Blogs from Brazil, South America - page 602

Left BA and headed north through the Pampas of Argentina (where all the cows live!). Couple of long truck days got us to the border with Paraguay at Encarnacion. Once into Paraguay we stopped at Trinidad to visit some Jesuit ruins, which included lots of beheaded statues because inhabitants of the site after the Jesuits left thought the statues contained treasures. Then to campsite nearby, the best one yet, with a lovely pool, plus slide and diving board!! Spent the whole morning at the pool the next day, not leaving the site till lunchtime. Got to Ascunsion late afternoon, but like a ghost town, the quietest capital city I´ve ever seen! I suppose it was Sunday, but still.... Attempted a bit of shopping the next day, very traumatic for us girls trying to buy new bikinis, ... read more

In Rio now after a long but surprisingly awesome bus ride. Although I could not understand the movies, they were constantly playing, and the company provided a few treats and water for the ride along with a blanket and head phones. Aside from the baby that decided to scream at 4am (I have no way to confirm because I don´t have a watch), it went by really quickly. The apartment that we have in Rio is on the 8th floor with three bedrooms and three bathrooms conveniently. The shower is the best shower that I have had on the trip so far with great water pressure and hot water. Yeah, I know it´s 30 degrees all the time and there is no reason to have a hot shower, but damn do they feel good. For the ... read more

I took a boat to Morro de Sao Paulo - An island which is located in a 2 hours distance from Salvador. From the boat Salvador looked like a really beautiful city (not at all like San Antonio), and it felt to me as if I was leaving all my troubles behind in Salvador. When I arrived, I realized that every image I had about tropical islands, was true in Morro - Magnificent beaches, a little bit of jungle, palm and coconut trees on the beach, beautiful women. Here for the first time I truly understood the meaning of the Spanish word 'tranquello' (there is no good translation, but you can try relax / calm / no problems). I met here allot of interesting people - From Switzerland, Germany, France, Argentina, Spain and even tourists from ... read more

O Rio e DEMAAAAAAAAIS, LEGAO, MARAVILHOSO!!! Rio is FANTASTIC!!! Backtracking to Belo Horizonte: evenings spent chilling at Claudio´s funky sushi restaurant (and trying the different varieties of caipirinha - strawberry, mango, pineapple... YUM!), making great contacts (among whom - a lift to Rio!!), and a crazy dancing evening (all night... morning... etc) at a trans nightclub... which, incidently, resulted in my lift (Claudio) sleeping through our agreed meeting time to go check out the apparently fabulous mining town of Ouro Preto (Oh well, got to leave something for next time!)... I did go to the hairdresser though. My nails will have to wait for another day (year.. lifetime?!) as it was full... but it did give them something to talk about at the hairdresser that I´d NEVER in my life had them done!!! Everyone was very ... read more

Well, if I can start by trying to remember what day it actually is today I can count back to my last blog update and try to figure out what I did since then, but instead since I don't think I can actually do that, I'm just going to list all the highlights of Rio so far. Jacky came to visit me! As many of you know, she planned to come down here for Carnival and she did just that. It was quite the heartwarming reunion and we have had a lot of catching up to do. I actually arrived in Rio last week (I'm trying desperately to remember the day) and somehow through my excellent travel skills managed to find Ryan Mukuda. For all those of you who don't know, Ryan, Andre and the Poi ... read more