Argentina

We are now in Buenos Aires.  We spent our last day in the northwest visiting the salt flats.  They were once lakes that have dried and left the salt behind.  The area has had lots of rain, so some of the salt flats were under water, they looked like a lake with snow covering it and little icebergs.  The sky was so blue and hills pink, it was an amazing site to see the bright white, clear blue and hazy pink mountains.  The road up to the flats (which is the road which connects Argentina to Chile) is quite a drive.  It is a switchback which is amazingly well maintained, a real treat after Brazil.  They have crews which live in trailers which move up and down the road to clear landslides (there were a few after the torrential rains they had in mid Jan) and shore up the road when it gets washed down the hills.  It climbs to 3130m, and the views of the foothills and snow covered Andes are beyond description.  The landscape changes as you drive along.
We started in Purmamarca which is a little town that is known for the seven coloured hills.  The hills in this area are multicoloured due to the minerals found in the rock.  Since it was once under water and there were active volcanos, and tectonic plates and all that other geological stuff, they have ended up with these amazing multicoloured hills throughout the area.  As we travelled up, the hills became green, lost their trees and then pink.
We passed isolated places where the natives live on the side of these mountains and use the water from the runoff and solar panels.  It is a hard existence.  A bus does travel along the road, so they can come into town to get supplies, but its not easy.  Sheep and goats graze on the steep slopes, a few cows, but they are not suited to the inclines and often become "flying cows".
We then went to a little town where at noon, a wooden priest comes out of the town  tower and blesses all the people standing in the square.  They play Ava Maria to it, but the sound system needs some work or blessing.  It 's the first time I have been blessed, and probably the last.  It was quite quaint.  We then visited a preInca fort on top of the hill where 4 rivers meets, the views were amazing.
We are now in Buenos Aires, what a lovely city, but that's for another day

 Yes, I can walk on water!

 One of the many multi -coloured hills in the valley

 The road to the salt flats and Chile, not for the people who suffer from motion sickness

 Salindes Grande

 One of the many hills

 

Kim and Dan

Salta

 Los Caldones, the silent sentinels of the desert (one of the Argentine generals dressed in ponchos and hats to fool the army)

 The lovely painted rocks which are everywhere in the valley, very beautiful

The valley of arrow

Buenos dias
We are now in the northwest corner of Argentina, in the province of Salta, which lies close to the borders of Chile and Bolivia.  The area is semi arid in most places, but some areas receive a lot of rain, like Salta, the city.  Right now, its the rainy season, so everything is green and lush and their are lots of crops growing.  The main crops are tobacco, grapes (some awesome high altitude wines), peppers, corn and soy beans, onions and garlic are big too.  So are cattle and goats.
We started in Salta city which was one of the main trade cities for the Spanish as it was close to Peru, Bolivia, Chile and natural resources.  It has a very nice main square with well preserved colonial buildings and even a church or two!  The MAAM is here, which is the museum which houses the Inca children that were found buried on top on of one the the mountains which forms the border with Peru.  The Inca picked the most perfect children, fed them beer to make them sleep and then buried them at 20,000 feet.  They are perfectly preserved.  We saw the Lightening Girl who was struck by lightening while she was buried.  It looks like she is sleeping.  She is perfectly cryogenically preserved.  Sorry, no pictures, but if you google her, I am sure you can see an awesome picture of her.  They also found ( on a National Geographic expedition in 1999) a young boy and a teenaged girl.  It was a great honour to be chosen and the Inca did not think that they died but ascended to the next life.
Early the next morning, we headed south to visit some colonial small towns and see some amazing natural rock formations.   Every little town has a main square and yes, a church.  They are quite pretty and peaceful.  This is the area where the indigenous peoples live, they look a lot like the Peruvians, which is not surprising as at one time the whole area from Bolivia to the bottom of Argentina where under Inca rule.  They are lovely friendly people who live a simple life of mostly farming.  They always have a smile and a wave for you.  This area produces some of the finest weavings and sliver craft.
It is famous for the red poncho, which is a sign of resistance against the Spanish rule.
We have visited a few great wineries, one Colome is the highest altitude vineyard in the world, one of their vineyards is at 3100 m.  It was also the first winery dating from 1831.  The area is known for the Torrentes grape, which produces a sweet dry wine (like a dry riesling).  They also produce some awesome cab sav and malbecs.
We have been following the famous routa 40 which travels from north to south Argentina.  Luckily, we have a 4x4 because alot of the roads have been washed away or flooded by the torrential rains last week.  Sometimes, routa 40 is a lovely paved highway and othertimes its a goat track.  It passes through some of the most amazing landscapes.  The park of Los Coldones ( a type of cactus) where the road follows a dead straight Inca road.  The Incas built their roads at night with torches in order to make them perfectly straight.  We stopped in a patch of cacti and it was like standing amongst a group of silent sentinels watching over the desert, it was eerie and awe inspiring at the same time.  The hills are many colours,, red, green, brown, beige, yellow and all different shapes and sizes.  We drove through the valley of arrows today, named for the arrow shaped rocks which rise out of the earth.  This is a geologist's dream!
WE follow the Calchaqui river which at times is a trickle and other times quite mighty.  WE have traveled over bridges that were under water last week.  Other times we have to ford the river our vehicle.
Its a great place!
Kim and Dan
Lots of problems with the internet connections, sorry no pictures.  I will add them when I get a better connection

Iguazu Falls

That's what they call it in Argentina, in Brazil it is Iguassu Falls.  Most of the falls are on the Argentinine side but the Brazilian national park is larger and more commercial.  The falls are amazing, there is an average amount of water in them now, but in 2007 or 8, they were dry and the year before they were flooded and covered the boardwalks.  They say they are not as spectacular as they normally are this time of year because there is a drought, but yes, you guessed it, it rained yesterday after we got here.  No floods, though.
The falls are huge, they are much bigger than Niagara Falls, at its peak there are 275 falls.  The main falls are the Devil's throat where the water drops 74 m and the water rises so it looks like steam.  There is so much spray that we were soaked after overlooking the area, twice, once from the Brazilian side and once from the Argentine.  It is so heavy, its like being rained on.  All the falls stretch over 2.7 km and you can view them from both sides, although, the Argentines have built a long walkway over some of the falls.    You can view them from above and below and on each side.  We took a boat ride to the falls and the Devil's throat where we saw them up close before being soaked by the falls.  The water was surprisingly warm, the guide said about 25C.  We were dripping wet when we got off the boat.  It was quite an experience, it makes the maid of the mist look pretty tame.
The falls are surrounded by subtropical rainforest and there are lots of butterflies and some wildlife.  They have  coati which are very much like raccoons and can be found wherever there is food, apparently they can be quite aggressive when it comes to food.
They have a spider, the golden orb spider, which spins a golden web.  We visited a bird park where they had dozens of species of birds, including colourful parrots, flamingos, macaws, hummingbirds, scarlet ibis and many others.  They had a butterfly house also, it was really well done.
We are now relaxing at our hotel, which is very lovely with three swimming pools and decks which overlook the rainforest.  Its nice to be back in the land of reasonably priced good wine.  We visited a wine boutique yesterday and picked up some really nice wine and are sipping it on our deck.  Life is hard.
Off to Salta and the Northwest tomorrow for a new adventure!

 Some of the many falls which make up Iguazu falls

 The cloud of mist rising from the falls, a hint of the awesome power

 A toucan (toco tucan)

 A blue macaw

Our friends Kalline and Pablo and one of their twin daughters (in Salvador)
Kim and Dan

Carnaval!

How do you describe Carnaval.....crazy!
Thousands of people partying, drinking, dancing, playing music, men dressed as women, drums, horns, dancers.  Adults and kids alike, the parents like to dress their kids up-fairies, bahian dress, indian chiefs, spider man and whatever else they can find.  This is the time of the year when men love to dress as women, wrap their heads in specially designed towels and wear togas, they call themselves "filo de Ghandy"  (sons of Ghadi-I think Ghandy is Ghandi mispelled and never corrected).
Carnaval takes place in three main areas or blocos, and they differ.  Pelourhino, the historic district is quieter (its all relative), no amplifiers or electronics, just local bands and dancers.  It is much more grassroots, with the costurmes often being homemade.  Dozens of bands of all sizes and shapes, drum bands, horns, horns and drums, the Japanese drum band is amazing-the energy and performance is high octane!  Many bands have costumed dancers which lead them, some in fancy dress, some in traditional Bahian dress, lots of men dressed as women, gladiators, natives, and whatever else they can think of.  Some, I am not sure what they are supposed to be, but they have alot of fun.
In Campo Grande and the Barra, it is more flashy.  They have huge trucks with dozens of massive speakers which amplify the band's music called trio electrico.  They are so loud that you can feel it thumping in your chest, no one suffers from V fib here!  There are alot of big names, yesterday, we went to the Barra and several of the bands had huge followings.  First there is the large (bigger than a tractor trailer)  all fitted out for the band, they play on the top and have stages which move up and down for the main singer.  And tons of speakers.  It is followed by abada, who are followers who pay to follow the trio, they wear "uniform" shirts, each trio has their own followers who wear a different shirt.  They are called pipoca or popcorn as they jump up and down like popcorn.  They dance in an area behind the trio which is roped off, and only those in the shirts can dance there.  If you want to pay more, then you can follow in another trio just for fans, no band.  They drink and dance and often throw scarves and other beer sponsored souvenirs to the crowds.  If that is not your thing, then you can watch from the streets and dance away or pay to stay in a grandstand type area to watch the trios go by.  They move very slowly and it takes hours to see them all, they usually start mid afternoon and go until midnight.  Then there are live bands are multiple venues around the area, which often start at midnight.

 A typical band in the Pelourhino

 They love to dress their kids up, they are quite cute, unlike the men who dress up

 Police presence is everywhere, at times, it feels like you are in a war zone, armed police and police helicopters constantly flying overhead, sometimes it seems like they were going to land on the rooftop bar of our hotel

 A small trio electrico

Women in traditional Bahian dress

Of course, there are all the vendors selling food, souvenirs, and all kind of neon gear, lots of masks, headdresses, pom poms, etc.  Of course there is beer and other drinks, everywhere, cerveza is 3 for 5 Real!  cheaper than water.  You can buy anything.
Sorry not alot of pictures, as you don't carry your camera or anything of value when you go out into the street.
Ciao
Kim and Dan

Salvador

Images from Salvador

Pictures first, a view of Pelourhino roof tops from our hotel

 The cloisters from Sao Francisco convent, with the Portuguese tiles

 The ceiling in Sao Francisco church

 The altar

 An example of the detailed carvings, these carvings are holding up one of the alcoves

 A typical square in Pelourhino

Greetings from the city that does not sleep.
We do, fortunately our hotel is soundproofed.  It is right in the middle of Pelourinho, which is the historic old centre of town.  Pelourhino means whipping post, as the slaves were punished in the Pelourhino square.  Now bands play for Carnaval there.  It is a lovely place with lots of old colourful buildings and yes, you guessed it, churches.  There are many catholic churches, some Jesuit, some for blacks, some for nuns and priests and some for other whites.  Salvador has 365 churches, Dan is in heaven!
The most famous church and the largest in Brazil is here, Igreja Convento de Sao Fanscisco ( you may have noticed that this is a popular name for churches in Brazil), which is an amazing example of a Baroque church.   This one has a convent, church and layman's church all in the same complex.  It was founded in 1500's.  The walls of the cloisters are decorated with blue and white tiles which were painted in Portugal, numbered and sent over by ship.  They were then assembled and placed on the walls of the cloisters, they depict many lessons about virtue, goodness and hard work, they do not have a religious overtones.   They also depict the life of St Francis de Assiz, who is the patron saint of the Church.
The interior of the church is amazing, even Dan was impressed.  It has more gold leaf in it than any other church, I expected to find a gaudy display, but it is really well done.  It is impressive and a sensory overload, but surprisingly, it is attractive.  Pictures to follow, these are legit.  There are many paintings on the walls and ceilings.  The interior was first carved from wood, covered with a thin layer of plaster then covered in gold leaf or painted.  The sculptures are amazing, there is so much detail in each alcove.  There are 8 alcoves and the main alter.  The chandelier is made of 70kg of silver!  The detail of the carvings and the paintings are amazing.
 The main square has 3 churches and the old medical school surrounding it.  Many of the buildings are in poor shape, but they are slowly being restored.  It is a shame to see some of these churches decaying as they are an important part of Salvador and Brazil's history ( and the Catholic church has lots of money).
Salvador is an interesting mix of cultures, they describe it as boiling.  Most of the population have descended from the African slaves and are very proud of their culture.  Their music is prominent in Carnaval.  There are also the Portuguese descendants and of course the mulattos, which form the second biggest group.  There are also many European and Japanese descendants (most of the Japanese are in the Sao Paulo area).
The old historic town is separated by from the lower town by a large hill.  There are no stairs, but an elevator was built in 1873 to connect the lower city with the upper, it was overhauled in the 1930's and now has an Art Deco look.  There are four elevators which take 30 seconds to travel the 72 m distance.  They are move people very quickly.  It is an amazing place!
Love to hear from you, time to watch the parade!
Kim and Dan

Images of Brazil

 Christ the Redeemer, the famous statue overlooking Rio, the largest Art Deco statue in the world

Brazilian Beauties

Market in Lencois

More from Chapada Diamantina

Greetings from the lovely land of Brazil
Chapada (plateau) Diamantina is a vast park with a variety of beautiful sites.  We have visted the Poco Azul, a crystal clear pool of water inside a cave.  We snorkeled in the pool where the visibility was perfect.
We also saw the Poco Enchante, which is a clear pool that is a beautiful blue colour when the light shines on it.  It is in another cave and was discovered in 1980.  The water is clear and you can see 40 m to the bottom, but it is full of calcium carbonate which causes the beautiful blue colour when the light shines on it.
We hiked 12 km to day (yes, Dan hiked) to one of the tallest waterfalls in Brazil today, we could not see the bottom from the top.  There were two rainbows and the waterfall was so powerful that the spray could be seen before we reached the waterfall.  The natives call it smoke.  We are quite lucky with the waterfalls, as there has been little rain, so many of the falls have been dry.  Our guide joked about throwing a bottle of water over the edge so there would be a waterfall.  The weather here is very variable, if you don't like the weather wait 5 minutes.  There are 23 microclimates in Bahia.  Yesterday while we were hiking, big black clouds blew by us with rolling thunder which echoed in the canyons, but it was sunny where we were.
Today, we weren't so lucky, we got rained on several times, but the sun came out and the clouds cleared when we reached the waterfall.  When we were trekking to the falls, the hills were shrouded in mist, it did not look like there were any hills around us.  When the clouds cleared, the view was spectacular, many outcroppings of the characteristic rock in the area, and a vista of greens and blues for as far as the eye could see.  It was worth getting soaked to the skin.  At least I think so, don't ask Dan!
The people of Brazil are so friendly and helpful.  It is a lovely country, expensive, but lovely.

Poco Azul

 Poco Enchante

 Waterfall, can't remember the name

the intrepid travelers beside one the really interesting rock formations (notice the pink colour, which is a dominant colour around Bahia

Bye
Kim and Dan