Blogs from Lapa, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America - page 5

Hoi allemaal, Na een laatste nachtje slapen in de favela in Rio de Janeiro zat het avontuur in Zuid-Amerika er weer op. Op donderdagavond rond middernacht vlogen we in 14 uur naar Dublin. Een eitje vergleken met de 24hrs busreizen in Zuid Amerika. De afgelopen 11 maanden hebben we genoten van al het moois dat Zuid-Amerika te bieden heeft. We komen dan ook thuis met rugzak uitpuilend van de unieke ervaringen (en vuile was). We kijken uit om iedereen weer te zien, naar een fijn bed, een warme douche (eentje die niet op stroom werkt, niet zo'n relaxte combinatie), een wc die ook toiletpapier kan doorspoelen, Iers ontbijt, patatje speciaal, Hollandse nieuwe, karnemelk en hagelslag natuurlijk. In Rio hebben we de avonturen van de afgelopen maanden al een beetje laten inzinken. Bij thuiskomst zal dit ongetwijfeld ... read more

Continuing our travels in South America, our next stop was Sao Paulo, Brazil. This city has the 5th largest population in the world (Brazil is the 5th largest country). One night spent in this huge metropolis was enough. Our memory of Sao Paulo will be of having the best meal of the trip so far - shrimp, the size of lobster prepared for us table side. The following morning we hired a driver. He was supposed to speak English. No English but a real sweet guy! The plan was to drive from Sao Paulo to Parati so we could view the beautiful tropical landscape. All went well until we reached Parati with expectations that did not materialize. Sunny, beautiful beach, nice hotel - NO! Luckily, Hector, our driver, didn’t abandon us and helped us find a ... read more

M writing - We found a pretty good hostal quickly - decided to go for ambience over comfort which has proven a good choice even if we are already a little sleep deprived each morning due to the staff treating the place like their personal party-space from 6.30am and throughout the day. Brazilian pop can be really quite bad! Anyway, we are still on the hillside in Santa Teresa - a bohemian, arty kind of area with great vistas over the bay of Rio. It is right next to a Favela, but we think not a particularly poor one as there seem to be buildings rather than shacks - we haven't really seen any to compare it to oddly. We're on the border with Lapa - party-central and pretty edgy. Life here takes place on the ... read more

A selection of Brazil Photos... read more

Day 4 of the Carnaval and the idea is as follows, we get afro wigs, Brazilian flags and make some kind of silly outfits out of them! Cool idea huh...after all everybody in this town is in party mood!! Now obviously the plan doesn´t just involve dressing up like fools and sitting around quietly in our respective hostels, far from it! We are off to a Beer Ball at the Scala nightclub in Leblon! Now basically that means you pay 50 Reais (about 15 of your hard earned British pounds!) and that gets you entry and as much beer as you can drink! We all meet in Sarah and Shauns hostel, the other two Kiwis Hamish and Katie have bought us all Brazilian flags but alas no afros as they were too expensive! With this in ... read more