After a great few days in Paraty we headed to Ilha Grande, the largest island off the coast of Brazil. It has forest all over the island, large hills and it also has some fantastic beaches spread all over the island.
We arrived after our 2 hour ferry ride to straight away be told our hostel was fully booked, oh dear but actually it turned out alright with our alternative hostel been fine. So we hit the beach as soon as possible to wash away the bus grime, finding a private beach overlooking the bay. This was when the first storm hit, and our run to a restaurant for dinner needed both emergency ponchos!
The food in Brazil has been fantastic and Ilha Grande was no exception. Fantastic shrimp stews, fish stews and every other seafood you could desire. The first full day on the island was spent exploring the beaches. Normally this would be terribly dull for me but it actually involved trekking through the rainforest, over hills at Maura's extreme pace - certainly beats reading my book on the beach all day!
The beaches are amazingly beautiful - crisp white sand, with crystal clear water and loads of amazing bottoms to look at! There were hardly any people on the beaches which was a real treat. Our walking through the forest was great fun and meant all the beers on the beaches were well earnt.
The second day we went to visit a tropical forest pool, with a small waterfall that you could slipdown. Apparently it was where the Colonials used to wash all the slaves, I just thought it was crazy as all the locals were sitting around it posing for (non nude) glamour poses. It was then off to see some ruins of a fort and a cool aqueduct.
We then headed on to our final destination - Rio. We jumped on the ferry, assured by our hostel owner that there would be a bus ready at our destination. Of course when we arrived the bus was 2 hours late....... this was then the next storm hit - and I'm talking galeforce winds, rain, and a little bit of flooding.
Maura, Tim, 4 rucksacks and a ludicrous storm = two not happy travellers. Especially as when we arrived in Rio we found we where staying in a converted prison....
Monday, 8 February 2010
Friday, 29 January 2010
Crystal clear waters and sandy beaches
From the Pantanal we went down to a town called Bonito to swim with the fish in the towns crystal clear rivers. Unfortunately no one told the weather gods to be kind to us so for the first time we actually missed out on an activity due to inclement weather!
So it was off to Ille de Mel (the honey island) on the east coast of Brazil. 26 hours of buses, buses and finally a boat were hell on earth with the only highlight being the most delicious piece of street meat ever discovered!
Isla de Mel is a tropical island like the ones in the movie The Beach with no cars, beautiful beaches and lots of jungle. We spent 3 nights in seperate dorms, as we where trying to economise. This led to some serious sense of humour failures from both parties as we are now grown ups and not school children.
We did lots of walking around the island and loads of swimming and snorkelling. I do admit that one of the days might have been a right off due to a bottle of vodka called {nasty} Natasha. Only costing 4 dollars - no wonder the head hurt so much....
One evening out was made more adventurous by a torrential down pour, the Brazil wet season doesn't lie it's certainly wet. To think in the first half of the trip I was really missing the rain...
So it was off to Ille de Mel (the honey island) on the east coast of Brazil. 26 hours of buses, buses and finally a boat were hell on earth with the only highlight being the most delicious piece of street meat ever discovered!
Isla de Mel is a tropical island like the ones in the movie The Beach with no cars, beautiful beaches and lots of jungle. We spent 3 nights in seperate dorms, as we where trying to economise. This led to some serious sense of humour failures from both parties as we are now grown ups and not school children.
We did lots of walking around the island and loads of swimming and snorkelling. I do admit that one of the days might have been a right off due to a bottle of vodka called {nasty} Natasha. Only costing 4 dollars - no wonder the head hurt so much....
One evening out was made more adventurous by a torrential down pour, the Brazil wet season doesn't lie it's certainly wet. To think in the first half of the trip I was really missing the rain...
Sunday, 17 January 2010
Massacre in the Pantanal
After the natural wonders of Iguazu we reckoned we were on a nature roll and should head into the Pantanal - the largest biosphere in the world with loads of animals, birds and fish. We first though had to take a 19 hour bus journey to get to Campo Grande. We arrived for the bus trip at 5pm to discover the bus we had booked didn´t exist and the bus company then proceeded to drive us half way and then left Maura, I and 4 other tourists at a service station in the middle of the night for 2 hours so we could catch a different bus.
We eventually arrived in Campo Grande and got straight on our tour - this included another 5 hour bus journey at the start. We were not amused as we had been told it would be a 1 hour jeep ride - damn salesmen! It didn´t matter though as the camp was brilliant, hammocks or tents next to a river with parrots and other birds all around. A brief walk around and a night drive were all we had time for. The night drive produced lots of caimans (crocodiles to you and me) some capybaras and a great viewing of an armadillo which was very cool.
Our first proper day on the trip was a long game drive then a boat tour. The game drive was quite uneventful with some cool birds and more caimans but nothing spectacular - that was saved for the afternoon. On the boat trip we went anaconda hunting when the clouds literally shot it - from perfect sun to the most amazing storm I have ever seen. And there was Maura and I sitting in a little boat as thunder, lightning and more rain than I´ve ever seen (and I´ve been to Scotland) came in from all sides. It actually got quite cold so everyone jumped out of their boats into the warm river water!
The next day the weather had calmed down a bit and so we went horseriding in the morning. Maura´s horse was the laziest fatist horse I´ve ever seen so all the photos are of her 100 yards behind with the horse´s head in the grass. We were lucky enough to see some blue macaws which was special as they are very rare in the wild. Other than that the trip was more about laughing at Cat our American friend as her horse was totally out of control.
In the afternoon we took to the river for some piranha fishing. Maura outfished me once again but at least I managed to catch something this time so I didn´t feel totally emasculated! The fun part was hitting the caimans as they tried to eat the piranhas just before we had reeled them in. It was a good afternoon especially as one of our fellow travellers had a cooler that was filled with beers. Proper American fishing he called it.
The final day was spent doing a walking safari and this was when the mosquitos became intolerable (all through the trip we had been eaten alive) it was ridiculous we were literally taking the mozzie spray and pouring it over the tops of our heads. All of my body was eaten to shreads and it made the walk a bit of a misery to be honest. Still we saw a cool armadillo again that shot out of his hole when we approached and some racoons and monkeys.
The search for the Jaguar goes on - I have now had 8 days in the Jungle, Pampas or Pantanal constantly scanning trees, searching waterholes and generally just praying for a sighting. I think I saw one during one of the drives home but unfortunately no one else saw it and my guide said "it was probably a large rat." Bastard.
We eventually arrived in Campo Grande and got straight on our tour - this included another 5 hour bus journey at the start. We were not amused as we had been told it would be a 1 hour jeep ride - damn salesmen! It didn´t matter though as the camp was brilliant, hammocks or tents next to a river with parrots and other birds all around. A brief walk around and a night drive were all we had time for. The night drive produced lots of caimans (crocodiles to you and me) some capybaras and a great viewing of an armadillo which was very cool.
Our first proper day on the trip was a long game drive then a boat tour. The game drive was quite uneventful with some cool birds and more caimans but nothing spectacular - that was saved for the afternoon. On the boat trip we went anaconda hunting when the clouds literally shot it - from perfect sun to the most amazing storm I have ever seen. And there was Maura and I sitting in a little boat as thunder, lightning and more rain than I´ve ever seen (and I´ve been to Scotland) came in from all sides. It actually got quite cold so everyone jumped out of their boats into the warm river water!
The next day the weather had calmed down a bit and so we went horseriding in the morning. Maura´s horse was the laziest fatist horse I´ve ever seen so all the photos are of her 100 yards behind with the horse´s head in the grass. We were lucky enough to see some blue macaws which was special as they are very rare in the wild. Other than that the trip was more about laughing at Cat our American friend as her horse was totally out of control.
In the afternoon we took to the river for some piranha fishing. Maura outfished me once again but at least I managed to catch something this time so I didn´t feel totally emasculated! The fun part was hitting the caimans as they tried to eat the piranhas just before we had reeled them in. It was a good afternoon especially as one of our fellow travellers had a cooler that was filled with beers. Proper American fishing he called it.
The final day was spent doing a walking safari and this was when the mosquitos became intolerable (all through the trip we had been eaten alive) it was ridiculous we were literally taking the mozzie spray and pouring it over the tops of our heads. All of my body was eaten to shreads and it made the walk a bit of a misery to be honest. Still we saw a cool armadillo again that shot out of his hole when we approached and some racoons and monkeys.
The search for the Jaguar goes on - I have now had 8 days in the Jungle, Pampas or Pantanal constantly scanning trees, searching waterholes and generally just praying for a sighting. I think I saw one during one of the drives home but unfortunately no one else saw it and my guide said "it was probably a large rat." Bastard.
Monday, 11 January 2010
Water water everywhere......
We took the bus up from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu, the city near the famous Iguazu falls. These falls border Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil and are where the Iguazu river turns into 275 different waterfalls spanning over 1.5 miles.
The Argentinan side of the falls lets you stand over the top of these incredibly powerful waterfalls on metal walkways and observation points. They are SPECTACULAR. There must be 20 massive waterfalls all in a row, with incredible views and amazing sounds to baffle you. We also took a boat trip which beats any Alton Towers Water flume by a million miles. The boat literally drives under one of the biggest falls so that you are drenched in water both by the waves and the spray from the falls. Our friend Keith didn´t believe what the boat captain told him so now has a waterlogged Iphone and a digital camera for sale!
We got back from the falls and took the local bus over the border to Brazil. This should have taken 30 minutes, unfortunately Brazil buses aren´t known for there reliability and true to form the bus ran out of petrol 10 minutes outside our destination of Foz de Iguazu. An hour and a half later we finally arrived at our hostel where once again we had money difficulties with every atm closing at 10pm. A delicious dinner (thanks to a credit card) solved all our problems - well it was probably the beer tower that helped the most.
The Brazil side of the falls is much less of an event, more designed to give you a panoramic look at the falls. It was still a great day with the waterfalls looking even more impressive when we had the full perspective of their size. I´m sure you can see from the plethora of photos how amazing the falls were. The wildlife is also more accessable on the Brazil side with our lunch getting regularly disturbed by very friendly racoons.
We then spent the evening planning our next few days, finally deciding on a trip to the Pantanal in Western Brazil.
The Argentinan side of the falls lets you stand over the top of these incredibly powerful waterfalls on metal walkways and observation points. They are SPECTACULAR. There must be 20 massive waterfalls all in a row, with incredible views and amazing sounds to baffle you. We also took a boat trip which beats any Alton Towers Water flume by a million miles. The boat literally drives under one of the biggest falls so that you are drenched in water both by the waves and the spray from the falls. Our friend Keith didn´t believe what the boat captain told him so now has a waterlogged Iphone and a digital camera for sale!
We got back from the falls and took the local bus over the border to Brazil. This should have taken 30 minutes, unfortunately Brazil buses aren´t known for there reliability and true to form the bus ran out of petrol 10 minutes outside our destination of Foz de Iguazu. An hour and a half later we finally arrived at our hostel where once again we had money difficulties with every atm closing at 10pm. A delicious dinner (thanks to a credit card) solved all our problems - well it was probably the beer tower that helped the most.
The Brazil side of the falls is much less of an event, more designed to give you a panoramic look at the falls. It was still a great day with the waterfalls looking even more impressive when we had the full perspective of their size. I´m sure you can see from the plethora of photos how amazing the falls were. The wildlife is also more accessable on the Brazil side with our lunch getting regularly disturbed by very friendly racoons.
We then spent the evening planning our next few days, finally deciding on a trip to the Pantanal in Western Brazil.
Sunday, 10 January 2010
Buenos Aires: Part 2 (the nightlife!)
Having arrived back in BA from Uruguay a bit late (11pm is early to the local Portenos!) we decided that we needed to take the nightlife scene a little more seriously. As soon as we could ditch the bags at the hostel, we headed straight to Plaza Dorrego and the nearest bar playing live music we could see. It only became brutally apparent after having ordered a very large pitcher of beer between the two of us, that we had picked the bar with possibly the worst cover
band ever to perform on stage. As soon as the lead singer took the stage, announced that he was dedicating his first song to the gringo wearing the Lionel Ritchie t-shirt (also known as Tim) we knew it was going to be bad. Many hours of half sung/half hummed songs later (and possibly another drink or two to ease the pain) we decided it was definitely time to call it a night on our first foray out into what was supposed to be BA´s crazy fun bar scene... New Year´s was only 2 days away, it could only get better.
We had made plans to meet Keith, a friend we´d picked up in Santiago, at a hostel in San Telmo. The rest of the day, the 3 of us spent wandering through the city centre, including the famous pedestrain shopping street of Avenue Florida, seeing the Recoleta Cemtary again, and leisurely strolling down by the waterfront.
I had made an early dinner reservation for the 3 of us (9pm, I know, they´re crazy) at one of BA´s finest steakhouses, La Cabrera, in the Palermo neighborhood. As soon as we arrived, we were told that the restaurant we were supposed to be eating at was a block away... and pretty much only for the tourists. This did not hinder the fact that it was quite possibly the best steak any of the 3 of us had ever eaten. It tooks us a good few hours, and a few bottles of red, to plough through 3 massive pieces of meat as well as several little side dishes. We had made plans to meet our Dutch friend´s Frank and Maria that night, so rolled ourselves out the door and along to a nearby cafe bar for a few drinks, before then deciding to hit our first BA nightclub. Hours of dancing on several different levels of the club, struggling to find each other amongst the massive number of Portenos bopping away, we finally got ourselves into a cab and back to the hostel around the same time most people were leaving for work. Not exactly the best way to spend the night before New Year´s!
Needless to say, the next day was a little less active and even less productive... making out for a long walk down to the bus station to find when we got there that all the bus companies were closed in preparation for the New Year´s festivities. After a much shorter journey back in a cab, we started to get ourselves ready for night out number 2. We spent the night watching fireworks from our roofdeck (or at least trying to see them through all the trees!) followed by dinner and some tango dancing at a nearby restarant before deciding that we were all simply to old to make the journey down to the ultimate club for it´s 3am opening! A very happy New Year´s!
New Year´s Day could not have been any less active than the day before, only making it down to the Boca neighborhood so Tim could grab a quick glimpse of the Boca football stadium (I believe he may be planning a boys weekend here in the near future), and stopping for an ice-cream for dinner.
We did manage to pull ourselves together for our last day in Buenos Aires and had a lovely time walking around Palermo (a different place during the daylight!) popping into the different boutiques, and stopping for a lazy lunch before heading back to the hostel & grabbing our bags to head out on a night bus for Iguassu...
band ever to perform on stage. As soon as the lead singer took the stage, announced that he was dedicating his first song to the gringo wearing the Lionel Ritchie t-shirt (also known as Tim) we knew it was going to be bad. Many hours of half sung/half hummed songs later (and possibly another drink or two to ease the pain) we decided it was definitely time to call it a night on our first foray out into what was supposed to be BA´s crazy fun bar scene... New Year´s was only 2 days away, it could only get better.
We had made plans to meet Keith, a friend we´d picked up in Santiago, at a hostel in San Telmo. The rest of the day, the 3 of us spent wandering through the city centre, including the famous pedestrain shopping street of Avenue Florida, seeing the Recoleta Cemtary again, and leisurely strolling down by the waterfront.
I had made an early dinner reservation for the 3 of us (9pm, I know, they´re crazy) at one of BA´s finest steakhouses, La Cabrera, in the Palermo neighborhood. As soon as we arrived, we were told that the restaurant we were supposed to be eating at was a block away... and pretty much only for the tourists. This did not hinder the fact that it was quite possibly the best steak any of the 3 of us had ever eaten. It tooks us a good few hours, and a few bottles of red, to plough through 3 massive pieces of meat as well as several little side dishes. We had made plans to meet our Dutch friend´s Frank and Maria that night, so rolled ourselves out the door and along to a nearby cafe bar for a few drinks, before then deciding to hit our first BA nightclub. Hours of dancing on several different levels of the club, struggling to find each other amongst the massive number of Portenos bopping away, we finally got ourselves into a cab and back to the hostel around the same time most people were leaving for work. Not exactly the best way to spend the night before New Year´s!
Needless to say, the next day was a little less active and even less productive... making out for a long walk down to the bus station to find when we got there that all the bus companies were closed in preparation for the New Year´s festivities. After a much shorter journey back in a cab, we started to get ourselves ready for night out number 2. We spent the night watching fireworks from our roofdeck (or at least trying to see them through all the trees!) followed by dinner and some tango dancing at a nearby restarant before deciding that we were all simply to old to make the journey down to the ultimate club for it´s 3am opening! A very happy New Year´s!
New Year´s Day could not have been any less active than the day before, only making it down to the Boca neighborhood so Tim could grab a quick glimpse of the Boca football stadium (I believe he may be planning a boys weekend here in the near future), and stopping for an ice-cream for dinner.
We did manage to pull ourselves together for our last day in Buenos Aires and had a lovely time walking around Palermo (a different place during the daylight!) popping into the different boutiques, and stopping for a lazy lunch before heading back to the hostel & grabbing our bags to head out on a night bus for Iguassu...
A Merry Christmas on the beach
After a few busy days in Buenos Aires we headed off to Uruguay on the ferry, arriving in a town called Colonia. Colonia is an old fort which has been fought over for centuries by the Portguese and the Spanish (I think the Brits nicked it for a couple of those days as well.) The streets are all cobbled with fantastic architecture everywhere. There is also the remains of the fort which looks over the beautiful bay between Argentina and Uruguay.
The two days in Colonia were spent walking the streets, visiting the fantastic beaches and generally exploring this very relaxed town. (Oh, and spending a small fortune in what could possibly be the best ice-cream shop ever!) But with Christmas looming we wanted to be somwhere much more isolated so we headed for the fishing village of Punta Del Diablo. With nowhere booked (paying for our cabana had caused some issues, to put it lightly) it was a nervous bus ride, but like all things South American it turned out to be quite easy. We arrived and met up with a local cabana owner who took us to our little cabin near the beach. Money was the next issue as Punta Del Diablo has no atm and we only had 100 dollars worth of pesos (which we spent on our Christmas food before this issue came to light.) Fortunately we were able (at great expense) to get some cash from a hotel. Too bad I hadn´t opened my very generous christmas presents from my family earlier as it would have resolved the situation much more quickly!
Christmas Eve is the highlight of the Christmas period in Latin America and we were lucky enough to have a birdseye view from our balcony of the whole village as midnight struck and a thousand illegal fireworks shot into the air all around us! We then proceeded into town to party the night away in many of the beachside bars.
Christmas day was a delight, stockings made from Maura´s dirty hiking socks, a breakfast of egg, sausage and black pudding (left over from a Colonia parilla) and a Christmas "tree" Maura had cut from a neighbour´s prize pine tree! I´m afraid religion wasn´t high on the agenda as what we thought was the church was actually an building agent. (We did watch Angels and Demons on the Ipod - does that count?) We then invited our new Dutch friends Frank and Maria over for a Christmas barbecue. I was very alpha male and managed to produce a fantastic barbecue although you wouldn´t have believed it with all the whinging about smoke inhalation that I received....
The next couple of days were spent enjoying long walks on the beach, some sun bathing and a couple more fiestas before we headed to Montevideo for a day of seeing the city. I must admit I´m glad we only spent a day as it was really a bit rubbish, not much to see except McDonalds, Pizza Huts and tacky clothes stores. We then headed back to Colonia and the ferry where someone might have beated someone else 17 times in a row at cards, but we don´t want to talk about that as I´m gripping the table in rage just typing about it.
The two days in Colonia were spent walking the streets, visiting the fantastic beaches and generally exploring this very relaxed town. (Oh, and spending a small fortune in what could possibly be the best ice-cream shop ever!) But with Christmas looming we wanted to be somwhere much more isolated so we headed for the fishing village of Punta Del Diablo. With nowhere booked (paying for our cabana had caused some issues, to put it lightly) it was a nervous bus ride, but like all things South American it turned out to be quite easy. We arrived and met up with a local cabana owner who took us to our little cabin near the beach. Money was the next issue as Punta Del Diablo has no atm and we only had 100 dollars worth of pesos (which we spent on our Christmas food before this issue came to light.) Fortunately we were able (at great expense) to get some cash from a hotel. Too bad I hadn´t opened my very generous christmas presents from my family earlier as it would have resolved the situation much more quickly!
Christmas Eve is the highlight of the Christmas period in Latin America and we were lucky enough to have a birdseye view from our balcony of the whole village as midnight struck and a thousand illegal fireworks shot into the air all around us! We then proceeded into town to party the night away in many of the beachside bars.
Christmas day was a delight, stockings made from Maura´s dirty hiking socks, a breakfast of egg, sausage and black pudding (left over from a Colonia parilla) and a Christmas "tree" Maura had cut from a neighbour´s prize pine tree! I´m afraid religion wasn´t high on the agenda as what we thought was the church was actually an building agent. (We did watch Angels and Demons on the Ipod - does that count?) We then invited our new Dutch friends Frank and Maria over for a Christmas barbecue. I was very alpha male and managed to produce a fantastic barbecue although you wouldn´t have believed it with all the whinging about smoke inhalation that I received....
The next couple of days were spent enjoying long walks on the beach, some sun bathing and a couple more fiestas before we headed to Montevideo for a day of seeing the city. I must admit I´m glad we only spent a day as it was really a bit rubbish, not much to see except McDonalds, Pizza Huts and tacky clothes stores. We then headed back to Colonia and the ferry where someone might have beated someone else 17 times in a row at cards, but we don´t want to talk about that as I´m gripping the table in rage just typing about it.
Buenos Aires: Part 1 (the culture)
I´m not going to lie, but our first impression of Buenos Aires could have been better. We arrived at the airport quite late, and immediately jumped into a taxi for our hostel. About 20 minutes later we arrived at the front door... and immediately the cabbie turns to us and warns us that we´ve just booked ourselves into one of the more dangerous neighborhoods in the city. Great. We headed upstairs, checked ourselves in, and proceeded to listen to the hostel owner talk for about 20 minutes about how not dangerous the area was. Fortunately we couldn´t look more like locals so we didn´t have any issues!
The next morning we decided to walk into the nearby San Telmo district which is an older neighborhood famous for it´s cafes and tango clubs... it also happens to have a fabulous street market on Sunday (which it was) that offers loads of antiques, cafes to eat at, and people dancing the tango in the square. So we spent the morning and afternoon just wandering around soaking up the atmosphere, and of course treating ourselves to a long lunch of steak and good red wine! After finally extracting ourselves from the people watching at the cafe, it was off to see a bit of the city centre before we headed down and checked out the very trendy waterfront district of Puerto Madero before calling it a day.
The next day we decided to check out the Recoleta Cemetary... well known to be the burying place of famous politicians and other celebrities most notably Eva "Evita" Peron. It´s a truly interesting place with marble mausoleums laid out in blocks with winding passageways throughout. After we´d spent a few hours there, it was off to find some lunch. We´d heard Palermo was the place to go for cool bars and restaurants, so headed in the general direction, with a fleeting stop at the botanical gardens. When we´d worn ourselves out walking, we headed back to our hostel for dinner on the very cool roof deck for dinner and drinks - albeit overlooking some of the local bums! And since we were in Buenos Aires, the place for nightlife in South America... it was only appropriate to go and see what exactly happens after midnight. We made it through 2 beers before both of us almost fell asleep at the bar... not exactly the party animals the city normally hosts!
It was off to Uruguay then... and after a few slightly hungover hours spent on a ferry, we arrived at Colonia.
The next morning we decided to walk into the nearby San Telmo district which is an older neighborhood famous for it´s cafes and tango clubs... it also happens to have a fabulous street market on Sunday (which it was) that offers loads of antiques, cafes to eat at, and people dancing the tango in the square. So we spent the morning and afternoon just wandering around soaking up the atmosphere, and of course treating ourselves to a long lunch of steak and good red wine! After finally extracting ourselves from the people watching at the cafe, it was off to see a bit of the city centre before we headed down and checked out the very trendy waterfront district of Puerto Madero before calling it a day.
The next day we decided to check out the Recoleta Cemetary... well known to be the burying place of famous politicians and other celebrities most notably Eva "Evita" Peron. It´s a truly interesting place with marble mausoleums laid out in blocks with winding passageways throughout. After we´d spent a few hours there, it was off to find some lunch. We´d heard Palermo was the place to go for cool bars and restaurants, so headed in the general direction, with a fleeting stop at the botanical gardens. When we´d worn ourselves out walking, we headed back to our hostel for dinner on the very cool roof deck for dinner and drinks - albeit overlooking some of the local bums! And since we were in Buenos Aires, the place for nightlife in South America... it was only appropriate to go and see what exactly happens after midnight. We made it through 2 beers before both of us almost fell asleep at the bar... not exactly the party animals the city normally hosts!
It was off to Uruguay then... and after a few slightly hungover hours spent on a ferry, we arrived at Colonia.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)