Rainy Rio

So much for sunny Rio! Two days in the most beautiful city in South America and it has been grey and overcast the whole time. Rubbish!

So what have I been up to in Rio. My first night in town was spent watching some Brazilian football at one of the municipal stadiums. Botafogo vs. Fluminense. We were supporting Botafogo who were the underdogs. 1:1 final score. Not a classic, but it was great to see some proper Brazilian football in Brazil. The fans are certainly passionate and very loud, with drums and horns going off the entire match.

Yesterday was spent touring the city, with a favela tour in the morning and a city tour in the afternoon. The favela tour was really good and very interesting. Sad to see some of the conditions they are forced to live in, but everyone was very friendly and open to visitors. You would not believe some of the construction considering the steepness of the slopes, but it does all seem to just about stay up. Interesting to see what happens where there is absolutely no building or planning control.

The city tour in the afternoon was interesting, but rather spoilt by the weather, where it was wet and overcast all afternoon. I went up to both Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado Mountain and Sugar Loaf Mountain, but both were covered in mist with zero visibility. The big JC is a very impressive monument, but unfortunately as the photos shows we could only see his feet!

If I am being honest I think that Rio is a bit overhyped. Very interesting city, but not as pretty as it is made out to be in my opinion and there is a really dark undercurrent to the city with a huge number of homeless people, prostitution, crime and no go areas. It will be interesting to see how they cope with the Olympics in 2016, as Brazilians are very good at partying, but not so hot on organisation. I imagine it will look very good on the TV, but after visiting Rio I am not sure I would want to experience it first hand.     

Anthony

Paraty

Two days in Paraty, which is one of Brazil’s prettiest colonial towns, with the historic centre being declared a national historic monument in its entirety. My first day in town was spent ambling around the historic centre and then catching some of the free live music in the main square in the evening. A super, super hot day, so not one for doing too much. The humidity was something else and you are simply drenched in sweat after 5 minutes in the open air.

The second day on the coast was spent on a very enjoyable boat ride around the islands and sandy beaches close to the town. I can certainly see why they call it the emerald coast, where some of the beaches were stunning. Lots of opportunities for swimming off the boat which was great fun. The only thing trying to conspire again us was the weather where it rained all afternoon. Still very warm, but very, very wet. Not much fun when you are camping!

Anthony

Southern Pantanal

Apologies for the delay in updating the blog, but I have either been without internet access, or very busy over the past week or so.

                                       

Two days staying in the Santa Clara eco lodge and campsite in the Southern Pantanal, Brazil. As well as being able to enjoy wonderful traditional Brazilian cooking, I have been horse riding, on a jeep and boat safari and piranha fishing (I caught 3, two Yellow Piranha & one Purple Piranha). Great fun even if the heat (35-40 degrees) and humidity do take it out of you.

The piranha fishing was especially good fun and was a bit like crab fishing, but with bamboo rods. Everyone managed to catch something and we were able to enjoy some very tasty deep fried piranha for lunch (tastes like cod, very nice).

I enjoyed the horse riding more than I thought, with my horse, Teniko being a very well behaved mare. Not a huge amount to see during our 1 ½ ride, but we did manage to find some impressive Jaguar prints and some more of the local birds. No sight of Jaguars during our stay, but as the photos show we managed to see quite a lot of the local wildlife. Next stop Paraty and the coast after some very long driving days.

Anthony

Bonito

Greetings from Bonito, Southern Brazil. Bonito is a small town surrounded by beautiful cerrado forest and has become Brazil’s foremost ecotourism destination. We have had two very enjoyable days here relaxing by the numerous rivers.  

The main attraction is the crystal clear river water where you can swim with the fishes. No water proof camera so no photos unfortunately, but you can get amazingly close to the fish and it is much more pleasant snorkelling in fresh water than sea water. Also a great way to cool off when it is 33 degrees with 90% humidity.  

You can also go tubing down one of the rivers, which basically involves floating down the river in a big rubber ring. Good fun if a bit hairy going down the bigger waterfalls. Today we also visited a local snake project, which was interesting and you had the opportunity to hold a Boa Constrictor. Back on the road tomorrow, with lots more wildlife to see.

Anthony

Paraguay

Day trip to Paraguay today. Land locked country about the size of California bordering Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia. If I am honest I only really visited to get the stamp in the passport and say that I have been to Paraguay.

The boarder town we went to Ciudad del Este is an interesting place and has been described as the largest shopping mall in South America. Paraguay does not have a huge amount going for it, so to encourage visitors and trade they have created a huge duty free zone around the town. Think airport duty free shopping, but with an interesting mix of authentic and fake goods. You can visit the very fancy department store and buy a nice new Rolex, or you can visit the shack round the corned and buy a fake one for about $10. My favourite was the guy wandering around selling tazers and Viagra?

This being South America, everything was priced in USD. Probably because to quote from the guidebook ‘Get rid of all your Guaranies (local currency) before leaving Paraguay, there is no market for them elsewhere.’ Another stable South American economy then! I did not actually make any purchases myself, but it was interesting window shopping for the day.

Thoughts on Argentina

After spending over 6 weeks travelling around Argentina I thought I would sum up some of my thoughts on the country.

Good things about Argentina (in no particular order)

1)      Cheap wine – OK the wine is not the best in the world, but you can get a very nice bottle of red for about £3. One of the reasons why so little work gets done!

2)      Mouth watering steaks – Argentinean food is all about red meat, the more the better. I had some amazing steaks in Argentina even if they do tend to over cook them.

3)      Natural wonders – glaciers, mountains, waterfalls, Argentina has it all in spades. My personal highlight was the Iguazu Falls, but the glaciers in Southern Patagonia were also amazing.

4)      Transport – Surprisingly good roads, which is a bonus considering the mileage we covered. The long distance coaches are also very comfy.

5)      Nightlife – If there is one thing Argentineans enjoy, it is a good night out.

Not so good things about Argentina

1)      Collapsing economy – Rampant inflation has made the country stupidly expensive. More expensive than the UK for a lot of things, which is crazy considering the poor quality of most things on offer.  

2)      Work ethic – I think it must be the Southern European culture, but generally speaking Argentineans are allergic to work.

3)      Siester time – Between 1 & 4 everything is shut. One hour for lunch, OK, but clearly Argentineans need 3-4 hours to enjoy their lunch. I know you get use to a 24 hour culture in the UK, but Argentinean opening hours take the piss.

4)      Customer service – in Argentina the customer is always wrong!

5)      Why work when you can protest – we had students, truck drivers, public officials and god knows who else protesting and/or going on strike. Argentineans do like a good protest.      

6)      Weather – boiling hot in the North and freezing cold in the south. If there is a happy medium we did not find it. The wind in Patagonia also has to be experienced to be believed. And you though North Norfolk was windy!

7)      Don’t mention you are British – There is not much love for the UK, although it does not stop them from enjoying the Premier League and I even managed to find a few old Rover cars.

8)      Meal times – Eating your evening meal at 11:00 at night is just plain wrong. Want to eat at a restaurant before 21:00, forget it!

Summary – Argentina reminds me of China and India in many ways. Interesting country to visit, but very hard work at times. Post 2013 not a country I will be rushing back to visit if I am honest.

Roll on Brazil!

Anthony    

Iguazu Falls

Hello from the mighty Iguazu Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world. 275 falls over a frontage of 2470 metres and the Devil’s Throat, a 74m precipice that is simply a gigantic hole of water. Today was spent exploring the falls and the surrounding national park on the Argentinean side and tomorrow we cross over into Brazil to explore from the Brazilian side (the Rio Iguazu Superior that feeds the falls forms the boarder between Argentina and Brazil). Rather than attempt to describe the falls, I have uploaded some photos that hopefully do it justice. Certainly worth a visit if you ever come to this part of the world.  

Anthony