Iquazu Falls

One of my principles for this trip was to try and avoid all photos of places we are going to. I really wanted to get that wow factor, and for Iguazu falls in particular I am SO pleased I held out.

Disclaimer: at the end of this post there are photos so please enjoy, or if you’d like to avoid and experience for yourself, don’t scroll too far!

We started on the Brazil side for a day which is widely held to be the less captivating of the two. I have to agree, but as someone with no expectations, getting the panoramic views of the mega vision that is the falls in their entirety, was breathtaking. The sheer amount of water, the noise and the expanse of the falls are what gripped me. What the Brazil side offers is an overview that you don’t get on the Argentina side as you’re very much in the falls there.

I would be lying if I said that was the highlight of my day though. The highlight was, by far, the Parque Das Aves. It only took two hours to walk around the Brazil side of the falls so we had plenty of time and decided to go, relatively reluctantly, to the Bird Park. It was AMAZING! There are toucans out of cages, a macaw enclosure you can go into, super red birds, flamingos, emus, giant lizards, hummingbirds etc. etc. An unexpectedly brilliant few hours.

Two days later we did the Argentina side of the falls. I felt like a small excitable child for the whole day. You get to walk around and above the waterfalls and we treated ourselves to the boat trip into a few of the waterfalls where we got DRENCHED. The power of the water was unbelievable. An expensive but well spent 12 minutes!

We saved the Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat) until the end of the day and it was mindblowing. In Chris’ words; it’s like the earth just falls away. We couldn’t help but stand there and stare (and get soaked) for a really, really long time. 

Smith

 

First view: Brazil

Waterfall: Brazil

Spot the boat! One of the waterfalls we went under: Argentina

Waterfalls: Argentina

The Devil's Throat: Argentina

Chris’ Clumsiness Conquers a New Continent

For the boys of 19 Livingstone Road...

Location:

Waterfall on Ilha Grande

Conversation:

Chris: “I’m going to stand under the waterfall”

Millie: “Careful with your sunglasses”

Scenario:

Chris leans back into said waterfall and his sunglasses fall off his head and into the waterfall. This series of photos document what happened next.

The moment

Dumbfounded

The search begins

Struggling for air

Victory

Equipment required to retrieve sunglasses:

Snorkelling goggles

Amazing.

Smith

Goodbye Brazil, you were brilliant

Today we left Brazil and crossed into Argentina. We only had two weeks in Brazil and to be honest, barely touched the surface. Rio was more wonderful than we could have imagined, Ilha Grande was the desert island paradise we hoped it would be and in Paraty it rained. I guess you can’t have everything.

Ilha Grande

It is hard to comprehend the scale of Brazil until you get here. It is truly enormous. My first impressions; Brazilians love football, tiny pastries filled with meat, bread filled with meat, meat on its own, weak beer and strong caipirinhas. I would love to come back and explore more of Brazil, it has so much more to offer. We’ve met lots of very lovely people and have thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

Paraty

 

On Monday we took our first epic bus journey of this trip. 7 hours from Paraty to Sao Paulo, 4 hours in Sao Paulo bus station then 17 hours to Foz de Iguazu. On a map that journey doesn’t really look that far but it sure takes some time. Thankfully the buses are air conditioned and have big comfortable seats that fully recline. And they show films. Terrible films. Our main feature was ‘Friends for Life’. It’s your classic story of a widower raising a pack of wolves while battling an evil property developer. Oh, and there is an Angel named Ralph who helps the widower out. It was absolutely amazing. Enjoy the trailer.

Now we are in Argentina and will visit the Iguassu falls tomorrow. The falls separate Brazil and Argentina and after spending a small time on the Brazil side we got a real taste of what is on store on the Argentinean side. The power of the falls was astonishing and from Argentina you can take a boat right under the falls to get right in there. To make sure we are fully prepared, tonight we will dip into the Steak & Red Wine Fund™ for the first time.

Mc

10 fantastic things about Rio

Rio is quite simply an incredible city. Here are 10 reasons why:

1. There is live music everywhere
   Picture live samba bands in bars, live music on the street and crazy all day funk parties with the most enormous sound systems I have ever witnessed. Notting Hill Carnival doesn’t remotely compete, the vibrations from the speakers genuinely hurt!

2. You can go to one of the world’s best Jazz clubs in a favela
   We had the best experience going to The Maze which can be found in Tavares Bastos favela. Getting there was interesting, but even more so for our fellow travellers who were taken to the wrong favela and were greeted by guards with machine guns. Needless to say they looked a bit thrown when they finally arrived! Our taxi wouldn’t take us all the way in so we were dropped at the entrance and taken up in a VW campervan! We then walked through the favela, which was a maze in itself, to get to the club. It is an incredibly unique place (in my vast experience of favela clubs!) The walls are open and it’s high up as the favelas are built on the mountain side so the views are amazing. The club was, as you’d expect, a warren of rooms, corridors and places to sit. All this alongside some pretty spectacular jazz. A simply fantastic evening.

3. You can go to a carnival rehearsal for £10
   We went out to the suburbs of Rio to enjoy a night in a stadium where bands and dancers performed, in preparation for carnival. It was not at all as I expected, I had visions of a mini carnival parade however it was more of a village hall experience and in some ways that made it even better. The bands and dancers were phenomenal and we all tried our best to samba. Ultimately I resorted to salsa and was consequently told off by a Brazilian man. The highlight was dancing with a man entirely dressed in sequins.
   
   
   

4. Caipirinhas are everywhere
   Which requires no explanation but simply a warning that they are dangerously alcoholic.

5. Sugar Loaf
   To be honest, my favourite bit of going up Sugar Loaf was finding a tiny monkey.  
   
   
   
   
   It was totally unexpected and really tiny, all of which made it pretty exciting. That and Chris’ fear of cable cars aside, the view was AMAZING and totally worth the money. Apparently you can hike up, I think you’d have to be mental, it’s massive.

6. Christ the Redeemer (not Christ the Reclaimer as I originally thought)
   Going up on the funicular is an experience in itself. You can hardly fathom how this train doesn’t plummet back to the ground but it doesn’t which is reassuring. You pass doors to people’s houses which is incomprehensible at those heights. The view from the top is really magical and Christ himself is enormous, it’s incredible to think how they got him up there.

 

7. Santa Teresa
   We stayed in an area called Santa Teresa. At first we were a bit intimidated by it as it feels really eerie (we did arrive at 1am after a 12 hour flight which may not have helped). It’s high up, out of the main city and really quiet but soon we realised how lucky we’d been as it hosted art galleries, arty shops and some great restaurants. It was also beautiful to walk around, bohemian in style ad by far the most ‘real’ part of Rio we visited.

8. Lapa
   Lapa is the area just down from Santa Teresa and is the place to go for samba clubs. Unfortunately we didn’t get to one but the bars are lively, fun and full of good music and on two occasions there were street parties.

9. Ipanema beach
   Is stunning. 40 degrees, cool boxes of beer, men selling items you’d never want to buy and a great guy called TJ who bought up some Globo (doughnut crisp things). It was also the location of a great debate between three of us on appropriate bodies for thong bikinis and tiny shorts (using live examples of course).

10. Keepy uppy Brazilian style
    The Brazilians play in pairs or threes either side of a volleyball net and only use their feet, heads, chests and shoulders to pass the ball and get it over the net. The level of skill (and their bodies!) were mindblowing.

We are now on Ilha Grande in a musty smelling room and I am sulking. Chris tells me I need to get used to this!

Until next time,

Smith

Errors of the day: volume one

We may have only been here a day but we have learned the following lessons.

1. DO NOT go to Starbucks. It doesn't matter how thirsty you are. There will be a cheaper alternative round the corner. And they'll probably pay their taxes too.
2. ATM WITHDRAWALS ARE A F*CKER. You will have to go to 4 different machines in 3 different banks before you can get cash. Meltdowns about it in the queue can be expected.
3. DO NOT walk home at night. Yes it wasn't far. And yes it didn't take long. But it was stupid. And we could have got the bus for £1.50.
4. DO NOT go to restaurants recommended in a two year old Lonely Planet. The prices will have doubled and will be full of people reading the same guide book.

I'm convinced this will become a recurring post.

Mc

Spot the Taittinger

Flying is boring & dull. Sitting in a chair for 12 hours watching films you ignored in the cinema is not my idea of a good time. Granted, we were on the way to Rio de Janeiro so I imagine sympathy for my plight would be hard to come by. However, this flight was far from dull.

Step forward, 'the gay' & 'the girl' (names given to them by 'the girl' I must add). They shall remain nameless as their employer may not appreciate all of their antics. All I know is they made our flight a joy. It started with the little things. Extra pretzels, wine recommendations, expert control of the drunk Brazillian chap by the emergency exit and bitchiness towards annoying passengers that would make grown men cry. I can say we made friends with our anonymous attendants however what came next went beyond the call of duty.

I've never flown business class. Am unlikely to fly first class. However, drinking a bottle of champagne stolen from first class by our new friends in real glasses (made of glass!) in the rear galley of the plane is what I call living the high life. What was made even better was an appearance in the galley by our drunk Brazilian friend. This prompted an urgent need to hide the champagne before he spotted it - fyi, he had been banned from booze by this point in the flight.

Can you spot the bottle?? If you can you did better than our emergency exit dwelling friend. The bottle stayed hidden, we drunk the rest of the contents and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the flight. I tip my hat to 'the gay' and 'the girl'. Nicely played, and I am already hoping you are working our return flight.

Mc