BRAZIL, JUST WONDERFUL

Hello, my beautiful people of Hive! I hope you all are doing well and feel strong enough to keep going!

I have been fortunate to travel and visit some countries in South America such as Peru, Cuba, Brazil, a small part of both Paraguay and Argentina and now Chile, a country where my husband and I had to emigrate more than 5 years ago.

The countries mentioned above are beautiful places, each with an incomparable historical and geographical richness. However, today, Brazil will be the star of this story.

A few years ago, my life plan was to go to live in Brazil with my younger sister. She went to this country at a very young age, having just graduated as a general practitioner. Today, she has Brazilian nationality, is practicing as a pediatrician, has 2 beautiful girls and recently opened her own clinic, "Integral Clínica".

Karla, my sister, lives in the city of San Luis, in the state of Maranhão, which is located in the northeast of Brazil. Since my sister wanted me to get to know Brazil and become familiar with the language, she invited me to spend Christmas with her in 2010. During my stay in San Luis, I got to know her friends and a few places in the city since she had to work very hard doing guard duty for 3 days in a rural area. However, what little I did see I liked and enjoyed a lot, especially the beaches. I really had a great time with my sister.

On the way back to Venezuela, on the plane I met some Brazilian engineers who were working with a Venezuelan company and were traveling through different cities of the country. When we arrived at the Simon Bilivar international airport we exchanged contacts, we said goodbye and went our separate ways with the promise to keep in touch with each other. And so it was, we kept in touch by email and text messages in those days. When it was their turn to visit Puerto Ordaz for work reasons, as soon as we could, we would meet in a café or in a restaurant and we would talk about everything and have a nice time.

For two years, we maintained a nice friendship, but after these two years, in 2012, to my surprise they invited me to Curitiba, where they lived. However, even though I had known them for two years, I must confess that I was a little afraid. However, I took the risk and accepted the invitation and thank God and all the angels that always protect me, that trip was one of the most incredible and unforgettable experiences of my life.

Curitiba is a touristic city, capital of the state of Paraná, located in the south of Brazil. One of the things that caught my attention in Curitiba was its public transportation stops, the beauty and majesty of some of the houses and the clean climate, among other things.

Being in this beautiful city, I visited its famous Botanical Garden where you can find trees that existed in the time of the dinosaurs and different types of plants. This garden is located on the campus of the Federal University of Parana.

One of the destinations of this trip was the city of Foz do Iguaçu, located in the west of the state of Paraná, which borders with Argentina and Paraguay.

In Foz do Iguaçu you will find the famous Iguassu Falls, which cover the border with Argentina and is one of the largest and most impressive waterfalls in the world.

This magical place transmits such a powerful energy that you can feel the planet Earth in its purest and most vivid expression.

After visiting the Iguazu Falls, on the way back we made a stop at the Parque de las Aves (Bird Park) since it is located right in front of the entrance of the Iguazu Falls.

It is worth mentioning that the Parque de las Aves is the largest in Latin America and the only one dedicated to the conservation of both birds and the Atlantic Forest, one of the most endangered biomes in the world and is present in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. This park has an area of 16 hectares of Atlantic Forest. It also houses animals and butterflies, in addition to 1500 birds of different species.

Likewise, we visited the waterfalls on the Argentinean side and as a curious thing, to get there, we traveled in a small train in which we could appreciate the dazzling vegetation while the train was in motion.

Finally, we visited the Itaipú Binacional Dam located between Paraguay and Brazil, on the Paraná River. During the day, we toured several of its facilities. And at night, we returned to see the illumination of the dam, which was quite a spectacle of lights and instrumental music; which made it a much more exciting experience. It was definitely one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever had the opportunity to witness.

And to finish this story, I once heard my stepfather, who loves to travel and who has been to Egypt to see the famous pyramids of Giza, say that when you die you don't take anything material with you. Instead, you take with you all the good moments and memories of the different places, cultures and people you have met during your stay on this earthly plane.

Those wise words awakened in me that spirit of traveling and getting to know some specific places in the world.

I hope someday to travel again, God willing, because those experiences are the ones I want to take with me on the last trip of my life.

And you, do you like to travel?

What places would you like to visit?

I leave you with the illumination of the Itaipu Binacional Dam. I hope you enjoy it!