Blogs from Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America - page 14

In about a week's time on the 20th Tuesday, I will be ready to start the first leg of the trip by driving to the Herndon-Monroe (Virginia) Park & Ride facility then snare a cab ride to Washington Dulles International Airport. My fellow cohorts - their names and groupie names are as follows: Jas Sunderland, Aussie Bum; Anna Bitencourt, BANNANNA; David Bird, Birdman; and lastly, of course, the silly author of this worthless blog, Allen Sanderson aka Mr. Sassy, Sandman, or Slick (depending on who you ask). Rio de Janeiro is our destination. It is a land full of friendly Cariocas. These people take kindness to the nth degree. We are excited and ready for adventure. For David Bird and I, this will be our first time touching mother Earth below her belt. Stay tuned for ... read more

I AM N INDIAN: ; 66 YRS OLD & IN ADVENTURE BUSINESS. ATTENDING RIO CARNIVAL ON 05 MAR 2011 STAYING IN RIO 03 TO 06 MAR & THEN GO TO PUNTA ARENAS IN CHILE & TAKE A WHALE WATCHING TOUR & THEN GO TO TORRE DEL PAINE BY HIRED CAR FROM PUERTO NATALES; FURTHER TRAVEL BY BUS FROM PUERTO NATALES TO SAN PEDRO IN ATACAMA DESSERT ;CROSS BY BUS INTO PERU & GO UPTO CUZCO FROM WHERE MANU NATIONAL PARK FOR 8 DAYS & ONTO MACHU PICCHU BY 05 APRIL & WILL BE IN LIMA TILL 12 APR . IS ANYONE PLANNING TO BE IN THE AREA AT THE TIME !!! LOOKING FOR A FELLOW TRAVELLER. VALIANTLDR... read more

Our adventure began on the 12th of April in Dublin airport, catching a connecting flight to Heathrow. It’s difficult to comprehend the size of Heathrow airport until you run the risk of missing your connecting flight. But finally after several buses, three security checks and a rip off of a Bureau de Change, we were off, on our way to Rio de Janeiro! I remember looking at the departures board, thinking how exotic our destination sounded. On board the flight, we had a selection of over 30 movies, TV shows and music, so we were spoilt for choice. This also helped me get Dylan Moran’s joke out of my head; “We are in a huge, metal tin can flying in the sky, we are all going to die, we’re all going to die!” The entertainment succeded ... read more

The epic journey back to Rio de Janeiro began with an Aerosur flight from Cusco to La Paz with a connection to the major Bolivian city of Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz sits in the steamy, sticky region of Bolivia and is, both climatically and socially, very different to the rest of Bolivia. I was only here for a day but I was very surprised to see just how different the people here are to their highland kinsmen. Santa Cruz lies in an affluent corridor of Bolivia and is where many of its wealthier residents live. The weather is hot and sticky as it sits just 400 metres above sea level in comparison with much of Bolivia that tops out mostly at over 3,500. I spent a night here, plastered by my own sweat against the grubby ... read more

After sleeping with every parts of our body crossed, hoping for fine weather today. We were both bitterly dissappointed to wake up to more rain and another day when we would not see a brake in the clouds. In protest of this English like weather we slept for another couple of hours, as quite frankly there wasnt too much to hurry up getting out of bed for. We did however make it out of bed and up for breakfast where we were pleasantly surprised with the standard of food. We were served really nice orange juice and the best fresh bread we have had so far. So much so we both had three rolls of it. Our plan today involved seeing the botanical gardens which was on the opposite side of the lake to Copacabana. If ... read more