From the Bucket List: Brazil, Argentina & Chile: South America Trip - October 2018

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness

Mark Twain

Rememberances and Reflections on our recent trip through South America...


DAY 1, Monday - Depart for Brazil

DAY 2, Tuesday - Arrive in Rio de Janeiro

DAY 3, Wednesday - Rio de Janeiro, Tour of Corcovado Mountain

DAY 4, Thursday - Rio de Janeiro
Today...Visit one of the top Samba schools in the city and learn what made the Samba & Carnival icons of Brazilian national identity....sample the cuisine at some of the fabulous restaurants and cafes ringing the beachfront

Brazil turned out to be the highlight. Rio is gorgeous beyond reputation and sophisticated beyond expectation. Very friendly and polite people who seem to know they've got something truly special going on...

 
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DAY 5, Friday - Fly to Iguassu, Brazilian Falls
…walk along the winding pathways on the Brazilian side of the majestic and awe-inspiring Falls, one of the world's greatest natural wonders. Iguassu consists of over 275 separate cataracts across a span of two and one-half miles, wider than Victoria Falls and higher than Niagara... enjoy a typical Argentine dinner

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Puerto Iguazu, Argentina - Mellow jungle town that overlooks the river confluence where Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina meet. A great place for a wannabe novelist highly influenced by Márquez to set her story...

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Political Mural on the Road - Latin America is full of political street art. This one, encountered on a walk along the Parana River, is particularly powerful and affecting... seems to be devoted to understandings about the struggle between regimes and resistance to them, expressed through the life of Che...

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DAY 7, Sunday - Fly to Buenos Aires
 ...Its beauty is apparent with its elegant architecture, wide tree-shaded boulevards, striking monuments and sprawling parks.... treat yourself to an Argentine beef dinner at one of the city's many superb steak restaurants
DAY 8, Monday - Buenos Aires City Tour
…Plaza de Mayo, Metropolitan Cathedral and Casa Rosada (government palace); see the balcony where Eva and Juan Peron made their speeches. Then, to the colorful La Boca neighborhood, a working class barrio, and the old quarters of San Telmo and Caminito, a mix of colonial style homes, narrow lanes…. Drive to the Recoleta Cemetery, final resting place of many of the wealthiest and most important Argentine historical figures. including the tomb of Eva "Evita" Peron. Tonight…Argentine Dinner and Tango Show

B.A. (as locals call it) is bustling, modern and sophisticated, and very European in style and feel. And the Porteños (port dwellers, natives of this capital city) kind of make you feel like life is mostly about red wine, the local pizza (this place IS Italian to the core), Futbol (Soccer... Go, Boca Juniors!), and TANGO!

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"Caminito ("little walkway" or "little path") is a street museum and a traditional alley, located in La Boca, a neighborhood of Buenos Aires. The place acquired cultural significance because it inspired the music for the famous tango "Caminito" (1926)"

Caminito - Tango - Carlos Gardel

DAY 10, Wednesday - Fly to Santiago
…depart Buenos Aires by flight to Santiago, the energetic capital of Chile.
DAY 11, Thursday - Santiago City Tour
… tour takes you through the colonial neighborhoods of the city that contrast with the modern financial center, known as Sanhattan…  beautiful residences that are part of the Barrio Universitario (University Area). In the historical center visit the lively Plaza de Armas, with its fountains, sculpture and intriguing people-watching opportunities. The tour continues with a drive along the green Parque Forestal with its stunning Fine Arts museum. Continue crossing the bohemian neighborhood of Bellavista and climb up San Cristóbal Hill to a viewpoint, for a magnificent panoramic view of the city with its backdrop of the towering Andes Mountains.

Santiago is modern and beautiful with parks and plants everywhere. Literally nestled  in a valley surrounded by the snow-capped Andes and the Chilean Coast Range.

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DAY 12, Friday - Full Day in Santiago
…tour to the Pacific Coast to visit the picturesque port of Valparaiso, and Viña del Mar known as the Garden City for its pretty parks and flower-lined streets… a traditional Chilean dinner at a local restaurant and bid farewell to your new-found friends and to South America

Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino - A magnificent collection of Pre Columbian Art in the heart of the city... not just from Chile, but from throughout Latin America.

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Museum of Memory and Human Rights

An extraordinary place dedicated to commemorating the victims of human rights violations during the civic-military regime led by Augusto Pinochet between 1973 and 1990... AND to keeping the memory of all such victims of institutionalized, violent oppression worldwide!
 

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DAY 12, Friday -
…tour to the Pacific Coast to
visit the picturesque port of Valparaiso, and Viña del Mar known as the Garden City for its pretty parks and flower-lined streets… a traditional Chilean dinner at a local restaurant and bid farewell to your new-found friends and to South America

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DAY 13, Saturday - Depart Chile

Thanks, Flavio, our most excellent guide through 3 countries - Thanks to the convivial folks we shared this enriching experience with - and Thanks, Gate1 Travel, for a well organized tour!