Brazil - part 2

Currently we are in Buenos Aires, where we are spending a week before heading down to Patagonia. Here is a quick photo review of the second part of our Brazil trip. We headed south from Rio de Janeiro down the Costa Verde.

There is some beautiful scenery during the short bus ride to where the ferry leaves to Ilha Grande. Lots of little islands...... and yes everything is green!!!


The views during the ferry trip don´t get old.


Almost there in Abraao (the only real town on Ilha Grande)


Nice lighting on the first evening


It´s quite a popular destination and even a large cruise ship anchored in the bay


First day we went for a snorkel trip to the Blue Lagoon and the water was really quite nice and blue. We saw tons of fish, a long eel and even a few turtles.
That´s our boat for the day.




We made also some more stops along nice beaches.


The next day we did about a 3 hour hike to the Lopes Mendes beach on the south side of the island. Here is a nice view back onto the bay of Abraao.


Some more beaches along the way.




Finally we arrived at the Lopes Mendes Beach.



After 4 days on Ilha Grande we headed further down the coast to Paraty. This is a nice colonial town. It´s a bit on the touristy side but really nice with the cobblestoned streets and there are no cars in the old centre.






There is a fort on the hillside that protected the harbor in the old days.


Oliver getting a bit silly and is trying to climb. For once it´s not Jaya that is climbing the trees!


From Paraty we took the night bus to Sao Paolo and from there we flew to the Iguazu Falls at the border to Argentina.


The coati were all over the place on the Argentinian side.




We stayed on the Argentinian side and one day we walked to the 3 border point where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet.


On the Argentinian side you experience the falls from very close up and it´s very impressive. On the Brazilian side (as seen below) you get the nice overview. Here 2 tourists are posing for one of those touristy shots.




The falls are very impressive. The only downside to this is that lots of other people know about it also and the place gets very crowded. Especially all the oganized tous are quite annoying. In case you get caught in the middle of one of those groups you just feel like a herd of sheep. You get pushed along between the fences as seen here.


But besides the crowds it´s really beautiful and from the Brazilian side you see lots of rainbows when you visit the falls in the morning.


The last day we went to see the Itaipu Dam. It´s currently the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world. In 1994, the American Society of Civil Engineers elected the Itaipu Dam as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. Soon it will be overtaken by the (controversial) Three Gorges Dam in China.


When you read this we are probably already in Patagonia (El Calafate).
Our route looks more or less like this.

You can find our route and pretty good maps on http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=-18.39623~-61.523438&style=r&lvl=3&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&cid=2CF1823075161E3B!106&encType=1

or on the simple Google map below (Argentina is quite blank).
(marked in blue is what is covered so far in the blog)

Brazil - part 1

After the 2 weeks in Venezuela we crossed over land into Brazil.
Here we just leave the last Venezuelan military checkpoint behind us. Those checkpoints were everywhere to be found. I assume Chavez is trying to keep a tight grip on things.


The gas is virtually free in Venezuela and in Brazil the prices are comparable to Europe.
For example, one time our Venezuelan tour guide paid about US$ 1,00 for 55 liters (= 14 gallons). Needless to say that there can be made quite some money with smuggling gas into Brazil.

Our taxi driver also filled up his tank to the rim and as soon as we were across the border some gas was pumped out and sold off to someone. Here they are in full action:


It turned out that our driver was tired from working all night and felt more like taking a nap than driving us to Boa Vista. He asked me if I would like to drive. I politely declined since I did not really feel like competing with other Brazilian drivers for the Grand Prix price on the bumpy roads. (Everybody here thinks they are related to Ayrton Senna or something and like to show it with their fast driving) However after rethinking I figured my driving will still be a lot better than having a fatigued driver on the steering wheel and therefore I drove most of the 2hour drive to Boa Vista.



In Boa Vista we took the 12hour night bus on the potholed filled road towards Manaus.
We actually stopped about 100km north of Manaus and spent 2 relaxing days in Presidente Figueiredo, where we visited some of the nearby caves and waterfalls.










Afterwards we went to the Amazon capital Manaus.
Most impressive in this city is definitely the port area and the market.

Here is the Banana Market


Shrimp anyone?


Hundreds of different fishes can be seen. Some of them are actually still alive when they are on those tables.




There are also dozens of the Amazon Ferries waiting in the port. You can book a cabin or just hang your hammock and get in 4 days down to the mouth of the Amazon in Belem.


Now that´s a strong man!


All types of vessels can be seen up to the large ocean vessels.


Anything imaginable is being transported up and down the river


We hired a local fisherman who gave us a quick trip to the confluence of the Rio Negro and Solimoes. Here the cappuccino and the black water meet. We were also lucky to sight some river dolphins.


The Amazon theatre in the centre of Manaus, which was built during the rubber boom.


From Manaus we took a super-pricey flight to Salvador on the coast. This is the town of churches.






The look over the bay


One of the days they had a regatta and it was quite interesting to see them all taking off.




After Salvador we went down the coast to the nice beach resort of Trancoso.
There we just took it easy for a few days and relaxed.
SIESTA!!!


The beaches there were almost empty and you could walk for miles and miles with almost nobody around.






Some bananas we found on the way. Unfortunately not ripe yet for us.


A long 18 hours overnight bus ride brought us to Rio de Janeiro.
18 hours on a bus are not much fun; especially if you can not sleep like me (Oliver). But you can survive it.
You just have to do it from time to time since the flights in Brazil are usually way more expensive than buses.

Finally we are there on Ipanema beach


Surfers and their playground right in the city (Ipanema beach)


Copacabana Beach


Even McDonalds must have a location on Copacabana beach


We were in Rio over the weekend when Flamengo played. Luckily it was played in the Maracana stadium.
Lots of football history happened in this stadium. (Pele scored his 1000th goal for example)


Too bad it was not a very important game and therefore the stadium was not even 1/3 full. But it was still fun to be in the middle of the small group of Flamengo fans.


As most people do in Rio, we also visited the Sugar Loaf mountain. Most people take the cable car all the way up. We thought we have to work off some energy and hiked to the middle station.


From up there you have a great view on the city and can see nicely how it grew between the mountains. A marvelous setting with all the beaches and mountains.
Look down to the Copacabana beach.


Botafogo Bay


Looking North


We visited also the Santa Tereza neighborhood. You can get there with an old tram. If you hang on the outside you do not have to pay.


Some nice villas are hidden on the hilltops behind the palms.


Unfortunately the time went by so quick and we already had to leave this great city again.
But we will try to return to it sometime in the future. We both liked it very much.

After a few days on Ilha Grande we are currently in Paraty. I will post pictures from after Rio in a different post.
Our route: