Blogs from Brazil, South America - page 8

For a first time visit we decided a guide and driver were essential and we chose BeFree Tours run by Marcelo who was himself the guide and driver for the day. We set off early about 8.15am to get to Christ the Redeemer statue before the crowds. It was already hot and humid. A tram takes you up to the base of the statue. Good to pre buy the tickets to make sure of a place when you want. We had 9am tickets but got onto the 8.40am tram. There is a lift at the top but unless you are disabled you might as well use the steps and avoid a queue as it is only a short distance. It was already very busy but we managed to get the usual photo of the 38 metre ... read more

We are up at 5 am this morning to fly 750 miles south-west to Foz do Iguacu on the border between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. The old man has survived the night without succumbing to dysentery – a fact he puts down to a combination of luck and having killed the germs by drinking caipirinhas. We have booked and prepaid for our taxi, which sounds like a recipe for disaster. But 15 minutes ahead of schedule and before we’ve even had chance to worry about what to do if it doesn’t arrive, we get a call to say the driver is in reception. One advantage of being up so early is that we see the sunrise over Rio en route to the airport. It really is something; the city and its monoliths silhouetted by the bright ... read more

Today we are going sightseeing in Rio. So, on a sunny summer Saturday, we set of by Metro from Copacabana to the city centre. Not surprisingly, we are travelling in the opposite direction to almost everyone else. We buy Metro tickets, which are quite decorative and thus a good item for my scrapbook. However, at the turnstile, we insert the ticket and it isn’t returned. I look so disappointed that on the following journey, the old man buys 3 tickets so I have one to keep. First stop is the Bonde, the old streetcar which clambers across the Arcos de Lapa viaduct and up the hillside along cobbled lanes decorated with murals. We’re taking the Bonde just for the sake of it, so buy a return ticket, worrying that we’ll look a bit sad when we ... read more

We get up and go for breakfast. We deal with yesterday’s dietary deficiencies by consuming a mountain of fruit – mainly mango – the sweetest, juiciest mango I have ever tasted. I also have some sausage and eggs, although there’s a slight delay in proceedings while a women attempts to light her cigarette on the heat source under the breakfast buffet. Then we set forth along Copacabana Beach. It’s 8.30 and the prom is already heaving with walkers, runners and cyclists out for their morning constitutional. It’s like an exotic Bournemouth; we have the Overcliff, they have Sugarloaf mountain. We walk the full 4 km length of the beach, and back again. By the end it is 36 degrees and we’re rather warm and sweaty. After a pit stop at a beach bar, we round off ... read more

Up early today at 05:15 to finish packing, have breakfast and be ready for 06:25 pick-up for Rio Airport. We ended up with a lot of time to kill as we got through the check-in very quickly but as we were waiting we heard very familiar accents sitting behind us, so I started up a conversation with Graham and Karen from Perth(ex-Sydney residents) who still have family in Sydney. They also do a lot of traveling and put us onto a company they use called expatexplore.com. We exchanged travel stories and it certainly made the time go quickly. The plane left on time and we arrived as scheduled. We were met by our guide Reggie and his driver and we went straight to Iguazu Falls. These are definitely the most magnificent falls we have ever seen ... read more