Rio Carnival 里約狂歡節

Rio de Janeiro is famous all over the world for its Carnival. Millions of people attend, but almost no crime is reported during this multi-day festival.

The City of Samba (an award-winning video) starts a bit slow, but it is well worth watching until the end.

The City of Samba from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

Lovely photographs of Carnival participants.

On The Fringe of the Rio Carnaval with samba music from Peter Turnley on Vimeo.

Each samba school spends many months preparing for the Carnival. Details count: the winners can received millions of dollars!

Cristian Silva-Avaria, Samba SchoolI, Rio de Janeiro 2012 from Labour in a Single Shot on Vimeo.

Enjoy the passionate dancing!

Rio Carnaval Parade 2012 from PIX IN MOTION by Leo Bar on Vimeo.

Time lapse photography allows you to see hours of show in just a few minutes.

Time Lapse carnival 2011 in Rio from alexandre cassiano on Vimeo.


Here a National Geographic photographer explains why he enjoys being in Rio de Janeiro. Remeber this when you travel: get out into the streets and enjoy watching people.

Photo Rio - Nat Geo Channel from Bryan Harvey Films on Vimeo.

If you want to learn more about how the Carnival is organized, below is an optional 21-minute video in Portuguese with very clear English captions, plus more details about the Carnival. Please do leave comments!

Wildlife Trade & Indigenous People 野生動物非法交易與原住民

Juliana Machado Ferreira talks about the wildlife trade (catching and selling rare animals):

Brazil: Animals

In Brazil you can see many unusual animals, such as

(1) Giant Anteaters


GIANT ANTEATER CLOSEUP - MVI 1575 from Jack Reis on Vimeo.


(2) Sloths (In English "sloth" is an old-fashioned word that means "laziness"; a sloth is a "lazy" animal)


SLOTH MAGIC from Lucy Cooke on Vimeo.


SWIMMING SLOTH - FROM UNTAMED WILD BRAZIL EPISODE 5 from Cristian Dimitrius on Vimeo.


(3) Piraputangas & Anacondas


PIRAPUTANGA & ANACONDA SEQUENCE - FROM UNTAMED WILD BRAZIL EPISODE 3 from Cristian Dimitrius on Vimeo.

Piraputangas are amazing fish! Anacondas can grow to over eight meters!

Brazilian Music: Bossa Nova

[Updated April 29th, 2015]
Brazil has produced many musical styles. One of the most famous is the Bossa Nova, made famous by the song The Girl from Ipanema  (伊帕內瑪姑娘) (Garota de Ipanema in Portuguese).

Here is a version sung by Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim, with onscreen lyrics (tan, samba, sway are explained below the fold)

The English is OK, but the Portuguese lyrics are missing diacritics (small marks above certain letters). After you watch the Sinatra version, be sure to watch the next version in correctly-written Portuguese (even if you don't understand the words, just enjoy the lovely music and the gorgeous women). The English words are sung by a woman with a Brazilian accent (you should get used to foreign accents in English):

Brazil: A BIG Country 世界大國：巴西

[Updated with videos on May 4th, 2015]
No matter how you look at it, Brazil is definitely a BIG country. It has a very large land area
(8,515,767 square kilometers, 47.3% of South America) and a large population (204,255,000 as of April 27, 2015).

591px-Brazil_topo--CC BY-SA Captain Blood

Brazil also has a very varied population

Brazil influences the world in at least two important ways: coffee production and the Amazon Rain Forest.

Coffee: At one point, Brazil produced 80% of the world's coffee. This is the main reason why Brazil bought so many slaves (about 1,500,000 black slaves were bought from Africa). Even though Brazil now produces 37% of the world's coffee, it is still #1.

The Amazon Rain Forest: The Amazon Rain Forest absorbs a large proportion of the world's carbon dioxide (CO₂) and produces much of its oxygen (O₂), as well. Many of the world's plants and animals are found only in the Amazon. This is why people and governments are worried about deforestation (the cutting down of large numbers of trees)

Black People in Latin America? Why? 拉丁美洲的黑奴

Inside a Slave Ship

People who only watch Hollywood movies might get the wrong idea that the United States is a horrible country that has had many, many slaves. Even today, according to Hollywood movies, Black people in the US have very sad lives. Reality is different. Study the map below (from UNESCO) for a better answer.

West African slaves mostly went from Africa to Brazil and the Caribbean.

Where did most slaves come from? Where did they go? What did they do there?

Slaves were part of the Triangular Trade:

1) West African slaves were taken to Brazil and the Caribbean. These slaves worked to grow crops such as sugar cane, tobacco and cotton.

2) The profits from the sale of these crops were used to buy manufactured goods in the USA and Europe.

3) Manufactured goods were used to buy more slaves in West Africa.

The Triangular Trade: Slaves --> Sugar etc. --> Goods

Responsible Ecotourism in Nicaragua 尼加拉瓜生態旅遊

There are several things that responsible tourists should and should not do. Watch this video to find out. Use the questions below to check yourself:


Responsible Tourism in Nicaragua from Sean Sees on Vimeo.

[A] If responsible tourists see animal products in the market, they should do three things (mention at least two):

[B] If you are eating in a restaurant, you should ... because ...

[C] Protect the environment by (give two examples):
      [HINT: R... p... b... AND C... y... o... b...]

[D] Did you learn something useful from this video, or is it only for unthinking Americans and Europeans? Please explain.

Leave your answers and ideas in the comments.

Underwater Ecotourism in Belize 貝里斯潛水旅遊（大陸：「伯利茲」）

Belize has some of the most gorgeous underwater sights in the world. Many people visit Belize just to enjoy the unspoiled diving.

Snorkeling is cheap and easy. The only things you need are a mask for your face, a snorkel in your mouth to breathe with and flippers on your feet to help you move through the water:

snorkel and mask--320px-Vieques_underwater_a: CC BY underwhelmer)
320px-SwimFins_02: CC SA Alexander Z.

Belize 2013 from Keith Ketchum on Vimeo.

Belize 2013 is a professionally-shot four-minute video that shows some things you can experience with nothing more than a mask, snorkel and flippers (swimfins).

Of course, if you have more money, time and experience, you can see much more.

Ecotourism in Belize (Land & Air) 貝里斯生態旅遊（陸空）

This lovely short video shows how graphic artists used the sights of Belize to design a logo for this beautiful little country:

Belize Designing A Nation from Olson on Vimeo.

Belize is a great place for ecotourism: 36% of the land is protected, and so is 13% of the water. Responsible ecotourism means doing your best to support local businesses. If you spend most of your time in a big hotel, most of the money probably goes to rich companies outside the country. Whenever possible, try to stay in smaller inns and guest houses run by local people. Remember that Taiwanese passport holders can visit Belize visa-free for 90 days.

Here are some more useful suggestions on how to conserve resources when you travel in Belize: Eco Tourism In Belize.

And here are some of the animals you can see. Belize has lots of different kinds of cats:

Belize Cats, 1~4: margay, puma, ocelot, jaguar

Of course, most cats probably don't want to be seen while they are hunting, so the best place for short term tourists to see them is in the Belize Zoo.

Ecotourism in Costa Rica 哥斯大黎加生態旅遊

Costa Rica is an excellent place for ecotourism. Ever since the army was abolished in 1948, the government of Costa Rica has used its budget  to promote education and (more recently) ecotourism. Costa Rican people are thus friendly, well-educated and used to dealing with foreign tourists. Here is a well-made Vimeo that shows some of the animals you can see while kayaking in Costa Rica:


Kayaking with Crocs in Costa Rica from Matador Network on Vimeo.

Ecotourism in Central America 中美洲生態旅遊

Traditional tourism focuses on visiting famous sites, monuments and museums and perhaps shopping, but ecotourism focuses on unspoiled nature. The goal of ecotourism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecotourism), 生態旅遊 in Chinese) is to enjoy the natural world (plants and animals) and to learn more about it. This sort of tourism is supposed to be low impact (= don't pollute the environment and avoid harming the animals and plants that you see). Ecotourism brings in money to local economies and encourages local people to protect these natural treasures.

Central America offers several opportunities for this sort of travel, especially Belize, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

The Great Blue Hole in Belize (Public domain image)

International Student Identity Card 國際學生證

Sample ISIC card

An International Student Identity Card (ISIC) can help you save lots of money when traveling. You can save money on train fare, you can get into museums at a reduced rate and enjoy lots of other benefits. Read about them right here:

https://www.isic.org/

If you're in Taiwan, you can apply for an ISIC card here:

Civil Wars and Coups in the Americas: A Numbered List

Although many of the countries in the Caribbean Sea, Central and South America are blessed with natural resources, they have long been plagued with a lack of infrastructure, high illiteracy, dictatorial governments and outside interference. As a result, these countries have often suffered from coups and civil wars. The beginning of the 21st has seen a marked improvement, however. Countries that used to be too dangerous for tourism, such as Colombia, are now slowly returning to normal. Let us hope that this trend continues.


Below is a numbered list of coups and civil wars in Central America, the Caribbean and South America, arranged by country: