Curious Places: South America

Showing posts with label South America. Show all posts

Floating Islands in a Lake (Lake Titicaca/ Peru & Bolivia)

The Uros are pre-Incan people who live on self made floating islands in Lake Titicaca on the border of Peru and Bolivia.
The purpose of the island settlements was originally defensive, so if a threat arose they could be moved. Nowadays most of their people live on the mainland but a few hundred still live on and maintain the islands.
Dried totora reeds, which grow in the lake, are used to construct reed boats as well as the islands themselves. The reeds at the bottoms of the islands rot away fairly quickly, so new reeds are added to the top about every three months.

Floating Islands in a Lake (Lake Titicaca/ Peru & Bolivia)

Cidade Matarazzo, an abandoned Victorian hospital became an artist's playground for the project “Made by Brazilians.” The murals & installations are open to view until October 11th 2014 when the hospital will get remodelled.
Artists include Kenny Scharf, Arne Quinze, Joana Vasconcelos, Charley Case, Saner and more.

The abandoned Hotel del Salto has stunning views overlooking the Tequendama Falls on the Bogotá River. It was built as a mansion in 1923 and later on used as a hotel for wealthy travellers but closed down in the 90s because contamination in the river made tourists scarce. The spot was used by people in the past to commit suicide which gives the place a haunted feel.
It lay abandoned until recently when the Institute of Natural Sciences of the National University of Colombia and the Ecological Farm Foundation of Porvenir renovated & converted the hotel into a museum.

Casa Terracota - the ceramic house - was built by Colombian architect Octavio Mendoza. It was made by sculpting the building out of clay then firing it in high temperature making it resistant to water, damage from earthquakes, and comfortably cool in hot climates.

EcoCamp is a mix of adventure, environmental sustainability and comfort in the wilderness. You can enjoy trekking, mountaineering, horseback riding, rafting, kayaking, skiing, wildlife observation and many more activities while staying in one of their quirky domes that offer a warm, intimate (and somewhat luxerious) place to escape from the ravages of the Patagonian weather. It serves as the perfect base to use while exploring the breathtaking nature around it.
EcoCamp was opened in 2001. It's the region's first fully sustainable accommodation south of the Amazon and the world's first geodesic hotel room.

In the middle of a native forest (a UNESCO biosphere reserve) lies this very unique hotel, covered in moss and vines. It is built inside a man-made volcano that erupts water from the top which flows down the sides.

Dutch artists Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn, known as Haas & Hahn have turned several Rio slums into massive canvases covered in every color of the rainbow. Together with a huge team of trained locals, they've given residents a source of pride and something to smile about.

This is the awesome bathroom of their "Beach Suite" house:
http://www.costaricatreehouse.com/house_beachSuite.html

Moilinere bay is home to sixty-five sculptures, covering an area of 800sq metres. It is located two miles north of the capital St Georges on the west coast of the island, within an area designated a National Marine Park.