Destination: South America
How to Eat Ceviche in Lima
by Nicholas Gill | 08.15.08 | 11:00 AM ET
Photos by Nicholas Gill 
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Yahoo! BuzzR.I.P. Ballooning Brazilian Priest
by Michael Yessis | 08.01.08 | 11:31 AM ET
Father Adelir Antonio de Carli was found off the Brazilian coast this week. The priest had taken flight in April via hundreds of helium-filled balloons to “help raise money for a chapel for truckers in his highway parish,” Reuters reports.
Related on World Hum:
* Lawn Chair Ballooning: Serene or Idiotic?
How the Miss Universe Pageant Explains the World
by Jim Benning | 07.14.08 | 5:03 PM ET
Let’s face it, the Miss Universe pageant isn’t just about beauty. It’s about flaunting power on the world stage. It’s a metaphor for geopolitics. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Miss USA, Crystle Stewart—a Texan—tripped on her jewel-encrusted dress at the pageant yesterday in Vietnam, not unlike her Miss USA predecessor did so famously in Mexico a year earlier. These have been rough times for Miss USA winners around the globe. We can only hope that next year we’ll see a real change in the way the next Miss USA conducts herself abroad.
U.S. Ambassador is a Pop Star in Paraguay
by Jim Benning | 07.02.08 | 12:07 PM ET
If we could just replicate James Cason a thousand times over. The U.S. ambassador to Paraguay not only learned to speak Guaraní, the indigenous language spoken by most Paraguayans, but he has recorded a hit album (pictured) of Paraguayan folk songs in the language. Now, just a month before his posting ends and he leaves the country, he finds himself a pop star in Paraguay, featured on TV and in newspapers.
Please Don’t Hack the Earlobes Off Easter Island’s Big Stone Heads
by Jim Benning | 06.30.08 | 12:46 PM ET
Seriously. Archaeologists and others are worried that surging tourism on Easter Island is bad news for the island’s iconic Moais. We noted that, in March, a Finnish tourist cut an earlobe off one head. It turns out that’s but one of many threats to the big stone heads. “More tourism, more deterioration. More visitors, more loss,” an archaeologist tells the AP.
Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas: Three Great Films
by World Hum | 06.23.08 | 4:08 PM ET
Favelas in Rio de Janeiro are largely stateless, marginalized places mostly controlled by drug gangs. A number of filmmakers have explored the inequality and violence found there, and the result has made for powerful and, at times, controversial movies. Such is the case with the recent Brazilian film “Tropa De Elite” (“Elite Squad”). The award-winning film is told from the point of view of a fictional cop, Captain Nascimento, who is a member of Rio’s police special-forces unit. With a child on the way, Nascimento wants to survive his last mission: pacifying a favela before the Pope arrives. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been widely released, and it isn’t available with English subtitles on DVD, but here are three great films you can easily find:
Inside Slum Tourism
by Rob Verger | 06.23.08 | 3:55 PM ET
With mixed feelings, Rob Verger recently signed on for a tour of Rio de Janeiro's favelas. He looks back on the experience -- and the photos he was allowed to take.
See the full audio slideshow: »
Undiscovered Tribe in Brazil Not so Undiscovered After All
by Michael Yessis | 06.23.08 | 3:51 PM ET
Turns out the alleged never-been-contacted tribe in Brazil has been known to the world since 1910. According to the Guardian, the man behind the infamous image of the red-painted tribesmen says he “planned the publicity to protect them and other tribes in similar danger of losing the habitat in which they have flourished for hundreds of years.”
Slumming in Rio
by Rob Verger | 06.23.08 | 3:15 PM ET
Slum tourism is on the rise. But are the guided tours educational or exploitive? Rob Verger joined one in Rio de Janeiro's impoverished favelas to find out.
Arthur Frommer on ‘Touristic Vandalism’
by Eva Holland | 06.09.08 | 12:17 PM ET
In March, we heard about the Finnish tourist who chipped an earlobe off one of Easter Island’s moai. Then, two weeks ago, mystery vandals took a hammer and screwdriver to Stonehenge. Vandalism at major cultural sites is nothing new, but with these recent incidents, it’s had a higher profile lately. In this Globe and Mail story, Arthur Frommer offers a possible solution:
Attachment and Loss at 10,000 Feet
by Leigh Ann Henion | 06.05.08 | 3:09 PM ET
Leigh Ann Henion often fears losing her past. When she met up with an 8-year-old girl at a festival in Cuenca, Ecuador, the last thing she expected was a lesson in living in the present.
New Travel Book: ‘On a Hoof and a Prayer’
by Frank Bures | 06.04.08 | 10:51 AM ET
Full title: “On a Hoof and a Prayer: Exploring Argentina at a Gallop”
Author: Polly Evans
Released: April 29, 2008
Travel genre: Larkish travel, equine travel
Territory covered: Patagonia, Argentina
Che Guevara: Revolutionary, Icon, ‘the Guy Who Invented Those Mojitos’?
by Jim Benning | 06.02.08 | 12:13 PM ET
Uh, something like that. In Sunday’s Los Angeles Times, Ben Ehrenreich reflects on Che as pop icon, Steven Soderbergh’s Che and “Chevolution,” an intriguing new documentary about the famed Alberto Korda photo.
Jungle Paparazzo in Airplane Photographs ‘Uncontacted’ Tribe in Brazil
by Jim Benning | 05.30.08 | 11:13 AM ET
Wild story. I’m guessing an adventure travel outfitter is already organizing an Amazon trek, complete with an overnight stay with the never-before-contacted tribe.
We Just Can’t Quit You, Quito
by Jim Benning | 05.19.08 | 11:08 AM ET
Last May, we noted that a $200 million renovation project in Ecuador’s capital was bearing fruit: crime was down, beauty was up and, according to some, old colonial Quito was worth more than a stopover en route to the Galapagos or Amazon. Today, the Los Angeles Times also reports on the city’s revitalization-in-progress. “Helped by foreign donors, the city now spends nearly $70 million a year restoring downtown landmarks,” Chris Kraul writes. “Recent projects include the centuries-old Jesuit La Compania, La Merced and San Francisco churches.”
Related on World Hum:
* In Cuenca, Ecuador, a ‘Spare, Unhurried, Bohemian Life’
Photo by L.Marcio_Ramalho via Flickr, (Creative Commons).