Recommend January 2014 - (Page 88)

VENEZUELA ARGENTINA BRAZIL GUYANA Buenos Aires There are dozens of good reasons to stay awhile in Buenos Aires, Argentina's lively cosmopolitan capital with a well-deserved reputation for offering some of the best of everything on the continent-best restaurants, best shopping, best nightlight and best hotels. BEST PLACE TO STAY Everyone's talking about luxe-boutiques, such as the 11-room Hub Porteño and 30-room Mio Buenos Aires in the chic La Recoleta district. BEST NATURE EXPERIENCE Visitors ﬂy to Iguazu Falls-higher and wider than Niagara-that stretch almost two miles across the Argentine/Brazilian border. This is a lush region-home to subtropical rainforests, Jesuit ruins, and the wildlife haven of Esteros del Ibera, a natural wetland of swamps, lakes and lagoons. Also, ﬂy to either Puerto Madryn or Trelew and ﬁnd an Atlantic coast wildlife zone with dozens of land and sea birds, sea-faring mammals lolling about the beaches, and rheas, guanacos and maras loping about the windswept plains. A major sea lion colony and southern right whales (April to December) hug the coast at Puerto Piramides; 100 miles south ﬁnd the largest rookery of Magellanic penguins in the world at Punta Tombo; farther south, colonies of elephant seals-males weighing up to three tons-socializing on the beaches. Take a day or a 2-night cruise to explore the Upsala, Spegazzini and Perito Moreno glaciers of Los Glacieres National Park outside El Calafate. BEST CULTURAL EXPERIENCE Mendoza is the ultimate vine-to-glass pilgrimage for wine lovers, who can really get involved during the annual crush (Vendimia) that comes at the end of the March harvest. Follow Los Caminos del Vino (southerly Valle de Uco is the best) that embraces some 80 wineries that offer tours and tastings. On Sundays, snare a ringside seat on Plaza Dorrego when the weekly San Telmo Antiques Fair is in full swing and tango dancers perform on every corner. BEST KEPT SECRET Go northwest to colonial Salta and Jujuy's gaucho country. Also, drive the roads of Quebrada de Humahuaca, a world of rainbow-colored Andean and desert landscapes as well as remains from a pre-Incan past. FACTS BEST TIME TO GO: Summer in Brazil (December through March) is hot; winter months (June through September) are mild to cool and cooler, depending on latitude and altitude; in Amazonia, the dry season lasts from June to December FUN FACT: Sure the samba was born in Brazil; however, so were other undulating dance rhythms: lambada, ferro and bossa nova GETTING THERE: Delta ﬂies from Atlanta to Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro; and from Atlanta, Detroit and New York (JFK) to São Paulo ENTRY DOCUMENTS: Valid passport, valid for six months beyond Brazil visit; and a tourist reciprocity visa, obtained in the U.S. The visa cost is $160, valid for 10 years. For Canadians, the cost is $72 CURRENCY: Brazilian Real MUST-TRY NATIVE FOOD: Feijoada, the national dish and traditionally served on Saturday, is a black bean stew, simmered for hours with meats such as sausage, beef, and pork, and served with rice, farofa (manioc ﬂour), orange slices and stir-fried cabbage BEST BUYS: Brazilian gem stones, leather goods, wood carvings, sports clothes, bikinis, and shoes INFORMATION PLEASE: Embratur, Ministry of Tourism-visitbrasil.com FACTS BEST TIME TO GO: The most beautiful months are October and November when the jacaranda trees are abloom, also fall (MarchMay) and spring (September-November) FUN FACT: Beef is the favorite meat in Argentina: domestic consumption per capita in 2010 was 126 lbs., surpassed in the world only by neighboring Uruguay GETTING THERE: Delta ﬂies from Atlanta to Buenos Aires ENTRY DOCUMENTS: Valid passport for six months after departure date, and tourist visa, which must be obtained prior to arrival from an Argentina consulate or online-visa cost is $160, valid for 10 years CURRENCY: Argentine Peso MUST-TRY NATIVE FOOD: Argentine steaks, but a tasty rival is lamb, cooked for hours asado-style (over coals) at the estancias of Patagonia. Empanadas, of course, anytime, everywhere BEST BUYS: Woolen and leather goods, silver work (from jewelry to gaucho belt buckles, ornate spurs to antique silverwares) INFORMATION PLEASE: Argentine Government Tourist Ofﬁce-turismo.gov.ar or argentina.travel Brasilia Founded in 1960, the capital is internationally known and enjoyed for its modernism in urban design and architecture, carried out by Lucio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer whose boldest work is perhaps the Metropolitan Cathedral, with landscaping (seeded with plants from the Amazon) by Burle Marx. And do dine around, for the capital has one of the highest concentrations of starred restaurants in the country. BEST PLACE TO STAY While here, stay by the lake at the Royal Tulip Brasilia Alvorada, although business travelers usually head to the hotel sector, staying perhaps at the Tryp Convention or the Sonesta Brasilia. BEST NATURE EXPERIENCE Brasilia's a great gateway to part of the greater Amazon Basin. The Pantanal, the world's largest freshwater marshland, shelters one of the last reserves of untouched wildlife on earth, a true ecological sanctuary of vast lowland plains, crisscrossed by rivers and dotted with lakes. Jaguar, caiman, capybara, peccaries and hundreds of species of birds ﬁll the Pantanal to make this a truly natural paradise. BEST CULTURAL EXPERIENCE Drive 200 miles west from the capital to Goias Velho, a former gold mining town that is one of the best-preserved colonial towns in Brasilia. Its historic center is also a little-known UNESCO World Heritage site. On view are seven colonial churches, the most impressive being the 18h century Igreja de São Francisco de Paula. BEST SPORTING LIFE The 2014 World Cup venue is Estadio Nacional de Brasilia (capacity 71,500). BEST KEPT SECRET A helicopter ride offers the best seat in the house to see that the city is laid out in the shape of an airplane. 66 D66-D75.indd 66 12/20/13 9:28 AM http://Office-turismo.gov.ar http://www.Tourism-visitbrasil.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend January 2014

Editor's Notes
Hotel Desk: Aloft Hotels
Tour Talk: Swain Destinations
Uniworld's Queen Isabel
Disney Magic
Delta Air Lines Travel Guide 2014
Macau
Egypt Update
Scandinavia Exposed
B Hotels & Resorts
What's New in Las Vegas

Recommend January 2014