Blogs from Brazil, South America - page 648

We got into Puerto Igazu at about noon on Wednesday and caught a 12:40 bus to the falls. I could spend ages describing how unbelieveable they were, but you probably wouldn't believe me....... (that's stupid). Look at the photos instead. We spent most of the afternoon there, got a bus back to Puerto Igazu, grabbed our bags and headed over to Brazil. My Finnish (EU) passport paid off well at the crossing, no $160 visa for me!! Border control actually consisted of the bus driver asking anyone if they needed their passports stamped, we would have missed it if we weren't paying attention. We got the bus at 9pm and got into Curitiba at about 7am in the morning. Clare (a friend from when I worked at Bear Valley Ski Resort in the US) picked us ... read more

As well as spending most of our time in Sao Paulo we have also visited Ilha Bela. It really is a wonderful island and we enjoyed 3 weekends at the Conde de Mar pousada just chilling , swimming , eating and drinking. The island has sandy beaches, atlantic rainforest and impressive mountains. It was great place to relax and take it real easy !! I think the finishing touch was having birthday bbq for Dan in the middle of a tropical rainstorm - cooked by Serge (the owner of the b&b) who deservedly earnt the title of BBQ king after cooking the best bbq ever in less than ideal conditions !! We learnt two valuable lessons in Ilha Bela , 0ne - always wear insect repellant wherever you are going , whatever you are doing , ... read more

And so, to Brazil.. the fifth biggest country on Earth. Due to the constaints of time, we were only briefly heading across the South East of the country... but it at least gave us a flavour for it.. Our first stop, from Argentina, was the Brazilian side of the Iguazu Falls. Equally spectacular to the Argy side, but still worth a visit to get a different perspective on this incredible place.. We then had a quick, ie 2 minute detour into Paraguay.. this was because we hadnt stopped to get a Brazilian entry stamp on our way in from Argentina. The Paraguayan border is a real zoo... hoards of people heading in and out with bootlegged booze, cigarettes, and probably a lot of cocaine that has come in from Bolivia.. As we got our stamps for ... read more

Depois de uma viagem extremamente cansativa e estressante, aterrizei em Sampa pela primeira vez depois da minha mudança para a Ogrolandia......em férias.... muito estranho. Mas devo dizer que curti a minha cidade em um modo completamente diverso, como "guia turistico". Sempre amei São Paulo e a vida que levava ali, mas me surpreendi ao constatar o quanto. Pensei na paranoia em que vivia, o medo da "violencia"... Mas se eu nunca nem fui assaltada!!! Os problemas de segurança de São Paulo não são diferentes de Paris, Roma, Londres... bah!!!!! Não so' me senti mais segura, como so' vi sorrisos. Tive a mesma sensação de qualquer turista depois do primeiro dia no Brasil, quando passa o terrorismo psicologico que os proprios brasileiros fazem sobre o assunto: livre, leve e solta! Somos muuuuito exagerados e paranoicos com essa ... read more

Greetings from Argentina! We{ve been on the road for just over a week now and we{re having so much fun. First stop was Rio - fantastic city. We stayed in the Flamengo district pretty central. Did all the usual bits over 3 days - big Jesus, cable car up Sugarloaf mountain to watch the sunset, sunbathed on the Copocabana and visited the botanical gardens. We joined up with our tour group for the next 7 weeks on Saturday and headed for Paraty - a small old slave town just south of Sao Paulo. Got some camping practise in and went on a boat trip round to some deserted tropical beaches (I won't mention the torrential rain in the afternoon). We left Paraty on Monday and spent the next 3 days driving across Brazil to reach the ... read more