For the last decade or so, Chile has been a very stable government with a burgeoning economy. But it has had a fascinating history in which the country experienced oligarchy, military rule, police state, democracy, socialism, free market economy, human rights violations, extreme recession, export based recovery, everything in between, and yet has somehow survived it all to […]
Montevideo, Uruguay
Half the population of Uruguay (only 3.3 million people in all) live in its capital city, Montevideo. Not surprisingly, most of the important institutions (hospitals, universities, government, etc.) are located here, and most of the citizenry has to visit Montevideo at some point or another. This is a beach city located on the river plate (aka […]
Colonia, Uruguay
Colonia del Sacramento 1, is the oldest city of Uruguay, and due to its location on the River plate (Rio de la Plata 2), was of strategic importance during the colonial times of South America. The river plate is the widest river in the world (120 miles at the widest point), and provides access to […]
Our foray into Latin America
We are heading out on our longest trip thus far (28 days)! This is an extension to the 7 weeks we’ve spent in Brazil for Uma’s Corporate Responsibility program. The countries we are visiting are: Uruguay (Montevideo, Colonia) Chile (Santiago, Valparaiso, Easter Island) Peru (Nazca lines, Lake Titicaca) Bolivia (La Paz, Salar de Uyuni) Ecaudor […]
Wrapping up in Sao Paulo
All good things, they say, must come to an end. And so it is with our stay in Sao Paulo. This last week has been packed with a lot of things going on in parallel: planning our 1 month South America trip, completing the related tourist visa activity, winding down Uma’s assignment, last minute shopping […]
Golf in Sao Paulo – 2
I made another daring attempt to experience golf in Sao Paulo. It’s simply not easy in this part of the world. There are very few golf courses out here. Most are private, some may require a member accompanying you, and the public courses are few and far away. After much research, I decided to pay a […]
O do Borogodo
This place12 is so cool, it deserves a separate post. At the outset, everything about it in terms of location, entrance, building, etc. look rundown. But come 11 pm, it transforms into a hip samba spot where the dim lighting is just right, the live music/singing is soul piercing, the overcrowd (yes, I am using […]
Foz do Iguaçu
We made a 2 day trip to the Foz do Igauçu falls on the Brazilian side. We flew in early morning, and headed to the falls immediately after an early check in at the hotel. Once you enter the national park, they have a bus ride to get to the starting point of a trail […]
Targeted advertising
The last few days, I’ve been catching up on “The Daily Show”, and “The Colbert Report” episodes over the internet. Every time they break for commercial, I get this annoying ad peddling cosmetics to teenagers!? Either teenage girls in Brazil ardently watch these shows, or the targeted advertising is way off. I won’t be entertaining […]
Rio Copacabana beach
There was one last thing to do before heading to the airport…hit the beaches one more time. Had lunch at a big Skol bar right on Copacabana beach. Their kiwi caipirinha is amazing. Lot of activity like slack lining, beach volleyball, etc. to watch as we lumbered along… Inevitably, some beach side purchases, like this […]