The Party's over!


Advertisement
Brazil's flag
South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro » Lapa
March 30th 2012
Published: March 30th 2012
Edit Blog Post

It is with deep regret and a heavy heart that your correspondent writes this entry. Why – because it is the last one from Brazil and that means our adventures are at an end.

Before we go, let me update you on our last days of travelling in South America. We decided to head west from Salvador to a town called Lencois. It was a good idea to head west, as heading east would have taken us straight into the Atlantic. Lencois is a small place in the Chapada Diamante National Park in the Brazilian mountains. We had been reliably informed by Alex (hostel owner in Salvador ) that it would be much cooler in the mountains, so, Wendy packed as many jumpers and coats and warm clothes as the rucksack would allow. Guess what? That’s right, it was nearly as warm as Salvador and we wore shorts and t-shirts the whole time!!!

The hostel we had booked said that we would be collected at the bus station and sure enough. a guy was there holding his sign (it said Wendy + 1) so your correspondent was happy as it was bloody hot and I was hauling along this huge rucksack packed with winter clothing . On leaving the terminal, I looked around wondering which car was his and was slightly perturbed to notice that he walked past them all. He must have seen my look of confusion and worry, as he announced that it was only a ten minute walk to the hostel!!! He and W walked ahead leaving me swearing and sweating under the weight of enough to fit out an Arctic expedition.

You will be pleased to know that your correspondent made it safely to the hostel, mainly due to the fact that our new friend took pity on me and carried the rucksack for the last half of the trail. He didn’t really have much choice as I was about to collapse. On arrival, Wendy was struck by how lovely our home for three days was -all open seating and lounging areas - happy colours and very friendly staff – nice garden, etc…I was struck by how great it was that they had a fridge full of cold beer. I took one immediately and settled down to spend three days there.

To my chagrin, Wendy announced that the three days were to involve activities such as walking and hiking and swimming and going in to underground caverns. What about sitting around drinking beer I proposed, so we had a vote on it. Sadly, I lost the vote 1 – 1.

As it was 30 degrees and the middle of the day when the sun is at it’s hottest, we decided to go for a walk to an area nearby called Sorrena. Here, when the river dries up in the summer, it leaves waterholes in the rocks where you can bathe, swim a bit or drink beer beside. Some of these holes are over ten feet deep as they have been eroded for a year or two. We were given rough directions and told that it would only take about 15 mins to get there.

After 45 minutes we were still walking up the side of a mountain. I could not see any rivers, I could not hear any flowing water, I could not smell any beer, so I was a tad concerned that we were going the wrong way. It would have been a good idea to have turned around and follow the trail back down, but as it was very hot and we were sweating profusely under the sun, we continued upwards. Strangely we did not find the Sorrena up that mountain, as it was back near the town – 15 minutes from our hostel. We had missed a turning hence our trip into the wilderness. You will be pleased to know that we did eventually make it there and Wendy was able to splash about happily.

Day two involved us being picked up by car from the hostel at some stupid hour in the morning. With us were two Spanish women and the four of us were to be taken around by our guide Tony. He could speak Portuguese and English. We could speak English and Spanish and the two women could speak Spanish and Portuguese. Between us we somehow managed!!

Our first stop was “a gentle walk downstream followed by a swim under a waterfall”. Ok – if a South American ever tells you that something is a gentle walk, be prepared for anything from a forced hike to crossing a desert. This was no exception. The 20 minute gentle walk, was an hour scrambling up and down rocks following a dried up riverbed, then descending down a trail clambering over boulders that people usually abseil down. Yes, at the bottom, there was a fantastic pool and a waterfall that you could swim under and behind, but you always were thinking about having to climb back up and retrace our way back to the car. Was beautiful though.

Next on the agenda was a hike to and through caverns. This involved climbing down in to a crater that had formed when all the surrounding rocks collapsed inwardly. It was like something from The Lost World, with huge splinters of rock strewn through the forest. As with all of our trekking that hot, sunny day, it involved very steep tracks, so we were reasonably overheating by the time we got to the bottom. The good news was that we were now to enter the caverns.

Walking through the gaping entrance, your body rejoices as the temperature drops by 20 degrees to a lovely, cool and comfortable level. In fact, if they had set up a bar, I would have still been there now. The trail underground was just over 2km over rough terrain. We were given torches as it is strangely rather dark when you go in to areas where there is no daylight. Our guide pointed out various stalactites and stalagmites as well as strangely shaped rocks that the locals had given imaginative and amusing names to like “duck” or “rabbit” or “candle”. The humour of these local natives is indeed something to behold.

After spending an hour in the dark, we turned a corner and there truly was a light at the end of the tunnel. Sunshine poured through an old rockslide and this was where we had to scramble up, back in to the oven of the early afternoon. Your correspondent hauled himself over the top and lay panting until through the tears and sweat he saw something. Surely this was a mirage sent to taunt him, but know – it was a man selling beer!! Oh happy days.

Lunch was had beside a lake which provided a chance to relax and cool down in the shade before the last part of our day. The National Park has some splendid mountains and we were to climb to the top of one of them to watch the sunset. Your correspondent was concerned with the use of the word “climb” and made further inquiries about it’s usage. Thankfully the car “climbed” most of the way, leaving us a mere half hour albeit straight uphill) walk to the summit. The views of the surrounding area were astounding. With a very welcoming breeze, we ambled around waiting for sunset. Apart from me nearly sitting on a jarracarra snake – the most poisonous in Brazil – the day was accident free. Still we waited for sunset, but at the appointed time, a low bank of cloud built up and we were unable to see the sky light up.

Our last day in Lencois saw us going on a short 45 min walk to a local pool, where you can swim, lounge about drinking beer and slide down the rock face in the river. A 45 minute walk for professional athletes perhaps, for me an hour and a half. Readers who have walked with your correspondent will know that I have two speeds – dead slow and stop. I used both of these a lot on this walk. I am not sure how we manage it, but we always seem to be taking long, strenuous walks in the middle of the day. No matter how much we plan it, come noon/one o clock, you will find us plodding along while all and sundry are sat in the shade or having lunch. Quite strange.

A brief stay back in Salvador for a night and then it was on to Rio for our last five days. I have enjoyed regaling you all with our tales of travels and I promise that everything you have read is true. Hope you have enjoyed reading them. As she started the bolgs, it only seems right that she ends them. So, without further ado, here is Wendy with our adventures in Rio and fighting tigers, Take care.

Your correspondent did not tell me that he planned to abdicate responsibility for the last stage of our journey! I have tried to convince him that it is HIS blogs that everyone waits anxiously for but he is having none of it and has gone to get himself a beer! (no surprises there then!)

I think its probably more a case that he knows by doing this that the blog will be finished before we leave Brazil, rather than in 3 weeks time!

So…..we flew from Salvador to Rio and got a taxi to the hostel (we have spent more money on taxis in Brazil than all the other countries put together!). Not only is the hostel half way up a steep hill, but on entering the gate we were met with 64 steep steps UP to the reception (bearing in mind this was once again the hottest part of the day and we had our big rucksacks with us).

Having struggled up to check in we were told that we had the “Green Suite” which was half way back down again! It was a nice little room with a window overlooking the city and a bathroom. It also had the most prized possession – an air con unit!

I unpacked while G went to buy beer!

From where we are you can either go UP the hill to Santa Theresa (there used to be trams running but they stopped 6 months ago!) or DOWN to Lapa (THE Rio nightspot!)

.

Having struggled UP the stairs, we decided to go DOWN the hill into Lapa. Unfortunately as it was a Sunday most of the bars and restaurants (of which there are many) were closed but we found somewhere to have lunch before struggling back up the hill to the hostel.

G made a couple of new friends whilst drinking beer on the roof terrace – one Brazilian guy told G that he had been to the UK to study English – where had he gone? Westbourne Language Academy!!! And yes, he knew the Hogs Head! It is a small world.

Monday we woke to some cloud but it was bright so we decided to go to Christ the Redeemer statue. The very helpful lady on reception told us that if we walked back down to Lapa we could get a bus directly to the train station for the statue. This took about half an hour.

When we got to the station, they were selling tickets for the next available train which was in 40 mins so we parted with our £15 each and got our tickets.

The train ride takes about 30 mins and is very steep although you don’t really get any views as its mostly through forest. For the last 10 mins of the journey we were joined by a 3 piece Samba band! Only in Brazil can you party on a train half way up a mountain in the heat of the day!

When you get off the train there is the option of an elevator or walking the 222 steps to the base of the statue – we had no hesitation in choosing the first option as my legs were still aching from all the walking in Lencois (so much for being fitter at the end of the trip!)

The trail then takes you up two elevators from where you get your first view of the Christ – it is BIG! It was also very busy up there.

The mist was coming in so we quickly went to the viewing points to take photos although we couldn’t see some as clearly as we’d hoped it was still an amazing sight and iconic Rio! Having spent an hour there taking photos and getting hotter we followed the same route back to the hostel to chill out in front of the air con unit.

In the evening we went back down to Lapa for food. This area is known for its Samba bands and I had hoped to find a bar with one in it – as we were having a pizza we could hear a band nearby so tried to go to that bar afterwards but it was packed and there was a queue outside, so we had to give it a miss – stopped G from getting some practice in for his Samba moves.

As the area between Lapa and our hostel wasn’t really safe at night we opted to get a bus back up this time (although its not far, it is steep and dark!). The journey was over cobbled streets and old tram lines and very bumpy but for £1 each we were delivered right to our hostel door.

Tuesday we took a bus into the main part of Rio and wandered round some of the colonial buildings including the National Library and the Art museum. We decided to walk back to the hostel and the route took us via the Metropolitan Cathedral – the weirdest cathedral building we’ve seen! Its like a pyramid and very modern but actually very nice too.

After another chill we decided to go UP hill to Santa Theresa, by bus. This area is rated in all the guidebooks as somewhere special, although it seems that since the trams stopped running, it has lost some of its charm and was much quieter than we had expected.

The lady at the hostel had recommended a restaurant for Moqueca (our new favourite SA dish) but when we looked at the menu it was twice what we had been paying in Salvador so we opted for a cheaper restaurant where we had lovely food on the terrace overlooking the valley (have you noticed that my blog entry is more about the food and less about the beer??)

Wednesday was cloudy and damp but we had planned to go to the botanical garden at Leblon so undeterred we set off on the bus. By the time we got there an hour later, it was pouring down, so we opted for a bar for lunch (Ok, and beer too!) to wait for it to ease off.

It didn’t so we ended up getting the bus home! We had been out nearly 4 hours and only seen the inside of a (albeit very nice) bar! We were a little disappointed.

As it was still raining in the evening we stayed in and watched a movie with a bottle of wine, praying for better weather on Thursday!

Yesterday we woke to drizzle again so decided to sit it out in the hostel. We were rewarded when it finally cleared up at 11.30am and we set off by bus to Copacabana beach.

We were lucky to see this famous beach almost empty! Not our favourite of beaches (but then we have seen some pretty amazing ones) but we had to go! I had the first of a few cries while we were there as we talked about the pending end of our adventure.

As it was still clear we headed to the Sugar Loaf mountain cable car. We got a little lost and walked far more than we had intended to but we eventually got there and there was no queue.

G was not really keen to do this as dangling in the air by a cable does not appeal to him but it was on my To Do list so he braced himself.

The cable car is in two sections, the first takes you to one mountain where you can get off and take views over the bay and up to the Christ the Redeemer (when it was out of the clouds!). You then board another car to go up the last bit to the top of the Sugar Loaf mountain from where the views were stunning. Well worth the £30 each and a great way to spend our last full day in SA.

Our last night was spent eating an amazing shrimp Moqueca down in a bar in Lapa, again a fitting “last supper”

So, here we are all packed and ready to go home.

What an amazing 51 weeks we have had -7 Countries, 1.5 new languages, 87 beds, 63 bus journeys totalling 459 hours (=19 days!), 11 flights, amazing sights, wonderful new friends.

There are of course things we are looking forward to on our return - seeing friends and family, decent cheese (me), cider (G)!

We have loved South America and we’ll be back!


Additional photos below
Photos: 77, Displayed: 33


Advertisement



30th March 2012

It can't be.
But then the question is, obviously, what will you do for your next big adventure?
30th March 2012
training for torchbearing

Coo. Final blog. I'll need to buy some books now. A year to be proud of! Now to bring back a shed load of memories...and then track down some cider!! Welcome home.
31st March 2012

The Party's Over
Just checked the weather for Poole. Bit cloudy. Welcome home! X
1st April 2012

haha! i love how you lost the vote 1-1, Gordon! as it should be, of course! ;) Hope it feels good to be home!!!
3rd April 2012

Now comes the very hard part to settle back into a daily routine ! Was good to see you today and you looked so well and relaxed. Have you thought about making a book of your year - Ali & Zoe have done a pictorial book naming it after their blog site Two Left Feet. Very good as a photo album. Take care - Jenny
16th April 2012

What am I going to do with my lunchtimes now....
You're just going to have to go on another adventure and write another blog - I have nothing to read with my lunchtime salad now! I expect you're settling into life here quicker than you would like, and now you've had your cheese and cider fix are keen to travel again! Have fun choosing the next place as I'm sure you've the 'bug' now! good to have you home ;-) lots love xx

Tot: 0.059s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 12; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0251s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb