LAST THOUGHTS ON SOUTH AMERICA:

We have been to South America three times. The continent is varied in scenery, climate, people, and wealth. I would recommend to all of you that you visit. In terms of cities, Rio would be my first choice, closely followed by Buenos Aires.

Perhaps the southern half of the continent is a little more interesting that the northern part, but then I prefer vineyards to archeological ruins.

Parts of South America are defintely third world (Ecuador, Peru) and an easy way to visit is, of course, on a cruise ship, where you can retreat to your stateroom when the sun goes down.

There is lots of poverty in South America and the system of dealing with it is very different than in North America or Europe. As millions of rural residents have migrated to the cities, they have been left to their own initiatives as there is no welfare state as we know it. The poor squat in shanty towns with 100's of 1000's of residents. As there is no welfare the poor all work, but they work outside the system. As the unregistered they have no benefits, no deductions, and of course pay no taxes.

We were told that a family migrating to a shanty town needs 40 years in order to move on. I wonder how that compares to our welfare system in Canada where Canadians may live in poverty for generations?