Blogs from Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil, South America

We arrived in this city early in the morning on an overnight bus from Foz do Iguacu. The combined bus train station in Curitiba is near the centre of town, very safe, with cafes, shops and tourist information. From here it is a short walk to hotels and restaurants. Curitiba is the capital of Parana province in Brazil, home to around 2 million diverse inhabitants such as Japenese, large Arab community, Jewish, Negro population and mixed others.Walking around today what is evident is what you see in much of South America, the haves and have nots. In the large shopping mall we went to; expensive designer labels are evident everywhere, and the food court sells coffee and cake for around 30rials for 2 people. But out in the street we bought a buffet lunch for 10R ... read more

We recently read a review of the Serra Verde Express train journey, written by an Australian guy who has travelled extensively and done some interesting things, like kayaking across Sydney Harbour and horse riding in the Australian outback. He said that his sensational ride on the Serra Verde Express in Paraná, Brazil, was “up there” with all the rest of his travel experiences. This kind of recommendation cannot be ignored, so we decided to ride this train. Would it live up to such high expectations? It did! Our Serra Verde experience this week was certainly up there with all of our other travel highlights and the Atlantic Rainforest is up there with other outstanding scenery that we have been fortunate to see, like the Grand Canyon and the Amazon. This train journey, through the Atlantic Rainforest, ... read more

Leaving SP marks the start of quite a hectic couple of weeks travelling. We had 4 nights/5 days there but from now until our pit stop in Buenos Aires its more like 2 nights accomodation and then a nightbus. The pattern goes - arrive somewhere early by the nightbus, check into hostel at some point, 2 nights accomodation then check out, leave our bags at the hostel then get the night bus to the next place. It can be a bit of a hassle I guess but when we add up how much money we save and how many days we save on not having to sit on a bus all day it makes perfect sense. I think our longest journey so far is 14 hours, but getting on at 8pm and waking up at 10am ... read more

The MST demonstrates the potential of the peasant As the world’s 9th largest economy, Brazil’s rapidly growing financial clout is rooted in agriculture with coffee, beef and soya constituting its most valuable exports. Yet it is one of few nations to have never passed agrarian reform and social inequality continues to blight rural society with 3% of the population owning 2 thirds of cultivable land. Consisting of well over 1 million members, the ‘Movimento Sem Terra’ (MST or Landless Movement), one of the planet’s largest social movements, actively encourages the rural poor to occupy land belonging to others and grow foodstuffs in a subsistent manner, generally as part of a cooperative. Since its inception in 1985, the MST’s achievements are startling when considering they exist purely on donations and handouts. Its successes include the construction of ... read more

Kai sužinojau, kad Alanas su draugais ruošiasi šokti su guma (bunjee jump) pasisiūliau ir aš į kompaniją, kadangi tai išbandyti norėjau jau labai seniai, bet vis dėl kažkokių priežasčių nepavykdavo. O čia dar ir kaina gera, tik 50 realų. Taigi nuvažiavom į vietą iš pačio ryto, bet nieko keisto, kad brazilai dar nebuvo pasiruošę. Dar palaukėm kokią valandą, atvažiavo Alano draugai, per tą laiką šuoliams viską paruošė. Žmonių irgi nemažai, nes šuoliai buvo parduodami per grupinių pirkimų portalus. Dėl to kaina nedidelė, o žmonių daug. Belaukiant eilėje šuoliui sutikom vokietę merginą kuri šokinėja su parašiutu, bet šiandien irgi nusprendė išbandyti šuolį su guma. Taip pat su ja dar buvo vienas šveicaras, kuris čia atvažiavęs darbo reikalais, bei jo kolega brazilas. Sulaukęs savo eilės pasiruošiau šuoliui, aukštis maždaug 40-50 metrų. Ilgai nedvejoju ir pasileidžiu, adrenalino tikrai daug, ... read more