Dale Sievert (Gulliver)

​Argentina and Brazil  ​Part 3 February-March 2022

                              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.

Museum of Oscar Niemeyer, architect of Brasilia--Curitiba

Niemeyer Museum

The Botanical Garden of Curitiba

Squeezing juice out of sugar cane at a street stall

Flowers of the tree named Handroanthus serratifolius, commonly known as Ipe.

A government building in Curitiba

On the tourist train Serra Verde Express to Moretas

In the town of Moretas on the Atlantic coast

In Moretas

Shops in Moretas

Hotels on the beach near the city of Florianopolis

Vacation home of my friend's sister on the Atlantic coast

​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
​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.

Dale Sievert (Gulliver)

​Argentina and Brazil  ​Part 2 February-March 2022

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

Looking north upriver, with Argentina on the right and Brazil on the left

The Argentinian falls

Walkways over the water

Garganta del Diablo, or Mouth of the Devil, is 2300 feet long, 490 feet wide, and 270 feet high

Looking north to the beginning of the falls

The heart of Garganta del Diablo

Walking on the Argentinian side

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.