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Published: February 22nd 2009
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Coconuts
Paul, Adan and a coconut cracked on a rock. Quality. So we eventually left Beunos Aires. At one point it looked like we never would, especially when we forgot to book our bus to Sao Paulo and got delayed by a day! You must be wondering what a 32 hour bus ride was like, we had no idea what to expect. Well luckily the buses here are really good, teh seats go back pretty far and you get fed aeroplane food. Its a bit like a good seat on an aeroplane I guess. We even got a glass of champagne! Kind of wish we hadn´t though, the bottle had a picture of a bus on and it tasted horrible!
The first 24 hours were fine, we watched a few of the films they showed and just slept. Then it started to get boring but without too much stress we got to Sao Paulo bus station at 5am and promptly left at 8 on the 6 hour bus to the beach at Paraty. In the end it was about 40 hours of almost constant travel! We´re so hardcore these days! Imagine how far you could get across Europe in that time, I´d love to find out actually.
The main issue
Lopes Mendes Beach
It was worth a 3 hour hike but this photo doesn´t do it justice! I´ll try and find some better photos from somewhere! was that it rained all the way there. And then our bus station pick up didn´t turn up. And we had no idea where the hostel was. At that point we went from hardcore to complete amatuer travellers. Wandering around a quaint Portugeuse colonial town thats flooded because its rained so much and realising that we speak no Portuguese. Somehow we got to the hostel soaked and grumpy. This wasn´t in the script, Brazil is supposed to be sunny!
The plan was just to relax on the beach for a few days but you can´t do that in the rain so we had to find other stuff to do. Got told about a waterfall you could slide down that was pretty near so we headed for that. Natural waterfall, cool! Paul got some great photos and videos, I´ll have to work out how to get them from him soon so you can see. I didn´t take a single photo of Paraty because it was just so wet!
Oh and we kind of stumbled across a music festival there. It was a big free outdoor thing, mainly jazz and blues. It rained constantly but dancing around with the locals and umbrellas was actually pretty cool. Just like sliding down the waterfall in the rain kind of made the experience better. It was still warm so it wasn´t a problem. You just expect a tan after 2 weeks in South America. Not happening though!
Paraty was a cool place but the rain was so heavy and the electricity so dodgy that almost every night there was a powercut. Oh and the room we were in had three TREBLE bunks. It was ridiculously squashed in there and not much fun. We had a good time but couldn´t wait to get to Ilha Grande, the sunny island paradise that looked fantastic on google images. We just had to pray it was sunny when we got there!
It was raining. Then it was just kind of overcast. Then it rained again. The next morning was like a snow day though. Someone ran into the dorm room early excitedly announcing it was sunny with clear skies outside and everyone ran outside to see if it was really true. Thank god it was! We had 4 nights on Ilha Grande and the weather was brilliant every day after the initial disappointing arrival day. We even saw a few monkeys, score!
We did a 3 hour hike one day to a beach on the other side of the island. It was really hard work but worth it for one of the nicest beaches I´ve ever been to. We got a boat back, there was no way you could do both directions! Oh and one day we hired a speedboat round the island and went snorkeling and stuff. Took a load of beers with us and just got drunk and saw fish, it was a really cool day. We were with an Aussie guy and the three of us had a great time. Met a Brazilian girl at one of the hostel bars too. Cool. I could get used to this travelling lark.
Its weird how often you bump into people you meet. Got chatting to an Australian girl on the bus from Sao Paulo to Paraty, although it turned out she was going to a different resort. Then bumped into her in about 6 different places. Even though the place is huge everyone is doing similar routes and staying in similar areas, its really odd.
Got chatting to two girls in our hostel in Paraty who were English. One of them was from Solihull and I mentioned to Paul in passing that Mike´s girlfriend Willis was from there too. The girl was like ´Alison Willis?´ Turns out they both went to Sheffield Uni and know Mike´s girlfriend really well. Its not what you expect to find in a small coastal Brazilian town. Especially when we never met in Sheffield. It is indeed a small world after all.
I guess thats it for now. Sorry theres been such a big gap since the last one but these take about an hour to write, I don´t think I´m even going to attempt the photos at the moment.
Send me some comments or something, I never know what to include in this so if its boring or you want more about certain things let me know! Feel free to ask questions or whatever.
Next up.....CARNAVAL. How very exciting.
Love and hugs
xxxxxxx
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fiona
non-member comment
rain rain go away!!
sounds like you got there in the end chump! and your a little monkey mentioning girls in every sentence...we want to know about the beautiful scenery and wonderful food and culture :) big LOL!!!!! (thats what me and mum have been saying on msn if something is very funny!!!!!!!!!!) and make sure you are taking photos to document everything please. i want to see these idyllic beaches. i got so jealous when i read the snorkeling thing!!!!!!!!!!!! keep having as much fun as possible, if you need any help let me know ok :) love you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx