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Gulliver's Travels  08/29/2022

8/29/2022

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Dale Sievert (Gulliver)

​Argentina and Brazil 
​Part 3

February-March 2022

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                              Brazil
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   The last part of my trip was spent in the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba and along the Atlantic coast near the city of Florianopolis.  Curitiba is the hometown of my new traveling companion.  Florianopolis is a large city near Uruguay that would be an ideal place to spend the winter should I ever do as so many others of our age do--in Florida or Arizona.  I spent several days in a nice two-bedroom apartment with a large kitchen/living room, two blocks off the Atlantic coast beach for $30 a night.  There were plenty of nearby shops and restaurants, where meals cost only 35-40% of our prices.  The beach surroundings were some of the best I've ever seen, with many forested hills everywhere.  There are plenty of things to do, and it is safe and clean.  A huge bonus: being it is their summer, it is light until very late at night.  So, if I ever get old and need to escape the cold and snow, that's where I'm going.


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Museum of Oscar Niemeyer, architect of Brasilia--Curitiba
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Niemeyer Museum
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The Botanical Garden of Curitiba
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Squeezing juice out of sugar cane at a street stall
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Flowers of the tree named Handroanthus serratifolius, commonly known as Ipe.
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A government building in Curitiba
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On the tourist train Serra Verde Express to Moretas
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In the town of Moretas on the Atlantic coast
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In Moretas
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Shops in Moretas
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Hotels on the beach near the city of Florianopolis
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Vacation home of my friend's sister on the Atlantic coast
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​Epilogue


   My month-long trip to Brazil and Argentina was quite unexpected when I walked into a restaurant/dance hall in Lafayette, Louisiana last December 30th.  All it took was for me to ask a woman to dance who hailed from
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Curitiba, Brazil.  Next, we will be taking a five-week trip in October and November to Nashville, the Great Smokies, and Lafayette--followed by tours of ten national parks from Texas up to Yellowstone, followed by the Black Hills and the Badlands. 
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  Next up in Gulliver's Travels will be my April trip to Paris and western France.

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Gulliver's Travels  08/08/2022

8/8/2022

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Dale Sievert (Gulliver)

​Argentina and Brazil 
​Part 2

February-March 2022

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Part 2 - Iguazu Falls--Border of Argentina and Brazil

   Perhaps the greatest waterfalls in the world is Iguazu Falls (Spanish in Argentina), or Iguacu Falls (Portuguese in Brazil).  The Guarani indigenous group call it Iguazu, meaning great river.  The Rio Iguazu (the Argentinian name)  forms the border of Argentina and Brazil.  The falls is not the tallest, the most voluminous, or the most of anything else.  It is just so overwhelming in its entirety.  People generally take two days to visit it, as it is so spread out.  It is nearly two miles long when one adds up all its courses and channels.  It has 275 separate falls, the tallest being 270 feet high.  Many walkways allow visitors to walk above the river, especially on the Argentinian side.
   This was my second visit to the falls, the first being in February 2003 following my trip to Antarctica.  The water level was lower this time, but the falls were still spectacular.

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PictureA map of the falls, with Argentina on the right and Brazil on the left

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Looking north upriver, with Argentina on the right and Brazil on the left
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The Argentinian falls
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Walkways over the water
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Garganta del Diablo, or Mouth of the Devil, is 2300 feet long, 490 feet wide, and 270 feet high
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Looking north to the beginning of the falls
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The heart of Garganta del Diablo
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Walking on the Argentinian side
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Up close on the Argentinian side

Epilogue

   If you wish to see an amazing waterfall, visit Niagara Falls.  If you wish to see a waterfall that is ineffable, visit Iguazu Falls.  No words of praise can do it justice.  It reminds me of the old Japanese saying, "Don't say something is beautiful until you've seen Nikko Temple."  That means that a high percentage of Japanese people would say Nikko Temple is the most beautiful place in Japan.  A person who did not visit Nikko Temple but who saw another fantastic place might describe it as beautiful--but only out of ignorance.  I saw Nikko Temple, so I know what the Japanese man of olden times meant.
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   Next up: Part 3 of Argentina and Brazil, which covers the city of Curitiba plus the Atlantic coast area near the city of Florianapolis.

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