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Published: March 2nd 2012
Oh hi there! Welcome to my first blog! It's two and a half weeks into my travels and I thought it was about time I updated y'all.
We began on 14th February (how romantic), arriving in Rio de Janeiro in the evening. The plane journey was a disappointment - no tvs on the back of the seats?? I'd been looking forward to that almost as much as being in South America! We were, however, fortunate enough to watch
Rio on a larger screen. This film was to mould all my expectations of Rio and its beautiful scenery. I was not disappointed.
Saskia and I spent the first few days clinging to our English traditions. Pizza, pasta, ham and cheese toasties... we'd always order the most English thing on the menu. We were outraged at the lack of cereal. But gradually we branched out to more local delicacies. Personal favourites include sausage on a stick (a highlight of rio carnival), boiled palm leaf, tongue (ordered accidentally) and tapioca (introduced by James - I'm not actually sure what it is but it is a beaut).
We had a couple of days to settle in before the carnival started. We were lucky enough to be sharing a dorm with a Brazilian man named Dirceu, who showed us the ropes. We, along with a lovely couple called Nick and Becca, did a bit of lazing on the beach, exploring the botanical gardens and going into town to buy outfits for carnival. I bought a fairy outfit. It was a tight fit. I'm pretty sure it was made for a child. We also went to visit the flavelas, which gave us a bit more insight into the culture. Apparently Michael Jackson filmed a music video there and they built a statue of him in tribute!
First night of carnival was insane! We did a bit of predrinking at the hostel, along with another two additions to the group - Max and Alex. Then as soon as we exited the hostel, we were sucked into the heart of the carnival. People everywhere, massive floats, music, dancing, men grabbing us saying "kiss me!", losing people, finding people, chatting to randoms and losing them two seconds later, street food, beer... it all went by in an overwhelming blur. And then suddenly the parade had passed and we were on a beach, running into the sea.
The next few days of carnival went by in a similar fashion, bar one important detail - our determination to save money and predrink meant we kept missing the parade! We were, however, left with some pretty amazing street and beach parties. One night we went to Sambadrome - the main parade. It was breathtaking! The floats were so beautiful and the dancing mesmerising. Most days were spent lazing at the beach, but on Soph and Caz's last day (their travelling schedule is slightly different to ours), we went to visit the statue of Christ. It's a lot bigger than I thought it was gonna be! Pretty amazing views up there as well.
We decided to spend the last day of carnival in a different part of Rio. And suddenly we found ourselves in a parade dedicated to she-males! A pick-up truck with three beautiful she-males was followed by a band, followed by a float with a woman who resembled Pat Butcher from Eastenders (R.I.P.) Having spent the rest of carnival trying to protect us girls from pervy men, the tables were now turned on the guys. Stu spent the entire parade running away from a very persistent man in a wedding dress.
And then Carnival was over and the streets were quiet once more. It was at about this point that I realised my bank account had been hacked into! Apparently it's quite common in Brazil, using a cloning device in cashpoints. They stole 365 (aaaah can't find the pound sign!) in total. Oh well, I was reimbursed by my bank in the end. Just means I had to cancel my card and now have to transfer money into Saskia's account and use hers until they send out a new card to Chile. Bit of a bummer.
We spent our last night in Rio at a football game. Flamenco vs Vasco. We were supporting Flamenco. They lost. I felt like someone had died. I don't know how football fans can handle it, especially as they probably know more about their team than the fact that the star player has rabbit teeth!
Next stop: Ihla Grande. A beautiful island. The next few days were spent chilling on the beach, exploring the island, relaxing, recovering. In the evenings there was live music on the streets, where we'd do a bit of dancing. Then we'd take a few beers down to the beach and look up at the stars, chat a bit. Pretty much paradise.
Then we went to Paraty, a cute little seaside town. We had a bit of hostel trouble, as it cocked up our booking. It worked in our favour though - they put us up in a nicer hostel the first night (although James and Stu might disagree - they had to sleep in a garage!) and a B&B the second night and paid the difference! The B&B was particularly a treat. I know we'd only been travelling a couple of weeks but having the rooms to ourselves, no bed bugs, nice breakfast and a CLEAN SHOWER was niiiiiiiiiiice! Sophie and Caz were staying in the original hostel so we'd go back there in the evenings, which worked out well as it's very sociable there.
Probably because of its name we were expecting party party party. Not quite sure that our expectations were fulfilled, but nevertheless I fell in love with it. The first two nights were spent drinking at the hostel and then on to the beach. We met a lot of cool people. When we were on the beach on the second night, Sas, Nicole and I wandered off to pee and stumbled across some locals playing guitar. We went and joined them and danced and attempted to join in with the singing (a massive failure - my grasp of Portuguese is shocking). It was good to meet people that weren't tourists. Sometimes I feel I miss out on a lot of the culture from not speaking the language. Fortunately the next night was very untouristy. It was Paraty's birthday and all the locals were out. They were giving away free cake in the streets! Everyone was very merry. We went to a free concert, set up for the occasion. The man singing (whose name I forget) is famous in Brazil and has a large fanbase of middle-aged women. When he came on they went crazy! Most of them knew all the words to all the songs, which they belted out as their husbands stood idly by.
Paraty in the daytime also didn't disappoint. The first day we went to a waterfall, which flowed over a slanted rock, allowing us to slide down it. So much fun! The locals were doing it on their feet. Didn't quite have the guts for that one. There was another part to the waterfall further up that we could go behind. It was quite claustraphobic but also very beautiful. On the second day we went kayaking. Saskia sadly couldn't come due to what we think was food poisoning from a burger she'd had the night before. Poor Sassy. We kayaked to a few islands, the last of which was surrounded by mud. Here we had a mud bath! It was pretty surreal, but lying back in that mud was the most comfortable experience of my life! I'm pretty sure that I still haven't managed to get rid of the mud and I'm not actually tanned at all. And James now has a parasite in his foot that we think he got from the mud. But apart from that, it was well worth it. After the mud bath we had a bbq on the beach and caipirinhas. I realise now that I haven't yet told you about this amazing Brazilian drink. Caipirinhas are made up of a Brizilian spirit called cachaça, sugar and lime. It will get you drunk. Oh yes, very drunk. Kayaking back was interesting.
We arrived in Sao Paulo the night before last. It was time to say bye bye beach and hello city! (Although I don't know if I'll ever say goodbye to the beach properly. My bag is full of sand. I'll give it to all of you as souvenir presents when I return.) Yesterday we went to an art gallery. Most of it was filled with Roman artifacts. It was a bit surreal learning about the Roman Empire in Brazil. Having said that, it was interesting to learn how far the empire had spread. Last night Nicole, Saskia and I hit the town while the others went to a football game. The night life is good but expensive. Today we went exploring and got caught in a tropical rainstorm. So much fun! Me and Saskia danced in it. It was less fun when we started feeling very cold. So we came home and for the first time since being here, I put my hoody on. I figured since we're trapped inside with nothing to do until we go on a party bus tonight, I may as well write this. And that's how it happened.
And wow, it got long. I tried to be concise, but kept forgetting. If you have read this far, thank you very much for your friendship.
I'll update again soon.
Lots of love,
Clare xxx
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Flo
non-member comment
wowey!!
oh clarey beary! sounds like you are having an amazing time! Paraty sounds gorgeous - i googled it and it looks so lovely!! great work on the singing, dancing and beers on the beach - sounds incredible. so much love and always thinking of what you are getting up to. big kisses xxxxxxxxxxx