Belavia OnAir №117 August 2019

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What Latin American countries have
you visited? Which has impressed
you most and why?
I have already been to Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina,
Chile and Bolivia. Just for one day,
I dropped by Paraguay. In Colombia,
Brazil and Bolivia I felt the best — so far
those are my personal “top 3”. I’ve heard
about Colombia a lot of good things
from seasoned travelers, but everything
turned out to be even nicer: authenticity,
kindness, landscapes stunning with their
diversity... And local men were for the
most part true gentlemen! As a solo
traveler, I felt very comfortable there —
much more than in India or Morocco,
where men's attention can be a real
problem.
But if I were to choose one country, it
would be Brazil! It has the most beautiful
beaches in the world, the Amazon jungle
and the Atlantic forest, which approaches
the very edge of the sea, and the
atmosphere of a never-ending holiday.
I was especially impressed by the Brazilian
dances (samba and forró, which
I even learned to dance a bit), live music
at every corner and Brazilians constantly
singing along. And, of course, the magnificent
Brazilian carnival that I spent in
the small village of Itacaré by the ocean
in the state of Bahia.
Культуру доброты, отзывчивости и неравнодушия. Культуру улыбок
и умения жить в настоящий момент. Культуру ценить то немногое,
что имеешь, и радоваться жизни, несмотря на все трудности.
Какое впечатление за это время было самым ярким?
За 15 месяцев было слишком много запоминающихся моментов.
Например, плыть на лодке по Амазонке и играть в карты на палубе
с друзьями, отбиваясь от огромных насекомых, слетевшихся на
свет. Или сидеть одной на верхней палубе в два часа ночи, когда
вокруг полыхают молнии тропического шторма. Или плыть с маской
и трубкой через тоннель в скалах Галапагосских островов, когда
навстречу тебе движутся одновременно 20 акул, а твой гид советует
всем держаться вместе. Или попробовать 5-й (самый рискованный)
класс рафтинга в Колумбии. Или потеряться в час ночи в центре Рио-де-Жанейро,
протанцевав полночи форро (типичный бразильский
танец), и добираться домой к друзьям на общественном транспорте
проездом через самые страшные фавелы. Или задохнуться от
Any country that disappointed you?
There have been none. I have found
every of them to be interesting in their
own way. Well, two least exciting places
are the surfing resort Máncora on Peru’s
northwest and the village of San Pedro
de Atacama in Chile. The former can
be easily skipped along any traveler’s
route: it’s too commercial with a heavy
focus on tourists and the local beach
is the most boring of all I've ever seen
in South America. The Atacama desert
is worth visiting due to the diversity of
landscapes, but the main base of San
Pedro research is a rather ugly place.
There is virtually no local population —
only tourists and hippies.