Blog 12 - We've got a lovely bunch of cocnuts

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We arrived in Brazil and Rio de Janeiro with expectations of sunny beach weather and the opportunity to taste, drink and live the Brazilian experience. Upon arrival, the weather had other plans with clouds, rain and storms; Mother Nature’s way of reminding us that perfect weather for the 3 months of our holiday wasn't going to happen. Our plan for the next 2 weeks in Brazil was 4 nights Rio, 5 nights in and around the Pantanal area and then another 4 nights in Rio. What we learnt after a few days, was that this entire trip has been exciting because of the culture and history in which we have encountered and been immersed in. Rio is not overly rich in these, at least not in a way that we have experienced over the past 2 months in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. We also learnt that after 2 months of listening to, and slowly picking up bits of Spanish, the Portuguese spoken in Brazil was another totally foreign language, and so many times in the first few days we stood with blank looks on our faces as we had no idea what people were saying! At least with Spanish, we had done some prep work for it!! Even a simple 'yes' and 'no' were different!!!!



We had decided to book, for the first time on this trip, a self-contained apartment only a block away from Ipanema beach, and upon our arrival, we (Renee) became a little too excited as we discovered not only did it have a kitchen, we actually had a washing machine to do our own washing. And looking out our window we discovered we could also see the 'Christ the Redeemer' statue on top of Corcovado Mountain. Things were looking good at this stage.



But as we said earlier, the weather just wasn't going to play nice for us. With arrival and departure flights already prebooked, we had 3 full days on our first trip in Rio in which to experience the Rio life and the planned activities. Day 1 was a quick get to know Rio, bit of a walk around, a little grocery shops, a visit to the Hippie markets where they sold all things souvenirs, and then our plan was to go to the soccer (football); a local derby between Flamengo and Fluminese. Now Pete had a simple idea, with a 100,000 seat stadium buying tickets on the day of the game would be simple. We visited the Flamengo club, which on game day is something akin to Caxton Street on the afternoon of an Origin match, and we lined up to buy tickets. With only 1 couple left in front of us, the call came out from the ticket office; SOLD OUT. DOH! So we missed our first chance to experience soccer on South America. So we spent the afternoon visiting the beach under overcast skies, and discovered that all the vendors on the beach sell coconuts and for only R$5 each, we had to try them.



Day 2, instead of our traditional walking tour to get to know the city, we did a bike tour of the south of Rio. Unknown to us, this particular day was Brazil's Independence Day, so it was a public holiday and this meant that the main road along Ipanema beach was closed to cars and despite the inclement weather, people were out walking, riding and enjoying the holiday. It was on this bike tour that we discovered our little ‘qualm’ with Rio; in the 1980's, most of the original buildings were torn down to make way for bigger and better buildings and in the meantime, taking away much of the historical feel in the city. And that's what Rio now is, in contrast to many of the other cities we have visited. A big, westernised tourist city. In the afternoon, we continued enjoying the car free roads along the beaches, enjoying another refreshing coconut and for the first time in a long, long time, tried our hand in roller skating. It is fair to say that we, and in particular Pete, gave many of the locals and other tourists a great show as he struggled to move forward, and at times, stopping himself from going backwards. 30 minutes of going a very short distance and this fun was over. Pete breathed a big and long sigh of relief at that point!



Our final day in Rio for this trip, and we went up Corcovado Mountain to see the Christ the Redeemer statue. We have seen a few of these statues across South America, but it's obvious why this is the most well-known and spectacular. Standing over 31 metres tall on top a mountain that's 700m high and looking over the northern half of Rio, the view is pretty damn good. Although the day was rainy and cloudier than anticipated, we managed to hang ten until the clouds parted to get some good photos of the wonderful view. We then spent the afternoon biking. Rio has these orange bikes you can hire. Once subscribed, you have access via the Bike Rio app to hundreds of bike stations to get around the city. Unfortunately, our internet access was very temperamental so we ended up having a love/hate relationship with these bikes. So anyways, on this afternoon, we chose to ride around the southern areas of the city, going around some Olympic sites, the Botanic gardens and very much relaxing. That night, we had one of the best meals of our entire trip (and for Pete, it was the best). A great entree, great South African wine, a great meat dish (for Pete) and chicken curry (for Renee) and we were suitably full.



The next day, we were off to the Pantanal. Our flight should have been simple, but a quick stop in Campinas turned into a Security situation, which we still aren't sure if it was just a drill or something more serious. We sat on the Tarmac for half hour before federal police came onto the plane to talk to the captains as many emergency vehicles watched from a distance with lights flashing. We were then moved off the plane onto another plane to continue our journey. Not being able to speak Portuguese made our stop even more interesting, as we had to get English translations of everything, which were not as detailed as the Portuguese versions, just based on the number of words used in each. But after a slightly longer flight, and a few hours in our transport car from the city Campo Grande, we arrived at our lodge in the Pantanal.



The Pantanal is the world’s biggest sedimentation wetland, existing in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay covering an area of approximately 140,000 square kilometres. It's annually flooding waters come ultimately from the Paraguay River basin, and the surrounding mountains with its erosion from wind and rain which thus maintain a continuous silting process. For hundreds of years, due to the lack of forest and very flat terrain, people have been able to successfully farm cattle here, with little disturbance to the natural wildlife. With rules in place preventing the shooting of wild animals and the forbidden use of barbed wire for fences, wildlife, farmers and imported farming animals all live in harmony. The Pantanal basin is home to over 600 species of birds and an abundance of capybaras, caiman, giant anteaters, tapir, anacondas, puma and jaguar, to name just a few. Our hope was to see as many of these in a very short space of time.



We had booked to stay in the Southern Pantanal at the Refùgio da Ilha Ecolodge, a 4000 hectare reserve between 2 branches of the Salobra River. Here we had our own guide, the very experienced Sergio, a Brazilian who grew up in Rio, spent a couple of decades living in Europe, before returning to live in, what he calls, the paradise in the west of Brazil. His love of the area and his stories from more than 17 years of doing tours made what was to be 2 overcast, wet days, into an entertaining and informative couple of days. We had the opportunity to see more wildlife, but in a totally different environment than what we had seen in the Galapagos or in the Tahuayo Reserve in the Amazon. What we discovered upon our arrival was that this particular lodge prides itself on the food the wonderful staff produce, and it tastes like home cooked meals. Pete loved the lunches, which were typically a bbq and salad fest and while Renee preferred the dinners, which although a good meat selection, had some great Brazilian inspired vegetable dishes and salads.



While on the reserve, we went up the river in a motorised boat, did a jeep tour into open fields, canoed down the river trying to learn to paddle and then canoe through the strong current and went horseback riding. Over the course of 2 days, we saw capybaras, caiman, sooooo many species of birds including the greater rheas (aka Emu’s, or ‘Ema’s’ as referred to in Brazil), giant anteaters, deer, foxes and wild pigs. We have tried to put as many of these photos into the blog.



Following our time at Refùgio da Ilha Ecolodge, we headed a little further west to Bonito, a little town with a population of about 20,000 and another 5,000 tourist beds. It is a town based purely on tourism, and visitors come to snorkel in the clear waters of the surrounding springs and explore the forest areas around the town. We went with the intention of experiencing these crystal clear waters and to visit South Americas largest sinkhole. The weather was still not playing nice as we arrived in Bonito, with overcast and rainy skies and very cold temperatures greeting us and hanging around all through our first afternoon. So we decided to find a good place for a feed, and following many recommendations from our lodge, we went to try out Casa do João. This delightful little place has all its furniture made from recycled wood and was one of the first buildings built in Bonito. Very popular with the locals and tourists, and the food was great! Renee opted for a local fish dish and Pete being the carnivore he is, went for a beef dish. Brazil is very easily becoming our favourite spot for meals, maybe it's got something to do with the meat focus for Pete? Thankfully, we awoke the next morning to bright sunshine and not a cloud in the sky!



The snorkeling we did was down the Rio Olha d'Agua and then the Rio da Prata, all in the Rio da Prata private reserve. With over 50 species of fish living in these waters and sunlight trickling through, this was magnificent. The water has a visibility of about 25 metres, and the fish swam around you like you were just a log in the water. A wonderful few hours and hopefully the photos give an indication of what we were looking at. We also got to see a few natural springs along the way, watching the sand bubble up from the ground was pretty cool. After another massive buffet lunch, (seriously, this country loves a good buffet, and knows how to put one on as well!) and our new favourite dessert, Dulce De leche (aka pure, amazing caramel!) we headed to the Buraco Das Araras to see a sinkhole, which just happens to be home to a large group of scarlet macaws.



The sinkhole itself is the largest in South America, and historically, before it became a private reserve, was used as a dumping hole, for many different items including things as big as cars. The army was called in to clean the area up, and now it is a major tourist attraction with regular tours daily to look at the scarlet macaws nesting in the sides of the cliffs from various lookout points. Seeing these majestic creatures circle in big groups around the hole is not only loud, but looks amazing as their colours are as vibrant as a rainbow. It is as good as you can imagine.



Not to waste any time in Bonito, our final morning was spent doing a bike tour of the area, and in particular, an ecological reserve where we were able to plant a tree in the middle of our ride. Over the past 5 years over 4,000 trees have been planted through this initiative, replanting the trees lost through poor management of the area before it was a private reserve.



Upon our return to Rio, the weather delivered what we had initially anticipated before our first arrival - blue skies, sun and glorious warmth. We had 3 days to squeeze in everything we had wanted to do, and to find out we should be doing. And what we discovered in the following 3 days was what Rio is really about, and the 'culture' that makes Rio a great place to visit. We visited a couple of Favela's, attempted to dance like a Brazilian in a samba night, ascended Sugarloaf mountain, visited the Botanical Gardens, did a hike through a forest and saw the sunset from many wonderful different locations. And of course, drank our final litre of deliciously fresh coconut water.



The night of our Samba outing was our first night out on the town, in Lapa, and it was great not only because we learnt some basic samba moves, but because of the great live music we heard and we got a real taste of what Rio is about; music, dancing, laughter and loads of fun (and the feeling you get the next day after indulging on too many Caipirinha’s!!). Our afternoon visit to the Sugarloaf Mountain before this samba night, not only gave us great views of the city and bay, but provided us with an amazing sunset, with the Christ the Redeemer as a focal point. The Botanical Gardens was a very relaxing afternoon walk around the huge trees with the occasional monkey making an appearance and we then spent our final afternoon in Rio on Ipanema Beach. The final day we did a tour of the bohemian neighborhood of Santa Teresa, indulged in Acai and cheese balls, visited the famous Selaron steps (Escardia Selaron) and then did our final favela tour. Just on that, in order to truly understand Rio, a favela tour is a must. So we decided to do two! The Favela's now account for about 10% of the Rio population, and were originally the home for misplaced and homeless workers of Rio, not to mention drug cartels. They are homes, and then communities, built up on unclaimed land in close proximity to the richer areas of Rio. For many years, they were not government controlled, and up until 2008, very much controlled by drug cartels. Since 2008, the government has slowly taken back ownership through properly providing water, sewerage and electricity, as well as creating a 24/7 police presence in each Favela, known as the ‘pacification’ of the favela’s. The Santa Marta favela, one of the first to be taken control of by the government, was most famous for the filming of the Michael Jackson film clip, ‘They Don't Care About Us’ in 1996, and now supports a memorial monument since his death in 2009. What we saw when we visited the couple that we did, were colourful, safe and happy communities that despite a severe lack of space, were leading successful lives.



And so, our time in Brazil has come to an end. So much learning about this country, so very different from what we have visited previously, has helped us question and identify why we have travelled, and what we are looking for. But now, onto our next and second last country, Argentina (with a brief trip back to Brazil visiting Iguazu falls)!

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Photos

Panoramic of people lining up for the sunset shot
This was taken at the top of sugar loaf mountain, and it was humorous to watch people jostle for position.

Tiles at the Lapa Steps
These are bathtubs that have been stacked and tiled.

Copacabana Palace
A rather high end place to stay in Copacabana