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Published: March 26th 2008
Sao Paulo Upon arrival in Sao Paulo we were met by Lara´s Brazilian friends who she met working in Cardiff on their gap year. We spent the first 10 days with them and had a fantastic insight into real Brazilian life. We stayed with them throughout this period, met their families and friends, had home cooked meals and were taken to some of the best local spots. On the first night we were taken to an outdoor club on an island by ferry and learnt to samba (well kinda!). We spent a few days in the coastal city of Santos, the home town of Lara´s friends and visited the remote seaside town of Bertioga. We are so lucky to have had friends here to welcome us and give us insight into their lives.
Ilha Grande From Sao Paulo we travelled to the idylic island of Ihla Grande. The island is about 2 hour boat journey from the mainland. It is covered in dense jungle with inhabitants living only right on the coast on some of its 107 beaches! The most famous on the island is really incredible and among the best ive ever seen (just about
rivals Woolacombe!). We explored the island by boat, ate at the best kilo restaurant where what you pay depends on the weight of your meal and met our first travellers.
Rio de Janeiro One of the most stunning cities in the world. Its natural beauty is breathtaking; the mountains surrounding the intense city which is lined by incredible beaches. We covered many of the typical sights; Christ the Redeemer, SugarLoaf Mountain, Copacobaba and Ipanema beaches and went to an awesome derby football match at the Maracana stadium (2nd largest in the world). The views from all were incredible and exemplify the beauty of the city. The football match was quite an experience; a huge party with dancing, drums, banners, firecrackers, balloons and singing. We went to the dancing centre of Rio, Lapa for a night out but never made it into a club as the whole area was a huge street party. We chatted to the locals, drank beer for around 40p a can and had one of the best nights soaking up this unique atmosphere.
Foz de Iguazu We have just arrived in Foz do Iguazu, the largest waterfalls in South america; wider
than Victoria and higher than Niagra falls. We are looking forward to exploring the falls from both the Brazilian and Argentinian viewpoints. We went to the Argentinian side of the falls today and it was incredible. We went on a boat trip which took us inside the waterfall, getting completely drenched! luckily we were wearing bikinis!!! We had some lovely walks along the tops of the waterfalls, and standing above the largest fall was beathtaking- the power of the water and the quantity of the water was overwhelming. We met a cute professional photographer who wanted to take pictures of us before the stunning waterfalls, and will be sending these to us (watch out!)
Impressions of Brazil * Music - We love the live samba music clubs here and the dancing is incredibly sexy (when done properly; not sure we are quite there yet).
* Women - beautiful, skimpiest bikinis you´ve ever seen, tanned.
* Men - football crazy, crazy about women!
* Food - fantastic fruits from the Amazon, great rice and meat.
* Sport - football, football, football, volleyball, footvolley on the beach.
* Nightlife - starts at 1am, samba, love to dance. Sao Paulo
famous for it´s nightlife.
* Roads - drivers easily rival the italians, crazy lane switching.
* Socio-economic differences - intense. Not extreme poverty here as such but enormous differences between rich and poor.
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Rachel :D
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:D
Wow, sounds like you have had a brilliant start! And your whole plan sounds amazing. Be sure to get somepics up. Love you xx