Goiás Velho, Brazil

A Gold Rush Legacy


To the rhythm of Goiás
Resident walks through a typical corner of the city on a donkey.
On a Donkey's Horse
Resident rides a donkey along the Red River.
accordion magela
Magela, the accordionist of the group Trio Raio de Sol.
House to gild
Twilight takes over the village's secular houses.
night capoeira
Two children train in capoeira in a city street golden by light.
Goiás from Serra Dourada
Perspective of Goiás from an elevation of Serra Dourada.
Luxuriant Square
Green city square, with Paula church on the left.
sunset exuberance
The sun sets and adds extra color to the colonial and tropical scenery of Goiás Velho.
Long and Secular Street
A long street formed by the houses built to house the miners who searched for gold around the city.
golden walk
Mother and two children walk on the very irregular sidewalk in Goiás.
Ivani Vidigal
Ivani Vidigal, a candy seller at her small stand in Goiás.
Dorneles law
Attorney Cyntia Arroio and her son in a city office
The Forum
Pediment of the Forum de Goiás building.
KGB Fuscus
Detail of one of the many Volkswagens Fuscos de Goiás.
Good Death Church
The Boa Morte Church, also the city's Museum of Sacred Art.
The Great Cathedral
The Cathedral, high above the secular houses of Vila Boa.
In Promo
Lilian and Cristiane, employed in a colorful fabric and clothing store, located in a colonial house in Goiás Velho.
Sebastian and the Jackal
The great-grandson of the founder of Goiás Velho Bartolomeu Silva and his dog.
Modernity Trail
Car at low speed leaves a trail of light along a street also lit by old lamps
Beautiful nails
Vila Boa resident paints her nails outside her home.
Two centuries after the heyday of prospecting, lost in time and in the vastness of the Central Plateau, Goiás esteems its admirable colonial architecture, the surprising wealth that remains to be discovered there.

It is at the top of the hill of the small church of Areias that Goiás is, this time, celebrating.

The intense chants of the faithful spread through the surrounding valley. They hang over the uniform stain of Portuguese tile that the years have beautified.

The honor of the celebration goes to Barbara, the patron saint of lightning, thunder and artillerymen. As a provocation, the firefighter on duty drops reeds into the sky as if his life depended on it.

The bangs bounce off the neighboring hills of São Francisco, Canta Galo and Lages.

And, further away, in the imposing Serra Dourada. They startle some toucans that fly to the safety of the cerrado.

Inescapable and forceful, the announcement alerts the late believers who run, breathless, up Rua Passo da Pátria and the steps of the church above. It is not polite to miss the blessing of the cross and the procession has long since reached its final stop.

The same thing that happened to Goiás Velho, as the village is also called from time to time.

Twilight House, Goiás Velho, Legado da Fever do Ouro, Brazil

Twilight takes over the village's secular houses, as seen from the Church of Santa Bárbara

Goiás Velho: from Arraial de Sant'Anna to the State Capital

This city of Goiás with twenty-six thousand inhabitants originated in 1732, in the heart of the Brazilian cerrado.

Located on 15º latitude, it has always been hot all year in Goiás.

In winter – from May to September – it doesn't rain, the air is clear and the sky remains blue, sprinkled with small white clouds. “'It's getting cold at night!” residents complain every day in July and August, despite the fact that the temperature almost never drops below 15 degrees.

Nails, Goiás Velho, Gold Rush Legacy, Brazil

Vila Boa resident paints her nails outside her home.

The summer, which lasts the remaining months, welcomes the rainy season, when it is almost always cloudy and it rains with frequency and intensity, sometimes surprising.

About fifty years after their success in Minas Gerais, the pioneers who ventured into the interior of Brazil in search of precious metals and slaves found gold in the region of Goiás.

Finding will not be the best term. Believing in what has gone down in history, it will have been more than an act of illusionism.

In 1682, a flag led by the old Paulista Bartolomeu Bueno da Silva arrived in the territory of the Indians Goyaz.  To their delight, the natives used gold artefacts.

Little diplomacy but an expert in cruelty and deceit, the anhanguera (Old devil) – as the Goiá nation would, however, nickname him, he tried to intimidate the natives. He lit some cachaça on a plate.

Aware that the Goiás they thought it was water, and threatened that he would do the same with all the rivers in the vicinity if the Indians did not reveal their gold mines to him. Three years later, despite being presumed dead, the old devil returned triumphantly to São Paulo.

With him, the survivors, gold and Indian slaves from Goiás traveled.

In 1722, his namesake son, who had survived the first onslaught, organized a new flag and launched the camp of Sant'Anna.

Long street, Goiás Velho, Gold Rush Legacy, Brazil

A long street formed by the houses built to house the miners who searched for gold around the city.

In 1732, this arraial marked the establishment of the town with the same name, renamed Vila Boa de Goiaz in a sarcastic homage to the region's native inhabitants, extinguished by the invaders even before the gold, which only lasted until the end of the XNUMXth century.

Every city has a history. Goiás seems to be yours.

Even the epithet “old” helps to illustrate the phenomenon. This, despite the fact that part of the population finds it more derogatory than necessary (to distinguish it from the homonymous state of which it is a part.

Little or nothing has changed since it became the capital of the newly created Captaincy of Goiás and reached its apogee.

In order to preserve its peculiar architecture, the transfer of the state capital to Goiânia in 1937 was decisive, a relegation that left it lost in time.

Goiás Velho, Legacy of the Gold Fever, Brazil

Resident walks through a typical corner of the city on a donkey.

The Colonial House that is World Heritage

As described by UNESCO, which granted Goiás the title of world heritage in December 2001, “… your urban design it is a remarkable example of the organic development of a mining city, adapted to the conditions of the area (…) of a European city admirably adapted to the climatic, geographical and cultural conditions of central South America”.

From any of its panoramic points, especially the belfry of the church of Rosário or the hill of the church of Areias, these attributes can be observed.

The houses that stand out from the green of the tropical vegetation are uniform. Built in adobe, mud and wattle and daub, the houses are almost all one-story. Those that deviate from the rule have a maximum of two floors.

They are also painted white, with the exception of the doors, windows and frames whose colors depend on the owners' disposition.

On the other hand, the narrow streets, invariably covered by an irregular pavement made of huge gray stones, cause frequent sprains.

Gradually, they also ruin the cars of the most fearless drivers.

Golden Walk, Goiás Velho, Legado da Fever do Ouro, Brazil

Mother and two children walk on the very irregular sidewalk in Goiás.

Some public buildings differ in size, especially the Conde dos Arcos Palace, the hospital and the Quartel do Vinte, from which soldiers from the XNUMXth Infantry Battalion departed for the Paraguayan War.

In spaces, there are still imposing mansions with manorial coats of arms.

The Museum of Sacred Art of Boa Morte and the Figure of Veiga Valle

It is blessed by seven baroque churches, especially the one of Boa Morte, built in 1779 and on the site of the Museum of Sacred Art of Boa Morte, installed there since 1961. The museum exhibits numerous works by José Joaquim da Veiga Valle, a prestigious sculptor from Goiás.

Inside, two ladies of respectable age clean and invent figurines and other sculptures of sacred art with soul and heart. They had to do it all afternoon. That one, and eventually some of the ones that followed.

Most of the works they dealt with were by another of the renowned artists of the state of Goiás, José Joaquim da Veiga Valle. Veiga Valle, as he became known, was born in 1806 in the neighboring and somewhat rival city of Arraial da Meia Ponte, today the famous Pirenópolis.

In Meia Ponte, he played a leading role in the government and administration of the city. He was a councilor, judge, military. Later, Veiga Valle joined the association of Catholic faithful of the Irmandade do Santíssimo Sacramento.

He participated in successive tasks of gilding the altars of the city's mother church. It was on these occasions that he gained greater intimacy with the fillings of churches and felt the self-taught inspiration to create them.

As he perfected his craft, his cedar wood carvings won him admirers and loyal customers. And a guaranteed place in the naves of Meia Ponte.

Some time later, Veiga Valle moved to Vila Boa de Goiás. The churches of Goiás Velho also welcomed his works.

Church of the Good Death, Goiás Velho, Gold Rush Legacy, Brazil

The Boa Morte Church, also the city's Museum of Sacred Art.

One would expect that Veiga Valle would have created them in a neoclassical style, but instead he kept the obvious baroque mannerisms.

Scholars of religious art attribute this to the fact that both Meia Ponte and Goiás were thousands of kilometers away from the great Brazilian colonial cities.

And, as such, on the fringes of the newly arrived currents of the Metropolis.

Fears Founded on thefts of Sacred Art

When we enter the Museum of Sacred Art of Boa Morte, both armed with cameras, the two ladies on duty show an immediate panic. “But what do you want these photos for?

People here in Goiás don't like that. You know that there have been several assaults on churches and they have made some art disappear that was more than sacred! Then, if you photograph and promote it, we will have even more problems.”

We understand your distress. It was not even the first time that we were faced with such concerns. We calmly reiterated that we were Portuguese and promised that, if used, the images would only come out in Portugal and only on paper, we would not disseminate them on the internet.

It was enough for the ladies to reassure themselves and grant us some exemplary photos and a disclosure that, even if many of the inhabitants resist admitting, the city lacks.

Goiás Velho's past is not only in architecture and historical heritage.

Without the postcards, magnets, dolls and other gifts that infest other trendy colonial cities in Brazil, a myriad of genuine small businesses profit in moderation on the ground floors of secular houses.

We identify them by the names and logos painted on the walls,

There are fabric, clothing and religious artefacts stores, old-fashioned pharmacies and the occasional more modern establishment that supplies new arrivals with telephones. cellular, or rent Holywood's latest unmissable hit.

Goiás Velho, Legacy of the Gold Fever, Brazil

Lilian and Cristiane, employed in a colorful fabric and clothing store, located in a colonial house in Goiás Velho.

At the same time, well-heeled businessmen such as the shoe shiner or the lottery ticket seller travel through Goiás.

Whatever the activity, with the end of the afternoon, businesses close doors and boxes.

Residents return to their homes. They meet at the entrance of churches, waiting for the start of mass or, on street corners, to chat.

The Past of Goiás, Everywhere

We went around a fierce game taking place on the lawn of Praça Brasil Caiado. Next to its huge Fountain of Tail, we come across a teenager playing with a dog.

Between parties to the “Chacal”, conversation leads to conversation, Sebastião ends up informing us: “I am the great-great-grandson of Bartolomeu Bueno (son), the founder of Vila Boa. I've lived here all my life and so has my family. We never left here.”

Sebastião and Chacal, Goiás Velho, Legado da Fever do Ouro, Brazil

The great-grandson of the founder of Goiás Velho Bartolomeu Silva and his dog.

Further down, it is Zé Pires – who is at least three times Sebastião's age – who addresses us: “Are you doing material? This city is full of stories! (...)

There are a lot of people who still try their luck with gold, through that savannah.

Sometimes it even shows up in Rio Vermelho, but it's almost always just a worthless little spot! You can't take it to the Foundry”.

And tie his horse to a tree to better recall his memory.

The Well Viva History of Goiás

When the material testimonies are not available, the population itself refers to the Minas Gerais era of Goiás.

Sebastião is a descendant of the Paulistas; Zé Pires, probably from Emboadas, the immigrants who came from Portugal attracted by the gold of Minas Gerais and moved to the center of Brazil.

They are both white. But most of the city's inhabitants are black or mulatto, with blood from African slaves recruited to work in the mining industry.

He lives and lives in the same humble houses built by his ancestors with the illusion of wealth, an illusion that, in so many cases, the precipitous end of gold and the extremely high prices of products brought from far away, turned into a nightmare.

Goiás Velho, Legacy of the Gold Fever, Brazil

Resident walks through a typical corner of the city on a donkey.

For many Vilaboenses, the situation has not improved, like Brazil in general.

Immigration from the state of Goiás to Portugal – where so many have unknown family ancestors – and other European and global destinations is accentuated. Goiás contributes with its numbers.

And history reverses itself.

Other inhabitants of Vila Boa there get away with the arts in which they stand out.

In front of Rádio FM Vilaboa, he rehearses, intently, the Trio Raio de Sol.

It is composed by Elsimar on guitar, António Robertinho on viola and Magela on accordion. Inside, in the small studio, the trio Nascente, by José Rito, Renan and Juan Mineiro, is already performing.

Life is made of these opportunities.

Even if the radio doesn't pay for the performance, who knows if the promotion doesn't take them to some country festival.

Goiás Velho, Legacy of the Gold Fever, Brazil

Magela, the accordionist of the group Trio Raio de Sol.

Old Goiás: No Hurry or Complex

Goiás is far from being touristy. It's true that during Holy Week and, especially, the Fogaréu Procession – the only one in Brazil – the city is on the pine cone to watch the re-enactment of the persecution of Christ by farricocos.

And the same happens with the arrival of the FICA – International Environmental Film and Video Festival, one of the biggest thematic shows in the world.

Other than these occasions and celebrations, New Year alone attracts a significant number of visitors from neighboring cities, Brasilia, Goiânia, Anapolis, Pirenópolis.

Unlike the “sisters” from Minas Gerais, Tiradentes, Diamantina and Ouro Preto, who are intensively promoted and receive thousands of interested Brazilian and foreign visitors, Goiás continues to pay the price of interiority. It stands in the shadow of its World Heritage title.

Until justice is done, the city deals with the inheritance it has received.

And enjoy your genuine and sedative life.

As the sun goes down, the old lanterns of golden light come on in a rambling sequence.

Goiás switches to its night mode. He surrenders to a peace only broken by rockets or, if it's time for celebration, chants.

Goiás Velho, Legacy of the Gold Fever, Brazil

Two children train in capoeira in a city street golden by light.

The next day, the villagers wake up with the dawn to the calm pace of work that the climate of the Central Plateau helps to set.

Goiás Velho, Legacy of the Gold Fever, Brazil

The sun sets and adds extra color to the colonial and tropical scenery of Goiás Velho.

Pirenópolis, Brazil

A Polis in the South American Pyrenees

Mines of Nossa Senhora do Rosário da Meia Ponte were erected by Portuguese pioneers, in the peak of the Gold Cycle. Out of nostalgia, probably Catalan emigrants called the mountains around the Pyrenees. In 1890, already in an era of independence and countless Hellenizations of its cities, Brazilians named this colonial city Pirenópolis.
Pirenópolis, Brazil

A Ride of Faith

Introduced in 1819 by Portuguese priests, the Festa do Divino Espírito Santo de Pirenópolis it aggregates a complex web of religious and pagan celebrations. It lasts more than 20 days, spent mostly on the saddle.
Pirenópolis, Brazil

Brazilian Crusades

Christian armies expelled Muslim forces from the Iberian Peninsula in the XNUMXth century. XV but, in Pirenópolis, in the Brazilian state of Goiás, the South American subjects of Carlos Magno continue to triumph.
Passo do Lontra, Miranda, Brazil

The Flooded Brazil of Passo do Lontra

We are on the western edge of Mato Grosso do Sul but bush, on these sides, is something else. In an extension of almost 200.000 km2, the Brazil it appears partially submerged, by rivers, streams, lakes and other waters dispersed in vast alluvial plains. Not even the panting heat of the dry season drains the life and biodiversity of Pantanal places and farms like the one that welcomed us on the banks of the Miranda River.
manaus, Brazil

The Jumps and Starts of the former World Rubber Capital

From 1879 to 1912, only the Amazon River basin generated the latex that, from one moment to another, the world needed and, out of nowhere, Manaus became one of the most advanced cities on the face of the Earth. But an English explorer took the tree to Southeast Asia and ruined pioneer production. Manaus once again proved its elasticity. It is the largest city in the Amazon and the seventh in Brazil.
Príncipe, São Tomé and Principe

Journey to the Noble Retreat of Príncipe Island

150 km of solitude north of the matriarch São Tomé, the island of Príncipe rises from the deep Atlantic against an abrupt and volcanic mountain-covered jungle setting. Long enclosed in its sweeping tropical nature and a contained but moving Luso-colonial past, this small African island still houses more stories to tell than visitors to listen to.
Kolmanskop, Namíbia

Generated by the Diamonds of Namibe, Abandoned to its Sands

It was the discovery of a bountiful diamond field in 1908 that gave rise to the foundation and surreal opulence of Kolmanskop. Less than 50 years later, gemstones have run out. The inhabitants left the village to the desert.
Curitiba, Brazil

The High-Quality Life of Curitiba

It is not only the altitude of almost 1000 meters at which the city is located. Cosmopolitan and multicultural, the capital of Paraná has a quality of life and human development rating that make it a unique case in Brazil.
Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

The Legacy of an Historic Shuttle

The founding of Colónia do Sacramento by the Portuguese generated recurrent conflicts with their spanish rivals. Until 1828, this fortified square, now sedative, changed sides again and again.
Brasilia, Brazil

Brasília: from Utopia to the Capital and Political Arena of Brazil

Since the days of the Marquis of Pombal, there has been talk of transferring the capital to the interior. Today, the chimera city continues to look surreal but dictates the rules of Brazilian development.
Sheets of Bahia, Brazil

Lençóis da Bahia: not Even Diamonds Are Forever

In the XNUMXth century, Lençóis became the world's largest supplier of diamonds. But the gem trade did not last as expected. Today, the colonial architecture that he inherited is his most precious possession.
Goiás Velho, Brazil

The Life and Work of a Marginal Writer

Born in Goiás, Ana Lins Bretas spent most of her life far from her castrating family and the city. Returning to its origins, it continued to portray the prejudiced mentality of the Brazilian countryside
Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, wildebeest on river
Safari
Serengeti NP, Tanzania

The Great Migration of the Endless Savanna

In these prairies that the Masai people say syringet (run forever), millions of wildebeests and other herbivores chase the rains. For predators, their arrival and that of the monsoon are the same salvation.
Herd in Manang, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 8th Manang, Nepal

Manang: the Last Acclimatization in Civilization

Six days after leaving Besisahar we finally arrived in Manang (3519m). Located at the foot of the Annapurna III and Gangapurna Mountains, Manang is the civilization that pampers and prepares hikers for the ever-dreaded crossing of Thorong La Gorge (5416 m).
holy plain, Bagan, Myanmar
Architecture & Design
Bagan, Myanmar

The Plain of Pagodas, Temples and other Heavenly Redemptions

Burmese religiosity has always been based on a commitment to redemption. In Bagan, wealthy and fearful believers continue to erect pagodas in hopes of winning the benevolence of the gods.
Full Dog Mushing
Adventure
Seward, Alaska

The Alaskan Dog Mushing Summer

It's almost 30 degrees and the glaciers are melting. In Alaska, entrepreneurs have little time to get rich. Until the end of August, dog mushing cannot stop.
Moa on a beach in Rapa Nui/Easter Island
Ceremonies and Festivities
Easter Island, Chile

The Take-off and Fall of the Bird-Man Cult

Until the XNUMXth century, the natives of Easter Island they carved and worshiped great stone gods. All of a sudden, they started to drop their moai. The veneration of tanatu manu, a half-human, half-sacred leader, decreed after a dramatic competition for an egg.
Chihuahua, Mexico City, pedigree, Deza y Ulloa
Cities
chihuahua, Mexico

¡Ay Chihuahua !

Mexicans have adapted this expression as one of their favorite manifestations of surprise. While we wander through the capital of the homonymous state of the Northwest, we often exclaim it.
Meal
World Food

Gastronomy Without Borders or Prejudice

Each people, their recipes and delicacies. In certain cases, the same ones that delight entire nations repel many others. For those who travel the world, the most important ingredient is a very open mind.
Treasures, Las Vegas, Nevada, City of Sin and Forgiveness
Culture
Las Vegas, USA

Where sin is always forgiven

Projected from the Mojave Desert like a neon mirage, the North American capital of gaming and entertainment is experienced as a gamble in the dark. Lush and addictive, Vegas neither learns nor regrets.
Spectator, Melbourne Cricket Ground-Rules footbal, Melbourne, Australia
Sport
Melbourne, Australia

The Football the Australians Rule

Although played since 1841, Australian Football has only conquered part of the big island. Internationalization has never gone beyond paper, held back by competition from rugby and classical football.
Alaska, by Homer in Search of Whittier
Traveling
Homer a Whittier, Alaska

In Search of the Stealth Whittier

We leave Homer in search of Whittier, a refuge built in World War II and housing two hundred or so people, almost all in a single building.
Creel, Chihuahua, Carlos Venzor, collector, museum
Ethnic
Chihuahua a Creel, Chihuahua, Mexico

On Creel's Way

With Chihuahua behind, we point to the southwest and to even higher lands in the north of Mexico. Next to Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, we visited a Mennonite elder. Around Creel, we lived for the first time with the Rarámuri indigenous community of the Serra de Tarahumara.
ice tunnel, black gold route, Valdez, Alaska, USA
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

Sensations vs Impressions

Yucatan Peninsula, Mérida City, Mexico, Cabildo
History
Mérida, Mexico

The Most Exuberant of Meridas

In 25 BC, the Romans founded Emerita Augusta, capital of Lusitania. The Spanish expansion generated three other Méridas in the world. Of the four, the Yucatan capital is the most colorful and lively, resplendent with Hispanic colonial heritage and multi-ethnic life.
Brava Cape Verde Island, Macaronesia
Islands
Brava, Cape Verde

Cape Verde Brave Island

During colonization, the Portuguese came across a moist and lush island, something rare in Cape Verde. Brava, the smallest of the inhabited islands and one of the least visited of the archipelago, preserves the authenticity of its somewhat elusive Atlantic and volcanic nature.
Boats on ice, Hailuoto Island, Finland.
Winter White
Hailuoto, Finland

A Refuge in the Gulf of Bothnia

During winter, the island of Hailuoto is connected to the rest of Finland by the country's longest ice road. Most of its 986 inhabitants esteem, above all, the distance that the island grants them.
José Saramago in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain, Glorieta de Saramago
Literature
Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain (España)

José Saramago's Basalt Raft

In 1993, frustrated by the Portuguese government's disregard for his work “The Gospel According to Jesus Christ”, Saramago moved with his wife Pilar del Río to Lanzarote. Back on this somewhat extraterrestrial Canary Island, we visited his home. And the refuge from the portuguese censorship that haunted the writer.
Mount Denali, McKinley, Sacred Ceiling Alaska, North America, Summit, Altitude Evil, Mountain Evil, Prevent, Treat
Nature
Mount Denali, Alaska

The Sacred Ceiling of North America

The Athabascan Indians called him Denali, or the Great, and they revered his haughtiness. This stunning mountain has aroused the greed of climbers and a long succession of record-breaking climbs.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
Thingvelir, Origins Democracy Iceland, Oxará
Natural Parks
Thingvellir National Park, Iceland

The Origins of the Remote Viking Democracy

The foundations of popular government that come to mind are the Hellenic ones. But what is believed to have been the world's first parliament was inaugurated in the middle of the XNUMXth century, in Iceland's icy interior.
São Miguel Island, Dazzling Colors by Nature
UNESCO World Heritage
São Miguel (Azores), Azores

São Miguel Island: Stunning Azores, By Nature

An immaculate biosphere that the Earth's entrails mold and soften is displayed, in São Miguel, in a panoramic format. São Miguel is the largest of the Portuguese islands. And it is a work of art of Nature and Man in the middle of the North Atlantic planted.
Couple visiting Mikhaylovskoe, village where writer Alexander Pushkin had a home
Characters
Saint Petersburg e Mikhaylovkoe, Russia

The Writer Who Succumbed to His Own Plot

Alexander Pushkin is hailed by many as the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. But Pushkin also dictated an almost tragicomic epilogue to his prolific life.
Baie d'Oro, Île des Pins, New Caledonia
Beaches
Île-des-Pins, New Caledonia

The Island that Leaned against Paradise

In 1964, Katsura Morimura delighted the Japan with a turquoise novel set in Ouvéa. But the neighboring Île-des-Pins has taken over the title "The Nearest Island to Paradise" and thrills its visitors.
Pilgrims at the top, Mount Sinai, Egypt
Religion
Mount Sinai, Egypt

Strength in the Legs, Faith in God

Moses received the Ten Commandments on the summit of Mount Sinai and revealed them to the people of Israel. Today, hundreds of pilgrims climb, every night, the 4000 steps of that painful but mystical ascent.
white pass yukon train, Skagway, Gold Route, Alaska, USA
On Rails
Skagway, Alaska

A Klondike's Gold Fever Variant

The last great American gold rush is long over. These days, hundreds of cruise ships each summer pour thousands of well-heeled visitors into the shop-lined streets of Skagway.
full cabin
Society
Saariselka, Finland

The Delightful Arctic Heat

It is said that the Finns created SMS so they don't have to talk. The imagination of cold Nordics is lost in the mist of their beloved saunas, real physical and social therapy sessions.
the projectionist
Daily life
Sainte-Luce, Martinique

The Nostalgic Projectionist

From 1954 to 1983, Gérard Pierre screened many of the famous films arriving in Martinique. 30 years after the closing of the room in which he worked, it was still difficult for this nostalgic native to change his reel.
Lion, Elephants, PN Hwange, Zimbabwe
Wildlife
PN Hwange, Zimbabwe

The Legacy of the Late Cecil Lion

On July 1, 2015, Walter Palmer, a dentist and trophy hunter from Minnesota killed Cecil, Zimbabwe's most famous lion. The slaughter generated a viral wave of outrage. As we saw in PN Hwange, nearly two years later, Cecil's descendants thrive.
Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.