Sunday, December 21, 2003
My final week has flown by and I´ve just spend the last few hours packing ready for the flight home.
I´ve stayed the whole week in a hostel a few streets from Copacabana beach. Quite a lively place, though to be honest I only entered into the real spirit of things last night when I went along to a Samba club. The samba club was full of all sorts of locals - old, young, fat, thin - all of them totally going for it! True experience I can tell you and gave me just a taste of the life that must fill Rio when the carnivals on!!
For the rest of the week I´ve done touristy stuff mainly, ie Sugar Loaf, Christ the redeemer, Ipenema, Copacabana etc. Also went on a favela tour (tour of the shantytowns). These was really interesting and, while poor, not at all the slums I´d imagined (though it was the most upmarket favela apparently). The people were really friendly there especially the kids, who were all asking to have their photos taken! The only real dodgy bit was walking past the drug dealers, getting a motorbike up to the top of the favela sans helmet (first ever ride on a motorbike!) and slipping over in one of the side streets (my own clumsiness though). The whole time we were there fireworks kept going off, warning the drug dealers that the police were around. Really different way of life, though they seem so full of joy.
Also been sampling some of the comedy juices they have here - most are lovely, some eg cashew nuts juice, don´t quite hit the spot. The local fruit acai is good in juice (dark, sweet tasting juice but I haven´t got a clue what the actually fruit looks like). Mango is most favorite though, com leche.
I travel to Sao Paulo by bus tomorrow and fly home from there - arriving back in the UK Tuesday (long journey). Very mixed emotions about the whole thing but ready to go back, definitely, despite the fact that it is over 30 degrees C cooler!! See you all there!!
A
annasmith@another.com
I´ve stayed the whole week in a hostel a few streets from Copacabana beach. Quite a lively place, though to be honest I only entered into the real spirit of things last night when I went along to a Samba club. The samba club was full of all sorts of locals - old, young, fat, thin - all of them totally going for it! True experience I can tell you and gave me just a taste of the life that must fill Rio when the carnivals on!!
For the rest of the week I´ve done touristy stuff mainly, ie Sugar Loaf, Christ the redeemer, Ipenema, Copacabana etc. Also went on a favela tour (tour of the shantytowns). These was really interesting and, while poor, not at all the slums I´d imagined (though it was the most upmarket favela apparently). The people were really friendly there especially the kids, who were all asking to have their photos taken! The only real dodgy bit was walking past the drug dealers, getting a motorbike up to the top of the favela sans helmet (first ever ride on a motorbike!) and slipping over in one of the side streets (my own clumsiness though). The whole time we were there fireworks kept going off, warning the drug dealers that the police were around. Really different way of life, though they seem so full of joy.
Also been sampling some of the comedy juices they have here - most are lovely, some eg cashew nuts juice, don´t quite hit the spot. The local fruit acai is good in juice (dark, sweet tasting juice but I haven´t got a clue what the actually fruit looks like). Mango is most favorite though, com leche.
I travel to Sao Paulo by bus tomorrow and fly home from there - arriving back in the UK Tuesday (long journey). Very mixed emotions about the whole thing but ready to go back, definitely, despite the fact that it is over 30 degrees C cooler!! See you all there!!
A
annasmith@another.com
Monday, December 15, 2003
Finally made it - Rio de Janeiro!! The last port of call. Arrived today and am staying in a hostel just off Copacabana beach.
After two full days in Paraty, one spent on a schooner exploring the beaches and snorkelling with the fish the other chilling around Paraty (and eating in an English restaurant :-)), I caught a bus to Angra and from there a boat to Ilha Grande.
The boat we caught to Ilha Grande was a local boat carrying what seemed like all of the materials to build a house - bricks, wood, roof tiles, metal things. We were really impressed with ourselves sitting on this hodgepodge of stuff, mixing with the locals, until we got to Ilha Grande and realised that we´d paid double what it would have cost to get the normal ferrry! Oh well, it was an experience.
Ilha Grande is a montainous, tropical, largely uninhabited island with only one real town. Spent a couple of days here; one sat in a coffee shop watching the rain (even idylic islands seem a bit dull when it´s wet), the other on a schooner exploring some of the beaches.
Arrived in Rio today following a difficult bus journey (bus broke down, luggage stuck in bus because air (?) system not working, panic sticken german man needing to catch flight home, v. hot me, running out of currency so could only afford ice lolly for lunch etc etc). Mmm, travelling is not always so easy....
After two full days in Paraty, one spent on a schooner exploring the beaches and snorkelling with the fish the other chilling around Paraty (and eating in an English restaurant :-)), I caught a bus to Angra and from there a boat to Ilha Grande.
The boat we caught to Ilha Grande was a local boat carrying what seemed like all of the materials to build a house - bricks, wood, roof tiles, metal things. We were really impressed with ourselves sitting on this hodgepodge of stuff, mixing with the locals, until we got to Ilha Grande and realised that we´d paid double what it would have cost to get the normal ferrry! Oh well, it was an experience.
Ilha Grande is a montainous, tropical, largely uninhabited island with only one real town. Spent a couple of days here; one sat in a coffee shop watching the rain (even idylic islands seem a bit dull when it´s wet), the other on a schooner exploring some of the beaches.
Arrived in Rio today following a difficult bus journey (bus broke down, luggage stuck in bus because air (?) system not working, panic sticken german man needing to catch flight home, v. hot me, running out of currency so could only afford ice lolly for lunch etc etc). Mmm, travelling is not always so easy....
Thursday, December 11, 2003
What I´ve seen of Brazil so far is great; hot, green and relaxed. Quite happy here.
I spent three nights in Barra da Logoa, a small resort close to Florianopolis. Weather was summery, water warm and wavy and the beaches were long, golden and squeeky (never come across squeeky sand before). Seems so strange then to see tinsel and Santa scattered around the place.
From Barra we caught a night bus up to Sao Paulo, had hardly any sleep on the bus then trudged around Sao Paulo for the day feeling like a zombie. I´m therefore not quite sure about what I think about the city - it´s huge (population 17 million), fairly anonymous and I found it unobjectionable (despite what the guide books say). I really didn´t have a lot of time to form that strong an opinion of the place though, but did manage to visit the snake zoo at the University (famous for its work on vaccines and medicines based on snake venom).
Arrived in Paraty yesterday after another long journey (six hours on bus); an old colonial town between Rio and Sao Paulo which is surrounded by tropical beachs and has lots of nice restaurants with live music. Spent today lying in a hammock reading, eating ice-cream and swimming.
Food in Brazil is better than Argentina for veggies but still not great (lots of fish and steak still). However, I´m quite content for the time being surviving on ice-cream and mixed salads. Ice-cream out here is almost as good as Italy. In Barra we came across this great self-service ice-cream place (sold by weight). Thought it was a great idea for setting up my own business in England - not sure what I´d do for the other 10 months of the year though!
Staying in Paraty for the next few days, then another beach resort and spending my final week in Rio!! The count down to xmas and coming home has really started.
I spent three nights in Barra da Logoa, a small resort close to Florianopolis. Weather was summery, water warm and wavy and the beaches were long, golden and squeeky (never come across squeeky sand before). Seems so strange then to see tinsel and Santa scattered around the place.
From Barra we caught a night bus up to Sao Paulo, had hardly any sleep on the bus then trudged around Sao Paulo for the day feeling like a zombie. I´m therefore not quite sure about what I think about the city - it´s huge (population 17 million), fairly anonymous and I found it unobjectionable (despite what the guide books say). I really didn´t have a lot of time to form that strong an opinion of the place though, but did manage to visit the snake zoo at the University (famous for its work on vaccines and medicines based on snake venom).
Arrived in Paraty yesterday after another long journey (six hours on bus); an old colonial town between Rio and Sao Paulo which is surrounded by tropical beachs and has lots of nice restaurants with live music. Spent today lying in a hammock reading, eating ice-cream and swimming.
Food in Brazil is better than Argentina for veggies but still not great (lots of fish and steak still). However, I´m quite content for the time being surviving on ice-cream and mixed salads. Ice-cream out here is almost as good as Italy. In Barra we came across this great self-service ice-cream place (sold by weight). Thought it was a great idea for setting up my own business in England - not sure what I´d do for the other 10 months of the year though!
Staying in Paraty for the next few days, then another beach resort and spending my final week in Rio!! The count down to xmas and coming home has really started.
Thursday, December 04, 2003
Am in Brazil and struggling with the lingo - my spanish was poor but my portuguese is non-existent! Arrived in Brazil a couple of days ago and have finally decided to stay in one place for more than one night - staying in the city of Florianopolis (South of Sao Paulo) and chilling on a beach for a bit I think.
Have already given up a bit on doing dorms and am currently staying in a budget hotel instead - sharing a room with, at times, five blokes in Buenos Aires wasn´t really my cup of tea (call me prudish)! The hotel here in Florianopolis may be basic but it does the best breakfast I´ve had since I arrived in South America. That doesn´t really do it justice given given that most places here serve a stale roll and bad coffee if you´re lucky but it is really a fantastic breakfast, even does good hot chocolate!
Spent my last day in Buenos Aires watching a polo match and at the ballet - how the other half live hey? If you know anything about polo you´ll be impressed that I walked past Gemma Kidd, Jody Kidd´s sister. I didn´t know anything about polo and totally didn´t understand why the two blokes I went with were staring at her until I had it explained. Mind you, they were staring quite a lot, lots of very attractive, scantily clad ¨babes¨ there they kept feeling the need to point out to me! So glad.
Flew from Buenos Aires up to the Iguazu falls after that - situated on the border of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay and consisting of over 275 separate cascades. Took two and a half days to explore the falls and some of the national park in which they´re situated. This included a speed boat trip under some of the falls (bought the video of it - was petrified), visiting the local bird park (finally got to see Toucans and Macaws close up), seeing caiman, coatis and lots of huge lizards in the wild and getting absolutely soaked in a torrential downpour like you´ve never seen!
After the final day at the Iguazu we caught a random night bus to Curtiba, random because we didn´t really intend to go there it was just one of the few places to which we could get a night bus. There, we did a jungle train ride almost to Parangua (billed as the most spectacular train ride in Brazil because of its ¨dizzy viaducts¨ it was kind of spoilt by the fog that drew in soon after we left Curtiba) and then left for Florianopolis.
Onwards and upwards.
A
Have already given up a bit on doing dorms and am currently staying in a budget hotel instead - sharing a room with, at times, five blokes in Buenos Aires wasn´t really my cup of tea (call me prudish)! The hotel here in Florianopolis may be basic but it does the best breakfast I´ve had since I arrived in South America. That doesn´t really do it justice given given that most places here serve a stale roll and bad coffee if you´re lucky but it is really a fantastic breakfast, even does good hot chocolate!
Spent my last day in Buenos Aires watching a polo match and at the ballet - how the other half live hey? If you know anything about polo you´ll be impressed that I walked past Gemma Kidd, Jody Kidd´s sister. I didn´t know anything about polo and totally didn´t understand why the two blokes I went with were staring at her until I had it explained. Mind you, they were staring quite a lot, lots of very attractive, scantily clad ¨babes¨ there they kept feeling the need to point out to me! So glad.
Flew from Buenos Aires up to the Iguazu falls after that - situated on the border of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay and consisting of over 275 separate cascades. Took two and a half days to explore the falls and some of the national park in which they´re situated. This included a speed boat trip under some of the falls (bought the video of it - was petrified), visiting the local bird park (finally got to see Toucans and Macaws close up), seeing caiman, coatis and lots of huge lizards in the wild and getting absolutely soaked in a torrential downpour like you´ve never seen!
After the final day at the Iguazu we caught a random night bus to Curtiba, random because we didn´t really intend to go there it was just one of the few places to which we could get a night bus. There, we did a jungle train ride almost to Parangua (billed as the most spectacular train ride in Brazil because of its ¨dizzy viaducts¨ it was kind of spoilt by the fog that drew in soon after we left Curtiba) and then left for Florianopolis.
Onwards and upwards.
A
Saturday, November 29, 2003
It's good to be off tour and able to please myself about where I go from now on. I'm not quite doing the whole independent traveller thing though - am travelling with Richard for the next month (if you haven't heard me mention him or met him Ricardo is a 6' 6'' Solicitor from Epsom). I'm sure it's going to take me the whole month to get used to the fact that people turn in the street to look at him, like he's elephant man, and feel the need to come up to him and tell him how tall he is! How bizarre.
Anyway, back to travel news....another country is now in the bag (so bad to look at it that way but I know I'm not alone in ticking off countries). Uruguay was beautiful, really much more than I was expecting and I finally learnt how to spell it.
I went to Colonia first, a laid back town that feels like it's stuck in a time warp - lots of big old cars, cobbled streets, bit of beach and even the odd horse and cart. Had a crazy taxi ride there with a man who insisted on giving us a guided tour at 5mph despite the fact we didn't want one, he didn't speak English and we were short of time. He ended up pulling over another tourist and getting him to translate what he was saying - all about the German ship, Graf Spee, that was scuttled in Montevideo in 1939, very famous apparently.
Then went on to Montevideo, capital of Uruguay and interesting place but still very meaty!! It was here that I managed to pick up Richard's ability to be clumsy...I'll leave it there.
Came back to Buenos Aires on Thursday and spent yesterday exploring Buenos Aires a bit more - went to the zoo (in Palmero, area with lots of parks, botanical gardens etc), an art galery and to see Evita's grave in Recoleta. Planning to go to the Polo today then I'm flying up to the Iguazu falls tomorrow (despite the temptation to stay put in this fab city).
Anyway, happy thanks giving (just heard the American next to me say that on the phone).
A
Anyway, back to travel news....another country is now in the bag (so bad to look at it that way but I know I'm not alone in ticking off countries). Uruguay was beautiful, really much more than I was expecting and I finally learnt how to spell it.
I went to Colonia first, a laid back town that feels like it's stuck in a time warp - lots of big old cars, cobbled streets, bit of beach and even the odd horse and cart. Had a crazy taxi ride there with a man who insisted on giving us a guided tour at 5mph despite the fact we didn't want one, he didn't speak English and we were short of time. He ended up pulling over another tourist and getting him to translate what he was saying - all about the German ship, Graf Spee, that was scuttled in Montevideo in 1939, very famous apparently.
Then went on to Montevideo, capital of Uruguay and interesting place but still very meaty!! It was here that I managed to pick up Richard's ability to be clumsy...I'll leave it there.
Came back to Buenos Aires on Thursday and spent yesterday exploring Buenos Aires a bit more - went to the zoo (in Palmero, area with lots of parks, botanical gardens etc), an art galery and to see Evita's grave in Recoleta. Planning to go to the Polo today then I'm flying up to the Iguazu falls tomorrow (despite the temptation to stay put in this fab city).
Anyway, happy thanks giving (just heard the American next to me say that on the phone).
A
Sunday, November 23, 2003
Arrived safely in Buenos Aires and am glad to be back to warmer climates. Enjoying doing nothing here - just chilling! Had an incident with the Brazilian caprihina cocktails that left me unable to stand after two of them! I had no idea they were so strong and will definitely not be drinking those again!
On to Uruguay tomorrow I think.
A
On to Uruguay tomorrow I think.
A
Thursday, November 20, 2003
Am at the end of the world - the Southern most town in Argentina called Ushuaia. Spent yesterday looking around the old prison here (good place for a prison), going around the end of the world museum (El fin del Mundo) and doing a boat trip on the Beagle Channel (lots of seals, elephant sea lions, cormorants also really quite a rough ride).
I´m trekking in the national park here today and should see the end of the Pan-American highway (runs all the way down the left of North and South America). All this walking over the last week or so has made me realise how unfit I am after travelling for two and a half months! Not only have I not exercised for ages but I've lived on chips and chocolate for the past two weeks so I've decided to try to detox today (pity the people who have to spend the day with me as I've expecting severe withdrawal symptoms).
Have decided to skip the final week of this tour as it involves driving over 3,000km in a week with very little to see. Instead I've booked a flight back from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires tomorrow. From there I'm going on to Uraguay and Brazil sans tour group.
A
I´m trekking in the national park here today and should see the end of the Pan-American highway (runs all the way down the left of North and South America). All this walking over the last week or so has made me realise how unfit I am after travelling for two and a half months! Not only have I not exercised for ages but I've lived on chips and chocolate for the past two weeks so I've decided to try to detox today (pity the people who have to spend the day with me as I've expecting severe withdrawal symptoms).
Have decided to skip the final week of this tour as it involves driving over 3,000km in a week with very little to see. Instead I've booked a flight back from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires tomorrow. From there I'm going on to Uraguay and Brazil sans tour group.
A
