Warning!

Do you have a WordPress.com username? Did you register the matching blog name? If you haven’t, the blog name remains available for anyone to register.

For example:

Let’s say your username is ‘yourusername’. You have registered only the username but not a blog with the same name.
Now, if somebody registers a blog name called ‘yourusername’, the following URL belongs to that person – http://yourusername.wordpress.com/

If your ‘username’ has significance to you and you want to keep http://yourusername.wordpress.com/ as your blog address, make sure you register both username and blog name under ‘yourusername’.

Related post:

How to register a new WordPress.com username that matches your existing blog name

Tarabuco Market is the best place to experience the unique indigenous Yampara culture, and get amongst the locals in their eye-catching traditional costumes.

Bolivia - Sucre - Tarabuco Market - Yampara Man

Tarabuco Market is held on Sunday. The day trip to Tarabuco, about 65 km southeast of Sucre, is one of the highlights around Sucre.

I took a bus organised by a tour agency: 7 a.m. departure from the corner of Ravelo and Aniceto Arce streets in Sucre centre and 25 bolivianos return.
An alternative is to catch normal buses like the locals and pay around 15 bolivianos.

By the time the bus dropped us off at the main plaza in Tarabuco about 2 ½ hours later, the market was already in full swing.
The small streets of this little mountain village were full of stalls and people, many of them with their merchandise spread out on streets.

The main courtyard, a little bit off the main plaza, is a good place for some cheap hearty breakfast before you set out on your wander around the market.

Not only can you find the usual local produce, meat (displayed out in the open in the sun) and textiles at the market, but other weird and wonderful like: big dried red chilies and chili powder just like the kinds you see in some Asian countries like Korea, pieces of dried fat piled up high, bagful of coca leaves, and a variety of herbs and other ingredients used in their traditional medicine.

Bolivia - Sucre - Tarabuco Market - Market Lady

Bolivia - Sucre - Tarabuco Market - Chilies

Bolivia - Sucre - Tarabuco Market - Fat

Bolivia - Sucre - Tarabuco Market - Coca Shop

Bolivia - Sucre - Tarabuco Market - Herbs Lady

Bolivia - Sucre - Tarabuco Market - Blue Eggs

Some of the locals were in their distinctive traditional attire the Yampara culture was recognized and famous for. The men wore ponchos with horizontal stripes of the regional colours which mainly consisted of brown and black, and black “casket” hats with the contoured rim. The women wore cylindrical tall hats with lots of sparkling decorations in the front, and donned indispensable cloth wraps on their backs that were used for carrying everything from a baby to firewood.

Bolivia - Sucre - Tarabuco Market - Yampara Women

Tarabuco Market is popular with tourists who want to buy their souvenir ponchos (handmade, cotton, over 200 bolivianos each) and textiles (handwoven, 150 bolivianos and up for a small size). The choices are far better than in Sucre tourist shops but be warned of the outrageous tourist prices.

Bolivia - Sucre - Tarabuco Market - Cemetery

Related post:
Cal Orck’o, Sucre, Bolivia

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Mercado del Puerto (Port Market) is lively, casual, and it is a great place to taste the famous Uruguayan Parilla.

Uruguay - Montevideo - Mercado del Puerto

As you enter the big warehouse type building full of restaurants and Parillas (Uruguayan style BBQs) you will be welcomed by the rich bouquet of the open BBQs, and your mouth will water at the sight of succulent meat, sausages and vegetables laid out on grills around you.
If you are already used to the exceptional quality and value of beef from Uruguay and Argentina, you will want to choose an above average cut of meat as the prices here cater to the middle class.
Medio y medio (part sparkling wine and part white wine) is the drink of choice for the locals here to accompany their juicy steak.
If you like to see Mercado del Puerto when it is full of buzz, Saturday afternoon is a good time to go. Things calm down on Sundays.
Every city needs a place like this where people can eat well and be happy. Buon provecho!

Useful website:
La fundación del Mercado del Puerto (The Port Market Foundation) -
www.mercadodelpuerto.com.uy

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There is a unique trip you can take in Sucre. At Cal Orck’o, one of the largest sites of dinosaur tracks in the world, you are able to take a trip back in time to when the dinosaur species were the most diverse.

Bolivia - Sucre - Cal Orck'o - Dinosaurs

Cal Orck’o Statistics
• How old: 68 million years
• Geologic Period: The late Cretaceous period
• Number of tracks: 220 – 350
• Number of footprints: Over 5000
• Number of species: 330
• Length of the wall: 1.5 km
• Height of the wall: Up to 150 m

The Wall
Cal Orck’o is at La Fábrica Nacional de Cemento (FANCESA) cement company’s limestone quarry, 5 – 6 km northeast of Sucre city centre.

Bolivia - Sucre - Cal Orck'o - Cal Orck'o

The imposing near-vertical white limestone wall has hundreds of dinosaur footprints from the late Cretaceous period imprinted on it. Some tracks go straight up and some sideways along the wall. Experts believe the wall used to be a lakeside.

Bolivia - Sucre - Cal Orck'o - The Wall

As I stood there retracing the tracks made by the footprints of different shapes and sizes, the brittle wall crumbled and peeled off bit by bit on its own, eventually to reveal another layer (and more tracks) underneath. Each 10 – 15 cm thickness of the layer represented about 1000 years.

Bolivia - Sucre - Cal Orck'o - Footprints

The progress on preserving the site has been slow ever since the footprints were discovered by the quarry workers in October 1994. El Parque Cretácico (The Cretaceous Park, A dinosaur theme park) at Cal Orck’o opened its doors to visitors in 2006.

How to get there (This information may not be up to date.)
Get on the red Dino-Truck that leaves from Plaza 25 de Mayo, Sucre’s main plaza. (Timetable: 8:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 12 p.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.)

Useful websites:

El Parque Cretácico (The Cretaceous Park)
http://parquecretacicosucre.com/

A tale of two capitals, August 7, 2007
http://www.theworld.org/node/11913?answer=true

Related post:
Tarabuco Market, Sucre, Bolivia

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Iguazu Falls are a natural wonder and Itaipu Dam, nearby, an engineering wonder.

Brazil - Iguazu - Itaipu Dam

Itaipu Dam (Portuguese: A Usina Hidrelétrica de Itaipu Binacional, Spanish: La Represa Hidroeléctrica de Itaipú) is an enormous structure of concrete, iron and steel.
It is the longest hydroelectric power plant in the world, generating 25% and 90% of electric energy consumed by Brazil and Paraguay, respectively; and the second largest in total generating capacity only after the Three Gorges Dam, China.

After the dam was constructed on the Paraná River, the border between Paraguay and Brazil, and was filled with water, many spectacular waterfalls were submerged. Iguazu Falls are just downstream from the dam.

For a visit, you can take a local bus to the dam in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. Itaipu Binacional company, which operates the dam, runs daily tours. It is not a very interesting tour, just being driven around in a bus near the dam for a short time, but it is free.

Useful website:
Itaipu Binacional – www.itaipu.gov.br

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Brazil is a wonderful country to visit and we love it! It is home to the Amazon River, Carnival, Pantanal, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Ilha do Mel, Ilha Grande, Iguazu Falls, the life-loving people… the list goes on!

What was the absolute hightlight of your travel in Brazil?

This enchanted waterfall wonderland is home to the world famous La Garganta del Diablo (The Devil’s Throat) and around 270 other waterfalls of all shapes and sizes.

Argentina - Iguazu Falls - La Garganta del Diablo from Circuito Inferior

Iguazu Falls (Spanish: Cataratas del Iguazú; Portuguese: Cataratas do Iguaçu) sit on the border of Argentina and Brazil. The area is protected as both national parks and UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

You can see the waterfalls better in El Parque Nacional Iguazú (The Iguazú National Park, Argentina), so that is what I will describe in this post. The Brazilian counterpart is called O Parque Nacional do Iguaçu (The Iguaçu National Park, Brazil).

There are buses to El Parque Nacional Iguazú from the border cities close-by: Puerto Iguazú, Argentina and Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. The park entry costs 60 Argentine pesos (around USD 20).

Argentina - Iguazu Falls - Map (www.vidasilvestre.org.ar)

After the main gate, you walk to the free mini train. If you arrive at the park during the peak tourist bus arrival hour (9:30 – 10:30 a.m.), you will be joining at the back of a very long queue.

There are 2 stations.

• Estación Garganta del Diablo – To see the main attraction of the park: La Garganta del Diablo (The Devil’s Throat).
• Estación Paseo Superior – To see other interesting waterfalls.

After getting off at the (final) station Estación Garganta del Diablo, you will walk along a series of footbridges over the Iguazu River to reach La Garganta del Diablo, the symbol of Cataratas del Iguazú.

It is a breathtaking sight. You get dizzy staring at the massive white curtain of water ceaselessly freefall then disappear into the oblivion of spray in the middle, deep down below.

Argentina - Iguazu Falls - La Garganta del Diablo 1

Argentina - Iguazu Falls - La Garganta del Diablo 2

The visit to the park is far from over after seeing La Garganta del Diablo.

Take the mini train back to Estación Paseo Superior.

Circuito Inferior (the Lower Circuit) has views of many more impressive waterfalls, including the nearest Salto Dos Hermanas, Salto San Martín, Salto Mbigua and Salto Bernabé Mendez.

Argentina - Iguazu Falls - Salto Bernabe Mendez

The circuit includes a free 5 minute boat ride across to Isla San Martín (San Martin Island). It is possible to go for a dip in the river if you are desperate for some relief on a hot day. Boat tours to the bottom of La Garganta del Diablo also leave from here.

Circuito Superior (the Upper Circuit) has you walking over some of the waterfalls.

Argentina - Iguazu Falls - Circuito Superior

There are plenty to see in the park and it can be exhausting to see them all on a hot day, so pace yourself. Food and drinks are sold in the park but only sporadically, so I would recommend you to bring some water and snack.

Useful websites:

• El Parque Nacional Iguazú (The Iguazú National Park, Argentina)
  www.iguazuargentina.com
• O Parque Nacional do Iguaçu (The Iguaçu National Park, Brazil)
  www.ibama.gov.br/parna_iguacu

Related posts:
Salto Angel (Angel Falls), Venezuela
Itaipu Dam, Brazil / Paraguay

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Do you have more than one blog name registered with your WordPress account? Do you now want a separate account for each of your blogs? Here is how.

Let’s say your current WordPress account situation is as follows:
(1 account, 2 blogs)
username: roundpicture – blog names: roundpicture, roundtravel

For whatever reason, now you want the following:
(2 accounts, 2 blogs)
username: roundpicture – blog name: roundpicture
username: roundtravel – blog name: roundtravel

Now, if you try to sign up for a new account using roundtravel, you will get an error message: “Sorry, that username already exists!” It is because the name is already taken by an existing blog, despite the fact the blog actually belongs to you.

There is only 1 solution: Contact WordPress Support

1. Log in to roundpicture account – this proves to WordPress Support that you are the owner of roundpicture account.
2. While logged in, navigate to ‘Contact Support’ page.
3. Ask them to create a new account with username roundtravel for you, and to transfer roundtravel blog from roundpicture account to roundtravel account.
(You will need to provide them with an email address in order for them to create the new roundtravel account.)

Tips

If you think you might want to have separate accounts for each of your blogs in the future, you might as well register them under their own account usernames from the very beginning and save yourself the hassle above.

It is easy enough to have 2 (or more) independent accounts controlled by just 1 username, by adding the username to be an administrator of the blog(s) you want to control. (How to add a username to be an administrator of a blog)

Related post:

A WordPress.com username without the matching blog name

Well preserved Colonial architecture, vibrant African flavour and spectacular Carnival. Brazil’s 3rd biggest city is an exciting infusion of old and new as well as different cultures.

Brazil - Salvador - Convento e Igreja de Sao Francisco (San Francisco Convent and Church)

Brazil’s first capital (1549- 1763) has since transformed into the country’s cultural capital and a very popular tourist destination.

The city quickly returned to its normal self in the week that followed the famed Carnival but there still remained some decorations and tired but lingering buzz in the historic centre.

The carefully restored historic centre, known as Pelourinho, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a pleasant walk around the cobblestone streets admiring the richly decorated churches and architecture from its golden Portuguese Colonial era.

Brazil - Salvador - Catedral Basílica de Salvador

You are sometimes treated to Capoeira demonstrations in different parts of the city including in the Terreiro de Jesus – the main square in front of Catedral Basílica de Salvador (The Cathedral of Salvador).

Salvador was the first slave market in the New World; and Largo do Pelourinho (Pelourinho Plaza) where slaves were traded and whipped is a symbol of the important African heritage of the city. Pelourinho means the whipping post. Today, the area around the plaza comes alive at night with tables from bars spilling out to the streets.

Brazil - Salvador - Largo do Pelourinho

The easiest and most fun way to get down from Cidade Alta (Upper Town) where the historic centre is situated to Cidade Baixa (Lower Town) is via Elevador Lacerda (Lacerda Elevator; about 85 m in height).

Brazil - Salvador - Elevador Lacerda

A short distance from the bottom of Elevador Lacerda are Mercado Modelo (Model Market) and Terminal Marítimo Turístico where you can catch a ferry to Ilha de Itaparica (Itaparica Island, 50 minute trip).

As well as on the island, Salvador has a number of beaches in and around the city including in Barra neighbourhood.

Brazil - Salvador - Farol da Barra

Among other things Salvador is famous for is its cuisine, so while you are there, make sure you sample some of its local specialties including acarajé.

Related post: Olinda (and Recife), Brazil, for Brazilian Carnival

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