GEEO Argentina and Brazil Google Earth Presentation

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USA

Today, I’d like to share a great experience I had while traveling to Argentina and Brazil through a non-profit organization called GEEO. GEEO helps educators travel abroad so that they can learn more about different cultures to share with their students. I was joined on my trip by educators and retired teachers from all around the United States.

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South America

We flew from the United States to Argentina, on the continent of South America. After Argentina, we went to Brazil, the largest country on the continent.

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Argentina

We began our trip in Buenos Aires, Argentina—South America’s second-largest country after Brazil and the eighth-largest country in the world. Argentina is bordered by Chile to the west, Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, and Brazil and Uruguay to the northeast, with the Atlantic Ocean to the east. It’s about one-third the size of the United States.

Argentina is geographically diverse, with the rugged Andes Mountains in the west, dense forests in the north, fertile Pampas grasslands in the center, a long Atlantic coastline, and the cold, windswept region of Patagonia in the south. The country has rich natural resources, a strong agricultural sector (it’s one of the world’s largest exporters of beef, soybeans, and wheat), and a well-educated population. Argentina has the second-largest economy in South America and remains an influential player in the region.

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Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is Argentina’s capital and largest city. Buenos Aires’s metropolitan area—the city plus its surrounding suburbs and connected towns—has about 16 million people, roughly one-third of Argentina’s total population of 46 million. [Can students compare this to your own region?]

Today, Buenos Aires serves as Argentina’s political, economic, and cultural hub. It has a strong European influence, with many theaters, landscaped parks, sidewalk cafes, and beautiful churches. It is often called the “Paris of South America.” The city’s residents, called porteños (people of the port), come from diverse European backgrounds including Italian, Spanish, German, Swedish, Dutch, English, and French, with more recent immigration from Syria, Lebanon, Japan, China, and Korea.

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Plaza de Mayo

Plaza de Mayo is the center of downtown Buenos Aires and the heart of Argentine politics. The public square is surrounded by important landmarks: Casa Rosada (the president’s office, the pink building in the foreground), the Catedral Metropolitana (Argentina’s main Catholic Church, top right), City Hall (top center), the Cabildo (the colonial-era town council, left of City Hall), and the financial district (background).

The plaza’s name commemorates the May Revolution of 1810, which started the Argentine War of Independence from Spain (1810-1818). The May Pyramid (center of the plaza), constructed in 1811, is Buenos Aires’s oldest national monument.

Plaza de Mayo has remained an important site for political demonstrations, including rallies starting in 1977 by the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo—women whose children were abducted during Argentina’s military dictatorship.

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Avenida 9 de Julio

Avenida 9 de Julio (named for Argentina’s independence date in 1816) is the world’s widest avenue. Landmarks include the Teatro Colón (bottom right), one of the world’s most famous opera houses, and the obelisk on Plaza de la República (middle), built to celebrate the city’s 400th anniversary. The obelisk is a gathering point for soccer fans celebrating their team’s wins.

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Recoleta Cemetery

Recoleta Cemetery is where many important Argentines are buried, including writers, politicians, and Eva Perón (Evita), wife of president Juan Perón and heroine to the poor. The cemetery is laid out in a grid with beautiful mausoleums representing different architectural styles.

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Floralis genérica

The Recoleta neighborhood has the Floralis genérica, a metal sculpture donated by architect Eduardo Catalano symbolizing all the flowers of the world. The flower’s six petals—42×23 feet each—close in the evening like a real flower.

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Estadio Alberto J. Armando

The brightly colored neighborhood of La Boca was originally settled and built by Italian immigrants. It is home to Estadio Alberto J. Armando, opened in 1940 and nicknamed “Bombonera” because it looks like a box of chocolates. This is the stadium of one of the world’s greatest soccer teams, Boca Juniors.

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Brazil

We flew from Buenos Aires to Brazil. Roughly the size of the continental United States, Brazil is South America’s largest country. It sits on the Atlantic Ocean with over 4,600 miles of coastline and is bordered by every South American country except Ecuador and Chile.

Brazil is known for the Amazon River and rainforest, but the country has varied geography—from mountains to forests to grasslands to arid scrubland. Within Latin America, Brazil has both the largest population and the largest economy. Portuguese, spoken by nearly all of Brazil’s 213 million residents, is one of the world’s top ten languages.

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Three Countries Meet

Our first stop in Brazil was in the south of the country where three countries meet: Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil.

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Iguassu Falls

We came to this specific spot to see Iguassu Falls, one of the world’s largest waterfalls, located where Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil meet. To properly see the falls, you need to view them from both the Brazilian side, which offers the grand overview, and the Argentinean side, which provides a closer look.

The Iguassu River crosses Paraná State in southern Brazil before creating this spectacular natural wonder. The falls stretch 2.7 kilometers long with an average flow of 1,750 cubic meters per second. There are 275 separate falls spread over a 3-kilometer area, some plunging over 80 meters (262 feet) in height. The contrast between the green vegetation and dark basalt rocks with rushing waters is magical. These cataracts are wider than Victoria Falls and higher than Niagara Falls. UNESCO declared the region a World Heritage Site in 1986.

The falls were first documented in 1541 by Spanish explorer Juan Álvar Núñez, who named them Saltos de Santa María. The name we use today, Iguassu, means “great waters” in the Tupi-Guarani language. The falls are protected by national parks in both Brazil and Argentina, with trails and catwalks adapted to the landscape for easy walking.

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Itaipu Dam

Near Iguassu Falls is Itaipu Dam, whose hydroelectric plant provides power to a large portion of Brazil and most of Paraguay. Itaipu is the world’s second-largest hydroelectric dam in energy production. Though China’s Three Gorges Dam has a larger capacity and now produces more energy annually, Itaipu generates nearly as much electricity due to the Paraná River’s consistent year-round water flow.

To construct the dam, engineers redirected the Paraná River, the world’s seventh-largest river. Itaipu was designated one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1994.

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Ciudad del Este

Very close by is Ciudad del Este, Paraguay’s second-largest city. The city’s economy relies heavily on the Itaipu Dam and on its role as a major commercial hub. Because of its tax-free status, Ciudad del Este attracts many Brazilian and Argentine shoppers, making it one of the largest free-trade zones in the world.

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São Paulo

We then flew to São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city and economic hub, located in the country’s most industrialized state, and home to 23 million people.

São Paulo is a city of skyscrapers, high-end restaurants, and luxury goods, often called “Brazil’s New York City.” But what really sets it apart is its traffic—São Paulo once set a record with a traffic jam stretching over 200 miles during rush hour. Because of this legendary gridlock, the city has become the helicopter capital of the world. Today, São Paulo has over 400 registered helicopters and more than 420 helipads—that’s 42 times more helipads than New York City.

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Ave. Paulista

Avenida Paulista is Brazil’s financial and cultural center. Once surrounded by mansions, the Paulista has now grown vertically and features many of São Paulo’s skyscrapers. As one of the highest points of the city, many TV and radio antennae also jut out of the Paulista. The area is home to the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP), a small park (Trianon), many private schools, several cultural centers run by private institutions and a few remaining mansions.

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Paraty

Our first coastal destination in Brazil was Paraty, a Portuguese colonial town (founded in 1667) a couple hours’ drive south of Rio de Janeiro. Paraty is nestled beautifully between the mountains and the sea on the lush Costa Verde (Green Coast) of Rio de Janeiro state. When gold was discovered in the interior state of Minas Gerais (General Mines) in 1696, Paraty became the major port to ship it to Rio and then to Portugal. Paraty was connected to the gold mines via the Caminho do Ouro (Gold Trail). However, due to regular invasions by pirates who hid in the bay, Paraty eventually lost its importance as a gold port and the route shifted to an overland road. Paraty had other high economic points, including early importation the coffee trade and then a specialization in cachaça, Brazil’s sugarcane-based liquor.

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Igreja Santa Rita

Paraty is now a tourist destination because of its beautiful location, stunning beaches, and well-preserved colonial center. Paraty still has the cobblestone streets from its early years, and cars are not allowed in the historic central district. We were able to see four baroque churches, including the Igreja Santa Rita, Paraty’s oldest church, completed in 1722.

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Ilha Grande

From Paraty, we went to the port of Angra dos Reis to leave for Ilha Grande (Big Island), an island off the coast. Mostly undeveloped, Ilha Grande is known for its tropical beaches and lush vegetation. Ilha Grande has remnants of Brazil’s impressive and biodiverse Atlantic rainforest, which used to surround the coastline of the country, but much of which has disappeared. The entire island is a protected area, and ecotourism, which tried to minimize damage to natural areas, is a popular activity. There are no roads or cars, but there are plenty of hiking trails, beaches, and opportunities for outdoor recreation.

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Vila do Abrão

We stayed in Vila do Abrão, the largest town on the island. It has less than 2,000 inhabitants. Vila do Abrão is the main port of entry as well as the site of most lodging, restaurants, and services on the island.

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Rio de Janeiro

From the pristine Ilha Grande, we continued up the coast to Rio de Janeiro, the Cidade Maravilhosa (Marvelous City). Rio de Janeiro (literally, River of January, as Europeans first arrived on January 1, 1502) is the second largest city in Brazil, with over 12 million residents n the metro area. Rio is one of the most beautifully located cities in the world, rising up between the mountains (many of which provide stunning views of the city) and the sea. Serving as capital of Brazil for two hundred years (1763–1960), Rio was the center of Brazilian political, economic, and cultural life. Although the capital moved to Brasília and the economy is now centered in São Paulo, Rio continues to be important as Brazil’s main tourist destination.

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Ipanema Beach

Rio has a well-preserved colonial center and one of the largest urban forests in the world, but its main tourist sites are its beaches. Ipanema Beach is known worldwide through the bossa nova song “Girl from Ipanema” by Vinícius de Moraes and Antônio Carlos Jobim. The impressive Dois Irmãos (Two Brothers) mountains rise up at the western end of the beach. The neighborhood is one of Rio’s most desirable, and Ipanema is home to many world-class restaurants and hotels.

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Copacabana Beach

Separated from Ipanema by just a few blocks, Copacabana Beach is a world-famous, crescent-shaped beach. Copacabana is a densely packed neighborhood, now mostly middle class, although it had its heyday as an elegant destination (the gorgeous Copacabana Palace was built in 1923). Copacabana’s walkway or boardwalk has a black and white Portuguese mosaic design depicting waves; it is used every day by runners, walkers, bikers, and others who want to people-watch along the beautiful beach.

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Rocinha favela

Rio is also known for its favelas (shantytowns), which house the area’s urban poor. Rio’s favelas are primarily comprised of migrants (and their descendants) from poor rural areas in Brazil; they flock to the city looking for jobs and a better life. Residents in favelas squat on unused land and build their homes, traditionally using the materials they can find around them (in the past, cardboard, metal sheets, and wood; today, the government provides cement building blocks so as to ensure that the houses are safer). In Rio, many of the favelas are on hills, with the more established residents living near the bottom and the poorer, newer arrivals living high up on the hillside where electricity is irregular, streets are not paved, and crime is more widespread. Rocinha is one of the most famous favelas and is the largest in Rio. Today, Rocinha is a lower class neighborhood but most people still think of it as a favela. Situated on a steep hillside, Rocinha has one of the most stunning views in the city.

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Sugarloaf Mountain

The Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain) offers amazing views of the city from its location in Guanabara Bay. Sugarloaf gets its name from its shape, which reflects the traditional shape of refined loaf sugar. Visiting Sugarloaf requires two trips via cable car to get to the top. But the views on the ride up—as well as at the top—are worth it. On a clear day, you can see Corcovado, Copacabana, and the Rio skyline. For the more adventurous types, you can even climb Sugarloaf.

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Christ the Redeemer

Rio’s most famous landmark is its Christ the Redeemer statue, which sits on one of its highest peaks, Corcovado (translated: hunchback) mountain. Corcovado is located in Tijuca Forest, the world’s largest city-surrounded urban forest. Corcovado can be seen from many points in the city, making it an easy reference point. The peak is reached via a small road or train. On your way to the top, you can see monkeys jumping through the trees. Once at the top, the statue is reached by a hundred stairs.

When you get to the viewing platform, you are looking up into the face and widespread arms of the 125-foot tall Christ the Redeemer statue. Its location makes it visible from all over the city. Made of concrete and soapstone, between 1922–1931, the Christ statue was designed by engineer Heitor da Silva Costa and carved by French sculptor Paul Landowski. From the base, it’s very difficult to take a picture of the entire statue unless you have a good lens. The statue seems very imposing and dramatic from the close viewing platform, where the figure is surrounded by blue sky and/or white clouds. The only way to see the face up close is to take a helicopter tour.

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Christ the Redeemer 2

Christ the Redeemer faces out onto Guanabara Bay. If you turn away from the statue, you have a great view of Sugarloaf Mountain and the city of Rio de Janeiro. Not only is the statue impressive, Corcovado offers one of the best views in Rio…an unforgettable memory. In Rio our group said our goodbyes and then flew back to the US.