Part 2 La Paz - Rio

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La Paz - Rio

Well we are off and at around 10 in the morning ready to start out journey towards the salt flats. We make our way out of La Paz and look back one last time at the bowl that the city is nestled in. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to look around properly and get a good feel for the city but we have a tour to make.

We spend the whole day travelling and Willie and Raul have done a marvellous job driving us to Uyuni for our nights’ accommodation. The road is in appalling condition and we lose the sealed road about 2 hours into our drive and from there it is bumpy and in some areas non-existent.
We eventually arrive into Uyuni around 8pm and head straight to a pretty good pizza place for dinner before checking in. We get our rooms and crash out for the night.

Day 21
Today we start our Salt Flats adventure. We have time to wonder around the little town and buy snacks for the next few days. Jay and I are teamed up with Stuart and Martin and our driver (Jackson Jordan aka JJ). Stuart and Martin got some really cool masks in La Paz; one of a dragon and the other an elephant and JJ takes the dragon and drove the entire day with it on his head.

Our first stop for the day is the old train cemetery where we have time to look around the old rotting train carcases for some photos before heading to a little market in a place called Colchaini and if you want there is a salt museum to view as well. We spend more time trying on different hats and stretching our legs before we get back into our 4WD to head onto the salt flats.

Once we hit the salt flats we see our first mirage and everywhere you look on the horizon they are seen. The scenery is awesome and soon enough we hit our next stop being the salt mounds. This is just as it sounds big mounds of salt drying out. Pretty cool a few more photos and then back onto the road again to head to our lunch with the “Scots” riding on the roof half way to our lunch destination Jay asked if he could drive, JJ agreed so without pulling over drivers were swapped without stopping.

Eventually we arrived at our lunch destination Isla de Pescadores, an island in the middle of a sea of salt. Most of the group head off to walk to the top of the island to get photos of the white.... all you can see is just white everywhere and in the far distance some beautiful mountains. On our way down in the garden area of the facilities there is a small emu/ostrich looking bird floating around on its own cute little thing but it is time for lunch. Our drivers and cooks have set up a banquet on the run for us and we dine on some sumptuous food for lunch.

The afternoon we stop along the way to take some funny photos however we are still in altitude and both mine and Jay’s camera aren’t working the best at the moment so we miss out on taking a lot of humorous photos but we still enjoy the fun of setting them up and we are on our final leg of travelling to our accommodation for the night, a hotel made out of salt.

Our accommodation is very comfortable. Our beds are made out of salt along with the walls and there is “rock salt” scattered on the floor as well. In the main common area the tables and chairs are all made of salt and it is surprisingly comfortable and we have decided that salt is a good insulating material. Just as we get to the hotel the heavens open up and we have a bit of hail and torrential downpour that we are told will make our journey difficult for the next day.

Day 22

We are heading out towards volcanos and coloured lakes today. We head out from our salt hotel around 6.30am and travel through same amazing scenery We cut through the middle of a range where we travel down a river bed to pass through the range. Along the way our driver JJ stops and points out this weird looking rabbit crossed with a squirrel thing the locals call viscacha. Its coat is very soft and it has an old wizened face with long whiskers, we stop take a few more photos and then head out to catch up with the other two cars in our convoy.

Our scheduled stop for the day is at a view point for an active volcano, Volcan Ollague. Photos taken and we are back in our rock box car and heading towards lunch. We stop along the way at a lake to take photos of flamingos and then finally make it to our lunch stop and another lake, Laguna Canapa with more flamingos.

After lunch we head out to Laguna Colorado which is a red colour from the algae that live in the lake. It is a bit overcast and has been raining for the past 2 hours so the colour isn’t as visible as it would normally be. After the lake we head to our hotel stop for Christmas Eve. A basic hotel that has very few facilities and no heat, Jay and I are sharing with the boys and we have a small room that isn’t so cosy.

Day 23
Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas! It’s an early morning start of about 4am so we can make it out to the green lake and the thermal baths before heading back to Uyuni. So we groggily crawl into our car while JJ drives us towards the thermal baths and breakfast for 7am. On our way to the thermal baths we stop at the Solar de Manana geysers (4850m) the geysers are pretty cool to look at but as expected smelled like rotten eggs and its bloody cold outside the car.

The thermal baths are great. Not so great is the walk in bathers at that time of a brisk morning to get into them and even harder to get out of. Jay and I soak for a little while before dragging oneself out of them to dry off in the chilly air I am very thankful that I have some changing behind the car experience from surfing as it helps immensely. Breakfast consists of some heavy pancakes before some of us pile into a car to go out Laguna Verde (4400m). We have a still day so you can’t see the vivid green that the lake usually is when there is a bit of wind that makes the lake look greener. Anyway, a few more photos and we head back to collect everyone and head back to Uyuni. A full day’s drive.

With a couple of comfort stops we finally get back to Uyuni at around 6pm. Due to the rain our way was made slower and bumpier, we found out from John that evening whilst celebrating Christmas in an Italian restaurant that we were one of the last groups onto the salt flats as the rain has made it too dangerous to negotiate the flats without breaking down or getting bogged.

Day 24
Today we head to a town called Potosi 4070m, the highest city of its size in the world. A UNESCO area due to the salt mines that are just out of town where the main source of income for the people in the 1800’s and were the main source of supply to Spain during this time. It’s a quaint little town now. We have arrived latish again and we have the standard evening downpour but we braved the wet for a beautiful meal of the nicest cream of corn soup and a main.

Day 25

Deciding to have a sleep in and then a quick wonder around the city before heading to Sucre, some have gone and done the Silver Mine tour however I decided against it as being in a confined space at this altitude and not being able to breathe properly isn’t my idea of fun right now. We leave this little town around 1pm and have a short drive to Sucre. John gives us a quick orientation on arrival and we head to a tour agency that gives us the low down on what’s around here then we have a short break before meeting for dinner.

Day 26
Today Jay and I wonder around the city to get the feel for it. Jay is still not well with a chesty cough and I have still got a headache so between us we aren’t a huge barrel of fun. The city is very pretty and we continue to gravitate towards the beautiful gardens of the main plaza.

Day 26
I have to confess that I am excited about our excursion today as we head out to the dinosaur footprints just on the outskirts of town. My nephew, Kyle, loves dinosaurs and I was just as fascinated by them at his age too so I am looking forward to going in and seeing some real footprints. Now the footprints are not quite what I thought they would be. Due to the tectonic plate movement the old riverbed has been pushed up and is now on the side of a mountain that is about 200m from the viewing point and you cannot get really good photos of the various prints. We head into the park and I am surprised to say that it is quite well laid out. With lots of photos for Kyle we finish our tour in around 1 hour.

Day 27
We are off to Santa Cruz where we will spend our new years. With another long day of 14 hours of travel or so we are all grateful to see our lodging for the night. Our roads are again quite poor and with the rains several rivers have broken banks forcing a few river crossings. Our first one added to some excitement for the day and marked the point of no return. Willy and Raul pulled over and surveyed the terrain and on the other side of the river where several trucks were contemplating crossing towards us as well. Our catalyst was two cows that jumped in and swam across. At that Willy got us all back in the truck and a mighty cheer given from as we successfully made the crossing. Our next one was just as easy however the one after that had us waiting for sometime as it was a lot wider and running faster. Safety being the key we waited sometime for the rain and water level to drop enough to get the truck across safely. Each crossing drawing applauds and cheers from all inside the bus. It was with some relief getting into the Santa Cruz for the night.

Day 28
The town is easy to get around and one of the girls (Lena) and I take a chance to wonder around and sample a selection of ice creams and food as we walk the town. It’s New Years Eve so a few of us are trying to work out what we are going to be able to wear for the night ahead from their packs, myself included. I end up adjusting a skirt into a mini dress with a belt and even though it’s short it is probably long to the standards we saw out and about at night.

New Years Eve started at 6pm with a few drinks at the hotel and then ventured on with Jay, myself and the Scot’s heading to a club to celebrate. With mainly salsa music we all braved our skills occasionally on the dance floor to be shown up with those that have been dancing salsa since in the womb. All in all we had a good night and got back to bed around 4am

Day 29
Okay, New Years Day we have a 6.30 start for what is going to be a long day. All things going to plan our drive will take approximately 15 hours but as usual the script changed and due to a truck roll over on the road we want to take so we have to take another road that added between 4-6 hours onto the drive. Our two drivers are brilliant and everyone on the truck take the adjusted time in the stride (not that we can do much about it) and preserver with relatively good humour for the duration. No river crossings this time but plenty of villages that haven’t seen the likes of our truck pass through. The scenery is native jungle and is amazing. Along the way I see a massive black butterfly along with another butterfly brilliant blue with black around the edge of its wings. There were also lots of bright yellow as well as creamy white butterflies/moths. In all a long day that saw us get into Chochis at midnight, but the scenery getting there was good.

Day 30
With a bit of a sleep in and a great breakfast we head out on a bit of a walk around this area that they are trying get UNESCO accreditation to preserve. We walk with our guide up to a building that represents the village being thankful of surviving after massive floods that left them stranded from the outside world for about 5-6 months. A gentleman from the village prayed to God that if they survived he would build something to commemorate this and hence the building we were looking at. In the backdrop there is a huge monolith of stone that westerners refer to as the Devils Tooth and it has the most amazing colours throughout it. After looking around the building and all the wood carvings of plants and animals of the area along with some carvings representing different parts of the bible we headed off to a small waterfall before heading back to chill out for the afternoon. We were supposed to go for another hike after our spectacular lunch Willy and Raul have prepared for us but the rain sets in for the afternoon so all hikes are off and down time a priority.

Day 31
It is always good to start the day with something eventful but having your truck bogged to the axels isn’t one of them. Due to the heavy rains our truck is bogged and takes a good 45 minutes or so to get it out. We are lucky we have 3 Swedish army lads with us and they help dig us out and we would have been a lot longer standing around in the rain if it wasn’t for them. Our destination today is the Brazilian border. We have about a 3 hour drive or so to get to the border and once we get there as it’s Sunday the border as such is “closed” come back tomorrow. So we sort out lunch then drive across the border anyway to our accommodation for the night before returning the next day to do the immigration procedures. So we spend our night in Brazil although technically we haven’t left Bolivia yet.

Day 32
Well there is little else to say about today other than it was a bullshit day. We get ourselves up and back to the border for around 9am did some quick duty free then headed back to the border to complete our exit from Bolivia. Getting the stamp out was easy however we had to fill in some custom forms that the lady wouldn’t rip out of her book so one at a time we had to complete the form and whilst doing this avoid some of the meanest, nastiest ants you’ll ever come across in your lift. These things smelt fresh blood and were going after it I was bitten on the toe and not only did it sting like all hell but the little bastard drew blood to.

After completing the forms we drive to the Brazilian immigration. A drive that takes about 10 minutes and we arrive at 11.30. Just in time to miss the officials as they take their 2 ½ hour lunch break from 11.30 to 2pm so we wait some more and go have lunch then come back and wait some more in the blistering heat before we finally finish our immigration for Brazil and we are now officially here.
The remainder of the day is travel to the Pantanal. We were supposed to be here by lunch time and don’t end up getting to our location till 9 or 10pm at night after negotiating a really bumpy road and just before sunset we get to a bridge that has collapsed. Someone was going over it with a truck and front end-loader and it has broken the bridge. Both vehicles are still in the water till after “wet season” and it’s so deep you can’t see either vehicle. For us it means a river crossing with the truck and a little adventure along the way for us. When we finally arrive at our destination we grumpily grab our stuff and make towards our accommodation, a big dorm with hammocks for some sleep before our activities tomorrow.

Day 33
Our morning starts with a very basic breakfast and then meet our guide Alex (a small nugget of a guy of few words and walks around everywhere barefoot and a massive machete) and we get ready for a horse ride for a couple of hours. After having our horses allocated to use we make our way through the property and we get to see 1 monkey and lots of bush and a few cattle. Other than being eaten alive by mosquitoes and I got bitten by a bloody big wasp on the leg nothing eventful happened on the horse ride.

By lunch time it’s hot and trying to find some comfort by escaping into the shade doesn’t work that well either, it is just plain hot and humid. Jay and I have decided that pitching tent is an option for the next few nights sleep as we don’t to hammocks. For the afternoon we headed out for a quick walk with Alex and saw a lot of cayman (alligator type animals), a lone deer some capybaras (oversized guinea pig) more mosquitoes and more heat. Dinner was just as unimpressive as the other two meals and as it turns out the rest of our meals are of the same calibre.

Day 34
With a morning truck ride to scan for wildlife we were fortunate to see toucans, some monkeys that hid the minute you get your camera ready, more caymans, capybaras and plenty of birds. The tour took a couple of hours and was pretty cool to see so many animals. The rest of the day time is our own so with the call for some housekeeping strong we took advantage to get some washing done and let the heat dry it crispy fried and killing time in the shade trying every which way to stay cool.

In the afternoon we head out for another horse ride for about an hour and see a family of Lemurs just before we returned to the ranch. After our delicious dinner we all returned to our “killing time” places and played cards whilst some of us made the most of trying to catch the resident Macaws on film.
During this time of year the Pantanal is supposed to be flooded with just tiny islands jutting out but it is so dry here and there has been little rain. We even missed out of fishing for piranha as the water level is so low - BUMMER!

Day 35
Yippee we are leaving the Pantanal! I haven’t really enjoyed it here, partly because of being on the nightly menu of mosquitoes isn’t much fun and Jay & I went through a tube of insect repellent plus ½ a can of insect repellent spray and were still fairly much eaten alive but it is going to be nice to escape the heat! We are up for about a 6 hour drive today to a little town called Bonito.

With a lunch stop along the way being hearty all you can eat lunch with salad and variation everyone dug in and made the most of it after our meals in the Pantanal. From here it is only about 2 hours (so we are told) to Bonito... Well in the true spirit of the word overland our travel time turned more into 4, our drivers stopped someone and asked for directions and being told 28km’s or so these were to become the slowest 28km’s I’ve encountered for a long time. Nearing the end I was having flash backs of India and in desperate need of a toilet but this time with a gurgling stomach and a bumpy road!

We finally make it into Bonito and it is a pretty town with 1 main road. We are here for 2 nights and due to peak season we miss out on the opportunity to go Snorkelling in the crystal clear river of Rio da Prata so we look at alternatives and most of us decide going to a watering hole and sorting out a picnic is the plan for the next day.

Day 36
With sending some quick messages to home and breakfast we headed out for our day at the watering hole. Transit past the supermarket to pick up supplies and we are off and running. When we get to our destination we are met and allocated our “BBQ” area and all disperse to check out what’s around. Lena and I head out for a swim and there are small waterfalls bordering the other side of the river, a small diving platform, flying fox and lots of fish in the water. Lena and I headed out for a swim to the small waterfalls but after a couple of minutes of not moving in the water as is was rushing against us so fast we turned back and let the water sweep us to where we had started from.

We then relocate to the flying fox and wait in queue to find out it’s not working just yet and come back. More swimming and finally head back for some food. With tummies full I settled in and played some cards with Doris and some others and suddenly it was time to pack up and return to Bonito after a pretty chilled out day.

Day 37
Surprise! We have a long 10 hour day in the truck ahead of us to get to Iguassu Falls. We head off early at 6am to get a good jump on the day and into our campsite for good time. As with everything so far on the tour we make it to Iguassu at around 10pm or maybe a little later and yet again we are pitching tents late in the night.

Day 38
Yeah we get to go to Iguassu Falls. I have been lucky enough to have been here before and I am so excited and can’t wait to see what Jay thinks of them after Niagara Falls. In the morning we had the option of going to Paraguay to go shopping but a handful of us stayed at the campsite and caught up on some communication and chilled out. When everyone returned we headed out to the Falls.

Jay & I took the option of the helicopter flight over the falls and it is truly an awesome way to view the Falls and just how big they are. I scored the crappy middle seat (again) and Jay the window and we were both just blown away from the experience. The chopper ride lasts about 10-15 minutes and feels like longer when you are up and its and exhilarating experience.

From the chopper ride we had to the Falls and we have about 2 hours to walk over the many boardwalks and take in the Falls from the Brazil side. It’s very pretty from here and so far Jay isn’t that blown away by them but I know that’s going to change tomorrow.

As we walk around there are hundreds of butterflies all different colours and sizes, there are lemurs walking over the footpaths and some trying it on begging for food and when some poor human succumbs and offers food then they become an aggressive force to be recognized with only food on their minds. There is a boardwalk that goes right out to the edge of the falls and another platform that has you so close the one of the many waterfalls coming down that you can almost touch it. Overall today has been a good introduction to Iguassu and I am excited to head out to the Argentinean side tomorrow.

After all are showered and rested and moved into our upgraded rooms (money well spent) we gather around in a group and have a couple of drinks. I have been trying to call my Nephew to wish him Happy Birthday but no-one is home to take my call so after a quick call to Mum and Dad I join the crowd. Jay & I had a caprinah (the national drink of Brazil) and it is so strong that I am pretty tipsy after finishing my tumbler full. I will say now that I am not a fan of Caprinahs and give me a mojito any day. The group is pretty merry and we head off to go 10 pin bowling for something different and the pictures on facebook show that the co-ordination skills diminished quickly for the entire group!

Day 39
Up and at ‘em we are all packed with bathers, water and sunscreen for our day in Argentina. We cross over the border and are our guide gives us a quick orientation on how the day will run. As it is overcast at the moment we will go out to the Devil’s Throat first by train, come back and a walk around the boardwalk of the upper falls have lunch then do the boat trip up the river and into the falls (hence bathers) and then walk back up to the meeting spot for our return to Brazil. Got it, let’s go!

It’s been well documented on this blog (Vancouver) of my dislike of bridges and today is going to be fun as everything is bridged and after a tentative start I do become strangely better at them as the day goes on but to start with no, not fun. We catch the train to the top of the falls so we can walk out to look down into the Devil’s Throat, whilst waiting we laughed and took pictures of unsuspecting tourists who put down their plastic bags with food to have a skilful attack on their possessions by Lemurs and food stolen, bags ripped opened with such skill and dexterity and where there was one Lemur suddenly there is the family scavenging before the mess is cleaned up and they have been shoed away by the Park Attendants. Funny to watch but glad it wasn’t my food they were eating. Okay, finally we are away on our train ride and get to the end and with a quick head count we walk out to the Falls.

Now I get the response I was looking for with Jay and yes he now agrees with me that not only is Iguassu Falls prettier that Niagara Falls it is also more powerful as well. This is also helped in that the rivers are running high at the moment and more water going over. Standing on the platform there is a loud roar and you need to shout to be heard over the noise. Taking photos requires some level of skill as well because there is so much water in the air with mist and droplets as soon as you get your camera out the lens are wet and blurry photos. After standing and taking it all in you notice a bit of a pattern in how wet you get and how much water is kicked back up in around and that’s when you frantically take your photos in the 1 minute window of opportunity before you are getting covered in water again. I could spend all day here but we move on back to the train to get another view on the falls.

With walkways/boardwalks everywhere and jungle around everywhere you look there is something worthwhile stopping and observing. We wonder on through the walk take more photos of waterfalls, try and take photos of the beautiful blue and black butterflies that flit in and out of sight to quickly for photos and again just stop and take in the beauty that Iguassu has to offer. At one stage I watched some monkeys jumping from tree to tree and playing which I found fascinating and finally they were out of sight so back to more waterfalls.

Our final thing for the day was the boat ride so onto a mini tour that is really just to get you to the boat. As you board the boat you are given a waterproof bag for your valuables and most strips down to their bathers and everything goes into the bag. Then everyone settle the boat takes off and skims down the river for yet another take on the Falls, from the bottom.

Our first run into the falls is for photos and it is here you get to appreciate how tall the falls are and how powerful. We get taken to two sides of the falls and told “cameras away” everyone quickly gets their cameras safe and the next run takes you under the falls. Well not under as the boat isn’t powerful enough but far enough in that you get absolutely drenched. It is such and experience and after several runs into the falls our boat trip is over all too soon and we are dropped off for our final walk up to our meeting point to return to our campsite.

It was an exhausting day and along with Machu Pichu and the Incan Trail it will be highlight of this tour. It turns out to be a quiet evening and as we are leaving tomorrow morning (another long day ahead) we all turn in to get a good night sleep.

Day 40
We travel most of the day again and as we have only opted for 1 night at Curitiba so we can spend longer in Paraty. Curitiba is supposed to be a “model city” for Brazil and it looks very pretty and from what I’ve seen way to many shopping malls. When we finally locate our hotel and checked into rooms most of us wonder down to a shopping mall to get something to eat and head back for some sleep.

Day 41
It’s an early start of around 5.30 and we are travelling through it is supposed to be a shorter day in the truck we have a long way to travel including through Sao Paulo, Brazil’s biggest city. We make reasonably good time through the city and Willy and Raul only stop for directions about 8 times...not too bad. From here it’s not far to our destination and the day is still young. Earlier in the day we started taking bets as to what time we will arrive into Paraty. With times ranging from 9pm - 11.30pm money was put down and bets were on....who’s going to win??? (for the record, my time was 11.30pm)

To be a bit pessimistic you know when things go according to plan then something will always go wrong... at 7.45pm we stop on some small bumpy back road that only just takes the truck and our drivers have another directional update with locals at this time we are apparently just 10km’s from our destination BUT the bridge is out up ahead and we can’t continue we have to backtrack.

Unfortunately I won the bet but I was still an hour off the time at 12.30am we get to our hostel (we are getting pretty good at these midnight check ins) as we all wearily grab our luggage and crash into our rooms. What a day. Willy and Raul did an awesome job driving today.

Day 42
Sleep in! At breakfast we are told of our options here one of which is a boat tour to some secluded beaches with lunch and drinks included... sounds good and we finally get everyone co-ordinate to do the boat trip the next day. For the rest of the day and stay here time is our own.

Jay and I head down to the beach and stop in knee deep water. There is a lot of tree matter in the water and I can’t see my feet! and the sand has suddenly become slimy. I am so not swimming in this and I secretly hope that the water is clearer tomorrow! We settle for a walk along the water on the beach and then at the end of the cove we head back to the hostel to take it easy.

Later we walked into town, up a steep hill then all downhill. It is very humid and the sun is punishingly hot as we walk but with an easy pace it’s not so bad. The town is an old colonial town with whitewashed walls and brightly painted doors and door frames to give it some character. In its heyday was the main gold shipping port for Portugal and the streets are designed so from the water you cannot see down them, another quirk left over from these days. Apparently this was to give cover to the resident whilst seeking shelter if pirates raided the city. After a couple of hours wondering through the town we headed back to do what we do best, chill out. Just as we got to our hostel the afternoon torrential downpour arrived and indoors was the option for the afternoon.

Day 43
We are heading out on our option tour today, the island cruise. It’s a bit overcast but still warm so we all get down to the jetty and get onto our boat for the day. We all grab a spot to sit down and get comfy for the day whilst we travel out to our first destination. As the day goes on the wind picks up and we are all looking for something warmer to put on and the clouds are getting heavier (not a good sign) we finally make our destination and with anchor down it was overboard for some swimming in beautiful clear, pristine water with a beautiful white sandy beach. It’s the closed thing we’ve seen to a beach like Australia’s for our entire travel. I make the most of the swimming and the water temperature is perfect.
Whilst at this location we head out a waterfall but the catch, it’s bucketing down with rain and almost cold. As we trudge along jumping from rock to rock to get to our destination we have a casualty, Doris slips and falls past me and onto Jay who had fortunately seen it happening and braced himself and takes some of the impact of the fall but Doris’ shin wasn’t so lucky. We all continue onto the waterfall. I headed out into the pool and swim across to where our guide is and get under the waterfall, yep it’s water and it’s cold so headed back to Jay and returned back to the boat with Harvey & Doris leading the way.

With the rain now settled in for what seems the day we all try and find somewhere out of the wind and rain on the boat without much success as we travel to our next bay and lunch is cooked out on the back of the boat. With a bit of luck the rain stops as we pull up for a scrumptious lunch and the bay is nice and calm. From here we head to out last stop for the day to snorkel but most have just dried off after our earlier swim and don’t opt to dive it. I do and the water is cold so I don’t stay in long and because of the rain the water isn’t that clear either.

When we get back I get around to doing some washing and our room has clothes strung from one side to another and will lead to an obstacle during the night for Jay.

Day 44
Well as “Murphy’s law” goes it’s a beautiful blue sky clear day outside as we loll about doing nothing again today. I take care and end up watching videos in the evening.

Day 45
We get a good start to the day at 7.30am as we make for Rio which means our trip is coming to an end. Jay & I have seen that the Maracana Stadium is still holding soccer matches so our aim is to get there this afternoon for the 5pm game and all things going to plan we need to be in Rio no later than 3pm. With a couple of hesitant stops for directions Willy comes through and has us at the hotel for 1pm and plenty of time to get to the game.

Turns out that a handful of other s from the tour like our idea and join us in getting to the game. We head out to the subway/metro/train to get there and a short walk to the stadium to queue for tickets. Fortunately we had Raul and Willy with us to help decipher the ticket costs and seat location. (we have found Portuguese a much hard language to make sense of). With tickets in hand we head through security to settle in for the game between home team, Flamengo and Duque de Caxias we sat and took in the atmosphere. A little way to our left there is a band, complete with drums, saxophone, trumpet, trombone and possibly more that played the entire match. Above us in the stands there were more drums beating and these too last the duration of the match. There are little kids dressed in their teams colours (Flamengo red and black) and although the stadium is only half full there is still some electricity in the air.
The first half of the game saw a goal to the Caxias but otherwise was fairly non eventful and filled with the skilful dives of players fishing for a free here and there and the half time entertainment was some old dude keeping the ball in the air by kicking it and walking along the perimeter. The second half of the game saw 3 goals to Flamengo and another to Caixa to make it interesting. Predictably the crowd went wild with the scoring shots and you couldn’t help but get caught up in it all.

With the game finished and us back at the hotel the idea of going out for drinks was a little too much effort so we opted for a toasted chicken sandwich and one of the nicest orange juices we’ve had for a while and then was time to turn in for the night.

Day 46
This morning started with a walk along Copacabana before a quick lunch to start our ½ day tour. We had looked at doing the sights of Rio on our own but with just a few days here it made sense to do the tour.
Our first top on the tour was a visit the tourist mecca in Rio, Corcovado and the statue of Christ the Redeemer which has awesome views over the city. The statue was originally started in 1922 and completed in 1931; it stands 39.6m high (including the pedestal) and 9.5m wide and weighs approximately 635 tonnes. It is situated on the edge of Corcovado mountain and has an 800m drop behind it. It is also situated in the Tijuca Forest National Park. So what does that mean? Well after a very windy road to the car park and from there a short walk and shuttle to the entrance. It is suitably crowded and getting a clear shot of the statue is difficult and did I mention crowded. With the views taken in and our quick touristy shots taken we head back down to our tour bus to head out through Santa Teresa, an upmarket part of town with some stunning views, then onto a rundown part of the city, Lapa.

In Lapa there is a resident artist who has taken over one of the public staircases by tiling it with different tiles around the world. It is a pretty cool part of town to take in and as you walk up and down you see various tiles sent in from all over the world. You can post him in a tile and he will put up on the wall somewhere. This staircase has also featured in a U2, Snoop Dog, Greenday and several other video clips.
Our final stop of the tour is Sugar Loaf so called because the local name sounds similar to the Portuguese word for sugar. Anyway we head out to Sugar Loaf and get onto our first cable car and then connect on the next small hill to sugar loaf for panoramic views of Rio. It is also cooler up here and our half hour speeds past as we walk around the viewing platform soaking in the views to be had.

All to soon we had to return back to our hotel and say our final goodbyes to our group and head off to our hostel for the night relieved to be on our own again.


With the tour ended we have had a great time travelling from Lima to Rio we have seen some amazing sights and had some awesome experiences and also met some great people. I am not sure I would sign myself up for another tour of 46 days non-stop as it is a gruelling experience with our tour having a lot of early starts to the day, long days on the road with late arrivals but as I said, it was a great journey.

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