Tobago is surrounded by some of the richest and most colourful reefs in the Caribbean, with 40 different kinds of coral and more than 600 species of fish. Where we were, at Buccoo, the water is so shallow that the only way to get a close look without damaging the coral is from a boat. A marine park since 1973, the bay has five reef flats containing elkhorn, brain, starlet and star corals, beautiful in their own right, but also home to manta rays, reef sharks and more brightly coloured fish than the entire cast of Finding Nemo.
By the time we reached Nylon Bay the water was calmer - and, thankfully, so was my churning stomach. The sandbar was given its name after a honeymooning Princess Margaret quipped that the water was as clear as her stockings. As well as offering an opportunity to cool off in the shallow waters, the bay is also the place to indulge in a DIY skincare routine - the seabed mud is said to have rejuvenating properties.
You can find the full article here
Monday, June 12, 2006
La Rural, the annual Argentine Rural Society Fair in Buenos Aires
Plesantly tepid water poured down Señor Sol's regal head, washing away a rich lather of shampoo. An outsized blower dried his auburn hair into crisp curls. His pedicure created a sheen. There was a hint of a smile on his sensuous pink lips. Ah, the life of a young Hereford stud ... especially on championship eve at La Rural, the annual Argentine Rural Society Fair in Buenos Aires.
Jorge Luis Ayala waits his turn to wash his bull. More Photos »
Señor Sol is one of 4,000 gorgeous breeders — cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, horses and poultry — that are on display for the two winter weeks straddling July and August at the 50-square-block fair grounds in Palermo, the city's wealthiest neighborhood. La Rural is also an opportunity for upper-crust ranchers and farmers — called estancieros — to gather at what has been the country's great annual social event ever since it started 120 years ago.
There are livestock fairs all over the world from Fort Worth to Paris, but nothing quite compares to the pageantry, historical magnitude and pure fun of La Rural, which attracts more than a million spectators — Argentines and foreigners — many of whom crowd the viewing stands to watch the judging of the champions.
You can find the full article here
Jorge Luis Ayala waits his turn to wash his bull. More Photos »
Señor Sol is one of 4,000 gorgeous breeders — cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, horses and poultry — that are on display for the two winter weeks straddling July and August at the 50-square-block fair grounds in Palermo, the city's wealthiest neighborhood. La Rural is also an opportunity for upper-crust ranchers and farmers — called estancieros — to gather at what has been the country's great annual social event ever since it started 120 years ago.
There are livestock fairs all over the world from Fort Worth to Paris, but nothing quite compares to the pageantry, historical magnitude and pure fun of La Rural, which attracts more than a million spectators — Argentines and foreigners — many of whom crowd the viewing stands to watch the judging of the champions.
You can find the full article here
Paraguay
You can tell a lot about a country from its national heroes. In Paraguay they revere Francisco Solano Lopez, whose statue still stands in the centre of the capital, Asuncion. Lopez was a tyrant, who ruled Paraguay in succession to his father from 1862 to 1870. He was also a paranoid megalomaniac, who murdered members of his own family on suspicion of plotting against him, waged a disastrous five-year war against Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay in which three-quarters (yes, three-quarters) of his people died, and who kept as his mistress an Irish gold-digger called Eliza Lynch, notorious for parading on the battlefield in the latest imported Paris fashions while the flower of Paraguayan manhood starved beside her. As a nation, it seems to be a good definition of the word "forlorn".
This benighted nation has an unenviable reputation: the most corrupt country in South America; the smuggling and counterfeiting capital of the continent; a state burdened by almost 200 years of dictatorship - a yoke only thrown off in 1989. Yet because Paraguay is so far off the beaten track, it is a good place to find the real spirit of South America. The typical small town in Paraguay is a montage of peeling paintwork, dusty streets and weatherworn faces with gently creased smiles. It feels like the Wild West but with no imminent danger of anything much happening.
This land-locked nation is a sleepy backwater where, it is said, some of the pale-skinned locals are descended from Nazi war criminals. It is a country of exiles. Graham Greene loved it. He lived and wrote at the Hotel Gran del Paraguay in Asuncion, a fading colonial relic which manages the undemanding achievement of having the best restaurant in Paraguay. Among the exiles are 10,000 Mennonites. The men wear black and the women are clothed from head to toe, their pale faces scorched pink by the harsh sun. Conversation is in the throaty burble of Platdeutsch (low German), and the local paper is named Aktuelle Rundschau.
You can find the full article here
This benighted nation has an unenviable reputation: the most corrupt country in South America; the smuggling and counterfeiting capital of the continent; a state burdened by almost 200 years of dictatorship - a yoke only thrown off in 1989. Yet because Paraguay is so far off the beaten track, it is a good place to find the real spirit of South America. The typical small town in Paraguay is a montage of peeling paintwork, dusty streets and weatherworn faces with gently creased smiles. It feels like the Wild West but with no imminent danger of anything much happening.
This land-locked nation is a sleepy backwater where, it is said, some of the pale-skinned locals are descended from Nazi war criminals. It is a country of exiles. Graham Greene loved it. He lived and wrote at the Hotel Gran del Paraguay in Asuncion, a fading colonial relic which manages the undemanding achievement of having the best restaurant in Paraguay. Among the exiles are 10,000 Mennonites. The men wear black and the women are clothed from head to toe, their pale faces scorched pink by the harsh sun. Conversation is in the throaty burble of Platdeutsch (low German), and the local paper is named Aktuelle Rundschau.
You can find the full article here
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