De
Todo un Poco: Carmen Miranda and Air Highways to
Latin America
by
Jerry W. Bird
 Songstress
Carmen Miranda's colorful biography was featured on
the History Channel recently, and I am sure it
brought tears to many eyes, and a smile to the face
of those who've captured her image in the theater
of their minds. For generations Carmen was not only
"Chiquita Banana" to millions of us kids (from 9 to
90), she was South America's unofficial Ambassador
to the world. And the pert, petite and peppy Miss
Miranda never faltered through the decades. Her
fruit salad headpiece didn't lose a single grape,
as she performed the tango, samba or a hip-swaying
version of "Cuban Pete, the man with the rumba
beat" ...and "South America- take it away"
Ole.
 The
history of travel from the USA and Canada on silver
birds, big bellied flying boats and cruise ships to
Central and South America, reads like a romance
novel, with a touch of mystery thrown in. All of
this travel happened during turbulent, earth
shaking times. Hopefully things will improve on the
political scen with a focus on better governance -
a key 'Summit of the Americas' topic
(see
page one).
While the number of visitors has increased in
droves, it still hasn't really tapped the bucket.
This section of our Aviation and Travel Web site is
dedicated to providing a small, but delicious taste
on this fabulous destination area, and provide
direction to carriers, accommodation and travel
tour operators. Like the title of my first High
School Spanish text book, "De todo un poco, " this
site will offer you a 'little bit of everything.'
The rest is up to you. Hasta la vista!
For starters
with, here are some key connections:
Directory
of South American Web sites
http://www.specialdepartures.com/samerican_tourism_links.htm
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