Rio de Janeiro

World famous Rio de Janeiro. Sugarloaf mountain and the bay on the left, Copacabana beach on the right.

Ipanema Beach.

If you've heard of the song "The Girl From Ipanema", this is where Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto got their inspiration.

This is the street where Caraval is judged, a single seat here can cost 1,000's of dollars per night.

Maracana stadium. One of the most famous football stadiums in the world.

Tram to Sugarloaf mountain.

Copacabana beach as viewed from Sugarloaf.

Ipanema and Leblon beachs are seperated by the canal from the ocean to this salt-water lake.

No introduction needed here..

Itaipu Dam

Itaipu Dam crosses the River Parana between Brazil and Paraguai. Construction started in the 1970's and the last turbine went online a few years ago.

The size is very decieving, this is the area between the white turbine inlet pipes.

There are 20 active turbines, 10 for Paraguai and 10 for Brazil. Just two of the turbines is enough to provide nearly 100% of the electricity for the entire country of Paraguai, and the rest is sold to Brazil. The remaining 18 turbines provide 20% of the electricity for the country of Brazil, a country of over 200 million people. (Yeah, its that big)

Iguazu Falls National Park (Foz do Iguaçu)

Iguazu falls is located on the border between Brazil and Argentina, not far from Paraguai.

There are over 165 individual falls.

The area is prone to floods. On the Argentina catwalk "Garganta del Diablo" one can see the remains of the last catwalk that was destroyed in 1992.

A few years ago the flooding was so high that the catwalk on the right was completely submerged.

It is very easy to spend several days doing and seeing everything in Iguazu. There's everything from helecopters to boat rides into the falls. The walking paths by themselves take two days.