Florianopolis (9-13 Dec)

We had a long day of missioning when we left Ilha do Mel which started off with a 30 minute boat ride to Peurto do Sol.  It was raining and the sea was very rough so our little boat was being tossed around like crazy and we felt like we were in a roller-coaster.  Taryn almost got sea sick but managed to hold out for the 30 minute journey.  We then got a taxi to the bus station with this crazy taxi driver who was pumping some German rap/rave music really loud and he even had a litte tv screen in the front of his car so he could watch the music videos.  We nearly ran over a dog and a truck very nearly took out the front of the taxi so we were all very glad when the 10 minute journey was over!  We then had a 1.5 hour bus ride to Curritiba before getting on our 4:30pm bus to Florianopolis which was only supposed to be 4.5 hours but took us 6.5 hours so it was a long day and we eventually got to our hostel (Tucano) around 11:30pm.

This place is great – it is the first place in Brazil I have felt I could live.  We are staying on the island of Santa Catarina which is beautiful.  It has about 42 beaches and just has a great feel about it.  The fist day we woke up and did a nice long walk to one of the beaches.  There was a surfing competition going on which was great to watch and the beach had cute little bars and restaurants along it.  We then decided to walk over to the next beach and thought we could walk around the rocks on the headland but we soon discovered that we couldn’t.  I stopped to take a photo of the guys before we turned back and the next thing I started feeling this stinging pain in my feet and when I looked down my feet were covered in little fire ants, at this point I heard Pete scream because his feet were covered in them too and we were being attacked – we must have looked hilarious to anyone watching cause we were all doing this weird run/jump whilst hitting our feet and legs.

That night the guys wanted to do the “all you can eat” bbq at the hostel but Taryn and I didn’t feel like that so we went to a little Italian restaurant in town and had a girlie night which was divine.

Our hostel organises parties and nights out pretty much every day and on Sunday there was a pool party at one of the far beaches  at a venue called P12 which is apparently something you have to do.  We bought tickets and the hostel organised transport (a mini-bus with alcohol so you can get into “party mode” on the way there).   I must say it was the best pool/day party I have been to in a very very long time.  We felt like we were on a movie set or for those of you in the UK on the set of TOWIE.  This venue is apparently where all the “posh” Brazilians come to party – it was a beautiful venue and Taryn and I felt very under-dressed in our beach dresses.  There was a band playing local music and Taryn and I tried to shake our booties like the Brazillian girls but don’t think we came anywhere close!!  It was fun trying though 🙂  Some professional dancers came out who were amazing to watch.  We also had a great bunch of people who came with us from the hostel so we had a really fun day.

We all woke up with fuzzy heads the following day. We decided to go to Barra de Lagoa and walk along the 9km beach towards Mocambique withinn a nature reserve. It was very beautiful and underdeveloped. It felt like we were walking on a treadmill as the beach was so long and it felt like we were not getting anyware. At abou t the 6km mark we decided to turn around and walked back to Barra and had lunch. After lunch we took a hiking trail up onto the top of the surrounding hills and got some great views of the lagoon and ocean. We followed the trail to a lovely beach called Galheta. Little did we know it was a naturist beach and some of the men were walking around starkers. We popped over to the next beach called Mole and it was very pretty too. It was the end of the day and it looked impossible to get a bus so we decided to walk home. All in all we did about twenty km walking. By the time we got back to the hostel we were finished. Barely had enough energy to have dinner before crashing out for the night.

Woke up the following day in preperation for our first international crossing into Uraguay. Did some admin before heading off to the airport at 1400.

Ilha do Mel (8 Dec)

We decided to go check out the island so went exploring. Walked to some 
beautiful beaches, swam in the sea, played bat and ball :) some locals showed us 
the way to another beach which involved us hiking through the jungle on a very 
very overgrown path, jumping over rocks and under huge boulders etc, was great 
fun and the beach was beautiful. 
On our way back a dead dolphin had washed up on shore and was being eaten by 
loads of vultures which was quite sad to see but facinating to watch at the same time.

The guys decided to go for one last swim and Pete got stung by a jelly fish
quite badly around his wrist so we made our way back to get vinegar and cream to try
stop he stinging. He is fine, just in a bit of discomfort. We then went out for dinner to the restaurant next door and the guys ordered pizza´s – it was hillarious these massive pizza´s came out that could have fed about 10 people each. They had só much topping on and a layer of ham underneath all the topping. The guys were in there element and said it was the best pizza they have ever had – they went
straight to sleep after eating them! Há ha

The island is beautiful and we were quite sad that we only had 2 nights here before moving on, but we had a great time and had one full day in the sun on Ilha do Mel 🙂

Curitiba/Morretes/Paranagua/Ilha do Mel (7 Dec)

07 Dec - woke up at 6:30am so we could get our 8am Serra Verde Express (not so 
express - you can probably walk faster...with your backpacks on). Was meant to 
be a beautiful scenic 3 hour train ride but it took us 4 hours and in the first 
2 hours there wasn't much to look at so the first half was really really boring. 
The track then opened up into beautiful views of gorges and waterfalls which was 
stunning. That only lasted about 30 minutes and then the scenery wasn't so great 
to the end. All of us wished we had rather just chosen the 3 hour bus ride to 
our final destination instead of the 4 hour scenic train, 1 hour bus and then 3 
hour boat to get there! Got off the train at Morretes and caught a local bus to 
Paranagua where we then caught a little local boat to Ilha do Mel (honey 
island). Pete and Barry made friends with some crazy young locals who were 
drinking bright blue alcohol at the back of the boat whilst Taryn and I sat with 
the grannies with no teeth in the front (they were so cute and chatted away to 
us even though we isn't understand a word). Got to the island and dragged our 
backpacks through the sand to Marimar hostel which was right on he beach. Very 
island style, relaxing with great views and very friendly staff. It was also 
right next to a bar and shop :) we got some drinks from the shop and sat 
overlooking the sea which was just heaven. Went to get dinner down the beach at 
9pm - there wasn't much on offer so Taryn and I ordered savoury pancakes which 
was some shredded chicken and what looked like little mini chips mixed through 
with melted cheese on top - very strange

Curitiba (06 Dec)

Got to Curitiba at 7am. Jumped in a taxi to our hotel. Stayed at 
Bristol hotel which was great as we all had an apartment with lounge, kitchen 
and dining room. Dropped our bags off and walked around the historic centre of 
town which wasn't that great. Caught the tourist bus around town which was 
probably the most boring bus tour we have ever been on. Stopped at the botanical 
gardens which took us about 15 minutes to walk around (with hardly any plants 
in!!). Got off at the italian quarter to get food as it was 3pm at this stage 
and we were starving. None of he restaurants were open and only opened At 6pm 
for dinner. Landed up on the bus for another hour trying to get back. Bought 
some pasta, wine etc and made our own Italian food for dinner which was 
delicious - it was great having our own little apartment for the night and home 
cooked food for the first time on out trip.

Foz de Iguacu (Iguazu Falls) (04/05 Dec)

 Took a bus to the Argentinian side of the Iguazu Falls from the hostel. Had 3 other people with us, Claudia from Chile, Peter from Slovakia and Marcus from Germany.

The boarder crossing was interesting as you go through 2 checks and you have to pay twice. At the 1st check they short changed our driver so he didnt have enough money. They only accepted Argentinian Pesos which none of us had. Thank goodness Claudia spoke Spanish as they didnt speak any English. We were the only ones that had a bank card  on us so we had to draw money from the atm conveniently located at the boarder crossing (which our hostel later gave back to us). Getting back into brazil was a lot easier. 

We all had a great day - loads of walking and the falls were breathtakingly beautiful. Got very sunburned!  Got back and we went to meet Taryn and Barry who had been waiting for us in Iguazu for 3 days. Pete had his 1st caphrinia and loved it. We went to a great place for dinner where they just kept brining meat around so the guys were in heaven 🙂 It was awesome to meet up with Taryn and Barry again and they have had an amazing time so far - it was a great night swapping stories and having a few drinks.

The next day I woke up with a headache from mixing caphrinias with red wine and beer!!
Pete and Taryn wanted to check out the bird park do we did that. It was good and
the parrots were beautiful. The toucans were the best for me, such funny birds
and so vain they would fly over and pose for photos 🙂 after that we just had
lunch at a great Turkish sidewalk cafe then sorted out our next leg of he trip
with timings and where we want to stop etc. we then caught our 21:00 bus to
Curitiba which is a 10 hour overnighter (a first for Pete and I on this trip).
Had to stop after an hour at a police check point which was interesting. The
sniffer dog got on our bus 4 times and armed police kept pulling people off the
bus and searching their bags and luggage. Pete and I got pulled off which was a
bit nerve wracking but it was all fine and they didn't search our bags they just
wanted to check which bags were ours. After an hour we were finally on the road
again.

 

Transit from Ilha Grande to Iguazu Falls (03 Dec)

Checked out at 10am and had to wait until 12:30 for the catermaran to take us to Angres dos Reis. 45 min boat ride then did a 1.5km walk with our backpacks to the bus station where we got our 15:00 busto Rio. Took us 4 hours to get to the Rio Rodevario (bus station). Got a taxi to the airport then caught a 9pm flight to Iguazu Falls.

Our flight was delayed by an hour. They changed gates last minute and we didn't have a clue what was going on. They also got the new gate number wrong on the info boards so we just followed the crowd of people running up and down the airport and we got there in the end!! Got a taxi to Klein hostel at midnight. Met a lovely Dutch girlin the taxi. There are a lot of Dutch and German travellers over here in South America. The hostel was great and made us feel so at home and we met a lot of great people there 🙂

Ilha Grande (30 Nov – 2 Dec)

We took a 3 hour bus down to Morachiba Port where we then took a 1 hour boat over to Ilha Grande island.  We stayed at Abraao village which was beautiful.  We had booked into a hostel which just happened to be the furthest away and up the steepest hill ever!  I must say I did get a bit grumpy having to lug my backpack up that hill!  ha ha

When we got to the place it was beautiful – log cabin style rooms in the forest with a stream running through – very peaceful and picturesque so I quickly cheered up 🙂

When we woke up the next day the sun was shining and we decided to do a 8.5 km hike to Dois Rios beach – when we got there you need to sign in at the guards to enter the village.  It was like a ghost town – really really eerie and strange.  Not many people live there and there is an old burnt out prison where they use to send the most dangerous criminals years ago but the criminals formed powerful cartels so they closed the prison down.  Once you are through the little village it opens up to the most beautiful beach I think I have ever seen.  It was amazing!

There was only one place to buy food and it was someone´s house.  They couldn´t speak English and we aren´t great with Portuguese yet so Pete landed up making a chicken noise and flapping his arms (which they found very funny) and we got a chicken salad which was delicious 🙂

We stayed there until 3pm and just as we were about to leave the heavens opened up and we landed up doing the 8.5km (2.5 hour) walk back in the pouring rain.  It was fun though 🙂

We wanted to stay an extra night but the place we were at didn´t have availability so we had to go from hostel to hostel trying to find somewhere.  As it was Friday there was nothing available.  We landed up in a place that was still being renovated and we were the only ones there – it wasn´t great I must say but it we did find it very funny.

The next day we did a 3.5 hour hike through lush forest to Lopez Mendes “the most beautiful beach in Brazil”.  It was an overcast day so good for walking to the beach which was beautiful but I personally liked Dois Rios more. Met two friendly dogs who followed us around for the rest of the day. Got a boat back which took 45 mins. Went back to The Biergarden for dinner and just had a relaxing evening.

I would highly recommend Ilha Grande – we had an amazing time here.

Rio

Well what can I say about Rio – what a crazy place.  My 1st impressions of Rio were´t that great to be honest but that was just because it was raining and grey and overcast.  We stayed in a really cute Pousada in Ipanema beach and woke up at 5am to the sound of roosters and about 20,000 other birds that sounded like they were in our room!  We decided to brave the rain and walked along Ipanema beach to Copacabana (we were the only crazy tourists on the beach!)

Pete and I decided not to do the city bus tour and just walk around ourselves which was great but did mean that we walked for 8 hours and covered most of Rio by foot and had to walk through a long motorway tunnel where I thought we were going to die of carbon monoxide poisoning!!

We walked to the Santa Teresa Mosaic Stairs and actually met the Artist – Jorge Selaron which was great.  We went to Sugar Loaf mountain but it was covered in clouds so we decided not to go up.  We saw Christ the Redeemer make an appearance through the clouds which was such an amazing thing to see as it looked like he was just floating on a bed of clouds.

We went into Central and walked around but it was really busy and crazy (and there was also a smell of blue cheese in the air) so we didn´t stay there for long.

We had our fist crazy taxi bus experience back to Ipanema that was a white knuckle ride but we made it back safely and went out for dinner where I had my first steak –  mine was double the size of Pete´s and pretty much took up the whole plate!!  It was great 🙂

The next morning we woke up at 3:30am with Pete falling through the bed – it was hillarious!  One of the wooden slats had come off which resulted in Pete falling through the bed.  We both got such a fright so it took ages to try and get back to sleep!  Pete´s face was a picture and it still makes me chuckle thinking about it!!  ha ha

We got up early and there was glorious sunshine so we went back down to Ipanema and Copacobanna beach.  I must say this is when I started loving Rio!!  It was glorious and we had a great day on the beach and then going up to see Christ the Redeemer.  It is truly amazing.  We met this crazy taxi driver called Paulo who convinced us to take his private taxi tour up to the viewing points instead of the train and we are so glad we did as he gave us a guided tour and some extra stops for the same price.  The views of Rio were breathtaking.

We ended the day with some beers back at the Pousada – so all in all it was an amazing day 🙂

Our 1st week in Brazil

We have had an amazing 1st week here in Brazil.  It feels like we have been here for about a month already.  I was hoping to update this blog daily but we have had some challenges with wifi and power cuts etc so this is the first chance I have had to sit down and write.

I am unfortunately unable to upload photo´s to the blog from my IPad so this will have to be a text only blog for now.  It also doesn´t help that I accidently deleted most of our photo´s of Rio from our camera memory card – oops!!  Pete thinks we can recover them with some software so hopefully we can try that when we get to a pc.

Anyway – there is too much to write in one blog so I will break it down and post a couple more blogs in a minute so stay tuned 🙂 …