calvisson-leblon

The Pantanal (swamp in Portuguese) is the largest tropical wetland in the world (230,000sq km, about half the size of France); it straddles Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay.   The largest part is located in Brazil.   Often compared to the Everglades in Florida, the Pantanal’s ecosystem looks more like the bayous of Louisiana. The Pantanal includes amazon-like forests, flood plains, lagoons and even waterless mountain ranges.   Since 2000, the Pantanal is a UNESCO World Heritage site and biosphere reserve.   The region is famed for its diverse and plentiful wildlife: some mammals and birds are only found there, like the crab-eating fox, the Brazilian tapir, the Pantanal alligator and the Jaburu stork.   It is a dream destination for wildlife spotting and especially for bird watchers.   There are approximately 480 species of birds, predominantly aquatic types.   Notably, the Pantanal has the world highest density of jaguars in the wild (an endangered s...

Robert Capa (1913-1954, the iconic WWII photographer, died 63 years ago but his gypsy charm continues to fascinate the ladies, this blogger was familiar with his body of work, but knew little of his short life until now.   His photo collection and publications are exclusively promoted and exhibited by the International Center of Photography (ICP) located in New York City.   ICP was founded by Capa’s younger brother Cornell, and is the official custodian of Capa’s photos and legacy.   The Magnum [1] co-operative (established by Capa and some of his buddy photographers in 1947 as Magnum Photos) also exhibits Capa’s photos.   At the occasion of the exhibition of Capa’s color photos [2] in Rio de Janeiro (ICP event), a friend recommended that this blogger read Blood and Champagne, The Life and Times of Robert Capa, a biography written by Alex Kershaw (2002) [3] .   The book was not displayed in the ICP collection either in Manhattan or in Rio.   Corn...

On January 10, 1934, disaster struck Cacheuta, a small town nestled in the valley of the Mendoza River in western Argentina.   A glacial flood washed away constructions along hundreds of kilometers, including the luxury spa hotel and the railway line.   The flash flood killed few people but wrecked the valley and ruined its economy.   The fatal fall of a chunk of glacier into the river brutally ended the golden age of Cacheuta.   Wellness tourism dwindled until the mid-80s when a small hotel was built and a public thermal water park opened.   The hot thermal waters had made Cacheuta famous since, legend has it, the Inca king Tupac Yupangui visited the region to rest with his troops.   Later the Spanish conquistadores came, but wellness was not in their plans; they were looking for a treasure of gold and silver allegedly hidden by Cacique Cacheuta.   Another legend is that Cacheuta never existed.   In the Quechua/Huarpe languages, cacheu...

A couple of weeks ago, I learned that a diamond mine had recently opened in Brazil when I read that its production had been stolen!   Everywhere thieves are better informed than the general populace, including this blogger, a former geologist.   The mine is located near the town of Nordestina in the State of Bahia and its production could remove Brazil from the wilderness as far as diamond mining is concerned, and propel it to the 11 th position among world diamond producers. Brazil still has a long way to go to regain its former notoriety: it dominated the diamond production and trade during the 18 th and 19 th centuries [1] until 1866 when fifteen year old Erasmus Jacobs discovered the 21-carat Eureka diamond in the gravel of the Orange River in what is now South Africa. Diamonds have been used since 600 BC.   They were first identified in India in the Mahajanapada Empire.   For centuries, people used the rough stones as a cutting tool to carve and ...