wear while we were in the store that is on many levels.  With earphones as our guide, we listened to the history of the business, and watched how gemstones are polished, cut and mounted.  When we were done, I felt as if I was being sold a car. A line of employees was waiting for us.  Each couple was guided to a table, offered drinks while the employee showed us stones. At the end, our guide asked us which was our favorite stone and then brought out rings to show us in that stone.  They were about $6000-$8000 for small stones in underwhelming settings.  I expected good prices in Brazil, but they were ridiculous.  I found some beautiful topaz earrings at Stern’s competitor, Amsterdam Jewelers.  They were $2600, which I think is high for topaz.  I am too used to San Francisco gift show prices.

Dan and I had lunch in the downtown Ipanema area, which is Rio’s version of Rodeo Drive.  We walked around the streets with shops and down to the beach, lined with beautiful condos.  All the buildings are heavily gated and have armed guards in bullet proof vests yet this is supposed to be a safe area!

The local grocery stores hang foil covered ginnormous Easter eggs from the ceiling this time of the year.  They range in price from $9-$20.   People had carts full of them.  I bought some small wrapped chocolates.  One of the surprises of this trip has been the cost of items even in the local stores.  And……there are very few street vendors selling tee shirts and chatzkes.   By the way we have seen almost no homeless people anywhere.

This AM I went swimming in a crystal clear pool overlooking the beach.  The water temp was perfect.  While I was doing my dog paddle, a woman asked if I would like to join her in a water aerobics class.  She lives in a condo near the hotel and swims in the Sheraton pool every day.  We had a young woman as teacher.  As we went through our moves, we had a delightful cultural connection.  The beach is just beyond the pool—I enjoyed it even more than Hawaii. 

This afternoon we went to the old colonial part of Rio—very interesting but we were all too tired.  We stopped at a gigantic church built in 1967.  It was ultra modern made of concrete, but it had beautiful stained glass.  We wished we could have had more time to explore but it was on to the airport.

I could have spent a lot more time in Rio—one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  A string bikini, the national rum drink, my tango teacher, the beautiful ocean--what more could I want!!!

Iguasu Falls, Blog 11

Iguasu Falls, Blog 10

WOW!   I would fly to Brazil just to see Igasu Falls.  We got off the plane and went directly to see the falls on the Argentinian side.  The bus ride was delightful as we passed through swarms of delicate butterflies on the way. It was as if they were guiding our path.

Iguasu Falls have been described as “Niagra on Viagra.”  Although Niagra and Victoria Falls have more water (which I can’t believe!) they are the widest falls in the world at about 2 miles wide.  The walk along the trail was one “ooh, ahh” after another.  Evidently this is a spectacular year because the falls have more water than usual.  In some spots we were at the top of the falls adjacent to the swift flowing rivers going over the sides: at the same time we were able to see other falls each with a rainbow across the river.  We then had the option to walk along the bottom of the falls, a whole different view.  At one point we were right in front of the falls and received a good soaking.

The buffet dinner at the hotel, which is on the Brazilian side, was the best of the trip.  Since I haven’t been enjoying the food, I pigged out.  Are 5 desserts really too much?

Today we toured the falls on the Brazilian side, which is even more spectacular.  It was a panorama of fast flowing water as far as we could see.  As we walked along, there were more and more falls.  The highlight of the day was taking a ride through the jungle to the river where we boarded raft-like boats.  Our guide had told us we would get wet.  It was an understatement.  I wore a bathing suit and a plastic covering and got completely soaked.  At motor- boat speed, we went down the river and sailed under the falls about 4 times. 

The hotel has a jungle like park behind it.  While Dan napped, I went for a walk.  At first it was a bit spooky with a narrow path, tall dark green trees, and no one else insight.  Then I came upon a tent with a massage table.  I knew I was in civilization!  A little further on, was a large area of sunny gardens growing all kinds of fruits and veggie.  In the very back I found an ecological center where animals are being raised to be put in the wild.  I saw emu, toucons, loros, small monkeys (starting with an “m”—can’[t remember)  peacocks, and ostriches.  I spoke with a man who was feeding the birds.  He took out a loro and placed it on my arm, crawled around my back, tried to eat my hat.  Fun!

Buenos Aires, Blog 10

Buenos Aires 2, Blog 9

As an optional tour we went to El Tigre where there is one of the largest deltas in the world.  When the explorers first arrived they thought that the jaguars they saw were tigres—hence the name.  On the way, we stopped at another beautiful colonial town San Isidro with lovely large homes many painted pink.  Because of the humidity the early settlers mixed animal blood, tallow, and ? to paint the houses because the combination withstood the humidity.

When I think of Buenos Aires and the colonial towns, I’m most impressed by all the very tall, very beautiful trees.  They remind me of my hometown of Sacramento although in Argentina they are much taller, more diverse, and probably older.

We boarded a small boat to see the Delta.  There are many English influences in the architecture and life style; rowing clubs are popular along with polo.    People live in houses (quite nice!) built on stilts in the islands of the delta, and like Venice the only way to get to school, get medical care, deal with garbage, buy groceries is by boat.  We saw a floating grocery store.   If a homeowner needs groceries, he puts out a flag.  It was an interesting, enjoyable trip but I was hoping to see wildlife—only dogs and a very few birds.

A another lady and I spent an hour at the beautiful hotel pool, and then……we all went to tango!    What fun!  We had our lessons in the oldest tango venue in B.A.  Viejo Almacen  (meaning old store)  founded in  1798.  It was formerly the first location of the British Hospital of  B.A. and where a doctor first used ether in surgery in 1844.. It was a fairly small, intimate room with lots of dark wood, a balcony, a small stage, and small round tables.  We enjoyed a glass of champagne before our lesson taught by two very handsome young people. 

We went across the street for dinner.  The wine flowed and the woman sitting next to me got really drunk.   Emily is a single lady—probably in her late 70’s.   She and her roommate Dorothy just met on this trip for the purpose of sharing a room.  Dorothy later told me that Emily had 6 glasses of wine before dinner.  Emily was staggering around while our guide and Dorothy tried to hold her up. 

The tango show was very authentic showing the development of tango from slow and sensual to fast and passionate.  The dancers, the singer and the 5 musicians (bass, piano, violin, accordion, and concertina) were excellent.

The next day we toured one of the wealthiest sections of B.A. with the wonderful Palermo Park with a lake, rose garden, and  the ubiquitous trees and birds.  As it was Sunday, the park was filled with the locals.  The people of all the countries we’ve visited in South America love to exercise.  We saw 3-4 organized exercise groups with people doing yoga and tai chi in addition to people jogging and biking. Each city has also had “adult” playground equipment for exercising.

 We went on to see the Evita museum in a beautiful old building.  It was fascinating to see old movies of her and hear her life story.  About 10 of her dresses and many hats were on display.   She certainly had style!  Sixty years after her death she is still a controversial figure.

We then had a “coffee break” in a bookstore—but so much more than a bookstore.  It was originally a theater and the interior still has the stage, which is now the coffee shop.

Our final stop on the tour was the Recoleta Cemetery where Evita and her family but not Peron are buried.  It is the most amazing cemetery I have ever seen with rows and rows of monuments to the dead each more ornate than the next with stained glass, iron work, marble statues, even a bronze dog. 

 Afterwards Dan and I stayed in the area to visit a crafts fair.  We both loved a painting so much that we bought it.  Here we are in Argentina buying a painting by a Peruvian artist showing a group of Bolivian men!  You have to understand  at home we have a stack of paintings in the garage because we have no place to hang them.

It was a beautiful day and we had lunch outside on a terrace overlooking a park.  The Museo de Bellas Artes, BA’s primary fine art museum is free and since it was close, we decided to visit. (I’m also a museum junkie).  It included a surprising collection of Impressionists and sculptures by Rodin in addition to South American artists and Renaissance painters.  Actually my favorite room had a grouping of art by 19^th century  Italian artists calledI Macchiaioli.  I had never heard of them but really like their paintings.  They painted outside with loose strokes and were forerunners of the French Impressionists.  Look them up if interested.

That night at a cocktail and appetizer hour we found out that one of our friends on the tour had been robbed a block from the hotel, which is in a nice area.  They were walking along when they were suddenly covered with bird droppings.  A couple in a car stopped to “help” them by stealing the man’s wallet.  Fortunately he had only about $50 in it and quickly cancelled his credit cards, which the thieves—a man and a woman-- had already used by the time he got through to American Express.

Buenos Aires has an area very much like Times Square in New York.  Our guide said that BA actually has MORE theater venues than New York.  We went to a show called Extravaganza!  As we entered the lobby, we were greeted by 2 men in drag—later part of the show.  Usherettes in 50’s outfits with flashlights showed us to our seats in a very large, old -fashioned auditorium.  Men went up and down the aisles shouting in Spanish, “Peanuts, popcorn, drinks.”

The show was a kind of second (third?) rate version of Cirque du Soleil’s “O” in Las Vegas.  It had people diving into the water, but it was just a tank at the bottom of the stage.  The various acrobatic routines were quite good, but unfortunately a large part of the show was dependent on understanding the Spanish. There are 3 of us on this tour who are fairly fluent; not one of us could understand what was being said.  Our guide, who is a native Spanish speaker, had a hard time, too.  Evidently the lead in the show is a big star and has his own TV show.  It actually was a fun experience.