Since Captain Richard Phillips was dramatically rescued by U.S. Navy Seals on Sunday, pirates of the coast of Somalia have stepped up their attacks on ships.

On Monday, they hijacked two Egyptian fishing boats and two freighters… On Tuesday, two more freighters and four skiffs were taken by force… And just last night, a U.S. cargo ship carrying food aid for Africa was attacked.

The international community is working together in a joint task force to try and tackle the problem, but it’ll take a lot of work, and a lot of ships. In the mean time, one might expect to see shipping costs and insurance premiums escalate for this region…

For the second time this trip, I’ve seen the sunrise in a foreign country.

This time, my over-night bus was passing through Suipacha, an agricutural area about three hours outside of Buenos Aires. There were flowing wheat fields and young corn growing everywhere, and in between these crops were thousands of head of cattle. It was a farmer’s paradise, and companies have flocked to this area for generations: Agrimex, Coincer, and Cargill.

Argentina is, after all one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, and it’s also home to some of the best steaks in the world.

I’ve yet to have one, but I’m sure I’ll be accomodated at dinner tonight.

But I’d like to talk a little bit about Buenos Aires. I knew we were getting close to the city when big stores, like Wal-Mart, and Easy (the BA version of Home Depot) started popping up on the side of the road. And then came the fashion billboards…

And then came the container stacks.

Buenos Aires is - quite literally - the mouth of South America. It’s situated on the Punta Indio Channel, a wide delta of sorts that serves as the main port of all of South America. Imports, exports, agricultural commodities, automobiles…

You name it, it passes through here.

And unlike Santiago, Buenos Aires has retained a bit of its Old World Charm, with European architecture and lovely city parks, it will be a pleasure to walk around the city later.

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Companies around the world have come to milk Indonesia for all its worth

More than 17,500 islands dot the country of Indonesia. Riddled with volcanoes and forests, surrounded by 50,000 miles of coastline, this nation is rich in natural resources.

Nutmeg and cloves, coffee and tea, rice and rubber… Agriculture is a major force in Indonesia’s economy, employing more than 42 million people. But the world at large isn’t just salivating over Indonesia’s crops.

Crude oil, natural gas, tin, copper and gold reserves have drawn international attention to this country, and Indonesia has welcomed it with open arms.

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