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South America: It's time to rediscover it!by Rod Lopez-Fabrega
Rio de Janeiro
Sao Paulo
Caesar Park Sao Paulo, a well-located boutique hotel in the downtown area, includes Mariko, one of the city's notable Japanese restaurants. The hotel also features a Women Traveling on Business program and is located just one block from Paulista Avenue, the commercial and shopping center of Sao Paulo. Buenos Aires
Iguazu Falls
The newest and most interesting five-star hotel is on the Brazilian side: the Foz de Mabu Thermas & Resort, built on top of the world's largest aquifer, a natural reservoir of fresh water big enough to supply the entire population of Brazil for 2,500 years. The hotel's extraordinary swimming pool, complete with its own waterfalls, is totally refreshed by these natural hot springs every four hours. Add to that, five-star amenities, lushly landscaped gardens, and choice of fine dining or a noteworthy buffet for all meals. The hotel's central location provides easy taxi access to the interesting nearby town of Foz de Iguazu and to both the Brazilian and Argentine centers for best viewing of the cataracts. Guided tours may be arranged with Acquatur Turismo through the Mabu Thermas Resort for Zodiac excursions that literally motor visitors under the falls or to visit other area points of interest such as the really excellent bird and butterfly zoological gardens, the Parque das Aves, where visitors may enter the bird enclosures, and the rainforest vegetation of the exhibits blends perfectly with the surrounding forest. However, avoid the nearby Paraguayan border town and the promise of good shopping. It's the one seedy and unsavory place in the whole area, and the border crossing can take hours of sitting in stalled traffic both going and coming. Another sight to be avoided is a visit to the hydroelectric plant of Itaipu. This huge dam--one of the world's largest--is a marvel of engineering, providing electrical power to parts of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, but not of great interest for tourism; and a visit there is time consuming. Frequent daily flights from Rio, Sao Paulo or Buenos Aires to Foz de Iguazu airport are available on VARIG, Brazil's world-class national airline. VARIG also serves its North American gateways with 14 weekly flights from New York, five weekly flights from Los Angeles, and 20 weekly flights from Miami. For more information: Radisson Seven Seas Cruises Caesar Park Hotels Foz
de Mabu Thermas and Resort VARIG Airlines PHOTOS: Rod Lopez-Fabrega |
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Ever since the end of
the Technicolor days of the "Good Neighbor Policy" in the 1940's when
Hollywood painted South America as a fun destination for Americans weary
of World War II--the days of Carmen
Miranda and her fruity headgear, Donald Duck and Jose Carioca as two of the
"Three Caballeros," and Don Ameche and Betty Grable betting on the
horses "Down Argentina Way", three of the world's most interesting cities
have remained largely neglected by
North American tourism. All three are in the southern hemisphere, and they are:
Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in Brazil and Buenos Aires in Argentina. Each is a
sophisticated, vibrant and remarkable world-class metropolis with its own soul
and personality. American business men and women have known it all along. Now
tourism, in search of new destinations, is about to rediscover the rest of the Americas. Major cruise offerings are
being planned, including those by Radisson Seven Seas Cruises around South
America to Brazil and Argentina, with side excursions to the spectacular
natural wonder shared by the two countries, Iguazu Falls.
However, these cities and Iguazu all demand more
than a passing sampling. The visitor with a bit more time needs to spend three
of four days in each city and at least two days at the falls. To make planning
easier, the friendliness and consistent quality of the Caesar Park Hotels in
Rio, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires can be recommended highly. Caesar Park Hotels in the three cities all are members of Leading
Hotels of the World, and they represent a combination of luxury, quality and
comfort and so much attention to the visitor's needs and wishes that sometimes you
want to ask them just to leave you alone until you ask for something.
From the dizzying
heights of Corcovado (the monumental mountain-top statue of Christ, arms
outstretched to take in all of Rio) or from a cable-car nearing the top of
Sugarloaf Mountain on Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro is, without question, one
of the world's most beautiful cities: a string of pearly beaches strung along a
sinuous coastline framed on one side by emerald green hills and on the other by
the South Atlantic. It is a city of near-perfect weather year-round and a
multi-cultured population (Cariocas) that knows how to enjoy its natural
blessings. Founded almost 500 years
ago, it is a city of startling contrasts where the magnificent views belong to
the hillside favela shanty towns (now
being relocated), where its splendid beaches are lined with luxury hotels and
apartment houses, and sections of the city still reflect in their architecture,
a time when Brazil was ruled by emperors. Just across the street from the
elegant hotels of Ipanema Beach, one of Rio's most exclusive
neighborhoods, is the famous sinuous
mosaic sidewalk and the early morning spectacle of visitors and sun-bronzed,
well-heeled Cariocas jogging, biking and strolling before it is time to face
the day on the beach or in the office or exploring this fascinating city. Not
to be missed by visitors is a typical feijoada
meal at Geraes Restaurant on Rua do Ouvidor or a churrasco (more broiled meats than anyone can eat, served on
yard-long skewers) at the bayside Praia do Flamengo Restaurant with
breathtaking views of Sugarloaf and Guanabara Bay.
This is a city of
incredible energy and vitality. Often called "the New York of South America,"
after a visit there, New York is transformed into "the Sao Paulo of North
America." Rush hour traffic on the expressways is as hectic as in any
major city in North America, and its downtown skyline, as seen from the 41st
floor Terraco Italia restaurant, is a 360-degree, mind-bending panorama of
skyscrapers and glass and steel towers. It is a multi-cultural city of more
than 30,000,000, the largest in Brazil, with fascinating ethnic neighborhoods
(the largest Japanese population outside Japan), world-noted museums, cultural
attractions and a business ethos and infrastructure equal to anything the U.S.
has. Of historic interest to all Americans, North and South, is the Memorial to
the Americas, with swooping architecture by world famous Brazilian architect,
Oscar Niemeyer and an adjacent museum of the finest crafts made throughout all
the Americas.
"B.A." is described often as "European," and that is
accurate when referring to its classic architecture, sophistication and
elegance--the love-hate relationship with things British is evident
everywhere--but Buenos Aires has its own spirit and identity that can be
confused with no other. It is the city of tango, tango, tango, Evita Peron
standing on the balcony of the Casa Rosada, luxurious shopping centers, elegant
hotels, picturesque street markets, capital city of the one-time great
land-owners of baronial cattle estancias, and of a mellifluous Spanish accent
that slides around certain consonants and pins the speaker down unmistakably as
an Argentino. Few signs remain of its darker times, but these include the Cafe de las Madres de los
Desaparecidos where a visitor can go for coffee and to hear heart-wrenching
tales of the disappeared children. Today, it is a city to be enjoyed and
admired for its extraordinary beauty, outstanding cultural attractions,
handsome and talented people (almost obsessed with the body beautiful), and a
certain Italianate arrogance that says, "We are the best."
Travelers to Rio de Janeiro or
Sao Paulo in Brazil or Buenos Aires in Argentina are less than a two-hour
flight away from one of the great natural wonders of the world: the Cataracts
of Iguazu, a two-mile stretch of the Iguazu River made up of as many as 350
astounding cascades plunging more than 250 feet to the river below, a
thundering, awesome spectacle that seems like an ocean dropping off the edge of
planet Earth. To put the immensity of this natural wonder in perspective, many
years ago, on her visit to the falls, Eleanor Roosevelt could only cry,
"Poor Niagara." 
Shared
by Argentina and Brazil, the falls must be seen from both sides of the river
that separates the two countries. A two to three day stay is recommended, and
excellent accommodations are available. 
