31 Diving in Ireland

29th July 2007 Loop head Co Clare

Who said that in Ireland diving was not possible?

Roberto with Diarmaid at the end of a fantastic dive at the "bridges of Ross"

30 Irish Republic Co. Clare DOONBEG

.. after 5 week in Ulster, Norther Ireland living in a small village (Moira) 30 minutes drive from Belfast, we found a job in Irish Republic, Co Clare on the west coast.
The County is one of the wildest and most beautifull of the emerald island. We are located few miles from the Cliff of Moher and we started to work at the beginning of June in one of the most prestigious european golf Resort: Doonbeg. The link was designed by Greg Norman (the white shark) the famous Australian champion.

Le vertiginose pareti delle Cliff: davanti a noi la sconfinata massa d'acqua dell'Atlantico fino alle americhe. E' il finis terrae, l'ultimo baluardo d'Europa.

www.doonbeggolfclub.com

On of the 5 Pubs of the small village of Doonbeg

29 THIS IS THE END my friend...

FAREWELL SOUTH AMERICA Yesterday we bought our ticket back to Milan with TAP.

We flew back to Europe arriving on the 13th of March.

28 PARATY & IHLA GRANDE

Paraty - a quaint colonial town on the Costa Verde located about 4 hours South of Rio. Cobble stone streets, smart bars and restaurants make for a charming and atmospheric place to relax and spend a few days.

Talented street performers of the Capoeira in Paraty. The origin of this dance-martial art combo is in the state of Bahia.

The most important boat in Ilha Grande, the one delivering the ITAIPAVA beer

27 RIO HIGHLIGHTS

Ipanema Beach - one of the middle class suburbs of Rio has a thriving beach culture, trendy shops and restaurants

Corcovado hill on which stands Christ the Redeemer - the most prominent landmark which is visible from every quarter of Rio

It is especially nice on the top at sunset. Panoramas of the whole city including Copacabana beach, Botafogo Bay, Corcovado and the Christ can be seen

Above: Sugar Loaf Mountain and the cable car which takes the tourists there.

Lapa Quarter, one of the most popular night spots. In the picture above is another of the symbols of Rio: an old aqueduct on the top of which rides a tram (ferrrocaril) which takes you to the neighbourhood of Santa Teresa, in the hills above

Maracana Football Stadium. Another highlight not to be missed. Flamengo Vs Maracaibo 3: 1. Flamengo is one of the most loved teams by Cariocas

26 RIO CARNIVAL 2007

Rio Carnival 2007 - 17th to 20th February

Roberto in Carnival costume.

Above: Nicola and Sergio (apartment mate) playing bulls before going to one of the Street blocos in Ipanema

Above: 17th February - first night in the Sambodromo.

In the complex Carnival rules the first night is reserved for Group A participants. From this night, one group is selected to go forward into the competition of the following year’s Carnival

24th February - Winners Night.
After the four days of Carnival the best schools perform altogether with the Winner of Group A (Winner 2007 BEJA FLOR)

25 ARGENTINA & BRAZIL: IguazuFalls

Where the Parana and Iguazu rivers meet, so do the borders of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Each country has created a landmark in their national colours, which you can see in each country.

Above is the monument in Argentina.

Taller than Niagara Falls, twice as wide with 275 cascades, spread in a horseshoe shape, over nearly two miles of the Iguazu River, Iguazu Falls are the result of a volcanic eruption which left a large crack in the earth. These matter of fact details do nothing to describe the grandeur of the falls, the tremendous amount of water (an average of 553 cubic feet per second) thundering down 269 feet, the tropical location and the sheer beauty that led Eleanor Roosevelt to exclaim “Poor Niagara!”.

Iguazu is four times the width of Niagara Falls.

The Falls are divided by various islands into separate waterfalls. One of the best known is Devil’s Throat, or Garganta del Diablo with its perpetual spray high over the falls.

Enjoying the panorama of Garganta Del Diablo from the Brazilian side

Other notable falls are the San Martin, Bossetti, and Bernabe Mendez.

Iguazu Falls, called Foz do Iguazu in Brazilian, and Cataratas del Iguazu in Spanish, lie on the Argentina - Brazil border and are a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site.

Full rainbow over the Brazilian falls

The falls are part of a singular practically virgin jungle ecosystem protected by Argentine and Brazilian national parks on either side of the cascades. Two thirds of the falls are on the Argentinean side of the river, where you can also tour Iguazu National Park, where there are jungle trails and bird hikes.

Left: on a summer’s day in the sun the splendour of many species of butterflies are displayed to full effect.

Above: the Coatis on the Brazilian side enjoying an afternoon snack due to the generosity of one visitor - Roberto!

The name of the falls comes from the Guarani’ word for great water The first Spanish explorer to see the falls (did you see the film The Mission?) was Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541 but the vast power of the falls was not fully utilized until the construction of the huge Itaipu hydroelectric power plant built jointly by Paraguay and Brazil. Completed in 1991 the dam is open to tours and provides 12,600,000 KW of power satisfying almost 40% of Brazil and Argentine power needs. The dam one of the largest in the world is touted by both countries as a masterpiece of technology.

24 ARGENTINA Bariloche-Mendoza

Bathed by the clear waters of Lake Nahuel Huapi, Bariloche is located on the West of the Province of Rio Negro, 1,640 km from Buenos Aires City.

One of the seven shimmering blue lakes near Bariloche

Mount Catedral, one of the most important ski resorts in Argentina, is visited by more and more enthusiasts of snow sports every winter season. The summers are synonymous with adventure in Bariloche. The rough water courses are ideal for the practice of white water rafting.

Nicola chilling out with the traditional argentinian mate ceremony after a day of white water rafting.

The mountain paths are open for hiking, riding mountain bikes and horses cross the thick forests. The high peaks are a challenge for climbers. For those in need of an extra dose of amusement, Bariloche has an inviting night life. Its discos are famous among students during their graduation trip, as well as among the great deal of tourists and backpackers that visit the city.

Situated at the foot of The Andes, Mendoza is the most important city in the West of Argentina.

The very well known Ruta de los Vinos (Route of the Wines) deserves a special mention. We visited one of the most famous argentinian wineries (Rutini) and we tasted their excellent wines. Rutini offers excellent yields which are the product of carefully chosen grapes.

Roberto landing (after Nicola). We enjoyed the spectacular Andean views on a 40 minute paragliding flight, from one of the most famous areas for paragliding, in Argentina, Cerro Arco.

23 ARGENTINA Moreno Glacier

The Perito Moreno Glacier is located in the Los Glaciares National Park in the south west of Santa Cruz province, Argentina. It is one of the most important tourist attractions in Argentine Patagonia.

It is located 78 km from El Calafate, was named after the explorer Francisco Moreno, a pioneer who studied the region in the 19th century and played a major role in defending the territory of Argentina in the conflict surrounding the international border dispute with Chile.

The Glacier is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that are not retreating. It’s size is certainly impressive. It is 5 km wide and 30 km in length, giving a surface of 250 square km.

It is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field located in the Andes system shared with Chile. This ice field is the world’s third largest reserve of fresh water. Ice presents an average height of 60 meters above the surface of the water, with a total ice depth of 170 meters. It advances at a speed of up to 2 m per day (around 700 m per year), although it loses mass at approximately the same rate, meaning that aside from small variations, its terminus has not advanced or receded in the past 90 years. At its deepest part, the glacier has a depth of approximately 700 m.

Awesome sound effects can be witnessed as huge mounds of ice cleave off the Moreno ice field into lago Argentino.

Roberto with Moreno Glacier in the background.

Periodically the glacier advances over the L-shaped Lago Argentino forming a natural dam which separates the two halves of the lake when it reaches the opposite shore. With no escape route, the water-level on the Brazo Rico side of the lake can rise by up to 30 meters above the level of the main lake. The enormous pressure produced by this mass of waters finally breaks the ice barrier holding it back, in a spectacular rupture event. This dam/rupture cycle is not regular and it naturally recurs at any frequency between once a year to less than once a decade.

22 CHILE: Torres Del Paine

The Torres Del Paine national park is located 150 kms. from Puerto Natales, in Chilean Patagonia. Puerto Natales is a typical fishing town surrounded by mountains and is close to the border with Argentina.

A panorama of the granite towers in the park.

Where does the name of the park originate? Some say Paine was an early settler. Others say the name comes from an ancient Indian word meaning blue hearkening to the intense blue of the areas lakes. Whatever the name comes from or means, this is a spectacular park, comparable to Yellowstone or Yosemite in the U.S. Founded in 1959, Torres del Paine takes in 450,000 acres. In 1978 UNESCO recognized it as a World Biosphere Reserve, and advocates are now lobbying to have the park inscribed as a World Heritage site.

Cuerno Principal (2600m) and Cuerno Este (2200m) exhibit shear walls of light-colored granite capped by jagged peaks of black shale. The granite intrusion has been dated as occurring only 12 million years ago, making the Paine massif extremely young geologically. The entire area was covered by a thick ice-sheet about 100,000 years ago, which has now largely melted away to expose a well glaciated landscape.

It is possible to complete the circuit of the park in about 7-10 days. Another popular trek is the `W` which can be completed in about 3 days. We contented ourselves with a one day trek reaching the mirador of Torres Del Paine, probably the most beautiful and famed part of this stunning national park. Whilst this was certainly worthwhile it admittedly offered just a mere glimpse of the glory of this national gem.

Roberto at the Mirador of the Torres Del Paine

21 ANTARCTICA 2

Roberto, standing on one of the Calderas of Deception Island,

COOL FACTS about Antarctica...

• is the fifth largest of the seven continents

• 99% of Antarctica is covered with ice, this contain about 70% of the world fresh water

• a glaciologist can easily give you to drink a glass of water coming from ice dating back to the time of Christ!!!

• snow falling at the South Pole takes about 100,000 years to flow to the coast before it drops off the end as a part of an iceberg

• is classified as a desert!!! Why? It has 50mm less precipitation than the Sahara

• holds the record for the coldest (-89 C) and the windiest (320 km/hour) place on Earth

• has no trees or bushes with vegetation limited to about 350 species of lichens, mosses and algae

• the largest land animal is an insect, a wingless midge, Belgica Antarctica, less than 1.3cm long (no mozzies at all!!!)

• Antarctica’s ice sheets melted, the world’s oceans would rise by 60 to 65 meters (and we will dive in Venice)

• no human being had set eyes on Antarctica before 1820 (was better no?)

• the first tourist ships left for Antarctica in 1960’s. (for better or worse?)

Group Picture: the passengers of our ship which totalled 65 persons.

Antarctic Dream is one of the smallest cruise lines that explores the Antarctic Peninsula. The size of the vessel offers the possibility to land up to 3 times a day and to have a more relaxed and personalized service.

The ice in every form is the soul of the Antarctic continent.

In winter Antarctica increases its size reaching a considerable surface equal to 4 times the Australian continent, while in summer it reduces its surface to half

The ice sheet, that during hundreds of years slowly flows over the continent finally reaches the water. Here it will break in spectacular, frozen water mountains. The icebergs endure many years and present sculptures, created by wind and waves.

Minke whales sighted in Danko Bay.

Right: Panorama on South Shetland islands. The area is populated with a colony of sea elephants. The ground is covered with colourful lichen, the most complex vegetation which is able to exist in Antarctica. Whale bones dot the ground, reminding us of the cruel era of whaling in Antarctica.

20 ANTARCTICA

From 18th-28th January 2007 we cruised on the ship ANTARCTIC DREAM

http://www.antarctic.cl

"Men wanted for hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success”

Sir Ernest Shackleton

Antarctic peninsula Map with the localization of our landing sites (Copyright: Marcello Solari, Geologist of the Antarctic expedition).

"I am the albatross that waits for you at the bottom of the earth. I am the forgotten soul of the dead sailors who crossed Cape Horn from all the seas of the world. But they did not die in the furious waves. Today they fly in my wings to eternity in the last trough of the Antarctic winds".

Sara Vial -Valparaiso Chile- 1992 (Translation of inscription on Cape Horn Monument)

This is one of the majestic pelagic bird species (Albatross Picture Copyright Leung, Chi Tak- Hong Kong; Guest on Antarctic Dream Expedition and good fellow), with a wing span of 3 metres. It spends the majority of its life flying over the Southern oceans searching food. We spotted many (including the Wandering Albatross, the largest) while navigating the Drake Passage, the sea which is necessary to cross between the South American continent and Antarctica. Its waters are infamous for being some of the roughest in the world. Waves can be up to 10 metres high.

Above right is the Comet Mc Naught. We spotted it in the night sky from the ship’s bridge while crossing the Drake passage on 19th January 2007 on our Southbound journey to Antarctica.

Nicola with chinstrap penguin on the beach at Deception island.

Deception is a beautifully shaped caldera that last erupted in 1970.

The island rises 500 m from the seabed and has a submerged basal diameter of 25 km. It was formed by a big collpase due to an eruption of an unknown age. The only sea access into and out of the caldera is through a narrow space called “Neptune’s Bellows”.

Gentoo penguins. These two species of penguins can only be found in Antarctica.

Gentoo penguins in the centre, with two chinstraps either side on the lavic sand on Danko Island.

Gentoo chick at 4 weeks old.

Right: The inquisitive and bad tempered Adelie penguin. It is our favourite penguin and really the stereotypical penguin, in appearance.