Blogs from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America - page 6

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The alarms went off this morning about 6.45am to wake us up in time for our taxi at 7.15am. I slept really well and got a good 8 hours sleep so when the alarm went off and woke me from my deep sleep I wasn't too happy! The plan was to get downstairs for 7am which was when breakfast started which was included with our room. We just about made it after me yet again running round throwing all the random things I'd left out into my hand luggage. Steph's got the whole packing the night before down to a tee where as yet again I still haven't learnt my lesson! We checked out and managed to get a drink with a bit of food before waiting in reception for our taxi driver who incidentally was ... read more
Stroppy Steph! ?
Stephie trying to sleep
Flying over Cape Verde

South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro February 20th 2018

Rio de Janeiro & Carnaval!! We had super high expectations for this part of our trip. Some things exceeded our expectations, but sadly, some things were not as we had expected.. Before throwing ourselves into the craziness of Carnaval, we decided to do a little side trip to Paraty to get a couple of days of relaxing beach time, sunbathing and swimming. We were lucky enough to get half a day of shining sun and beautiful blue skies, but then unlucky that the other two days were wasted grey and gloomy non beach days. We returned to Rio and had beautiful weather throughout most of our stay. We tried to cram in all the touristy sight seeing before the big parties started. We went on a favela tour which was really interesting to see. We even ... read more
Paraty
#iwokeuplikethis
Santa Marta Favela

South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro January 28th 2018

Most of us do not enjoy mid air turbulence on our flights. Many times, it is predictable, like flying over mountain ranges (Denver) or hot deserts (like Vegas). But most troubling are the unexpected episodes where the seat belt light goes on, AND the flight attendants are told to take their seats! So, short of taking a fast acting tranquilizer, and chugging another shot of bourbon, what can you do? First, did you know that over 20 million people suffer from aviophobia or fear of flying? Add to that, take off, landing, noise, and bumps take their toll on many others, me included. Severe turbulence often sends people to the hospital. I have been nauseated from the turbulence twice in my life, returning from Washington, DC in a storm, and flying to Rio from Miami. Experts ... read more
Drunk or bad air?
Is this you?
Even the pilot gets shaken!

South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro January 5th 2018

Landing into Chile, Santiago gave us the first taste of our fourth and final continent on this trip! Struggling with jetlag, most of our 4 day visit was spent trying to adjust to the 14 hour time change from Australia. When we weren't sleeping, we managed to participate in a couple of walking tours which was a great way to learn a bit about the colonial history of Chile and the recent brutal dictatorship. Just as we were becoming fluent in Spanish we then had to change to Portuguese as we flew across to Rio de Janeiro! "The City of God" but it feels like God is a long way away from here. Muggings. Kidnappings. Murder. Rio has a reputation for being one of the world's most dangerous cities and it certainly felt like that to ... read more
Posing at the famous Escadeira Selarón, Rio de Janeiro
Corcovado - Christ The Redeemer
Welcome to Paraty! A town stuck in time!

South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Paraty December 12th 2017

Today as we are writing this blogpost it is a rainy day, the temperature is around 22 to 23 degrees, a perfect day for Judith to get her nails done and for Merijn to get a haircut, as you do. We settled down for the coming week in one of the most beautiful Portuguese colonial towns (Paraty) in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Today it’s exactly 10 months since we left home, family and friends to start this trip. We have traveled more or less down from El Salvador in Central America, through quite a large part of South America and ended up holidaying in Brazil. We are finalising this part of our journey and we will leave for Africa in 10 days. We are leaving behind Central and South America with mixed feelings, excited to ... read more
Miolo winery
Miolo winery
Miolo winery

South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro November 2nd 2017

Busy night in the Crowsnest Lounge , it was the ships Hallowe'en party. Surprisingly , quite a number of pretty good costumes. 2 hour delay disembarking in Rio. Seems the Brazilian authorities were not happy with something. We carried off our bags and it was an easy operation. We were not able to book the Latam Air flight to Miami as Air Canada does not have a reciprocal agreement with them. Next closest time would be 2140 with American to Miami or United to Houston and then later , Delta to Atlanta. Joined Jit and Manju at their hotel on Copacabana Beach for the day. Walked around like a couple tourists. Beautiful views , nice beach with white sand and good looking surf. Had lunch on the beach and were accosted by a record number of ... read more
Talent
Copa
Ahh.

South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro November 1st 2017

Our friends will be spending a few days in Rio de Janeiro, Kate and I are checking airline loads in an attempt to get back to Florida. If we decide to spend some time in Rio , we will be touring with them. Met a great Brazilian couple who have offered to help us get setup with transportation. They own a jewellery store/ wholesale gemstone business, in the Copacabana area. 2 days of Religious holidays when we arrive , so have been advised of mucho crowds , enjoying the cities sights and events. Again many warnings of criminal activity within the city. Sheesh.! This reminds me of our time in Buenos Aires. 2 of our ships passengers were mugged , in the Boca area. One was struck with a stick then locals came to chase off ... read more
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South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro October 18th 2017

Moving swiftly on from Sao Paulo, the resort town of Buzios, located roughly a 3-hour drive east of Rio, is a little-acknowledged beachside town dubbed by those in the know as the 'St Tropez of Brazil', so let's see how that translates into the context of the everyday. It is worth pointing out that this isn't the preseve of the yacht-owning elite who flaunt their vessels in harbourside moorings, though that said, Buzios may be somewhat overpriced for the Brazilian on or under the medium wage. A scattering of commendable properties makes staying here a fairly 'spoilt for choice' situation, and the Pousada El Parador scored higly for central location, amenities, and the fact that it did not appear to be anything other than a friendly, compact set of guest rooms w... read more
Famous tiled steps (Rio de Janeiro; Brazil)
Part of the municipal theatre (Rio de Janeiro; Brazil)
View from Sugarloaf mountain (Rio de Janeiro; Brazil)


Thursday 27 July - Brazil We were awoken early by the taxi drivers strike as they tooted in procession past the hotel apparently accompanied by fireworks. There were on their way to the carnival celebration arena to present a petition to the Mayor, they were complaining about the Uber drivers undercutting their fares. Later we saw them in the arena, there appeared to be thousands of yellow taxis involved. An all day tour of Rio today seeing all the main sights. Up to Christ The Redeemer on the cog train and stop to go inside the huge Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian which was completed in 1979 and can hold 4,000 sitting and 20,000 standing. A photo stop to see the worlds largest mural, by Kobra, painted for the Olympics 2016, in an area of regeneration ... read more
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Wednesday 26 July - Argentina to Brazil Once again the monkeys were leaping all over the balconies this morning, some of them seemed to have been rewarded with chunks of no doubt stolen food. The staff were shooing them away by waving what appeared to be ribbons on sticks. Our guide collected us for the short journey to the airport in Brazil and told us how the monkeys could open the sliding door and raid the minibar. Apparently this was causing them health problems as the coke and salted nuts gave them high blood pressure. Ismay asked him where they lived and for a fleeting moment she believed him when he told her they had their own private hotel. We took our flight to Rio de Janeiro arriving in the early afternoon. Our hotel had a ... read more




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