Argentina & Brazil Experience (Start Buenos Aires, end Rio de Janeiro)

Buenos Aires is one of the largest cities of Latin America, a major world port, and Argentina’s commercial and social center. Heavily industrialized, he city is one of the world’s leading exporters of processed foods. It was founded in 1536, abandoned, then resettled in 1580, and was the first Latin American city to revolt (1810) against Spanish rule.

Officially independent in 1816, it became the capital of a united Argentina in 1862. It grew into an urban colossus in the late 19th century, when railroads into the agriculturally abundant pampa to the west began to supplement the great inland river transportation system that linked the city with Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil, and immigration from Europe increased. Famous landmarks include the 19th century cathedral, the opera house, and the many beautiful municipal parks.

Situated in the Parque Nacional Iguazú near Puerto Iguazú, these spectacular falls lie just east of the confluence of the Iguazu and Paraná rivers. At least 5000 cubic m of water per second plunge the 70m into the abyss below. If they look familiar, it’s because they were the supporting actors in the film The Mission; appropriately, the area has historic ruins of Jesuit missions which also draw many visitors. San Ignacio Miní, built in a style of architecture known as ‘Guaraní
baroque’, is especially popular. Above the falls, the waters are suitable for canoeing, kayaking and other water sports. The surrounding park is home to 55,000 hectares of pristine subtropical rainforest, with abundant wildlife and plant species.

Rio de Janeiro, (rê´o dâ zhe-nâr´o) city (1990 est. pop. 6,042,000), SE Brazil, capital of Rio de Janeiro state, former capital of Brazil, on Guanabara Bay of the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil’s second largest city and principal port, Rio (as it is popularly called) has diverse manufactures and handles much of the nation’s foreign trade. It is predominantly a modern city, with a new airport and subway system. A cosmopolitan city, long the cultural center of Brazil, it is also its greatest tourist
attraction. Rio is celebrated for its pre-Lenten carnival and for its beautiful natural setting within an amphitheater of low mountains. Noted landmarks are Sugar Loaf Mt., which dominates the harbor, and Corcovado peak, with its colossal statue of Jesus. Founded by French Huguenots in 1555, the city was taken by Portugal in the 1560s. It replaced Bahia (now Salvador) as Brazil’s capital in 1763 and was supplanted by Brasília in 1960.