With my back in full hurt mode, I'm passing the torch of exciting conservation travel (and colorful travelogue) on to my esteemed boss and friend Brian Huse. Brian is a guest speaker this week in Porto Alegre, Brazil (Google it) for the Destinations 2006 Conference dedicated to sustainable tourism. Brian is presenting our work on coral conservation and marine recreation standards development along the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef (Google it). I begged him to email a bit of the flavor of the field. To wit:
Hey guys,
Of course, when arriving in a new country, one looks for the local color, customs, and unique attributes that define "place." Often there will be one feature so pervasive that it almost becomes syonymous with that place - London = fog; Australia = beer; France = berets, you get the idea. While I have only been here less than 24 hours, I believe that southern Brazil = meat. On the way from the airport, I counted 15 MacDonalds. I now find out that Brazilians eat more hamburgers than the US. When a fellow from Panama suggested dinner last night, we were directed to the nearby churrascuria. Of course. Within 2 hours of landing in the country, I proceeded to consume roughly 6 head of cattle before realizing that it would not stop until I turned a little card over. The menu of the hotel restaurant proves little different, the ratio of meat items to non meat is precisely 5 to 1, excluding drinks. But I think if they found a way to infuse beef into the matte...
Porto Alegre is very familiar, feeling quite bit like San Francisco with hills, similar skyline, its being situated on the water, and - at least today - rain. The areas around the hotel are very clean, but the evidence of poverty is prevalent. On the outskirts of the city is a large delta like region with extensive rice fields cut through with canals and rivers. On one canal will be a shanty town of dilapidated shacks and refuse piles, where the next will boast three story mansions with boats docks. There seems to be no in between once you leave the city proper. One curious feature that stands out is the number of locksmiths. In addition to storefronts, many street corners have plywood huts just to meet your need for making spare sets of keys. The city is inhabited by no less than 5 million, but how many keys do you need?
The big buzz early on here was the last minute participation of President Lula at the opening ceremony. There was a rush to get security clearances for those lucky few who were invited to the real ceremony - as opposed to the closed circuit tv virtual ceremony. It was never clear whether I was counted in the lucky few, and I began a series of inquiries. Soon word came back that, YES, I am to have cocktails with Lula and, by the way, you need a coat and tie. My mad scramble to find a tie was averted, however. Lula had abruptly sent his apologies, and perhaps he might show up later.
At noon today the conference facility was no where near ready, so this evening ought to be interesting. Now must prepare for my talk tomorrow - you never know, Lula might show up.
