On The Road Again We're back! After 7 frustrating days of waiting on hold with our less-than-stellar hosting company, and taking 2 steps back for every one step of progress thanks to their policy of not allowing technical support to speak with customers... we've finally fixed the issue! As we had expected, Startlogic had upgraded us to a new platform. It turns out platform 2.0 required programmers to do a number of changes to make sure that the files corresponded to the new platform. It... Read Full Story

No News is Not Good News Three days later and still no site... sorry! There does seem to be movement at Startlogic though! After many, many hours on hold with tech support they have identified the issue and recognized that it is their fault. It seems they finally (after at least a year) upgrade us to the new platform they are rolling out without any warning. In  the usual Startlogic way, they also managed to lose half the files when they did the migration! So... it's a work in progress. In... Read Full Story

Snafued by Startlogic Again Every few months it's something new... the folks at Startlogic (our hosting company) have done it again. This time it was during an 'upgrade' which they have been trying to roll out since last summer. It seems our ticket was up today. They appear to have switched us to the new platform, but forgot to transfer the proper files along with it. So... when you go to the site, you will now see the very first version of our website -- in Latin! As per usual it will take... Read Full Story

Travel to Brazil With Kids The New York Times Travel Q&A column recently posted some suggestions for those planning to travel to Brazil with children. Many of the suggestions apply equally to adults: avoid tap water, strong currents and pollution, apply sunscreen liberally, etc. The comments beneath the article provide more substantial suggestions. Read how to spend a rainy day in Rio for recommendations of museums and other fairweather options. Travel Advice & Recommendations From Local... Read Full Story

Floods in Peru The strike's may be calming down in Peru but the weather is definitely acting up! If you???re travelling to southern Peru (Puno, Cusco or Arequipa) or are looking forward to spending sunny days in the north of Peru, notice that heavy rain is expected in both areas until the month of April.  In the north zone of the country, the city of Tumbes has been severely affected by rivers overflowing causing floods and landslides. In Cusco, the city of Aguas Calientes is working on... Read Full Story

Lots to do in Rio This Weekend Carioca's may pause to take a breath after the Carnival celebrations but Rio de Janeiro hardly shuts down. This weekend is filled with events: Tonight: Steel Pulse in concert at Vivo Rio. This world-famous British reggae band will be performing it???s politically charged???and yet upbeat-- songs for one night only in Rio. Bob Dylan is playing at the Rio Arena Avenida Embaixador Abelardo Bueno (a new venue built to host the Pan-American games). Cuban singer... Read Full Story

Trip Tips for Argentina The December issue of Budget Travel featured Buenos Aires in its Trip Coach column, providing tips to two sisters who would be visiting the city for the first time. Given it was a first-time trip, the usual suspects came up in the list: Casa Rosada, Evita Museum, the Recoleta Cemetary, and a day trip to Tigre. The article did have a few good suggestions for boutiques (a Buenos Aires specialty... there can never be enough recommendations here), including Divia Shoes... Read Full Story

The Strikes Go On... An update from Andrea Tello, our editor in Cusco. Things are pretty much the same here...Cusco's radicals threaten with one more strike (72 hours this time) starting next week, which will leave the town without flights and buses and trains, etc.  Last Sunday there was this very interesting report on national TV, showing links between these strikes and Ollanta Humala (main opposition to the government, responsible for the killing of 4 police officers 2 years ago... Read Full Story

Jorge Amado's Salvador de Bahia Anyone who has read one of Jorge Amado's classic novels will recognize his enchantment with Salvador de Bahia, Brazil's center of Afro-Brazilian culture. It was during his high school years, which he spent in this former Brazilian capital, that Amado began his writing career, publishing his first novel at the age of 18. Last weekend's New York Times published an article featuring what today might be Jorge Amado's highlights, from the Mercado Modelo to the... Read Full Story

Where the dazzling world of the Patagonia Begins The February 2008 edition of Travel and Leisure Magazine has a wonderful feature on Bariloche. I can't seem to find the article online, so I thought I would reference it before it leaves the magazine stands. The article chronicles a road trip through Argentina's outstanding Lake District, exploring the beautiful towns and parks along the way. The town of Bariloche (the starting point for discovering the region) has become an all-season resort... Read Full Story