I have just arrived in Santiago,Chile, enroute to Mendoza, Argentina. There is not enough time to leave the airport to catch the subway into the city. It is a bright spring morning and there should be some great views of the snowy Andes as I cross them. SCL is one of the more pleasant airports in South America and very economical due to the peso being 649 to the dollar. When I was here 8 months ago it was 390 to one dollar.

More [osts later today from Argentina.

FOR ADVENTURES IN CHILE, CLICK HERE

Last Monday morning I flew from Miami up to New York for the week, as I often do. The flight is just a short commuter hop and normally I just read or work on the BlackBook. On this flight we took a slight Eastward track and got a great view of Grand Bahama – only about 20 minutes after takeoff from MIA.

On week from tomorrow night I will board a LAN flight down to Santiago, Chile. The next morning I will connect to fly across the Andes to Mendoza, arriving late Monday morning. Though Spring is well underway, the Andes will still be under a deep snowpack, so there should be some excellent photo opportunities. I will be traveling along the “White Wall” from Mendoza all the way up to the high desert city of Salta near the Bolivian border. Then back down toBuenos Aires for a couple of days before returning to Miami.

From MIA last night, I boarded TAM for São Paulo. We landed at 6:30, on a late winter morning . GRU was 48 degrees- refreshing. At 8 I was on another plane North to Brasilia. As it turned out I had a 4 hour layover, so rather than hang around the airport, I took a public bus into town.

Brasilia – 1960’s Utopia

Planned utopian cities were the dream of many a 1950’s urban planner. Luckily most of them remained dreams. However, the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer’s Jetsonian masterpiece became reality when it was finished in 1961.

Seen from the air at night the city resembles a giant jet plane.

The entire city is laid out into sectors. In the “Pilot Area” is the Presidential Palace – pictured at the top of this post – double buildings next to flying saucers. Government buildings go down the fuselage. The wings are residential. All shopping is in one center, all hotels in another sector, etc.

This video was taken this morning from the Torre TV 75 meters up.

Life is calm and pleasant – no traffic, garbage, pollution and very little crime – in other words not like Brazil at all. Unfortunately there is little of Brazil’s excitement and culture. Like New Yorkers forced to work in Albany, government workers pack the planes south to Rio and São Paulo every Thursday night and back again on Monday morning.

For those who enjoy modern architecture and urban planning, Brasilia is a must –see.

After 3 hours I went back to the airport and took to the skies again – this time to Palmas, about 500 miles North of Brasilia.

The roads we will be on tomorrow !

We had to abort our first landing attempt due to high crosswinds blowing in from the desert. The second attempt was successful.

Our group of adventure travel experts, from the USA,England,Germany,Russia,Portugal and Canada, as well as a leader from EMBRATUR was picked up by Korubu.

For the next six days ArcticTropic will be on expedition. There will be no posts due to no satellite,internet,even cell phone – ArcticTropic will practice what it preaches – True Adventure !
Next Tuesday, September 2nd there will be many posts on each day afield.

FOR ADVENTURES IN BRAZIL, CLICK HERE

On Tuesday morning my 2 sons and I will fly from Miami to Mexico City. We will explore Teotihuacan ( pictured here) , the volcanoes in Ixta-Popo and do some mountain horseback riding. The boys are 7 and 11 – looking forward to some real adventure travel. Stay tuned to ArcticTropic Blog this week.

Since I abide by the US Treasury Department regulations,and to avoid angering my fellow Miamians – I have never set foot on Cuban soil. However, during my many trips to South America, I have flown over Cuba many times. Cuba will be an adventure paradise for a LONG time – thousands of kilometers of untouched beaches,wild tropical mountains, unfished, unpolluted reefs and deep seas. Above is Matanzas Bay.

Unproductive Farmland.

Gitmo Bay in the distance.

Santiago.

Cayo Coco

Three days after crossing by bus in 8 hours, I fly over the same route in 45 minutes. There is a longer version coming from blip.tv as YouTube does not accept video over 10 MB.

For over 50 Argentine Adventure destinations on Arctic Tropic click here

Yesterday afternoon I flew from Buenos Aires to Santiago. I had hoped to take pictures from the plane, but the view was obscured by clouds. I do have some pictures of the Argentine pampas that I’ll put up later today. The photos were taken in August,2004 – the middle of winter – hence the thick snow cover. Now at the end of summer, there is only snow on the highest peaks.

FOR ADVENTURES IN CHILE, CLICK HERE

Tonight I board LAN Argentina Flight 4521 from Miami to Buenos Aires. It’s the start of a twelve day trip to both Argentina and Chile. The main focus of the journey is to meet adventure travel operators throughout the region. I will be posting several times daily , with many beautiful pictures.

The Crown of the Mid Atlantic Ridge.Only four hours from New York and three from London – the newest Country on Earth.

FOR ADVENTURES IN ICELAND, CLICK HERE