South America Cruise: Ushuaia to 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.

A Chilean naval base on Navarino Island. Navarino is home to virgin forests, snow covered mountains, massive glaciers and rich bird life. The island is unspoiled and offers exceptional hiking opportunities.

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.

Stanley is a miniature capital, where the masts of old sailing ships stick up haphazardly out of the little harbour and the government house is a little more than a medium-sized Victorian home. There is little to remind visitors of the Falklands war.

Be sure to visit the post office to purchase the extraordinary Falklands commemorative stamps. Many of them depict the Island’s rich variety of wildlife. Unhampered by human encroachment, the Falklands’ huge populations of penguins, black-browed albatross, sea lions, fur seals and elephant seals are totally unafraid of visitors.