Latin America, My Favourite Spots

Iguazu Falls, Brazil ©Solange Hando

My top favourite, on the border between Argentina (80% of the falls) and Brazil (best views of them all.) Notice the walkway (top right) where you can get amazingly close beyond the rainbow and get soaking wet, plastic gear provided.

The falls (over 200 of them) stretch 2.7km and drop 82 metres in places. Tourists carefully monitored so you really feel at the heart of it all, overwhelmed by sound and sight. 

La Boca, Buenos Aires ©Solange Hando

Just one of 48 'barrio' in the Argentinian capital, this neighbourhood is all traditional buildings and cobbled lanes close to the old harbour and 21st century tower blocks.

Enjoy Italian tavernas and Spanish Tango on the streets  -join in if you dare- and see artists, markets and humble dwellings, bright cheerful colours, all along the way.

Lake District, Chile ©Solange Hando

South of the capital Santiago, a spectacular flight takes you over the snow-capped mountains to the Andes Lake District shared between Chile and Argentina. Above is the lovely Peulla in Chile, so quiet and pristine.

On the Argentinian side, I enjoyed the attractive resort of Bariloche with its luminous lake, volcanoes, forests and spectacular views, hike in summer, ski in winter.

Costa Rica, Making Friends ©Solange Hando

Well, I'd need a whole album to show you Costa Rica -wild life and volcanoes included- but here's just one happy friend, helping me to celebrate my birthday.

Let's jus say that that this is an amazing country, top rated for Human Development and Conservation, between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Back in 1949, it abolished its army to spend money on health care, education and preserving the natural world. A lesson for us all?

 

Peru, Lake Titicaca ©Solange Hando

So much to see in Peru, I especially loved Cusco and Machu Picchu, but meeting the Uros Indians on Lake Titicaca is my most endearing memory.

Long ago, they set up home on the lake, harvesting reeds to build floating islands where enemies could not reach them. It's a continuous process even today but the Uros are doing well with fishing, local crafts and even technology. Shared with Bolivia, Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world, 3810 metres.

Mexico, Chichen Itza ©Solange Hando

In the Yucatan peninsula, this was the largest city built by the Mayas and Kukulcan (above) is the most spectacular monument. The 30 metre high stepped pyramid takes its name from a snake god, said to cast its 'shadow' across the steps during the spring and autumn equinox.

It's a top attraction, accessible from coastal resorts, but go early and you can have it all to yourself as you ponder on this powerful yet cruel civilisation.

Guatemala, Sunset on Lake Atitlan ©Solange Hando

Up in the highlands of Sierra Madre, Atitlan is the deepest lake in Central America (max. 340 metres). Set in a vast caldera in the National Park, it is 18 km long and fringed by three 'new' volcanoes, at least one of them still active.

There are traditional Maya villages in the neighbourhood but no road around the lake so it is often considered one of the most beautiful in the world

Cuba ©Solange Hando

The largest island in the Caribbean

Dancing, music, tradition, colour

What more could you want?

A cigar?

Rolled on a lady's thigh, of course

  

Br

 

Travels on my Birthday

Taiwan ©Solange Hando

Which birthday? Well, let us say somewhere on the wiser side of middle-age.

Lovely celebration with the Tsou tribe up in the hills... See the tiny peach in my right hand? Straight from the garden and a special present from the family.

Rio de Janeiro ©Solange Hando

Well, I could show you the clocktower near the beach confirming the date but this is a much more exciting picture.

Loved this view from Corcovado and in the afternoon, went up the Sugar loaf  (front right) up two cable cars. Fabulous.

Namibia ©Solange Hando

I loved Namibia and I still dream about this beautiful cheetah out in the wild, just posing for my birthday, it seemed, in the heat of the day.

Did you know Namibia was the first country in the world to include conservation in its Constitution?

Wildlife always has the right of way and it certainly works, can't beat it.

Peru ©Solange Hando

Hold on, don't let me drift!

This is me on Lake Titicaca with the Uros Indians who build their homes on reed islands. Up there, on the roof of the world, this was indeed an amazing day.

Madagascar ©Solange Hando

My birthday wish? There it was, a real lemur in the wild, hard work for me clambering through the forest but so easy for them swinging from branch to branch...

Watched many different species in different areas, guides knew exactly where to go.

Reunion Island ©Solange Hando

Something I'd never done before, flying on a microflight over a volcanic island...on the other side of the world.

Scenery wise, never seen any island as dramatic as this one, canyons, craters and peaks everywhere and, would you believe it, this is a French department...

Costa Rica ©Solange Hando

Celebrating with Local Farmer

Remembering lots of  happy times

and planning many more
Blogged on my birhday
at home
Lockdown 2020

Gourmet Coffee in Costa Rica

Coffee Beans ©Solange Hando

Is coffee good for you? On the El Spiritu estate in Costa Rica, they certainly think so but only if you drink 'pure' coffee and in moderation.

It might prevent, they say, or at least slow down Alzheimer, Parkinsons, liver problems and some types of diabetes. It can counteract headaches and memory loss, boost energy and brain activity. Worth a try?

  Costa Rica ©Solange Hando

The first coffee bushes arrived in Costa Rica from Ethiopia in the late 18th century and the businesses remain pretty much a family affair, though some are grouped in cooperatives and employ seasonal workers for the harvest. Bushes are planted on well drained slopes where shade trees  filter excessive sunlight. Seedlings take around four years to grow into a bush which will be productive for up to 40 years.

A number of estates offer guided tours which include a chance to taste and buy your favourite beans as well as coffee-flavoured sweets and liqueur.

 Fair Trade Coffee ©Solange Hando

In Costa Rica, coffee grows from around 600 metres but as any gourmet will tell you, the best flavour is obtained between 1200 and 1600 metres. The white jasmine-like blossom usually appears in May, with the first rain, followed by green berries which turn red as they ripen.

Prime plantation areas are in the central valley where Costa Rican gourmet coffee has achieved world wide recognition. Top names include Tarrazu, Tres Rios, Tres Generaciones, Café Britt, Rey and Aventura.

Coffee Flower ©Solange Hando

Dark or light roast, coffee is serious business in this small country which claims its own Coffee Institute and a National Coffee Day when the highly-coveted Excellence Cup is awarded.

Drink your coffee black (as the locals do) or with a dash of cream or milk, relish the smooth taste, the aroma, and for any gourmet, it's like a love story. Climate, altitude and soil, Costa Rica and the 'golden grain' were simply made for each other.

Costa Rica National Parks, Pacific Coast

Capuchin Monkey in Costa Rica ©Solange Hando

Among Costa Rica's 190 national parks and reserves, an amazing number for a such small country, the Pacific Coast claims some of the finest protected areas where wild life thrives in a range of habitats, from wetlands and ocean to rivers, forest and jungle. With its exemplary conservation policy, this is a country, they say, which  'sells oxygen to the world' in return for targeted aid.

Manuel Antonio National Park on the Pacific Coast ©Solange Hando

Down south, Manuel Antonio, the smallest of the parks, is fringed with white sand and clear waters which attract dolphins, Magnificent Frigates, pelicans and occasionally turtles.

There are coral reefs and nature trails where ramblers look out for iguanas, raccoons, squirrel monkeys and rare two-toed sloth. It's a popular place for visitors so a daily quota is in force. It's best to reserve beforehand to avoid disappointment.

Scarlet Macaws, Costa Rica ©Solange Hando

In Northern Nicoya, the Palo Verde National Park offers a superb combination of wetlands and tropical forest. You find mangrove and marshes, savannah and a great variety of trees, ironwood, sandbox, 'green stick' trees, which give their name to the park, home to some 300 species of birds, including the dazzling scarlet macaws, regarded as Costa Rica's national birds.

 Crocodile in Costa Rica National Park ©Solange Hando

The park also attracts howler monkeys, white-tailed deer, puma and variegated squirrels while crocodiles are found up the Tempisque river. There are hiking trails and boat trips on the river and wetlands.

Blue Morpho Butterfly, Costa Rica ©Solange Hando

Closest to Puntarenas, the Carara National Park occupies a transition zone between dry and rainforest where sleeping hibiscus and red lilies splash colour along the trails. There are endangered spider monkeys, rare poison-dart frogs, myriad birds and blue butterflies the size of your hand.

Sunset on the Tarcoles Estuary ©Solange Hando

When the sun sets all red and gold on the Tarcoles estuary, Carara settles down for the night. Thousands of egrets come to roost in the mangrove while the raucous call of howler monkeys echoes across the canopy. It sends shivers down your spine and within minutes, darkness falls over this pristine natural world.

Costa Rica Volcanic Highlands

Poas Volcano, Costa Rica ©Solange Hando

At 2700 metres, Poas claims the world's largest active crater, 1.6km across and 320 metres deep, with a small crater lake puffing out thick volutes of acid fumes. Just an hour's drive from the capital San Jose, the national park is laced with walking trails rich in bird life, including toucanets and brightly-coloured quetzals.

Costa Rica, Volcano in the Mist ©Solange Hando

Costa Rica's mighty volcanoes are often covered in cloud and mist but this can clear in minutes and it's always worth waiting for the view, now a glimpse of the crater lake, now the new rust-coloured cone or the vast ash plain at the top of Irazu.

At 3432 metres, Irazu has claimed  23 eruptions in modern times, the most notorious in 1963, coinciding with J.F. Kennedy's visit. Like Poas and Arenal, Irazu is protected by a National Park.

Arenal Hot Springs ©Solange Hando

But Costa Rica's most famous volcano remains Arenal where hot springs and streams gush down the lower slopes, attracting scores of locals and visitors. The surrounding rainforest is a jumble of ferns, bromeliads, orchids and palms where white-faced monkeys and exotic birds can be spotted around the waterfalls. 

In 1968, a massive eruption had sparked decades of activity, spewing out ash, lava and molten rock on a daily basis. Arenal became the country's top attraction as people gathered after dark to witness the spine-chilling spectacle.

Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica ©Solange Hando

Having entered a dormant phase in 2010, Arenal now rises like a harmless giant  above luxuriant slopes and a lake where sails flutter on silvery waters and Indians sell masks and beads at the roadside. But in this small dramatic land set on the Pacific Ring of Fire, dotted, they say, with 100 volcanoes, no one can tell when things will change.