Foz de Iguaçu

Yesterday, we finally reached the high point of our Brazil trip. The mighty Iguaçu Falls. I cannot even begin to fully describe it in mere words. This has to be one of the most impressive things I have ever seen! 275 falls crashing doing 80 metre cliffs in the middle of the jungle. Off course I have taken excellent photos, but still they do not capture the falls completely (have taken about 150 photos on a 1.2km stretch...) Basically you go to the Iguaçu National Park, pay a small entry fee (20 Reais), take a bus through the jungle to the falls and then walk a well constructed pathway all along the falls. The Brazil side gives you a nice overview of the falls and ends at the part called the Devil´s Throat. We spent most of the day exploring the falls and the surrounding rainforest. From there we went to the Parca de Aves (like World of Birds) where we could get up close to toucans, parrots, hummingbirds and some of the rare butterflies! We ended the day by going for a rodizio, a national dish of Brazil. It is basically an all you can eat meat buffet. They keep on bringing skewers of different meats roasted over the fire to you until you can eat no more. This includes beef, chicken, lamb and pork. VERY nice. Also cheap! Between 8 and 10 Reais. Today we have to cross the Argentinian border to the town called Puerto Iguazu. This is the Argentinian side of the falls. We´ll spend tomorrow exploring them. They should bring us much closer to the falls, so we must remember our ponchos! Cheers, Neil

Curitiba, Paranagua, Foz de Iguazu

Oi!

We had a incredible last couple of days! We took a bus from Sau Paulo to Curitiba (6.5 hours), where we slept the previous two nights. I really liked the city, it was advanced, modern and definitely wealthier than what we have seen so far. It also felt a lot safer.

We spent the first day wandering around in the heat and sampling some of the local food and beer. For the second we booked a train ride to Paranagua, a port city about 110 km´s from Curitiba. This journey takes about 4 hours and includes snacks and cooldrinks and a very helpful guide who even understood a bit of English. Initially the price of 50 Reais felt a bit expensive, but it is worth every cent! It is one of the most breathtaking things I have ever seen! The train cuts through pristine rainforests and includes miraculous views. The highest point is about 900m going all the way down to the coast. This beautiful ride goes through tiny little villages where children run along waving at the train and villagers get by by riding up to 4 people on a bicycle! Wow... The photos came out great as well!

At the bottom lies Paranagua. A interesting little village. We spent our time walking around lazily in the tropical heat (and believe me, it´s hot, and getting hotter). From there we took the bus back to Curitiba through some tropical rain. It was a long but very succesful day and we collapsed on the our beds at the end!

Today we took our first really long bus trip. The trip to Foz de Iguazu is just a tad longer than 10 hours. With only one stop... The country side continues to be absolutely beautiful. Everything is so green and fertile. The hostel we´re staying at is nice and friendly and they have a pool. Which we immediately made use of!

Tomorrow morning we are going to see the falls on the Brazil side. I am very excited, it is going to be one of the highlights of the trip. 275 falls...

Will update again tomorrow! Need food now...

Adios

Neil

The missing blog

OK, finally I got to a place where I can update again!

Here is the 27th of January:

Yesterday we spent time exploring Sao Paulo and organizing and planning our next few days of the tour. The area is a lot nicer and more accessible during the day. Felt very comfortable and safe in most of the areas we visited. Night brings out all sorts of weird characters! Already a bit of the initial shock is gone, although we still struggle a lot with the language barrier. Even getting the right metro subway ticket is difficult! I'll divide today's blog into three sections: Strange things about the hostel, the Sao Paulo tour and what happens next. Strange things: Bathroom manners. All the toilets here have septic tanks and you cannot throw any toilet paper into the bowl. There is a nice little bucket for your waste! The showers are also pretty interesting. There is hot water, but if the hot tap is turned nothing happens until you turn on the cold tap as well. Water from this is heated by some sort of current. You can actually see the wires going into the shower! Does not fill you with a whole lot of confidence! The elevators here are very small. Think single closet. 4 people are crammed in here. And lastly the breakfasts served here are excellent. Fresh fruit, ham, cheese, bread, juice, coffee and of course chocolate cake! The computers are in Portuguese as well and cannot be changed. I can't understand any of the menu's, so cannot set up any photos for now. Can't find the right options. I'll send a few photos as soon as possible. Probably via e-mail for now. Sau Paulo: Sau Paulo is a town of many flavours. The old center of town is a bit rundown with lots of old buildings in terrible shape. The streets are filled with an unbelievable array of shops and people. There are fruit stalls everywhere, with many fruits that are found only in the Amazon. People park their cars anywhere and sell beer and juice from out the boots. The prime piece of the area must be the magnificent Cathedral de Sé. This is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen! It is HUGE and very beautiful. The surroundings around the cathedral is very interesting, although a bit dodgy. Thousands of shops selling counterfeit dvd’s, games and all sorts of Chinese and fake American products. The rest of the time we spent exploring Avenue Paulista. This is known as the New York of the Tropics. The street is lined with MASSIVE skryscrapers and fancy designer shops and little cafës. Walking around this area it is easy to forget how poor the rest of Sau Paulo is... One interesting thing we came upon was the chinchila. We couldn’t really figure out what it was. It’s sort of a kangaroo type rat? With a bushy tail. Plans forward: Today we are taking the bus to Curitiba. A large student type city. It is about a 6 hour bus trip from Sau Paulo. From there we go to Paranagua by train. This journey is supposed to be the most beautiful train trip in all of Brazil. You even pay more to sit on the left side of the train! This is about 4 hours. From there we head on to Foz de Iguazu (Brazillian part of the falls) (a 10 hour bus trip). There we will attempt to cross the border to Puerto Iguazu (the Argentinian side). Then we head for Buenos Aires. We’ve got a lot to do! Ciao, Neil and Lloyd

Small temporary update

This is just a small update. We had internet problems at our hostel in Sau Paulo. The Internet crashed halfway through the update, luckily I save everything to flashdisk. I´ll post it tomorrow. We are currently in Curitiba, the capital of the Parana province. It is a very different experience from Sau Paulo. Much more friendly (it is a university city), clean, with lots of new buildings. Tomorrow we leave on a 4 hour train journey to Paranagua, a small port city (supposed to be the most scenic train route in all of Brazil). From there we head back to Curitiba and then go on to Foz de Iguaçu by bus on Monday. Ciao, Neil

Dos forasteros en la ciudad (two strangers in the city)

Finally!

After a long, but relatively pleasant flight, we are safe and sound in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Everything went smoothly, no trouble with customs anywhere, no questions asked. Watched a few movies on the plane (Little Miss Sunshine (very good) and Barnyard (a nice easy watching animation)), studied a bit of spanish and slept a little. In other words, nothing really happened to prepare us for the culture shock.

I knew it was too good to be true! Even though was prepared for having a bit of a tough time I didn't realise that NOBODY speaks ANY English! We arrived on Guarulos Airport and exchanged a few dollars to Reals. One US$ is equal to about 2 Reals.

After this we tried to phone the hostel. We managed to get a phonecard quite easily, but operating the phone was a lot harder. The instructions are all in Portuguese! We asked a few people to help, but nobody understood us. At last we found a information booth and there we experienced the warmth and friendliness of the Brazillians. They were very helpful and at least spoke a little bit of English. We finally caught the correct bus and we were on our way.

The city is incredible. I have never seen something this big! 17 million inhabitants, most of them very poor. Certain parts look a lot like the Townships of South Africa. It is very rundown, without proper water and electricity. The big difference is that you can't just ignore them and go around. You go through the heart... The hostel where we are staying is nice, clean and secure and at least they can speak English. The rooms are about $18 per person in a double room. Not to bad, although it is possible to go a lot cheaper. But then you have to go into the shadier parts of the city (and our area is bad enough).

We went for a bit of a walk through the area searching for food and getting our bearings. It feels very alive here, the night clubs are throbbing, the restaurants are full and everybody is out and about. I'll try and get some photos sometime, but I don't feel comfortable carrying my camera in plain view just yet. Not here! Everyone here drinks beer and it seems as if they all party on the sidewalks! There are groups of people standing around drinking and being merry. Have already seen a couple of very "colourful characters"! Public affection is also not a problem (gay couples as well).

We went to a nice little bar/café and ended up ordering by pointing a things and mixing a bit of spanish in between. The sandwiches were very nice and the local beer, Bhrama, was very refreshing. They give you a 600 ml bottle of the sweetish, fruity beer and a couple of small glasses and then everyone shares. It was a very interesting experience!

We'll probably stay one or two more days in Sao Paulo as we try to sort out our travel arrangements. We will be heading west next to Foz de Iguazu. It is a 16h bus trip so we will be able to see a lot of the country side.

Now we have to go get some free Caiperhina, Brazil's most famous cocktail in the hostel bar! And then off to bed for a nice, long, well-deserved rest!

Internet is cheap and reasonably fast so I'll be updating often.

Neil

Ready to go!

We've finally packed everything (well sort of, a few thing still lying around, and the packs are a bit heavy). We fly tomorrow morning at 6h! I'll try and post as soon as possible when we land in Sao Paulo!

Almost ready...

OK, everyone! Welcome to my blog. With this blog I will attempt to chronicle my our great adventure across South America. Hopefully we will be able to make many updates along the way so that our story can be told, just in case we die :) Will post more on our plans and preparations later, but right now we have SO many things to finish! Cheers, Neil