Carnival time on The Big Picture

The Big Picture - Carnival time

As always, the The Big Picture blog lives up to its excellent reputation with a new set of amazing photos.

It’s Carnival Season in many countries across the world; from the Mardi Gras in New Orleans to the Carnival in Brazil. View the Carnival photo set here.

If this gets you in the mood for visiting the Brazil Carnival yourself, avoid the crowds (and higher prices) by visiting during Rio’s Winners’ Parade (a week after the main Carnival). Better value and equally extravagant! Speak to the Brazil specialists

Manaus’ Amazonian Opera Festival 2009

Manaus Opera House, Manaus

From April 23rd to May 31st, the steamy port city of Manaus will host the 13th famous ‘Festival Amazonas de Ópera’, this year paying homage to France’s contributions to the world of opera and featuring only works by French composers and artists.

The setting for the festival is unique and exciting. Manaus is a hot and bustling city in the heart of the tropical Amazon rainforest and yet the opera house itself would not be out of place in Paris or Rome. A jewel of the Amazon, it was built during the ‘Belle Époque’, in a Renaissance style and financed by the rubber boom. Its architecture is beautiful and delicate, a fine mix of marble, wood and gold ornamentation. Continue reading »

‘Explore’ on BBC2 – new four part series on Sundays at 9pm

Perito Moreno glacier, Argentina

Don’t miss the BBC’s new programme, ‘Explore’ on Sundays at 9pm. Last night was the first programme in an exciting and enlightening new four part series. It is led by Simon Reeve, author and presenter (Tropic of Capricorn and Equator) and a team of reporters, who travel on spectacular journeys of discovery to diverse parts of the world.

Continue reading »

Venezuela Youth Orchestras

For those of you who missed it, we highly recommend watching the following programme. Broadcast on BBC1 on Monday 17 November, it is available to watch on BBC iplayer this week or to download for future viewing.

Presented by Alan Yentob the programme, entitled “Imagine”, profiles the incredible youth orchestras of Venezuela and the way they provide hope to hundreds of thousands of children stuck in poverty with no future. Described as unashamed social engineering, the result is outstanding, with the main Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra performing worldwide to rapturous audiences.
 
They have one performance date at the South Bank in London on 18 April 2009 but this has already sold out. A DVD is available to buy entitled “Dudamel – the promise of music” (2008).
 
Please contact Rebecca Profit, Venezuela specialist, on 01993 838 614 if you wish to visit the country and arrange to hear one of the orchestras in action.

Darwin at the Natural History Museum

Pinnacle rock, Galapagos Islands

2009 marks the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin as well as the 150th anniversary of his “Origin of the Species”; his revolutionary theories that changed our understanding of the world as we see it today.

Many Galapagos boat operators are marking this special occasion with special lectures and more in depth conversation of his work in the Galapagos.

To learn more about the great man, the Natural History Museum is running a Darwin Exhibition between 14th November 2008 and 19th April 2009 displaying incredible, revealing and rare exhibits, some on display for the first time.

More information can be found at www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/darwin/index.html.

Love in the Time of Cholera

There is a new film coming out soon, starring the recent Oscar winner Javier Bardem -”Love in the Time of Cholera” from the famed Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It is set on the beautiful Caribbean coastal city of Cartagena – a gorgeous, historic setting. Not only will this promote interest in the fabulous destination of Colombia but it also has a brief cameo appearance from our ground agents! They appear in traditional finery in a scene set in a house of ill-repute where they are surrounded by a multitude of lovely ladies. If you want to find out more about this go to our Colombia pages in the Latin American section of our website.

Read more about the film