A Rainy Sail; End to this South America Chapter

 My last day in Rio and South America ended with a somewhat rainy boat tour around Rio’s harbor and a fog bound Christ the Redeemer visit. On my walk to take the train (2nd time, hoping for clearer views) up to Christ the Redeemer, I past by this pretty view of Sugarloaf Mtn and some of the harbor-

The weather for the boat tour started well enough, but it clouded and then rained some-

And apart from a stress filled taxi ride to the airport where most of the city’s 13 million residents seemed to headed that evening (with a good half dozen vehicles broken down at strategic spots just to make it interesting), that was it for my latest South American adventure.  It encompassed some beautiful, stunning and unique sights, from Northern Patagonia-

To the vineyards and high Andes of Mendoza-

To the Salta region of Northwestern Argentina

To the high road (4200 meters) over the Andes between Argentina and Chile-

To unique San Pedro de Atacama in Northern Chile-

To even more extraordinary Easter Island

And it was on Rapa Nui where I finally found a place that gave me a halo

And finally to what I think is probably the most magnificent natural setting of any city in the world, endlessly colorful Rio-

I also met and enjoyed the company of many people from around the world who were also touring, including, beyond the natives, people from the US, Canada, Britain, France, Ecuador, Columbia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Poland, Netherlands, South Korea, Italy and Slovakia (and maybe one or two others I have forgotten).  The people always add to making the journey special and memorable and it is so heartening to find people everywhere who are willing to go out of their way to help you, particularly natives.      

As some have requested, here are the final results of my uber scientific 'man on the street poll' of people’s view of Javier Mellei, the new Argentina President dedicated to free market principles:

    Young people in Argentina seemed to favor him heavily, particularly young men

    Many said they felt they had to take a chance on a significant change after so many decades of decline, though they didn't trust any politicians or have much faith in them 

    Older people seemed less inclined toward him and were more worried/scared of the change he is bringing

    Women, particularly older women (but some young ones too), did not seem to like him

And a single American women I met who was engaged in post graduate studies blamed him for the poor Argentina economic performance of the past 80 years, notwithstanding the fact he had only been in office a couple of months.    

Thanks for reading.  

Worlds Largest Lilly Pads; Up and Down; Continental Drift; A Day at the Beach Emporium

I took a visit to the Rio Botanical Gardens - a bit of a forested oasis in the middle of Rio- and it had quite a bit of flora (or fauna as I get those mixed up but a lot of vegetation), including the world’s largest lily pads-

And maybe world’s tallest palm trees-

And I guy who deserves an Ivy League university named after him-

One of the iconic activities in Rio is take the cable car to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain, particularly at sunset. You can actually hike half way up and then catch the cable car from there, or so I was told. So I set out to do that allowing myself sufficient time to be sure to get to the top before sunset.  Off I sped in the sweltering heat and was just about 5 minutes from the top when 2 people came down the trail and told me the ticket office there had closed at 5 and so no cable car from this stop. So my only option was to go back down and then get in line with everyone else heading for the sunset view. Good exercise I told myself as my plans to get there before sundown went totally awry.  

Anyway I had always thought that the Christ the Redeemer mountain and Sugarloaf were one and the same. But apparently not or at least not nowadays. It seems they are 2 separate mountains now about 7-8 miles apart. I am thinking that perhaps some movement of tectonic plates or continental drift occurred in the last 20-30 years separating the two peaks.  In any event, I just made the sunset and the view was, well, spectacular -

I spent the next day Ipadema Beach which has now apparently overtaken Copacabana as the marquee beach in Rio.  You need to keep a watch on  your stuff, particularly your cellphone I was told, as thievery is quite common, though in the end I had no issues and did not observe any crime either.  But there were an endless stream of hawkers peddling everything imaginable - clothes, food, drinks, hats, jewelry, Persian rugs, etc.- 

A veritable emporium. I would never fall for one these supposed bargains for something I don’t need, unless, well, it was truly a great deal.  The other odd thing about it is that every one of these hawkers, whether just selling bottled water or trinkets, somehow has a machine for processing Visa cards.  You can pay for virtually anything in Rio including taxis with a credit card.  It is like people on Craigslist in the US taking Visa. Everyone in Rio no matter how poor has a cellphone (stolen or otherwise) and a credit card machine  

The beach settings, whether Copacabana or Ipanema,  were also stunning and deserve their famous reputations in my view.  The water was warm, but the surf was quite powerful and I found myself washed ashore some distance from where I dove in, much to the amusement of a fellow who, at the behest of a friend, was watching over me and my stuff. 

I take Uber everywhere in Rio as it so cheap.  You can go half way across this sprawling and traffic snarled city for $3-7   But the quality of vehicles varies-