South America
20 interesting facts about Paraguay
The most interesting facts about Paraguay, from a double-sided national flag to the ‘Heart of South America’ American essayist P.J. O’Rourke once quipped that Paraguay was “nowhere and famous for nothing.” He then took a business trip there, fell in love with the country and promptly moved there. While we can’t say we felt the same striking attraction, we certainly appreciated Paraguay’s history and authenticity. The small and struggling country is a steamy subtropical land of remarkable contrasts with a tragic and torrid history filled with violence and loss. Despite our relatively short stay, we came across a wide range of interesting facts about Paraguay, the best of which we share below. Interesting facts about Paraguay 1. More than 80% of Paraguayans are ...
Poorest countries in the world – ranked
African nations dominate the ranking of the poorest countries in the world based on the latest data from the World Bank We all have preconceptions about places. Take Ethiopia for example. As children of the eighties, Kia and I were only too aware of the struggles Ethiopia has faced historically: political unrest, civil war and, of course, famine. It was easy then to imagine a vast desolate dust bowl ahead of our visit in 2017. Ethiopia is perceived by many as a representation of wider Africa: still developing, still struggling. In reality, it is a land of lush mountains, dazzling architecture and jaw-dropping natural wonders. There is poverty, but there is also hope. Our visit prompted us to ask if Ethiopia still ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world. Data from the Worl...
El Chaltén hiking trails: our top 6 picks
We’ve selected six of the best El Chaltén hiking trails, showcasing the finest Andean vistas around Argentina’s trekking capital Patagonia’s El Chaltén hiking trails should be on the bucket list of every serious hiker. The trekking capital of Argentina provides access to a network of well-maintained hiking routes with some of the most breathtaking alpine viewpoints on the continent. The routes are rambling and chaotic at times (underestimate the ever-present winds at your peril), but the rewards are big. The imposing towers of Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre steal the show, but the magnificent UNESCO-listed Parque Nacional Los Glaciares has much to offer hikers of every ability. Best hikes around El Chaltén Most trails are well signposted, but before heading out it’s worth dropping by t...
Brazilian central banker describes how CBDC system can halt bank runs
In a paper recently published by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Fabio Araujo, an economist at the Central Bank of Brazil (CBB) who is also responsible for the country’s central bank digital currency work, revealed that the monetary authority will have greater control over the population’s money once its CBDC is rolled out. Through the so-called Real Digital, the central bank will be able to halt bank runs and impose other restrictions on citizens’ access to money. Real Digital, the digital version of Brazil’s national currency, has been debated at the central bank since 2015 and will have its first tests in 2023 through nine solutions presented by private companies during the recent Lift Challenge event that was carried out by the CBB. Cointelegraph reported that the v...
Non-technical mountain climbs: 13 trekking peaks
There are no ‘death zones’ on these non-technical mountain climbs but they offer plenty of challenges for mere mortals like me As a climber, I have completed several indoor climbing and winter mountaineering courses but my technical climbing skills still leave a lot to be desired. I have mastered basic rope, ice axe and crampon skills but don’t practise them as often as I’d like. All too often I only find time for some wilderness backpacking in Europe or low-altitude scrambling in the UK. Regardless, I still have high hopes of climbing the seven summits (three down, four to go). I’m aware that I’ll never be a Reinhold Messner or Chris Bonington (I’ll settle for reading their books instead) but I still long to pitch myself against tall mountains with imposing names....
Argentines turn to Bitcoin amid inflation worries: Report
Since 2016, Argentina has been engaged in a war against inflation. Caused by multiple factors, like a lack of trust in the central bank or government overspending, the depreciation of the Argentinean peso has negatively impacted citizens’ purchasing power. This has brought 37.3% of the population under the poverty line, and many others have had their savings vanish into thin air. Against this backdrop, many Argentines have turned to Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto as a way to hedge against 60% inflation, despite the market being in the red for several months and the central bank forbidding financial institutions from operating with digital assets. Related: Argentina’s central bank steps in to block new crypto offerings from banks In an Americas Market Intelligence report cited by Reute...
23 interesting facts about Brazil
The most interesting facts about Brazil we learnt during our stay in Rio, proving it’s not all Carnival and football around here Our short city break in Rio de Janeiro was tagged on at the end of our big trip so we didn’t get as long as we wanted in either the city or Brazil itself. We’re committed to returning one day to explore the country’s massive interior and take a boat trip down the Amazon River. For now, we’ll have to be content with the few days we had in the captivating city of Rio with its stunning mountains, rainforests and seemingly endless beaches. During our stay, we learnt a number of interesting facts about Brazil, proving it’s not all about Carnival and football in the South-American powerhouse. We share our favourite facts below. Interesting facts about Brazil 1. Brazil ...
Argentina’s central bank steps in to block new crypto offerings from banks
The central bank of Argentina (BCRA) has put the kibosh on financial institutions offering crypto trading only days after two of the country’s largest banks signaled they were opening up to digital assets. On Thursday, the BCRA said the move was to mitigate the risks crypto poses to users and “to the financial system as a whole,” citing crypto’s high volatility, use in money laundering and absence of regulatory safeguards. The news came hot on the heels of an announcement on Monday from two of the country’s largest banks, Banco Galicia and Brubank, that they would allow their customers to purchase Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), USD Coin (USDC) and Ripple (XRP). The decision to open crypto trading was decided by a poll conducted by Banco Galicia, where 60% of respondents said they wanted easie...
Fitz Roy day hike: an essential guide
A Q&A guide to the Fitz Roy day hike, telling you exactly what you need to know to reach this iconic peak We had unfinished business with Fitz Roy. We first visited in 2015 after a disappointing trip to Torres del Paine in Chile. It was winter in Patagonia and thanks to awful weather we saw absolutely nothing. A local guide told us to try El Chaltén in Argentina where one of the most beautiful mountains in the world looms over the village itself. In an effort to redeem the journey south, we followed his advice and headed to El Chaltén. Alas, it was not to be. After hiking 18km (11mi) to Laguna Torre, we suffered the same fate: a complete and utter whiteout. Peter was especially crushed. As a mountain junkie, he couldn’t believe that he had missed seeing these iconic peaks. ...
How to visit Perito Moreno Glacier: a complete guide
An updated guide on how to visit Perito Moreno Glacier following our second encounter with the giant Argentine wonder When reporting on our first trip to Patagonia back in 2015, Kia lamented that once you’ve been travel writing for a while, it’s hard to come up with fresh superlatives. “I mean, you can’t say gaze-catching instead of eye-catching and you can’t say stride-stopping instead of heart-stopping, can you?” she wrote. The source of her discord was Perito Moreno Glacier, a sight so overwhelming that it’s utterly, er, step freezing. Now, I know that travel bloggers are prone to gasping (“we both gasped”, “we gasped in awe”, “we both let out an audible gasp”), but I’m not embellishing when I say that when I first glimpsed Perito Moreno, I really did gasp at the sight. [...
Cuban central bank makes it official: VASP licensing coming in May
In a move that could potentially foster the growth of Cuba’s nascent tech industry, the Banco Central de Cuba (BCC), the country’s central bank, will begin issuing licenses for Bitcoin (BTC) and other virtual asset services providers, or VASPs. According to the Official Gazette No. 43 published Tuesday, which includes a Central Bank of Cuba resolution, anyone wanting to provide virtual-asset-related services must acquire a license first from the central bank. It reads: “The Central Bank of Cuba, when considering the license request, evaluates the legality, opportunity and socioeconomic interest of the initiative, the characteristics of the project, the responsibility of the applicants and their experience in the activity.” Furthermore, the document states that those organizations that do n...
Best things to do in Ushuaia, the capital of the end of the world
Seven years after our first visit, we return to Tierra del Fuego to rediscover the best things to do in Ushuaia, the capital of the end of the world There are few places left in the world that still evoke the romance of old-world exploration. They inspire nostalgia for a time we never knew; places to which we’ve never been. We know their names in the same way we know Neverland and Narnia: shrouded in legend and lore. Cartagena, Antarctica, the Northwest Passage and Vinson Massif. Even men sounded greater then: Drake, Amundsen, Livingstone and Shackleton. Amid these legendary places surely lies space for Tierra del Fuego, the southern tip of Argentina and the famed “end of the world”, the last huddle of humanity before the wilderness of Antarctica. It’s with this sense of awe that we set fo...
