Blogs from Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America - page 7

Day 691 (18.02.09) Why is it that when you need a bus to arrive on time it rarely does? On the way to Rio from Florianopolis we had to change buses in Sao Paulo and when we booked the tickets we were due to arrive at 7.30am giving us plenty of time for the transfer. However, after a big struggle though the craziness of Sao Paulo rush hour, we finally pulled into the bus station at around 8.55am. This left us with approximately 5 minutes before our bus to Rio was to leave. "Oh well" we thought, buses from the same company tended to leave from the same area in bus stations so we should be able to hop onto the next door bus and be away no problems. It didn´t quite pan out like that. ... read more

WOW! What a week or so it's been. New Year's was HHUUUUUUUGGGEEE!!!!! 2 MILLION people on one beach is pretty full on. Unfortunately I don't have any pics as I wasn't going to take my camera! Glad I didn't coz I saw one robbery & I'm sure there were plenty more! I did get some pics of everywhere else though, so I'll add them later. For now, a quick update before I head North to Fortaleza. I've seen all around Rio as well as some other areas and towns like Petropolis, all with their own music & attractions. It's been fantastic meeting and spending time with people from all over the world, all here together. One event which deserves mention as a 'low-light' is a Favela Funk Party I went to one night (early morning). Thankfully ... read more

Day 1 (Tuesday) - The bus pulled into port 60. My directions said to catch a bus to the main metro station at port 60. I was a little confused but quickly found a bus titled "Estacion Metro" pulling in Port 59. The bus driver was quite helpful, guiding me through the motions necessary to get me a bus and metro ticket. He also let me keep my large bag at the front, which freed me from the heavy lifting and contortion necessary to get it over the turnstile. The bus took off, we were on our way and the anxiety of a new city's stresses seemed to fall off of me. It was an easy walk to the metro and all I had to do was wait for the Botafogo stop. The Ace Hostel was ... read more

On Friday, the 5th of December (it's hard to believe that we're already have been traveling for more than a month together & that I by now have been away from home for exactly 9 months...) it was a time for us to say bye to beautiful Paraty and take a bus direction Rio de Janeiro. Although the trip took about 4.5 hours (a bit more then usually, because of the road works and the Friday traffic in Rio) but it wasn't boring because of all the views around, - changing beaches, changing types of forests, etc. Once we've arrived in Rio, we were greeted by Rodrigo and Patricia, friends of mine whom I've skied whole season with in Bariloche. So, what have we done since: - The very first night we went to the Copacabana ... read more

RIO We were pretty much ready to leave Rio to head south, when a little inconvenience interrupted our trip... Lorena picked up Chicken Pox (Varicela) from who knows where. On our last couple of planned days in Rio, we spent an afternoon in the beach at Ipanema, and went for a walk with Edu around Urca, but we were pretty lazy in general and Lorena did not seem to be feeling to well. The last day the sun was shining, and we had not yet been to the Sugar Loaf (Pan de Azucar), so eventhough Lorena was not feeling too energetic, I dragged her out in a taxi too the Sugar Loaf early in the afternoon. We got to the bottom of the two cable car rides and it was a beautiful sunny day. But we ... read more