Lee Abbamonte
Try to become the youngest person to travel to every country in the world
Uruguay is Worth a Visit
By Lee | 
5 Comments » 
Most people dismiss a visit to Uruguay because they know nothing about it. The truth is that Uruguay is a really fun place to visit with a lot of the same things that tourist favorite and close neighbor Argentina has but without all of the people and hassles. In fact, you can actually take a hydrofoil just three hours from Buenos Aires and be in either Montevideo, which is Uruguay’s very underrated capital or Colonia, which is a delightful little port city. Some prefer to go straight for the beaches of Punta del Este, sometimes called the Hamptons of South America but whatever you decide to do in Uruguay you will be better off for it.
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Lake Titicaca
By Lee | 3 Comments » 
Lake Titicaca is the highest commercially navigable lake in the world, at 3,812 m (12,507 feet) above sea level. Located in the Altiplano high in the Andes on the border of Peru and Bolivia, Titicaca has an average depth of 107 m, and a maximum depth of 281 m. The western part of the lake belongs to the Puno Region of Peru, and the eastern side is located in the Bolivian La Paz Department.
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Margarita Island, Venezuela
By Lee | 6 Comments » 
I spent the summer of 1999 living on Margarita Island in the Southern Caribbean. It was one of the best times of my life and I am much better off for my experiences. I learned to speak Spanish fluently, met a lot of great friends and just had a great time on this amazingly diverse and stunningly beautiful island. A lot of people are scared to go to Venezuela now because of the political situation but I was there when the current President came to power and I can assure you that most Venezuelans don’t care about politics and they will treat you as one of their own, regardless of your nationality.
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Giant Turtles in Fernando de Noronha
By Lee | 6 Comments » 
One of the best places in the world to see and swim with giant turtles is in Fernando de Noronha, an island off the Northeast coast of Brazil and a separate country on the TCC list. You can get right up to them and actually touch them but with the crystal clear water it makes for great pictures and a lot of fun.
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New 7 Wonders Profile-Machu Picchu, Peru
By Lee | 4 Comments » 
Machu Picchu is one of those places that just completely baffles you. It is hard to comprehend how this city came to be and even moreso: how it came be be lost. The “Lost City of the Incas” is so mysterious that if you choose to do the 4 day Inca Trail hike to get there, you will spend most of your time trying to figure out just how they got all of these rocks and stuff up the massive Andes Mountains. You can ask your guide but they can’t give you a definitive answer. Machu Picchu is another example of what a new wonder of the world should be. It is mysterious, tough to reach, beautiful and captivating. In a word Machu Picchu is awesome.
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Carnival in Rio, The Champions Parade
By Lee | 4 Comments » 
Carnival in Brazil is nuts all over the country. Cities like Salvador and Recife have their own Carnival celebrations which are very lively and fun but the most famous Carnival is in Rio de Janeiro. Rio is the heart of Brazilian culture and the international symbol of its greatness. After Carnival has taken place, the nightly winners from each samba school participate in whats called the Champions Parade down the famed Sambadrome.
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Christ the Redeemer
By Lee | 4 Comments » 
Yesterday I did a profile on one of the new seven wonders finalists that I feel should certainly be voted in. Today I am going to write about a finalist which I feel just barely misses the final cut to seven. The statue of Christ the Redeemer, looming over Rio de Janeiro like a father to the entire city is an amzing thing to see because it’s viewable from throughout the city. Basically anywhere you are in Rio, you can look up and see Christ looking down upon you and watching over you.
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Ciudad del Este
By Lee | 13 Comments » 
If you visit Iguassu Falls and you just happen to be chasing a record to become the youngest person to visit everywhere in the world you will probably make the effort to visit Ciudad del Este (CDE). CDE is the duty free shopping heaven (or hell as I saw it) right over the Paraguay border from Foz de Iguazu, Brazil. It is a place that defies the imagination of just how much “stuff” people can possibly hock on the streets.
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New 7 Wonders Profile-Easter Island, Chile
By Lee | 1 Comment » 
Easter Island is quite simply my favorite place on Earth that I have been so far. It has everything to offer a visitor including perhaps the most interesting and exciting of what I think should be the new seven wonders of the world. The world famous Moai of Easter Island are both mysterious and amazing to see in person. You cannot help but feel bedazzled by the site of the Moai. You can’t help also feeling like you are caught in a time warp. Easter Island is in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean, 3000 miles from anywhere resembling solid land and you will never want to go back once you have experienced this wonderous island.
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The Maracana
By Lee | 2 Comments » 
I am a huge sports fan. Sports and traveling are my two big passions. When I was in college and studied abroad in London, I was starved for sports so I got really into European football or soccer (and still am). I thought those fans were nuts but you haven’t seen soccer fans until you’ve experienced a game in South America. There is no better place to see a match than in Brazil’s temple to football, Rio’s Maracana Stadium.
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