Cidade Maravilhosa; World’s Ugliest Building Competition; Facades and Canonballs

 Cidade Maravilhosa means the Marvelous City for those who are not fluent in Portuguese as I have had to quickly become. I had thought Portuguese would be a slight variation, a mere dialect if you will, of Espanol but it actually seems quite different. After having mastered the 15 or 20 words that seem to make up the  core of Castellian Spanish, I am utterly flummoxed and frustrated by having to learn a new language in just a few days notwithstanding my innate language skills honed since I almost mastered French in high school.. So far I have almost gotten down “obrigado” (thank you) but one word can only take you so far especially if you mispronounce it. 

In any case, my visit to the Marvelous City (Rio) got off to a bit of an inauspicious start as my first sights on leaving the airport were a bonfire of old tires, chemical plants and )sadly) many shanty towns or slums all accompanied by a malodorous wafting smell.  Well to be fair, the airport is in an industrial district in Rio and  few of those anywhere are attractive.  

I took a walking tour of downtown Rio after arrivals.  I learned quite a bit about the history of this modern city of 13 million.  It was really put on the map by the discovery of gold some miles inland in the 1700s and was the chief port for shipments to Portugal. Also it was the first city in the New World visited by a European monarch when the king of Portugal relocated the Portuguese crown to Brazil during the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800a. 

The downtown has these trees with pretty flowers that have this fruit or rather protection called cannonballs which aren’t good if they fall and hit you on the noggin

Rio protects it’s old buildings by forbidding changes to the facades which in the city they take quite literally as sometimes there is nothing but the facade-

Maybe not quite the spirit of the law. The tour guide stated that the city had some buildings that had been voted amongst the ugliest in the world-

The tour stopped at a famous and very elegant cafe founded in the 1890s and still popular-

I did take the train to the top of the mountain where there is the famous Christ the Redeemer statue. It is is indeed an awesome sight and the view from the top of the city justifies its name as the Ciduad Marvilhosa even if the weather did not yield the best pictures 

Rapa Nui Finis

I finished up my very enjoyable stay in Rapa Nui buying some trinkets and baubles (ie genuine almost life sized Moais),for a favored few (airplane rules limit how many tons of Maois you can carry on) and had a nice dinner overlooking a solitary Moai and the vast Pacific-

As I might have mentioned, the seafood is excellent in Ranga Noa but it is a bit of trek. Perhaps the best seafood in the world as I believe I heard they invented fishing. 

I then flew to Rio de Janeiro with a night stop over in Santiago, a mere 10 hours of flying as a metaphorical sardine. Interestingly, while I have generally found Chileans quite friendly and helpful, as well as fairly efficient in most things- e.g. the tours in San Pedro de Atacama were incredibly well organized and efficient- their immigration, passport and airport security are perhaps the slowest and most bureaucratic I have encountered in my travels. Besides showing your passport endlessly, they make you fill out different forms at different times. I filled out an immigration card which of course I subsequently lost but nobody but one bored hotel guy ever asked for it. I got stopped on my way to Easter Island at passport control and asked if I had filled out the requisite form online. Of course I had never heard of it. If I hadn’t basically handed her my phone to fill in most of the details (as I say they’re quite friendly and helpful generally), I never would have made my flight. Weird but lovable.  

A few final shots of stunning Rapa Nui 

Horses Everywhere; Ireland in the Pacific

 I rented a bike as my primary means of transportation in Rapa Nui.  My Cabanas is about 1.3 miles from town which should not be much on a bicycletta (bike for those not fluent in Castilian Espanol).  But I didn’t reckon on the hills. It is all downhill to town which would be fine if I had a one way ticket. Tough after dinner and some wine going back  

I cycled around much of the island the other day including a long cycle along the coastal road to a pretty beach with some well preserved Maoi (appropriately facing away from the sea).  It was a great ride

Horses appear everywhere on the road   My guide told me, in between explaining the nuances of Rapa Nui politics, that horses are popular with the younger “cowboy” crowd. And it was easy to a get them cheap but, for those thinking of buying a few, watch out for the shipping

The whole place tended to remind me of a Pacific version of Ireland with all the green grass and coastal cliffs .  But Ireland never got into the Heads or Moais as we in Rapa Nui say. 

I also did a snorkel tour off shore. They say you can see 50+ meters in the water and I will say I have never seen such deep blue water (cobalt) and you could certainly see for many feet. I couldn’t believe the guide dove so deep, at least 80’or so.  I followed him and dove at least a meter, possibly 3.1.  Some pretty blue fish (maybe taking on the color of the water as camouflage) but not a lot of marine !life as I had read.  Maybe just too ‘far out there’ for the fish etc to get to Rap a Nui. A shame no cameras as the view to the island from the boat with all the sheer  cliffs was quite stunning and I couldn’t capture the beautiful color of the ocean.  The landward view reminded  me of the Irish Cliffs of Moher with the 600+’ foot sheer drops  

My bike and hike  to the highest point on the island - another extinct volcano (Maunga Teravaka) that sadly had been downgraded due to recent inactivity yielded some great views of much of the Island tho the cloudy conditions didn’t allow for the best pictures .  It was like hiking through an endless pasture with of course the ubiquitous horses along the way. About 1200’ and 5.5 miles and panoramas of the endless Pacific

 guide said that the pineapple grown on the island was the best in the world and I thought it quite good, though he also said he believed that all world religions originated in Rapa Nui and the Incas learned their skill with stone work from here.  No word on whether the idea for the iPhone originated in Rapa  Nui.

Way out there; Authentic Moais; Wrong Way Moai

 I left Atacama and flew to Easter Island by way of Calama and Santiago.  When I tell people that I am going to Easter Island, they invariably had 2 reactions: “Isn’t that where those heads are?”  And “That’s way out there “ wherever “there” is.  But yes it is way out there being 5 hours by plane from Santiago. I and my 300 fellow passengers felt a little bit like latter day Magellans as we made ourselves comfortable on the Boeing 767 for the unexplored trip into the vast Pacific 

Like everyone, I was anxious to see the Heads (Moai) when I got to Rapa Nui as we natives call it.  And I soon saw some authentic ones.  I didn’t realize they came in so many sizes and materials-

Upon arrival, I signed up for a tour of the most significant Moai sites on the island where they apparently had some large stone replicas of the above. As part of the Rapa Nui full employment act, you must have guide to visit the Moai sites, hike small volcanoes, bike to your hotel or go to the bathroom.  

In any case I did visit some replicas of the genuine Moai I saw at the trinket shop and they were indeed a “wow “-

These replicas are much more impressive in person than on TV or in any picture.  When we visited Tongoriki- the 14 Moais standing on a Ahu (platform for those not fluent in the Rapa Nui language)- I really was awed and felt that I was looking at one of the world’s great sites.  Notice that per Rapa Nui custom they all have their backs to the sea  

We visited the site where 99% of the Moai were mined and carved, though many were transported miles away  This site was great as you could walk quite close to the Moai and even see the last ones lying amidst the rocks waiting to be finished.  

 According to our guide, the last ones were carved around 1790 and the first ones 2000+ years before.  You see the remains of the Moai throughout the island though many hundreds are apparently buried.  

Speaking of my guide, he was very much into Rapa Nui politics and perceived injustices deriving from Chilean rule, which seemed fairly light to this casual observer.  But he felt quite aggrieved and oppressed by the whole thing, notwithstanding the Rapa Nui guide full employment act.  I asked him how many people lived on Rapa Nui and he said “all in, including interloping Chileans seeking work, about 9000.  I felt like I was listening to inside Boxborough, MA politics.  He pointed out the Rapa Nui “Parliament “ building as we assed by which looked like a cross between a run down cafe and a souvenir shop. 

Be that it may, we visited a site where the Moai were facing the sea- 

There’s just one inflexible rule in Rapa Nui as applies to Moai- you have to have your back to the sea!  Different sizes shapes etc, fine.  Just one simple rule- back to the sea.  These 7 Moai bungled it   There’s always some Moai that just don’t get the word.  Communication Moai!

Looking Toward Bolivia; Woozy at 18,400 Ft

One of my tours took me over the Tropic of Capricorn where it in is evidently traditional to take a picture of oneself though obviously I normally resist that

I thought of making some sort of statement by sitting in the road to block traffic but I wasn't sure the buses would take note of me and it was early and I was anxious to get some sleep in the tour van.  

I had been looking at hiking various volcanos around San Pedro de Atacama and eventually settled on Cerro Tocco which is an extinct volcano that apparently has been downgraded to an ordinary mountain, kind of like Pluto being downgraded from p!anet to moon-like status a few years ago.  I guess you need to erupt every 1000 years or so or you lose volcano credentials.

In any event I hired a guide and we went off to be the first ever to climb Cerro Tocco (aka Volcan Tocco to the Incas).  That morning we were the first i believe.  And here is the view from 18,400 ft-

The top is quite  close to Bolivia and this is looking north-

I have never been close to that high and I felt dizzy most of the way up and woozy even after we came down although I had acclimated somewhat with trips to over 4200 meters in the preceding days. They make you wear the helmet though I don't know why-

An astronomy tour that night wrapped up my 5 days in Atacama.  I was frankly pretty exhausted from the constant tours and activities often beginning before dawn and ending late.  Somewhat surprisingly, so much to see and do in Atacama.  While I might prefer alpine scenery overall, the vast desert and towering mountains and volcanos of this stunning landscape are something to behold.

As