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Published: March 3rd 2009
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Hostel Inn Iguazu
Chilling in evening sun by pool In Iguazu oops! have been very slack of late! i have fallen into the Brazilian trap and abandoned all thoughts of anything other than Capirinha´s, the beach, the sun and having fun!
After skydiving we went to the north Argentina to Puerto Igazu and saw the waterfalls which were wonderful. As soon as we arrived (overnight) we woke to tropical landscapes and a definate different feel to it, just by the architecture and the way people went about their lives. Could tell we were near the brazilian/paraguay border.
Stayed in a very cool hostel, with huge pool. Relative luxary for me and laura in a small dorm. needless to say we stayed longer than we thought (there was a pool!!!!) but spent 3 days exploring the falls from both the argentinian and Brazilian side. The falls were immense, the widest in the world, mainly on the Argentian side. Loads of spectacular views, rainbows and scenic walks through the párk. we also saw loads of wildlife, Lizards, spiders, butterflys, a cayman, and lots of Coatis (local racoon like animal that follow tourists for food!). we also did the boat ride under the mist and got throughly soaked!
After finally dragging ourselves
away from Iguazu, the hostels pool, free popcorn at bar and great BBQs, we did another overnight journey to Campo Grande on the edge of the Panatanal region in Brazil. Here we set ourselves on a 3 night tour of the wetlands in search of more animals!
the pantanal was ace. even on the journey there we saw huge Lizards, massive vultures and Rhea (emu like birds) on sde of the road! The camp was fun, sleeping in a huge Hammock dorm where it was open sided apart from the Mozzy netting and eating in the communal areas beneath the sleepng dorm. Right on the river our first stop was to look down on it and spot a least 6 or 7 caymans (croc like animals) on the edge of the river banks slinking into the water. Day one involved a river boat trip where we spotted loads of different herons and kingfisher, more cayman (paraguayan and spectacled cayman), green iguana´s in the trees (took a while to spot it!) and black howler monkeys movng through the trees. I even spotted the Capybara (largest rodent - looks like a pig from behind and an otter from front!) before the tour
guide did! Go me... it was the explorers hat me thinks!!
Later we went horseriding and saw a 7 belted armadillio and some Macaw parrots, then did the night safari and saw a Brazilian Tapir, more Capybara (ith babies), a deer, a fox and a sleeping toucan next to a hawk in the trees and of course loads of caymans, their eyes lighting up the iver banks in the spot light...eerie but wonderful! Also saw the most amount of Stars i´ve ever seen in my life. really beautiful and then a huge thunderstorm light up the sky! was great.
Next day we went for a walk under the undergrowth, saw loads of parrots, toucans, a nine belted armadillo and a deer really close up. Also saw the Black howler monkey in trees above us, which welcomed us by trying to poo on us!! RUDE! and the brown capuchin monkey. Oh yeas, and plenty of Mozzys. Ive never been eaten alive so much as there! i was wearing DEET spray 3 times a day and i was still covered in bites! GRRLater that afternoon we went piranha fishing whch was fun, made doubly fun when it started raining and
Explorer hannah!
Looking at parrots with a parrot feather in my hat! near impossible when it came down heavier and we got stuck in the mud on the banks. The rainy season was nearly 2 months late and we were the lucky ones to get there as it started! And boy did it rain. Camp was muddy with frogs in the toilets bu still good fun! that night i watched a thunderstorm from my hammock, listened to the frogs and then got sprayed in the face by the wind blowing the rain in! apart from all that it was suprisingly comfortable to sleep in hammocks!
Next we hit Florianapolis...24hour journey on another bus but wasnt too bad. Massive beach resort and we hit it just as the local were celebrating a national holiday so it was BUSY! stayed in a nice little hostel for a few nights then forgot to rebook our beds and lost them, but found a little one room apartment with kitchenette right next door to the hostel for cheaper so all worked out well! spent a good few days on the beaches, discovered the wondeful concept of Cheese on a Stick (Queijo). of course i was hooked and soon had a 2 a day habit of the
Black Howler monkey
the one that tried to Poo and get away with it! Look at him run! beauty of Queijo! The little man comes along the beach yelling Queijo and u dont even have to move, just put up ur hand, and he dps some cheese (similar to Halloumi) in oregano and then lets it over some hot coals he has with him! Yum Yum! best bit, it makes a squeeky noise as u bite into it!! Anyhow so we sunned oursleves, tried some different beaches but found the waves too big so always came back to our favourite spot!! We had a few days of bad weather there, but there was still stuff going on like beach aerobics, six a side beach footy, volleyball and all that! At one point it was raining and sunny and you could feel urself burning but struggling to put sun cream on because it was raining!
after a week of relative rest before carnival we were ready to meet the others in Sao Paulo. My friend from home Helen was flying from costa rica to meet us for carnival, then this girl Linda who we met in Asia was flying out to travel with Laura for carnival and then equador and Peru. And Kieren of course was also flying
out to meet me his 16 days holiday in the sun for Carnival and a taste of travelling! So we were very excited about the next few days...after an overnight bus journey of course! only 11 hours this one! Wahoo!
tell all next time ...
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