Iguazu Falls - One of the Best

Leaving the cold climate of Patagonia, we landed at hot and humid Iguazu Falls one of Earth's great waterfalls. We visited on the Argentinian side this time. The falls are tremendous to witness and no one leaves unimpressed.


Looking up the channel of the Iguazu River to the Garganta del Diablo - translated as the Throat of the Devil. The spray is voluminous and partially blocks a full full of the falls.


Here is a close-up view of the lip of the falls. The power is immense.


Walks on the Argentinian side of the falls have many of these little cascades. I have visited the Brazilian side many times where most of the water is found.


We took a ride in one of these boats on the river. We had to put the cameras away for that one.


Shown is an aerial view of the falls from our jet with Argentian on the laft and Brazil on the right. Notice how wide the river is above the falls (about a mile) but how it drains into a very narrow channel (only 600 feet) below. The falls are eroding upstream and capturing a quite sluggish river. This happens very slowly at only about 3 feet every 1000 years.

Rounding Cape Horn By Boat

I've been out of e-contact for the last part of this trip because of the lack of online services. After leaving Buenos Aires we flew south to Patagonia and the southern city of Ushuaia, Argentina. Here we boarded the Mare Australus for a cruise in the fjords of the Beagle Channel and chance to see the famous Cape Horn. We were not disappointed in these endeavors.






A look inside of our Explorer jet. There is lots of room but no place to stand and hang out. Everyone sits in a first class seat and there is a chef on board.









Flying in to Ushuaia, we got a great view of the mountains on the island of Tierra del Fuego. It is a fantastic place with usually stormy weather but our luck held and the views were spectacular.








Here is Mt. Olivia to the east of Ushuaia. The rocks here are metamorphic for the most part and formed in the Mesozoic Era (about 120 Ma) as part of the Pacific Ocean subduction complex beneath the western edge of South America.







Here it is - the southern end of South America - Cape Horn. We arrived on a rare cloudless, still day and were able to go ashore. This is a view south towards Antarctica only 600 miles away. The sea doesn't look like a washing machine on days like these.









The lighthouse at Cape Horn, manned by members of the Chilean Navy









Here is a monument to all of the sailors lost at sea while rounding the Horn. The number who lost their lives is estimated at 10,000 souls. Can you see what is represented in the monument?










Self portrait from Cape Horn monument. The answer to the question above - it's an albatross, symbol of those who lost their lives here.








After leaving the cape we sailed north to Wulaia Bay, visited by Charles Darwin in 1834. This was a rich gathering place for Yamana Indians, the worlds southernmost people. We hiked into a beech forest when I snapped this shot towards the bay.







The Yamana are totally extinct now, savaged by disease and a program of extermination in the late 1800's. Fortunately, photographs survive of these amazing people, who lived in a very cold place without the use of much clothing. This image is one I used in my lecture about Patagonia.














Looking towards an oncoming storm. This was one of the rare times we received rain on this trip.











Here's the Pia Glacier as it spills out from the Darwin Range on the island of Tierra del Fuego. It has receded a great deal in the last 30 years.









More Pia Glacier












Just 30 years ago, this rock was buried in ice. The glacial striations that were etched into it are evident and it was features like these that gave geologists the evidence for prior Ice Ages.









The rocks beneath the ice show evidence for massive amounts of compression in the creation of the Patagonian landscape. This cliff face, almost 1,000 feet high, shows how the rocks were bent almost 180 degrees.








Folding of the rocks (at depth where they are ductile and not brittle) is evident on many scales. This basalt intrusion was variably folded (see sandal for scale).

Buenos Aires, Argentina

One of my favorite cities, I think this stop has been the best so far for me. Since I was here just one year ago and we did basically the same things then, I will refer you to that post dated January 15 to 18, 2008. There you will find pictures of this fantastic hotel, the gauchos and city scenes. Check it out. Here are few more pictures from this trip of the Recoleta Cemetery. The recent plane crash in Flagstaff where two popular river guides were killed causes all of us to wonder about life and death. Here in Buenos Aires, the mystery of death to us humans is evident.

Central Buenos Aires and the Rio de La Plata from 10,000 feet.


One of the many alley ways in Recoleta Cemetery, where Buenos Aires elite have been buried since the mid-1800's. Families pay rent to keep there ancestors remains here and sometimes people will even rent space for a casket for only 4 days just to say that their relatives had a funeral in Recoleta.


Many of the mausoleums are ornate with marble and other stone. Many of these mausoleums have 3 or four stories beneath the ground to accommodate the remains of the many generations inside.






One could look for hours at these plaques and find them interesting. I was taken by this one that told a story of one D. Antonio F. Celesia. He was obviously well-liked by many as reads his plaque: "To Professor D. Antonio F. Celesia - From your college disciples and friends".








And a representation of him at work in his chosen profession - a doctor of physiology who taught his students how to know the human body.












This is the mausoleum of the Duarte family and their most famous daughter, Eva Peron.





Eva Peron's plaque.





Look at the detail in this marble statue of a woman holding the door to the family mausoleum. As individual mortals, we forever try to keep the flame of life alive, baffled by those rare but important days when our loved ones do not awaken forever more. By giving scenes of life like this to burial grounds, we try to eases the pain by invoking ideas that something must lie beyond the darkness. Yet common sense and connecting the dots reveals that we are given only so much time - and then are away, making room for other lives. In this way, we perhaps never die. We must make our lives meaningful while alive in the here and now and not concern ourselves with morbid thoughts of our mortality.


For us, the living, life goes on. We go about the business of our lives are try not to think that one day we too will be called to inhabit the cemeteries of the dead. It is as it should be and we cannot change it. Peace and love to Tom and Frank, taken too soon from us. We are reminded of the good you left us. On to Patagonia for now. Love.

Rio de Janeiro - After All These Years

Not too long after leaving the Mid-Atlantic region we saw the edge of the New World and the coast of Brazil. I remember looking at the 10-day forecast for Rio about a week ago and there were 10 days of thunderstorms predicted with 60% chance of rain each day. Rio can be sloppy in the rain but it turned out that a break in the weather greeted our arrival. Have a look.

Here is a large river in central Brazil that appeared from under the breaking clouds. It was obviously in flood from the recent heavy rains and silt-laden. I tried to find the name of this on Google Earth but with no luck.






Rio de Janeiro and Guanabara Bay from 10,000 feet. A spectacular view of a spectacular place (remember the harbor at Rio de Janeiro is one of the traditional Seven Natural Wonders of the World). Copacabana Beach center left and downtown at the top of the bay


Here is a look at the front of our hotel, the Copacabana Palace, facing the Atlantic Ocean


The weather was fantastic for just this one day in between storms. This picture is taken from the top of the Corcovado where the Christ statue is located (itself voted as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007). The Sugar Loaf Mt. (Pão de Açucar) is obvious in the center. Most people in the north do not realize that the coast of South America here runs east and west with the mouth of the harbor (upper left) faces south. This is a view to the east in early morning light. To me Rio is like a blend of San Francisco and Yosemite Valley - a world class city in a world class location.


Here is the famous Copacabana Beach on a Sunday afternoon. So alive, so Brazil. Brazilians are typically not afraid to show their bodies in public no matter how old or wrinkled they may be. This can be a bit of a shock to those who grow up "Puritan-Land" to the north. To me, there always seems to be just a bit of a disconnect between these guilt-free southerners and us who shelter our skin from the cold and snow. One of the great challenges in traveling to, and learning about, foreign lands and people is to see life through the lens of their eyes, rather than drift towards the tendency to judge with our own. On a trip like this, I am reminded constantly about the need to experience rather than judge. But sorry guys, no close-ups of the string bikini's!


From the top of the Pão de Açucar, a wide view of Copacabana Beach, 3 miles long and teeming with throngs of worshipers who call this tropical city paradise.


From the top of the Sugar Loaf, I took this picture of the rocks around the entrance to Guanabara Bay. The water in the bay is highly polluted (skanky is an appropriate term that might be too soft of a word). The Brazilians have many challenges that face them if they want to clean this mess up. But above the shoreline, it is quite spectacular. The Santa Cruz Fort can be seen in the center and guarded the bay from envious French and Dutch sailors and pirates.


Lagoa da Freitas from Corcovado

Ascención Island - The Middle of the Atlantic Ocean!

A rule in aviation is that aircraft with only two engines (like our 757) can never be more than 3 hours from a landing strip. So instead of flying straight across from Cape Town to Rio, we needed to fly far north to a tiny speck of land known as Ascención Island, just 65 miles west of the submerged Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This was quite a treat for our group (maybe I'm stretching the truth here). But I was definitely happy to stop at this outpost in the middle of the sea - it was vivid with volcanic features and we received permission to do a flying tour of the island before we stopped to refuel at a runway - reserved as one of the emergency landing strips for the space shuttle. Here is a photo tour of a place very few people ever see.

Here's the approach to Ascención Island after a six hour flight from Cape Town. Our trip is making the transition from Africa to South America!

And a view of most of the island as our captain positions the jet for great views. Air traffic control was more than happy to let us fly where we wanted.

Although it is under a cloud, you can make out the runway in this pic just to the left of the obvious cinder cone. A photo of this cone from ground level is included below.

The island is over 2 miles tall but three-fourths of it is under the sea. The oldest flows are one million years old and there have not been any historic flows at all (since AD 1501). But geologists note that eruptions have probably occurred since AD 1000. You can easily see some excellent lava features on one of the younger flows in this shot.

Surprisingly, there are a number of trachyte and rhyolite flows on the northeast side of the island. Ascención is not directly on top of the mid-ocean ridge - it's about 65 miles west of that. It has erupted on a the Acención Fracture Zone and is part of a hot spot.

Here's the view of the tarmac as I exited the jet.

Our Explorer jet on Acención Island.

The NASA tracking station on top of a relatively recent cinder cone.

One for the records!

Cape Town, South Africa

After leaving the desert our trip descended on Cape Town, South Africa, one of my favorite destinations. Maybe its the similarity in climate and feel to my roots in southern California. Or maybe its just that 'Seouth Afreca' has a character that is too interesting and compelling to ignore. After all, this is the land of Nelson Mandela, who brought down apartheid and then had the audacity to say 'No retribution, look to the future'. Compare this to Zimbabwe the land of painful retribution.

I love history! And it really comes alive for me when I see a classic old painting done by someone who was "there". Here is a Dutch painting of a supply ship entering Table Bay in the late 1600's.


And a very similar view of Table Bay and Cape Town in 2009 when I flew here on a helicopter!





The cable car to the top of Table Mountain actually spins as you go up, giving a great view of the city and the wall of sandstone behind it. The sandstone is Cambro-Ordovician in age (about 500 to 450 Ma) and is interpreted to be laid down in near-shore river systems from today's north.







Lion's head - a familiar landmark west of the city center, is also composed of these bedded sandstones.





This is a shot from the helicopter of Cape Point, near the Cape of Good Hope - made famous in zillions of American 4th grade classes. What a treat to actually come here and see it. Ironically, it is not the southernmost point in Africa - that would be Cape Agulhas about 120 miles farther east of here.





Precambrian/Phanerozoic contact in South Africa. The light colored Cape Granite (below the road) intruded about 540 Ma and the darker seds were laid on top about 70 to 100 million years later. I have seen this contact in many places around the world - Saudi Arabia, Jordan and of course The Great Unconformity at Grand Canyon.