Day 10 – Good bye to Betty and Judy, Hello Recife

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Today was the last day in Brazil for Betty and Judy. We were welcomed awake with nonstop rain. It had rained almost all night and all day. We did have one last excursion planned before our 3PM flight. Lillian and our driver picked us up around 10AM to go see the world’s largest dam, Itaipu Dam. It was about 30 min away. We started with a short video on the construction of the dam and history of the area. They did tend to leave out the information on how they misplaced the natives when they created the lake and how a waterfall bigger and greater than Iguazu is no longer there, but still informative. We then got on an open-air double decker bus to go see the actual dam. When it is sunny and not raining out, this would have been a great way to see the grounds, as it was still raining, it made for an interesting, wet ride. The dam has 19 huge turbines that power 90% of Paraguay’s and 20% of Brazil’s energy. It is owned 50/50 by each country. It is almost 2KM wide and has the capacity to flow more water than the falls. It is quite amazing to see. But as the rain never let us, you could not fully see the entire lake that was created by the dam.

We then headed to the airport, with time to spare of course. We departed ways in Rio, where Judy and Betty were connecting to their international flight and Kirsten and Chester were heading to Recife, a beach area in the northeast part of Brazil. We are a bit skeptical of the area as the guide book did not have many positive things to say, except there have been 19 shark attacks recorded since 1992 and that crime is the highest in Brazil. It is not uncommon to be robbed on the buses. We did contact the travel agent that booked it for us, but she assures us we are not in Recife but outside near Olinda, which is much nicer, and safer, and you can get into the water. There is also some type of festival going on in the area that she says we will enjoy. Time will tell if this is accurate. We may be coming home early or at least back to Rio if not. Maybe Chester can see if Victor’s digits are legit. If you have been counting the number of tumbles Judy took this trip, the final count was 6, and she seemed to be limping when she headed for the international terminal to head home.

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Photos

If we were in a chopper
This is what my pictuer would look like

Another rainy day
Betty and Judy. Notice the difference in clothing.