Brasil 1 - Foz do Iguassu & Salvador.

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Foz do Iguassu

We set off from Buenos Aires at 7pm on the Crucero del Norte Bus to Puerto Iguazu, still in Argentina but 17 hours away!! It’s the rush hour & it takes the bus nearly an hour to get past the limits of BA - competition for the M25 definitely & they have 8 lanes in places!! We settle down in Ejecutivo class (semi Cama - this is just short of the sleeper option but very comfortable non the less. They also do a Cama leite - which is where your seat converts to a bed!!). We are upstairs and it’s better than travelling business class on a plane. This is real luxury bus travel - very reclining seats, foot rests, pillow, blanket, meals on a tray included (but not very good), free drinks as much as you want, including beers, wines & champagne which C just couldn’t resist! Twice!! Air Con & TV. All for 195 Pesos each.

After a good night’s rest we are woken at about 7am to have breakfast at one of the Bus stations - fresh café con leche & medialunas & danish pastries - a great start. By now the Argentinean countryside landscape has changed to sub-tropical green vegetation with beautiful blooming trees with bright pink, yellow & white flowers, however with no leaves (this is winter folks). The land is punctuated with small holdings with houses made with planks of wood slatted together & the same material for the roof & the whole place painted in bright colours (white, light blue, green, yellow & pink) - this is an area heavily into logging with mountains of saw dust everywhere.

The small towns & villages are all neatly kept & clean with flower displays all over - they do have a sense of civic pride here. We arrive at Puerto Iguazu and catch a bus to go across to the Brazillian side where we have booked into the Hostel Bambu for 2 nights. We have to first get off the bus & go through Argentinean immigration which takes 3 minutes & hop back on the bus which then takes us to the Brazil immigration point 2 hundred metres up the road. Here we get off with all our stuff to clear immigration which takes about 5 minutes but the bus doesn’t wait - however we can use the same ticket to get the following bus in 10 minutes to Foz do Iguassu (Brazilian spelling). Foz is bigger than Puerto Iguazu on the Argentina side, thanks to a very large dam (shared with Paraguay) which provides the main employment in the area in the area other than tourism. We get off at the bus terminal & hop into a cab to the hostel which is near the centre of town. Immediately we notice that things in Brasil are more expensive than Argentina.

The Bambu hostel is one of the best we have stayed at - the guys who run it couldn’t be more helpful, they even bought our tickets for the bus from Foz to Rio for us before we arrived because we asked if this was possible. The group of people here were very friendly - mainly English, Irish & European - many doing voluntary work in Foz. The place had a pool & the breakfasts were great - a Brazilian tradition as we are soon to discover.

As it’s still mid-day & slightly sunny we head off by bus to see the Brazilian side of the falls - which folks say is the right order to see them in as you get the whole panoramic view from this side - even though 80% of the falls are in Argentina. The falls are quite breathtaking, awe inspiring & quite indescribably huge and thundering; clearly one of the natural wonders of the world alongside the Grand Canyon for us. We loved it and the sun came out & rainbows appeared over the Devil’s Throat - the big one. We see the hotel Sarah stayed at when she visited here last year. The Falls may seem a long way to come but boy are they worth it. They make Victoria falls look like a trickle of water & waterfalls will never be the same for us - this is THE BIG ONE without question. We spend 3 hours just enjoying the scenery & getting wet by the spray in parts - you can walk a long way into the falls! The area is full of sub tropical vegetation and wild (coati’s) possums & capybaras’ roam freely looking for food from the visitors.

The next day, as time is short we take a day tour in a mini van with a load of Brits to the Argentina side - which is a bit more convoluted if you want to do it independently. We have an English speaking guide who takes care of the immigration formalities on both sides of the border crossing - we have so many Argentinean entry & exit stamps now we might need to get a new passport for our next phase of our big adventure starting in October!!

We get to the falls & take a small train to one of the viewing points - which is a longish walk over parts of the falls - breathtaking stuff again - even though it‘s grey & going to rain. We then take the upper walk which takes about an hour including pictures etc, a short break for lunch while it buckets down & then do the lower walk - fastish as it’s raining. The highlight of the trip is the motor boat ride into the falls at two points & boy do they make sure you get soaking wet - knickers and all!! All in all, despite of the weather, we have a fabulous day but are really cold by the end of it & don’t get back till 7pm for a hot shower.

Then its off to the supermarket for some cooked food sold by the kilo - you just serve yourself with whatever you want & they weigh it for you & charge accordingly. Amazing food - black beans, rice, salsa & the fabulously moist roast chicken @13 R(£4) per kilo. A great Brazilian tradition with an great range of options to choose from - fish, pork, beef, chicken, salads & of course cakes & deserts which they love.

The following day we catch a cab to the main long distance bus stop for our 12 noon, 23 hour, trip to Rio de Janeiro operated by PLUMA. It’s a clean & modern bus with air con like the ADO buses in Mexico but no TV - which could be a blessing as our Portuguese is non existent. It’s a good opportunity to enjoy the Brazilian countryside. It’s similar to the stuff we saw across the border leaving Argentina - same trees in bloom & small holdings & colourful wooden slatted houses. We then get into rolling countryside that amazingly could be Wiltshire. After the overnight journey we arrive at Sao Paulo in the early morning. It’s a vast commercial city & apparently has the largest Japanese population outside Japan!!. There’s some interesting rivalry between the folk from here - referred to as Paulistas (they are considered hard working & have a “can do” 24/7 life style) and the folk from Rio (Cariocas) who they consider as lazy & too chilled out! From here on we hit the hilly region & the bus winds it’s way up and then down wards towards the outskirts of Rio where the traffic gets heavier & we eventually arrive in “the beautiful city”. The details of our time in Rio is the subject of a separate blog as we didn’t want this one to get too long - what with our planned trip to Salvador next - the African Brazil with it’s unique Bahian culture. One thing worthy of note is that the bus driver was clearly a frustrated F1 driver - did he throw the bus around corners or what - thankfully we don’t suffer from travel sickness or the trip would have been hell & very messy!!

Salvador da Bahia

After about 5 nights in Rio we leave our Hostel in Ipanema to catch the 09.15 bus to Salvador which will take us 25 hours (or so they tell us) - most folks think we’re mad as we could have flown there & back for not a lot more than the bus fare & it would be a lot quicker, however, we feel we’ll miss out on the experience & views of this huge country which most folks bypass. It will also help to keep our carbon emissions lower not that that‘s been a major consideration but it‘s nice to feel that one is doing one‘s bit for global warming!

We board the bus to Salvador operated by Viacao Itapemirim - their golden service - air con, reclining seats with leg rests but no music or TV and we settle down for the long haul. The landscape going out from Rio is lovely lush green mountains that we climb & then descend to more level plains. The towns we pass are all along rivers, but look pretty bleak - unplanned, taking up various parts of the surrounding hills, buildings mostly 2 to 3 storeys high, poorly built with red brick & concrete, unclad and many of them looking unfinished or abandoned. Even the Favelas in Rio looked better organised & some in very much better shape.

We passed areas that looked like the Pennines & then we could have been in Kerala or Goa - India - because of the lush green plains with banana plants & palm trees. We came across rocky terrain with a huge rock that looked like a white stone Ayers Rock in the middle of no where. However, once we get to Bahia state where Salvador is the main city, the towns took on a distinctive feel, well structured rows of 1 storey houses built of breeze block but with the fronts all covered in plaster & painted in pinks, yellows, greens, blues etc - with tiled roofs & doors & windows with contrasting colours to the front of the house making the whole town look vibrant & pretty. Perhaps the African influence which the region is famous for. We are now in Jequie in Bahia & it’s 9am. The drivers says we have a 15 minute comfort break - great after a long night in. However ½ an hour later no action. We then see a guy tinkering with the bus - we discover it has some mechanical problem so to cut a long story short, 3 hours later we are put on another bus. We have no idea how late we are and hope that Salvador isn’t too far away (we should have been there at 10.30am latest). We seem to drive on forever - as it’s raining we don’t mind too much but the air con is making us feel distinctly cold. Eventually at 5pm we hit the outskirts of Salvador at the rush our & the traffic is at a standstill. Somehow we manage to get a cab to take us to the hostel about 8 km away. It was a hairy ride - he suffered Portuguese road rage a lot & went through petrol stations, over walkways & cut up almost everyone - but got us there in one piece for which we were eternally grateful - all for R20 (£6.50) which we happy to pay having been on the road then for about 36 hours!!

The Hostel Nega Maluca (Black Woman) has a great feel to it. We arrive just in time for happy hour - 2 for 1 Caipirinhas for R4 - we down a few & spirits are literally lifted. We meet some young Brits from Birmingham - the posh bit (Solihull & Worcester), & a friendly Ozzie from Melbourne & exchange stories - which was a lovely way to get into the swing in Salvador. The staff here are very friendly & the breakfasts amazing with fruit juices, a variety of fresh fruits, bread rolls, cheese, ham, salads - as much as you want with tea & coffee on the roof terrace overlooking the upper city. A great start to any day!

We are recommended to a local eaterie (Q’Bakana which means “ what is nice”) around the corner which does Bahian fayre. We try the moqueca de peixe - fish stew for 2 in spices, coconut milk & palm oil (Dende oil) with rice & farofa, fantastic and for only R33 - in Rio this would have been at least twice the price. The place is owned and run by a Brazilian woman who spent 3 months in Bedford improving her English - which is big help for us - and her Italian husband. The whole family are involved & are very friendly. We dine there al fresco on Moqueca de Camaraons - stew as above but with shrimps - & they boy did they go to town on the shrimps - awesome. They also play some lively local music from famous artists which livens the atmosphere.

Salvador was once the Capital of Brazil and has a lot that reflects that wealth. It was also the centre of the slave trade - slaves brought from Africa to work the sugar cane fields & to displace the Indian tribes who fought the Portuguese a lot. The Africans were more subservient. Hence the Bahian culture is steeped in African traditions blended in with the Indian & European influences. The area we are in is called Pelourinho & is now a UNESCO heritage site since 1985. It’s colourful & the area has been regenerated largely for tourists who feel safer here than elsewhere in the city which has a poor reputation for crime. Here there are police on every street corner. Despite what the guide books say - largely the people are very friendly. People are poor & some children beg whilst others try in an enterprising way to part you from you money legally but hey that’s what tourists are for & some of them enjoy throwing their money away - some for a few worthless beads & others for a piece of tape that they wrap around your hand as a gift - which you pay for! Saying no thanks normally gets then to move on to the next unsuspecting gringo.

Pelourinho is a very beautiful part of the city - between what is the upper city & lower city. A funicular railway links the two bits & a high speed lift takes you to the lower city where the harbour & docks are. The sea looks beautiful on a clear day - but we understand that the beaches nearby are in poor shape - so we don’t bother. It’s winter & 82 degrees. We trudge around the cobbled streets taking pictures galore, there are old churches & lovely houses - all Portuguese style and colourful - a photographer’s delight. However, the area is still undergoing a lot of regeneration & many old homes are up for sale - but rather derelict. Women folk wear traditional gear are all around, some to attract you into chic shops or restaurants - & you can take a pic with them free while others want to charge for one! We try some more Bahian food for lunch at Sorriso de Dada (apparently run by a famous local African woman chef), crab meat in its shell, mixed sea food chowder & Acaraje (brown beans paste stuffed with prawns and farofa) - all appetisers but we get to try more stuff this way. It’s ok but not much to write home about.

The weekend is the time to be here when the folk come out to party & various drum schools perform on the streets & dancers do the Capoeira (see below) in the square. There are bands playing outside some bars and more street food stalls appear. A stage is set up in one area with band and samba dancing and capoeira displays. However, this is the low season so the place is not very busy and many of the street performers pack up relatively early. By 9-30 the stage has been dismantled, banners taken down and all signs of the earlier revelry have gone!

Two things of cultural note in this area are the Capoeira dancing and Candomble. The first is a martial arts which looks like a dance which is very energetic, colourful & graceful performed by black men, to the rhythm of drums and a berimbau (bowed one string instrument played like a double base or harp), and the latter is a religious ceremony going back to the slave times when they incorporated African rituals into the catholic ceremonies. This is still alive and practiced today in various places - which aren’t always safe - so you must go with a local guide. They are held whenever & at various times. The event lasts about 2 hours & folk representing one of the many gods go into a trance as part of the ceremony while others in the congregation sing, dance or watch. Visitors have to adhere to various codes of dress & behaviour. We had planned to go to one, however, the night before we attended a local theatre of dance (Bale Folclorico da Bahia at Teatro Miguel Santana) which included sketches of various local traditional dances including the two above which was very colourful and interesting but we couldn’t take any pictures - so a disappointment for M. However, the 10 minute sketch of the Candomble made us realise that we’d struggle to stay the distance at the ceremony & not to be disrespectful decided to give it a miss.

We spend our last day here wandering around - it’s Sunday (Brasilian Father’s day we are told) - and watch the local folk doing their thing. Sunday is definitely quieter but at lunch time various musicians strike up at various cafes to entertain the guests enjoying food & drink on the cobbled streets out side. We visit the church of San Francisco - one of 4 local churches with the same name here! It’s also got a museum upstairs - which really gives you a feel of days gone by in the catholic church here during Portuguese rule. The church itself and the courtyard are adorned at eye level all around with amazing scenes of life at the time - all in blue & white ceramic tiles - pretty impressive - and these look like scenes in 17th century Europe - folk trading on the river, horse drawn carts with folk in their wigs & finery in the market squares etc, We spend the last night dining al fresco at Q,Bakana again & wish the lovely family all the best in their new business.

We catch a taxi to the bus stop for the 09.30 bus to Rio. We hope there won’t be a repeat performance regarding the durability of the bus. However, it’s apparent from the outset that the Brasilians have taken Manana & Indian standard time to new heights; compared to them, the Mexicans (who were very efficient) & the Indians who’s transport systems generally ran on time, seem super efficient. So after a tortuous 31 hour journey (rather than the promised 25) we finally make to Rio. We are surprise at how sanguine the locals are to such inefficiency - maybe it’s part of life here so they put up with it & don’t complain. Clearly the bus drivers & staff must be on some over time incentive for doing things as slowly as possible and stop for half an hour when they announce a 15 minute stop!!

Travellers note - be prepared for the length of the journey or take the domestic flight it’s marginally more expensive but probably well worth it. Also many ATMs don’t work in Brasil for English bank accounts - even though they have signs saying visa etc. HSBCs do though & Rio has them all over. Salvador doesn’t so be prepared. One good thing was that the hostel took US $ currency & actually gave a better rate than the banks & Cambios!!

The Pantanal

Our original plans for Brazil included a few days in the Pantanal. However, our research revealed stuff that changed our minds. The personal blogs of folk who had recently been there talked of local Tour operators (who you have to use as per the local rules & the ones recommended by LP), ripping them off & not delivering on the promised programmes etc, guides being unqualified & the photos were uninspiring for the costs involved (ranging from £250 pp for 3 days to £1750 for 6 days including Bonito + the time & cost of getting there). The Brazilian Tourist folk should really investigate these issues to salvage the reputation of the area. Brazil has a lot more interesting places to offer. However, we didn’t quite fit in Recife & Olinda further north, which we should have done with better planning. That’s what comes of trying to cover the globe in only 15 months !!! We’ll have to take longer next time - after we’ve earned some money though!! Anyway back to the big smoke - Rio - which is covered in chapter 2 of our Brasil blog & which will be issued soon after this - so enjoy & see you in Rio …………!

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