Visit to Itaipu Dam

Itaipu Dam is the world's second largest hydroelectric plant in the world! It's humungous. Straddling the divide between Paraguay and Brazil, it was a project that enjoyed joint investment over a 25 year period until completion in 2007, and now both countries reap the energy. The dam is providing all of Paraguay's energy and 25% of Brazil's energy. It was neat to explain to the kids how the dam worked and to marvel at this wondrous blend of nature and engineering.

As Brazil contains 20% of the world's freshwater resources, hydroelectric energy plays a much more prominent role (though equally controversial) here than in the United States, where it makes up only 2-3% of the domestic energy portfolio.