I apologize I have not blogged in a while! We have been on quite the adventure since my last blog so I think I will break it up into segments so that I can give as many details as possible.. here it goes!
After our day on the Argentinean side of Iguazu, Colin and I tackled the Brazilian side of the falls. We has heard mixed reviews about that side- most people seemed bias after a day on the Argentinean side, but we were definitely not disappointed!! We spent a couple hours - does not take quite as long - doing the brazil side. The nice thing about the Brazil side is that there is a walkway where you get right in to the falls. Its great for picture taking, but the smell is horrific! We´ll just say I didnt become homesick when it reminded me of Trev´s hockey bag!
Brazil side of Iguazu
After the falls we caught a bus that we predicted to be about 22 hours to Rio. However, we did not anticipate the delays that we to come. A few hours in to the bus, Colin and I were awaken by a massive police dog sniffing the travelers for drugs while Brazilian officers went through the bags on the bottom of the bus. These searched would occur 3 more times on our way to Rio. We later learnt that a large portion of drugs are trafficked through the Paraguay border. Needless to say our 22 hour ride turned into a long 26 hour ride on an extra smelly bus. Yum!
We arrived around 10 pm on February 16th in Rio. Carnaval was to start Feb 17th so the bus depot was packed. Colin and I made our way to meet Jel, the owner of our apartment which was beautifully located in the middle of copacabana beach! Jel did not speak a lick of english, so we went with him to his local watering hole to meet his friend Marcello to provide us with translations. Our apartment was close to Graydon and the other Canadians whom we hed been travelling with previously, as well as other travellers we met along the way. During the five days of Carnaval, we spent our days on Copacabana beach - yes, the bikinis are exactly as you imagine! I don´t think the boys were too disappointed with that. Ánd we spent our evenings meeting up with other travelers we met a long the way for a caiprinha - or 6. After a few caipirinhas, we joined the partyies on the streets of Rio, dancing and soaking in the atmosphere. It was great. The blocos (block parties) were colorful and lively. The largest blocos were in lapa, a gritty area of Rio where most people go to dance and samba in the streets. The streets of Lapa and Ipanema (another popular area-similar to Copacabana) were hard to manuvre through, but it was always easy to find my other gringo friends. Gringo is a term used by Brazilians to describe foreigners.. apparently we´re easy to pick out or something?? Colin and I were 2 in 900,000 foreigners who come to Rio for carnaval. The city was packed. It still boggles my mind how the city was able to manage all of the garbage. Sometimes in Lapa, when the streets were flooded with people you would some how have to make space for a garbage truck to pass - that was interesting!
Copacabana beach
I decided not to do any of the tourist things as I knew I would be coming back to Rio later with Bailey - I like to use that as an excuse as I spent most of my days in recovery from nights of carnaval. Only Brazilians could throw a 5 day party like that one! I am excited to go back to Rio though - there is so much more to do and the landscape is incredible!
After carnaval Colin and I were itching to get out of a city. We made our way to a gorgeous island (a Mitch recommendation) called Ilha Grande (big island). This was paradise to me. I could have spent 2 weeks on this island. We bought snorkels and spent our days searching for sea turtles. Colin saw a couple. I only saw them pop up out of the water as I was swimming. I joked that I didnt see any because I was too fast with my flippers on. The island hosted the same Brazilian landscape we now grew to expect. Ilha Grande also had no cars and was home to the largest pizza I have ever seen! Graydon came to meet us on this island as well. I have decided that he is a travelling ninja - each time we tell him of our next destination no matter how much info we give him he is somehow able to find us. We were happy to see him on the island! Another cool part of our week on the island is that I had an extra special canadian visitor come see me! I had been in contact with Kyle Gros - a family friend from Victoria, who was also going to be in Brazil for Carnaval. We had just missed Kyle in Rio, but he made a trip to the island for a visit! Kyle and I hadn´t seen each other in about 10 years, so we had some catching up to do! Kyle stayed on the island for 2 nights. We had an awesome time together. Ilha Grande was a great recommendation but I also keep being told by other travellers that I may be an easy critic!!
After our week in paradise, we had to start our journey to Sao Paulo. My friend Bailey would be landing there in a couple days. Colin, Bailey and I had planned to travel together for a couple weeks in northern Brazil, but Colins plans have changed as his interest in Columbia has sparked. One route to Sao Paulo we stopped in Paraty - another beach town. Paraty was a beautiful city with the most uneven cobblestone streets I had ever seen. It would take me twice the amount of time to walk anywhere as I would stare down at my feet in anticipation of an ankle about to be rolled.
Colin and I arrived in Sao Paulo on March 1st. We stayed at a great hostel in Vila Midelena, the artsy district of Sao Paulo. On March 2nd we met our friend, a very excited Bailey!! The three of us went on a pub crawl for her first night of 4 months in South America. We walked the area of Vila Madelena with other travelers on the pub crawl and then at the end of the night we were transferred to a night club. It was a great first night together. The next day, as we were all moving very slowly, I got a message from my friend Juninho. I had met him in Rio during Carnaval. Juninho was from Sao Paulo, so when I told him we would be going there in a week he was excited to be able to show us around. Juninho and his friend Fillipe picked up the 3 of us to take us to a university party. He said it was his faculties best of the year. We went to the campus of the University of Sao Paulo, where both guys go to school. The party was awesome! It was one of the funnest days of my trip as it was a very different experience than most travelers get. They had bands playing spanish music on the balconies of the building. The songs seemed familiar to the students as they all seemed to dance together to them. We definitely stuck out with our moves! At one point I think I resorted to the YMCA...yikes...
We stayed at the party all day and then went for japanese food that night. Sao Paulo has the second largest population of Japanese people outside Japan... So when in Sao Paulo, get Japanese food?? It was amazing though! Bailey and I agreed that it may be the best food we have ever eaten (I can just sense my dad being offended by that statement). The next day we toured Sao Paulo, visited a park and had pizza - which Sao Paulo is also famous for. We had a lot of fun in Sao Paulo due to the people there, but the city is absolutely enormous. It was time to get back on the beach.
We said goodbye to Colin on monday March 5th. He began a journey on his own to La Paz, but has plans to meet up with many people we have met in the past 5 weeks. It was sad to see him go as we have had an awesome time together! But we both are very excited for each others journey to come.
That night Bailey and I caught a flight to Salvador. Salvador is in Northern Brazil. We are now following all Mitch recommendations, so if my next blog says how terrible a time we are having I will be directing all my frustration towards him... just kidding! Salvador is an amazing place! We arrived at night and are staying in the historical area. Salvador has a large African influence, so it is nothing like I have seen yet. The buildings are colorful and very well kept. Our hostel is great, the best part being happy hour - free caiprinhas! We met an awesome group of people at this hostel. We go for dinner with many of the travelers at Zulu´s, a restaurant that the hostel owner owns. There we have eaten Muqueca. Muqueca is a very common seafood dish the province of Bahia is known for. We have also tried Acarejae, a common street food, which was not our favourite and Feijoda, a bean dish native to the Bahia region as well - delicious! On tuesday nights in Pelo (the historical area) there are street parties. Drumming starts in the streets early in the evening and tourists and locals accumulate behind the drummers throughout the night. It was incredibly fun! It may have been the happy hour caiprinhas but I believe that Baileys words were ``This is the most fun I have had ever!`` I definitely had to agree with that!
Bailey in Salvador
We spent a couple days enjoying Salvador and then traveled with 2 girls, Holly and Martha, we met at the hostel to Marre do Sao Paulo. Morro do Sao Paulo is an island off the coast of Salvador. The island was great! The transportation... not so much. I was very sea sick on our three hour ferry to the island. But once we got there we had an amazing time! We beached, jumped off Brazils highest zip line, and danced at the beach parties. After a great 3 days on the island we arrived back in Salvador for one more night in the historic area.
We are now in Praia do Forte. It is a very touristy and ritzy beach town two hours north of Salvador. Bailey and I booked flights from northern Brazil back down to Rio today for March 23rd. We will spend 4 days there, then head over to Bolivia on March 27th. I will be sad to say goodbye to the beach but it will be about time for me to get in to the cheaper countries!!
Hope all is well with everyone and the Winnipeggers continue to get the warm weather!!
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