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Published: November 20th 2006
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Rio de Jainero
A view over the city... Hi all,
We have just finished up our time in Brazil and now heading into Ecuador
Roosters of Rio...
Both Jem and I enjoyed Rio with one notable exception - we got a pretty bad dose of sunburn! On the first day in Rio we decided to chill out on the beach to recover from the night flight and a few hectic days in London before we left. Fortunately (for me) I've gone a pretty reasonable shade of brown (Jem is now going by the name of Mr Pink).
We did spend a while people watching (it wasn't difficult as it is a gorgeous beach; white sands and we hired deckchairs to laze about it). The young men strutting their stuff along the beach (like roosters) with their beach babies violently swinging their hips behind. There were the normal beach salesmen with their sarongs, bikinis and beach snacks (I did try some and they weren't the gastronomic treat the Lonely Planet promise).
We did the touristy things; to the top of the hill to see Christ the Redeemer, up the gondola to Sugar Loaf hill, walked along Ipanema and Copacabana beaches... and so the list goes on.
Paraty - Church
A colonial city - this is just a small taste of what it is like! We also did a Favela tour (which I suspect is also quite a tourist attraction based on the number of jeeps and vans with tour logos on them). Favela is the name for a slum neighbourhood. There was alot of info about the dodgy side of Rio; and some of the history about how and why they are there. A number of the Favelas occupy some prime Rio real estate - so we also got some great pictures of the city! The Favelas are expanding not only because of urban migration but also because if you can build a place and occupy it for no longer than 3 months and its yours. Nice way to acquire prime real estate!!
R&R in Paraty just down the coast from Rio.... 30oC odd plus
This little costal town is set-up for R&R. There are great cafes that all push their version of the local dish and cocktail - we tried both. We can’t remember the last time we had such much seafood....lunch and dinner are a given and they would serve it to you for breakfast given half the chance. We took a boat trip out to some islands on a supped
Paraty - Sunbathing on the Roof
This is us on the top of the roof of the supped up canoe!! up canoe with a 1500 engine dropped in and a wooden roof that you can climb up and sunbath on. To justify lunch we had a swim in a reserve, there were tons of fish swimming around us. We were the first boat to arrive and we noticed our boat driver dropping a line over the side. This was quickly reeled in when the other boats arrived.
Sao Paulo...... interesting
Our initial impressions weren't the best but the city grew on us. We found a some great restaurants and bars on the last night - they were only a few blocks from our hotel but in a direction we'd not explored until it was too late.
We joined two walking tours which were run by the metro company (imagine London Underground doing something like that!)... they were mostly in Portugese but they provide additional guides to help with the translation - so as the only English speakers on the tour we had two or three guides to ourselves!
It was a great (and safe) way to see the city and find out about it’s history. Sao Paulo is what it is today because of coffee and the city has
Paraty - The canoe
A view of the boat taken while we were having lunch of squid and king prawns - freshly caught that day! any number of references to it in either the location of the Stock Exchange (located because of where the coffee traders worked) or in the architecture where buildings have coffee plants / berries carved into the stone work. Needless to say we undertook to drink our fair share of coffee and ensure the local economy is maintained!
Our stay in Sao Paulo was very brief (only a few days) and we headed to Iguassu falls.
Iguacu Falls
The falls are quite incredible and we started by going to Argentina for the day! We do the Brazilian side tomorrow. Sounds exotic and the border crossing was one of the most chilled crossings we’ve ever had! From the front of the hotel to the entrance of the Iguacu Falls park in Argentina took less than 50 mins... We spent the day walking around snapping shots of the falls. The highlights have to be the boat trip and the top viewing platforms. The boat takes you up to approx five metres from the bottom of the falls.... enough to be completely drenched by the spray - leaving one question; where’s the soap? The later was incredible because of the sheer volume
Sao Paulo - Walking Tour
This is taken in the square on which Sao Paulo was founded. of moving water.
We hope you are all well and enjoying these updates! We'd love to hear how you all are - so don't forget you can email us or send us messages via this blog!
Take care,
Naera & Jeremy
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