Author: Jeffrey Kontur

Culture / South America

Groundhog Day, South American style

Most Americans spent February 2nd watching for the shadow of a cute, but probably overhyped, rodent. At the same time, half a world away, thousands of Uruguayos flocked to the beach in an annual ritual called “lemanjá”. The cornerstone of this fascinating bit of culture is the casting of negative...

South America

From Europe to Latin America in one border crossing

Leaving Buenos Aires and crossing Rio de la Plata (“the big flat river”), one arrives in Uruguay. The Uruguayo — Americans would say Uruguayan but the locals here call themselves Uruguayos — capital of Montevideo is a safe and lovely city. Montevideo might just be about the nicest and safest...

Laid-back / Modes of Transport / South America

Incredibly wide border crossing

Rio de la Plata, the river separating Argentina from Uruguay, is so wide that it takes two hours to cross by ferry. That’s not even to get you down river to Montevideo. The ferry simply crosses from Buenos Aires to Colonia, the closest major city in Uruguay. From there, it’s...

Active / Nature / Off-the-beaten-path / South America / Tropics

Iguazú: More than just waterfalls

While Iguazú Falls may be the big draw, the park that encompasses the falls is more than 250 square miles. So it is much more than simply a big river impressively jumping off a cliff. Plus there is the nearby Argentine town of Puerto Iguazú, its Brazilian counterpart Foz de Iguazú and the...

Culture / History / Off-the-beaten-path / Off-the-cuff / South America

Jewish Holocaust Memorial – Montevideo, Uruguay

While walking along the Montevideo waterfront, I happened upon a plaque which announced (in Spanish) the Jewish Holocaust Memorial. So I followed the short path toward the waterline to check it out. The memorial itself is very simple yet incredibly powerful. It consists entirely of just two sections of sea...

Active / Nature / Off-the-beaten-path / South America / Tropics

Iguazú: The best waterfall you’ve never heard of… before today

Reportedly, upon seeing Iguazú Falls, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt exclaimed, “Oh poor Niagara!” Having been to both, I can say that Iguazú is by far the more impressive of the two. It is several times larger. Like Niagara, Iguazú Falls marks the border between two countries. In this case, Argentina...

Off-the-beaten-path / South America / Wandering

Argentina Beyond Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires may be the largest city in Argentina and the most European in all of the Americas, but Argentina is a huge country and there is a whole lot more to it than just Buenos Aires. I can’t claim to have seen much of Argentina outside its principle city....