Brazil - Part 2 (The Amazon)

Brazil: Part 2

Belem: From Rio it was a 3.5 hour flight to reach the northern Amazonian city of Belem. We unfortunately didn’t spend any time there as we had to rush off to buy tickets for our boat to Ilha de Marajo. We were frustrated when our taxi driver tried to drop us off at a wrong terminal (Rodoviaria instead of Hidroviaria) after which we had to pay more for the correction. It was, however, a lesson learned: always write down the address of where you want to go as the locals just don’t get the crazy accented gringo arm waving talk. Our ferry had a snack bar and TV screen displaying a very bad Brazilian soap opera. Most of the passengers didn’t share my distaste though as they sat wide-eyed and glued to the screen. It took us around 4 hours to reach the island as we travelled over the brown muddy water of the river. Along the way we saw islands with mangroves and birds, including blood red ibises. Disembarking the boat at Camara was utter chaos as people stampeded their way off the boat – some even jumping over the side rails for a quick exit! Back on terra firma we added even more luggage to an already overloaded minibus on our way to Salvatera. The minibus was dirt cheap and loaded with lots of luggage, shopping and even a bicycle as it slowly made its way to our hostel. 

Salvatera: We stayed in friendly Pousada Bosque dos Aruas which sure is a mouthful to pronounce! The rustic wooden huts are built on stilts and we shared our room with many insects. We allocated two days on the island intended for relaxing and lots of sunshine. Unfortunately the rain didn’t have the same plans and came down hard in unpredictable outbursts. On our first morning we cycled down to the local jetty where we took a water taxi across the river to Soure. Our bicycles were strapped, together with many others, on top of the boat. The long narrow boat itself looked like it could sink at any moment and I suspected it was built at the same time as Noah’s Ark! Our captain turned the fly wheel by hand to start the boat and he did the steering with his foot on the wheel while looking out the front. The throttle and steering was connected with a series of ropes slid along the cracks in the side of the boat. There is, however, no need to worry as I still managed to live to type this blog.

At Soure our boat docked next to a slanted wooden jetty where I discovered that my bicycle had a flat tyre. We had no choice but to walk although it suddenly started raining very hard. Instead, we had a very sweet coffee at one of the kiosks while waiting for the rain to clear. It seemed the norm as some of the locals paddled along on their bicycles while holding an umbrella in one hand. One of the main reasons for visiting Soure was to draw money which proved fruitless in the end as the machines didn’t recognize our cards. Luckily we had enough money to see us through. While waiting for another outburst of rain we had typical lunch of chicken, rice, spaghetti and beans at one of the restaurants. Soure was an interesting little town with large black buffalos roaming freely. There were also some strapped in front of wooden carts - used by the locals as transport. I would have liked to explore it more but the flat tyre and lots of rain thwarted our plans.

The next day we decided to explore Salvatera so we walked up the main road. One thing that struck me was the amount of mango trees – they were everywhere! I managed to scrounge about 15 ripe mangos that had simply fallen from the trees and which were probably the best tasting mangos I’ve ever eaten. There were also many other fruits including star fruit and cashew trees with red and yellow cashew apples. It was very interesting seeing all the different fruit and I tried as many as I could. Another thing that struck me about Salvatera was the amount of urubus which perch pretty much everywhere! Urubus are black vultures with a featherless head, beady black eyes and a stiff legged bouncy ass walk. They are especially numerous at fish markets and garbage dumps and we even saw a few pecking at a carcass of a dead pink dolphin. On really hot days they usually sit perched on top of roofs with their wings outstretched to keep cool. Although slightly evil looking, they are innocent and merely just doing their job of cleaning the mess us humans make.

We got to try buffalo meat and cheese on the island which tasted pretty good and for our last night in Salvaterra we dined at a pizza restaurant where we probably had one of the best tasting pizzas in all of South America. While sitting there listening to the noisy tweeting frogs, we could see constant sparks coming from one of the overhead power cables. Not too long after there was a small explosion which plunged the whole street, together with our restaurant, into darkness. The severed cable swung with an angry sparkling tip in the wind! We were amazed at the speed with which the technicians arrived to fix the cable and also glad that crispy fried electrician wasn’t on the menu that evening. Ilha de Marajo was an interesting island to visit, although other than exploring the towns on bicycles and lazing on the beaches, there is not that much. 


Spotting buffalos and urubus in the most random of places, while eating sweet ripe mangos, added to an authentic experience. I can definitely recommend a visit to this island. We had to get up at 4:30am for the minibus pickup at 5am which dropped us off at Camara for the ferry back to Belem. I was amazed by the amount of food vendors selling their wares at the dock. From the top deck I could see them selling anything from coffee, cakes, fruit, scoops of cooked prawns and pancakes made from cheesy tapioca. If you like the taste of cardboard then I can recommend the pancakes. I also got to learn that Amazonian coffee has at least 20 spoons of sugar in a tiny cup and I suspect that you could just about stand a spoon upright in it! I usually have a little sugar in my coffee but even I shuddered every time I took a sip!

Amazon boat trip (Belem to Santarem): Back in Belem we bought tickets for our Amazon boat trip and stocked up with some snacks from town. We debated between sleeping in hammocks for a more authentic experience or going for the cabins which were twice the price. After learning that there were going to be about 350 people all cramped in together in a tangle of hammocks we made a wise decision of booking a cabin. I’ve never seen so many hammocks in one place! They were tied side by side, above, below and even on top of one another and were inhabited by a diverse array of people ranging from old folk to screaming babies. Opting for the more expensive cabin was well worth the money! 


The ship itself had three decks – the two lower decks for hammocks and the upper for the bar which had plastic tables and chairs. They constantly played distorted bad covers over large speakers with one only dance CD that was evenly vaguely acceptable listening. The cabins were situated towards the front of the upper two decks while the toilets were situated towards the back section. The kitchen was located at the back of the lower deck behind the very noisy engine. I really don’t know how people could sleep next to the engine without getting permanent ear damage as it was so loud!

I loved the boat ride as we made our way up one of the many tributaries and onwards towards the main Amazon. With a cold beer in my hand I was able to watch the many huts go by while kids franticly paddled their dug-out canoes towards our ship. At first I could not work out why but it soon became apparent that they were waiting for food, snacks or gifts to be thrown overboard. I felt sorry for the poor blighters and bought some bags of sweets which I threw at them. I loved the way their hopeful faces turned into smiles as they hastily retrieved their little gift from the water. A few entrepreneurial kids paddled their small canoes dangerously close to ours to then attach themselves to our much larger ship with simple home-made hooks! Some of the kids must have been as young as five and my heart skipped a few beats as they performed their seemingly death defying stunts. Luckily none of them were hurt or drowned during our journey and they scrambled on-board to sell their wares. The food included nuts, fruit, cakes, palm hearts and my favourite, crispy fried prawns! These you could buy in a plastic bag and they tasted really good with a cold beer.

Meals on the boat were served at the most random of times – we even had lunch served at 10:30am one day! Otherwise food seemed to be fairly standard with fruit, bread, scrambled eggs and very sweet coffee in the morning followed by either beef or chicken served with rice, spaghetti, beans, a token bit of salad and farinha (the yellow meal) for lunch and dinner. The bar also sold snacks and toasted ham and cheese sandwiches so we were at least well fed during our boat trip, if a little bored with the cuisine! 



 Other than buying food off the local kids who boarded our ship I absolutely loved it when we docked at a small town along the way. The energy/vibe was contagious as we were met with a chorus of eager shouts coming from the vendors who waited for us. Some would balance on poles or simply jump aboard while walking along the decks advertising their wares. Usually there was a wider variety of goods to purchase as we saw many selling home-made wooden dolls, juices, coconut flapjacks, empanadas and even cooked meals carefully wrapped in foil containers. I love to try new things so I found it really exciting buying as many things possible! Most of the things we tried tasted really good with the only real exception being the cardboard pancake on the Ilha de Marajo ferry. Luckily none of the food gave us the runs so for a cheap meal option I can recommend buying from the locals!

Sleeping in our cabin was an experience as we had to share the air-con unit with the cabin next door. As the thermostat was broken it ran full throttle all the time turning our cabin into an igloo. I even had to use my down sleeping bag as it was that cold! Otherwise we spent most of our time lazing in the sun or playing card games on our notebooks. Gillian made the mistake of introducing me to Spider Solitaire and Hearts and I am now addicted. The Amazon river is massive and it was a good thing that our boat travelled close to the bank so that we could see everyday life go by. I was struck by the lack of wildlife as we merely saw a few common birds and some dolphins. Most of the animals I suspect had been hunted or driven from the land to make way for farming. It was a shame that there were so few animals as I expected the Amazon to be teeming with them.

Santarem: After our boat ride we stayed in Santarem for one night. It was nice to stretch our legs as we walked along the long riverside. Two rivers - the Amazon and the Tapajoes, meet in Santarem, one brown and one dark and they flow together for miles before finally merging. A visit to the local markets is a must as we really enjoyed them. The main fish market was situated in a stilted building on the bank of the river and I was amazed by the variety of fish on display. There was not a single one I recognized as I snapped away on my camera capturing all the various types, shapes, colors and sizes of the strange fish. On our walk to the food market we even saw a vendor selling live fish from the back of his truck which was lined with plastic and filled with water! 


The food market was just as interesting as we saw many different types of fruit and vegetables including bananas, passion fruit, mangos, papayas, pineapples, jackfruit, oranges, apples, yukka/manioc and much more! Spices and sauces were also displayed in neat rows. Many of the stalls had small charcoal barbecues on which they grilled fish and these were sold with rice for peanuts. One of the things that amazed me most were the quantities of prawns they sold – some stalls were solely dedicated selling them. It seemed to me that the Amazon must be very rich with them as we saw huge sacks of peeled prawns being loaded onto our boat.

We turned down yet another expensive Lonely Planet “on a shoestring” recommendation for dinner in Santarem – as we’ve done with many other so called “cheap” restaurant recommendations for South America.  Instead, we joined the locals on the pier where locally cooked food was sold very cheaply. I couldn’t remember the names of any of the food we had but trying to explain, we had a thick creamy yellow prawn sauce, black bean, pork & tripe stew and a curried meat soup. The food was good and definitely a much better option than the overprized recommended restaurant option.

Alter do Chao: The bus ride to Alter do Chao was an experience to say the least – all that was missing were a few live animals and chickens on the roof! We picked a very bad time to board the bus as all the locals were on their way home with their market shopping. I didn’t think it was possible to get more people onboard as we were wedged in like sardines standing on top of bags of farinha and holding on for dear life to the overhead bars. More and more people forced their way in while we could only laugh at the absurdity of it all. Our bus never terminated as indicated on front so we had to get off at a random spot where we then paid for a lift in one of the scruffiest cars I've ever seen. The car managed to make it to our hostel before promptly breaking down – I had to put a rock behind the back wheel as the gears weren't working anymore! We decided to pitch our tent in the hostel garden rather than pay for an expensive room.

Alter do Chao is a very small place with beautiful beaches on the Tapajoes river. The water was warm and I can see why people stayed longer than originally intended - we probably would have too if it weren’t for the rain. Getting to the main beach you could either brave swimming across and stepping on a stingray (aka wish-you-were-dead-fish) or take a cheap boat taxi across. Thatched huts lined the sandy beach and sold meals and cold drinks. Apparently it has been voted one of the best beaches in the world (or so they say…). A random conversation with another traveler in an internet café resulted in a 3 hour boat trip to spot dolphins. At first we saw nothing but all of a sudden they turned up and I had a hard time keeping track of them whilst trying to capture them on camera. I must have looked like a lunatic frantically snapping away following Gillian’s pointed finger aided by “There!” and “There!”. The elusive pink dolphins unfortunately avoided us as we only saw the grey ones that day. The ride back was a very wet one as it hammered down with torrential rain. Another recommendation from The Lonely Planet was to see the feeding of manatees but we were very disappointed though as we learned that the rescue project had been shut down a few years previously – yet again another error from The Lonely Planet.

Fishing Trip:  After seeing so many weird and wonderful types of fish in Santarem I was dying to try and catch a few. Our hostel owner got me in touch with a local fisherman and we arranged for a day and night trip leaving the next morning. I was very excited as we cruised over the river to reach the far bank where there was a small tributary ideal for catching bass. Before carrying on the captain pointed out more dolphins and we were amazed when we saw that most of them were pink! Once again I armed myself with the camera and zoom lens to snap away at anything that dared to move! They were very unlike any dolphins I’ve seen before having long thin noses and bumps on their heads. Every time they surfaced we could hear a quick blowing sound before they submerged again – this resulted in many just-about-got-them-on-camera moments. While I was snapping away our captain, together with his young helper, tried to net small fish for bait. They weren’t very successful though and not long after we made our way up the small river which was blocked with floating water plants. Captain opened the throttle and tried to barge his way through which only resulted in the prop getting caught on the plants! Luckily Gillian had her diving mask and snorkel and I had to dive underneath to free the prop of all the grass before we were able to cruise off again.

The actual fishing was very poor and I only managed to land a few fish, including a stingray. Captain did manage to net a few fish in the end which he barbequed and served with rice for dinner - it was a simple but very delicious dish. Trying to catch more fish during the night proved fruitless so we retired to our hammocks strung on the lower deck. That night it started raining which increased to a level I have never experienced before. It absolutely hammered down with rain and hail stones that crashed against the tarpaulin protectors covering the open sides of the boat. It continued to do so for most of the night and even though it died down a bit in the morning, it continued to rain for most of the day as well. 


The small canoe which we towed behind the larger boat was almost completely filled with water. It took our captain a long time and some serious bailing to get it to float again! I had one last chance of catching an elusive bass that morning as Rodrigo paddled us across a marshy stretch towards another river. The last thing I expected to see along the way were the many cows grazing in the water while half submerged! After lifting a net which they had set the night before we got to the river where I tried my best spinning with a lure to try and entice a bass. I only managed to get 2 strikes but alas, no fish! Reluctantly we headed back to the main boat and from there back to Alter do Chao. We did, however, repeat the same process of getting stuck in the grass that resulted in two prop cleaning sessions along with a free ear infection.

Back at the hostel we discovered that our whole tent was covered in sand as the heavy downpour cause it to splash all over. It was the first time ever that I had a romantic shower with my tent trying to get rid of the sand. Even though waterproof our tent was wet in the bottom as there was an almost constant river of water running underneath, along with the 100% humidity, causing our sleeping mats and bags to get wet and ultimately a bit mouldy. That night we opted for a hammock while desperately hoping that most of our gear would dry by the next morning. Luckily for us most of the stuff dried fairly well and soon we were on our way back to Santarem on the omnibus again amidst bags of meal, sacks of fruit and boxes of fish. After missing yet another stop we made our way back to the port via the local market for a few supplies.

Boat trip (Santarem – Manaus): Our boat cruise to Manaus was very much the same as from Belem to Santarem. Yet again we stayed in a cabin with a broken air-conditioning unit – this one leaked a lot which forced us to regularly empty one of our camping pots, placed underneath. Excitement came yet again when we docked at ports and vendors climbed aboard to sell their goods. We bought two cooked meals, home-made crisps, small sponge cakes, mangos, cheese and fresh fruit juice off them which tasted pretty good. It was unsurprising that our cooked meal consisted of chicken, rice, spaghetti, feajoada, farinha and very small amount of salad – the same that the boat served every day for both lunch and dinner! Along the way we saw many more dolphins when we ventured out from our cabin during the dry moments and deserted our games of spider solitaire or hearts. 


One thing that was a little weird though was when some of the locals, especially children, would come and stand in our doorway to simply stare at us - a few of them even took our picture! The role reversal was quite ironic and I could only smile as the kids kept bombarding us with questions, all in Portuguese. At one point we made a very unwise choice of offering them some cakes after which we really struggled to get rid of them! We were celebrities feeling uncomfortable in the gaze of curious kids (and adults) and were slightly relieved when we finally reached Manaus. They did, however, make me laugh when they asked us if we were hippies while waving their hands in front of their noses to indicate that they smell really bad.

Manaus: After declining an overpriced 30 Reals taxi we got one for 10 Reals to our hostel. Manaus, for some reason, has been labeled as a place to pass through rather than visit. I think this is a bit unfair as I have experienced much worse places in South America. There are many vendors on the streets selling pretty much anything from electronics to deep fried foods. I found it interesting seeing them actually making potato and plantain crisps by slicing them directly into the bubbling hot oil. In the centre of town stands the main theatre, Teatro Amazonas which was built with “rubber” money. A few restaurants have tables and chairs set outside in the square around it which has a nice atmosphere. We ate there one night and were both grateful that we could swap the rice and pasta accompaniments for chips and salad. From Manaus there are a fair few excursions on offer like jungle trips, visits to caves and waterfalls and trips to swim and feed pink dolphins. Manaus was meant to be a transit city for us on our way to Venezuela but our plans were thrown into disarray when we read a blog online about the Angel Falls being a dismal trickle in dry season. The author of the blog explained that their boat scraped along the bottom a few times and that the falls vaporized before hitting the bottom which left them disappointed. Our main reason for visiting Venezuela was visiting the falls so we had to cancel this idea and make new plans. We were very lucky to have read the blog and saved ourselves a wasted trip and money! 

Bosque do Cicenia: We paid a visit to this establishment also known as INPA (Institute National Pesquisas da Amazonia). They look after the survival of Amazonian animal life and as I’ve been looking forward to seeing manatees, it was great to finally see them! The manatees were very funny looking animals and seemed to be a cross between a British bulldog, dolphin and a hippo. They are, however, very placid animals as they gracefully swam in the water. We saw a very large bull in one of the tanks that swam around effortlessly. I loved the way that some of them would swim along the bottom and then suddenly stop, head down for a quick snooze, as if they ran out of steam.


When we were there they had just been fed as there were lots of vegetables floating on top of the water. We could see many manatee snouts pushing through the surface of the water to pick their snack off the top. Another favorite, especially for Gillian, were the cheeky squirrel monkeys. We saw many of them playing about or just lying on branches with their yellow feet dangling down. There were even a few mama monkeys around with their small babies clinging to their backs – very cute! At one stage we were given bananas to feed them and they were fearless as they ate out of our hands. Other animals there include giant otters, turtles, fish, caimans and an animal which looks like a large rat without a tail.


In general:

Brazilian food: In Brazil you could get a wide variety of food as long as it was chicken/fish/meat served with rice, spaghetti, feojoada and a token bit of salad. Sarcasm aside I have to admit that I wasn’t overly impressed with the food in general, especially because of repetition. I’ve also never in my entire life experienced coffee as sweet as we had in the Amazon. Exactly how they managed to dissolve that amount of sugar in such a small quantity of coffee is beyond me! Other than that I really loved the fresh fruit and juice in the mornings as well as buying food off the street vendors. There were so many things to choose from which were so alien from what I’m used to. 


There were fruit, vegetables, meat and fish, home-made potato or plantain crisps, sauces (especially very potent chilli ones), cheese, fresh juices, prawn kebabs (scoops or even bags of prawns if you wanted!) and pastries like empanadas, porcao, folhados and the iconic pear shaped coxinhas. I found the mobile “snack mobiles” especially interesting. They ranged from bicycles fitted with large hot glass boxes to what looked like special wheelbarrows loaded with large pots. Many ladies stood on street corners selling home cooked meals like soups or stews. I especially loved to try all the strange looking fruit – it was the first time I had tried jack fruit, cashew apples and juice, palm nuts, sugar cane juice, palm hearts, acai, cupuacu and another which name I can't remember. It had a thick brown skin with a large stone which tasted like it had a hint of mango - very weird flavour though.

Summary: Brazil is a very large country and although we spent 40 days in it we hardly made a dent. I found the people very friendly and helpful and we didn’t have any bad experiences to report along the way. Although the food wasn’t a highlight, the country charmed us with its beauty and diversity. Rio will remain one of my favorite cities and the Pantanal will always remind me of its abundant wildlife. I will miss the anticipation of finding new and wonderful things in the bustling markets as well as the sound of the jungle at night. It is a country not to be missed, but be warned, it is large and it is expensive!

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Complete photo album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=326982&id=749927742&l=0f39c2240c

Brazil - Part 1

Brazil - Part 1:

Iguazu Falls: The border crossing into Brazil was very quick and efficient. We boarded a bus in the morning which waited while we had our passport stamped on the Argentinean side. On the Brazilian side however, we had to get off the bus together with all our luggage. The Brazilian side was just as efficient and soon we were waiting outside again for another bus. During our stay, the Brazilian president was also visiting the same area. The Brazilian army was there with enough heavy artillery to flatten anything in sight! Luckily they didn’t do any target practice on gringos so we were left to explore the Iguazu Falls from the other side.

We managed to store our luggage in lockers and bought tickets for the park and quickly learned that Brazil is fairly expensive! The falls from the Brazilian side were just as amazing, if not better, than the Argentinean side. We had a panoramic view of the falls with the highlight being the “Wet Walk” – a long walkway into the spray of the water, along the foot of the falls. Standing at the end of the walkway we overlooked the water falling over the one side while getting sprayed with water from the other! To save myself and my camera, I had to make a quick escape after taking a few quick photos.

The bird sanctuary: This was located about 200m away from the Iguazu park entrance and is definitely worth a visit. The park is well looked after and home to many species of birds as well as some other animals. I lost count of the amount of birds – to name a few we saw eagles, flamingos, parrots, parakeets, rheas, guinea fowl and my favorite, the brightly coloured tucans. What made our visit even more exciting was that we could enter various cages and walk amongst the birds. I even managed to scratch a tucan’s head! We also saw anacondas, monkeys, caimans, turtles and fish. Tip: leave yourself at least two hours for a more leisurely visit than we had.

Florianopolis (Pantano do Sul): We needed some time off after many hectic weeks of travelling through South America and opted to relax in a small fishing village called Pantano do Sul. A 14 hour overnight bus ride got us into Florianopolis and after two more local buses we were “home”. We booked a double room in a very friendly family-run hostel, Estralis no Mar. Although rustic we couldn’t ask for more as included were breakfasts, hot showers, communal kitchen and best of all, our own balcony (with hammock) overlooking the sea! Night times we went to sleep to the soothing sound of crashing waves - it was exactly what we needed after more than 5 months of non-stop travel. The actual village is located on the southern tip of the island “Ilha de Santa Catarina”. It is a sleepy little town with sandy beaches and small fishing boats, and with the black urubus patrolling the beaches, it had a lot of charm. Olga, together with her two daughters, Sophia and Alicia and family friend, Felicia, couldn’t have been more helpful and friendly - this lead to a very memorable stay. 

Fishing is one of my passions and after months of “drought” it was nice to finally get my tackle out again. After some serious charades (and Google Translate) with the locals, I managed to find out that they fished for peixes espada (largeheaded hairtail nome) at night time. After some more charades I bought a few lures off the local fishing store and waited until dark, as that is when the fish come out to play. Armed with a 7ft Shimano spinning rod and reel loaded with 30lb braid, I was ready for them! Espadas have formidable sets of dentistry and it was very necessary to use steel wire traces to protect my lures! Catching them was great fun: chuck out the lure, retrieve, alternate the speed of retrieve and suddenly, BANG! Fish on! It wasn’t just the fish that got hooked,  I was too as I spend most of my evenings fishing till late. Most of the locals however used illuminated floats to suspend their bait. These were made from a clear plastic with a soft plastic seal which housed a 9V battery to power the LED. The water was lit up like Christmas trees with the various colors emitted by their floats! My success rate at catching these fish was very high which resulted in us, fairly soon, getting fed up eating fresh fish every day! The espadas, although looking very mean with their big teeth, had very delicate and soft meat. The fish were easy to fillet and made for good eating.

Olga introduced me to one of the local fisherman called Cacau. He was a very friendly guy who let me join him for free one morning at 5am, when he left to retrieve his fishing nets. He had two young lads (Felipe and Patrick) helping him. To reach his boat we first had to row a boat to reach his bigger boat and from there it was about half an hour’s drive to his nets. He had two nets of about 100m each set between two buoys, near an island. Lifting them was hard word as they had to constantly pull, stop, grab fish, pull, stop, grab fish. It was very interesting seeing them at work and also the different species of fish – most I’ve never seen in my life and there sure were some odd looking ones! Back on terra firma Cacau gave me a fresh anchova – a very meaty fish which I later barbequed (together with my seemingly never ending catch of espada stored in the fridge). Delicious! On yet another occasion I managed to organize with Felipe to take me out fishing for a few hours. At first he rowed us out to a reef where we used hand lines to catch grouper and from there we threw anchor in the bay where we jigged for squid. Again, we were successful and that night Gillian and I gorged ourselves on yet more fresh fish and calamari!

For most of the time though we spent our time lazing in the hammocks, reading, eating, swimming and using the free internet to upload photos and Skyping family. Twice Olga cooked for us and it was nice to sample local Brazilian cuisine like feijada (beans with pork), rice and “meal”. For Christmas she cooked a meal of gammon, flavored rice and salad. Nice! Other than eating lots of food, the most exercise we did during our stay was walking along the beach and a hike over the mountain. It was a nice although slippery hike through a forest and we were rewarded with large crashing waves, a warm lagoon and a long sandy beach. We saw many urubus patrolling the beach as well as small ghost crabs scurrying away into their holes. The water in the lagoon was nice for swimming in and it was only because of strong winds and dark clouds in the distance that we decided to hike back.

One thing I came to know about Brazilians is that they like to wear their clothes either very tight or very small, especially bikinis. This same ‘rule” also applies to some very big people wearing very small swimming costumes! Not always a good look but with strength in numbers I could only smile. Although expensive, we enjoyed Brazil so far - the people are kind and friendly, the weather is hot (if wet at times) and we still had quite a few days left to enjoy it! We were however restricted to only picking certain places as it is such a massive country and travelling for hours on a bus equates to only a tiny distance on a map. At least we were well rested to tackle the next part of our next trip.   

Bonito: We really wanted to spend new years with friends so planned to meet up again with the Tucan group. To do so we had to take two flights (Florianopolis – San Paolo – Campo Grande) and a shuttle bus service to Bonito. We arrived before the Tucan group and set up our tent in a campsite called Camping Rio Formosa. They had a very long journey so we went for dinner in town when it started getting dark. Bonito is a cute little town with many pricey restaurants and souvenir shops. There are two very large statues of fish in their main square and all the telephone booths are made in the shape of animals. Surprising though was the lack of gringos, with Bonito seeming more like a holiday destination for Brazilians – many of whom, as a pastime, drive up and down the road in a cheap car with an expensive stereo pumping out deafening tunes. All of this wearing sunglasses at night, beers in hands, elbows out the windows, trying to look very cool. I can’t dish out too much abuse though as it somehow reminds me, back in the day, of someone I know very well…

After our meal of chicken, rice and beans we took a taxi back to the campsite. Seeing the Tucan tents was a great sight and soon enough we were reunited with our friends. Adrian almost took me down by running and jumping in my arms and it was nice seeing all the old faces again. I dished out all of my cold beers to the boys and we sat up talking till late. We built good relationships over the two months we spent with them and I didn’t realize how much I missed the group – all the banter and friendly faces! The only downfall was that Scoota wasn’t there to join us. Recalling Adrian: “I heard a loud “clunk” and the next thing, I saw two large black truck wheels flying past me at head height!” All seven bolts sheared off causing the two wheels on one side to break free! That was the end of the trip for Scoota who then had to make his way back to Cusco. Eddie, our Scouse friend, was again Scoota’s replacement, driving Trevor – the same truck that we started our trip with, which had also broken down previously!

Bonito is well known for snorkeling, diving and caving but it is a very expensive place, especially in peak season when the hordes of Brazilians descend on the town. Luckily one of the good snorkelling spots was a stream only a few minutes’ walk from our campsite which was free. We spent a fair bit of time snorkeling in the streams and watching the trout-like fish swimming around. At one spot there was a big log in the water where small fish would nibble on us if we stayed still enough! Other than that we didn’t do much other than lazing around, chatting, reading and playing cards. Poor Adrian lost his wedding ring which I tried to help him locate in the river but unfortunately to not avail. For dinner we chipped in some money and ate with the group – shepherd’s pie one evening and bangers & mash the next. It sure was nice to be back with the group again.

Yarniff fever: This was a fever that struck down most of the Tucan group. We were however responsible for it having taught the group this new Israeli card game. We learned it from Will, our Aussie friend whom we met on the Navimag Ferry, and pretty soon most of the Tucan group were addicted to it! It is a competitive and fun game where you have to be very alert and where you can “dunbah” someone. That happens when you have better cards than the person who shouted Yarniff, resulting in them getting penalty points. With all the banter in the group it wasn’t surprising that so many competitive card players had to settle the score with their “Nemesis”.

Pantanal: From Bonito we hitched a lift with the Tucan group into the Pantanal. It was about a 5hr drive with some caiman spotting along the way. It was the first time most of us had seem them in the wild and it was interesting seeing a local man slapping the water to lure them out. It was very hot and sticky and after a few photos we set off again to the camp where we were met with our guide, Alex. Most of the area is usually covered in water although it was all dry when we were there as it hadn’t rained anywhere near as much as usual. We walked along the wooden walkways raised high above the ground for a buffet lunch. I was amazed by the amount of wildlife we saw just walking along to the lunch hall! If there is one thing that is very common in the Pantanal it would be teeth. There are lots of it attached to various animals including caiman, jaguars and piranhas and it sure is something that most of us desperately try to avoid! I even had a pet parakeet trying to bite my toes when it landed on me while I was innocently minding my own business lying in a hammock!

Boat cruise: With a belly very full of buffet lunch, we set off on a boat cruise. Alex guided our boat against the current of the brown water and very soon pointed out some capybaras lazing on the river bank. They are the largest rodents in the world and can weigh up to 60 kgs. I found them very funny looking animals with their blunt noses and fat bums. We saw much more wildlife such as tiger herons, kingfishers, red-headed cardinals, caimans and ospreys. Alex stopped our boat on a sandbank where we all went for a swim in the river which was, yes, inhabited by piranhas! Luckily they don’t attack humans, (unlike in the movies!), so we all boarded the boat with our limbs intact! The cruise back on the boat was a very wet one as it suddenly started raining very hard. Big fat drops hammered down on us and it was good planning on our part that we’d thought to bring our waterproof dry-bag to protect our cameras!

The Hammock Ranch: Armed with ludicrous amounts of alcohol for new years and some clothes, we set off for a ranch where we were going to stay for the next three nights. After bumping along a dirt road for 30km we were shown to a large dorm, lined with rows of hammocks. I was pretty excited as I’ve never actually slept in a hammock before. Going to the toilet was especially interesting as it was inhabited by geckos, birds and small frogs that ran along the walls! There were also two small lakes next to the ranch, both infested with caimans and piranhas! At night time, going to the toilet, we had to dodge large toads and tarantulas, so we were all pretty excited (boys) / scared (girls!).

The hike: On our first morning on the ranch Alex took us on a hike. The landscape ranged from open grassland to dense forest with lots of birds and animals. Along the way he pointed out some jaguar tracks and also painted us with the juice of a wild apple. Apparently the old locals used it to paint themselves blue when they had a party. At first I didn’t see anything but as the day went on my skin slowly turned blue and stayed blue for about 5 days! We were lucky to see some pekari pigs, howler monkeys, caimans and lots of birdlife.

Piranha fishing: Because I had my own fishing rod Eddie suggested that I try to catch some piranhas in the lake next to the ranch. Alex gave us a sheep’s heart which I cut into cubes. I attached the raw meat to a hook which was protected by a wire trace and soon had the most exciting fishing experience in my entire life. Luckily the resident caimans don’t attack humans so I could stand and fish, although slightly nervous, for piranhas fairly close to them. The caimans were attracted by the splash of my bait hitting the water and I had to constantly keep an eye on them. The exciting part was yet to come. When I finally managed to hook a piranha the caimans went crazy! About twenty of them crashed through the water chasing after the piranha and I had to literally drag the piranha over the surface of the water to get it safely back to me. A few times a Caiman would stop about a meter away from me before slowly retreating! I managed to land about 5 piranhas, which I returned, in a saga of splashing water and snapping teeth. I can honestly say that it has been some of the most exciting fishing I’ve ever done in my whole life!

The next day Alex took all of us wildlife spotting and piranha fishing in a different part of the ranch. We were all amazed by the amount of animals we saw while driving along. All of the water holes were teeming with caimans, capybaras and lots of birds, including my favorite, toucans! They are really beautiful birds with their long colorful beaks and it was amazing seeing them out in the wild. En route one of our group spotted a jaguar although it was very far off and quickly disappeared. Soon enough though our whole group was lined up at the water’s edge, eager to catch a piranha. Alex dished out long canes rigged with a fishing line of equal length with hooks, wire traces and raw meat. A few of the more adventurous anglers stood waist height in the piranha and caiman invested water to fish. Every single angler got a fish, except Mike who, although very determined, unfortunately didn’t catch one. He had to endure severe verbal abuse for days to come! The species of fish we caught were piranhas and snake fish which they prepared for us for lunch the next day. That evening it was new years eve and the ranch made us a huge bonfire. For dinner we had lamb BBQ which most of us washed down with copious amounts of alcohol. Although ending in a blur, it was a great evening.

Horse Riding: The next morning half of our group went horse riding. It was pretty slow which perfectly fit our group after a heavy night. The only excitement came when Anna fainted! I’ve never seen anyone faint so gracefully. One moment she said “Could we please stop, I’m feeling dizzy” and the next moment she slowly slid out of the saddle! Luckily it was nothing serious and so we made our way back to camp on our temperamental horses. Mark’s horse even managed to do a kick with both hind legs while running – I’ve never seen anything like that before! All in all the Pantanal was a great place to visit. The whole place was teeming with wildlife around every corner. To name a few there were caiman, capybaras, anacondas, howler monkeys, pekari pigs, deer, jaguars, lizards, bats, anacondas, red headed cardinals, kingfishers, chakalakas, herons, storks, cuckoos, tucans, parakeets, parrots, falcons, eagles, vultures and rheas! During the night time the toilets were inhabited with black birds, very large toads, small agile frogs that ran up and down the walls and noisy geckos! It was a great experience and comes highly recommended.

Paraty: Our journey to Paraty was the longest we’ve experienced. We left the ranch at 6am and from there it took a truck, 4 buses and a taxi, adding up to 36 hours of travelling, to reach our campsite. The last bus change was in a small town called Ubatuba. I loved the name and I couldn’t help but smile every time I heard it! The Tucan group also drove long hours and they arrived just before us. We were pretty sticky and grimy after our long journey so a hot shower was first on our list after setting up the tent. Our plan to do a 3 day hike along the beach were thwarted by constant heavy rain. Luckily Max booked rooms for us in a hostel where we spent most of our time playing cards and relaxing. It kept on raining during most of our stay but fortunately cleared on the last day when our group went on a booze cruise.

Due to a dodgy sea food stew both Gillian and I had dodgy stomachs which could have ended very bad on the small boat, so she decided to stay behind. The boat served bottomless caiprinhas which fairly quickly intoxicated our group – I was on a slight different level as I chose not to drink with my iffy stomach. I also had an ear infection from snorkeling which made matters worse. Nevertheless it was fun watching the group having fun and getting their money’s worth out of the caiprinhas! Lunch was prepared on the boat and we could choose between chicken and fish which came with a nice sauce, rice, chips and salad. There were many companies doing the same thing though and I even saw a boat painted in Rasta colors and another in bright pink labeled the “Love Boat”! Although a bit cheesy it was still a nice day out (I’m sure I would have enjoyed it more if I had drunk more caiprinhas!)

Rio de Janeiro: The journey from Paraty to Rio was our last one with Tucan as the tour ended there. We played as many card games as possible to pass the time and very soon arrived in Rio. The hostel we stayed in was called “Stone of a Beach”. That night we had a farewell meal in the Mexican restaurant at the bottom where we ordered a 2.5l beer with tap. It came in a long tube with the tap at the bottom I felt like a barman pouring my own pint of beer. It was sad saying good bye to Max, Eddie and Damon as even though there were ups and downs, we’d spent a lot of time with them on the trip. Over the next few days people left in dribs and drabs and we had to say many goodbyes. Rio itself is a lovely city and I have to admit to it being my number one city in all of South America! As a city it has it all: sandy beaches with waves, mountains, museums, clubs, bars, statues and much more! There is also a constant buzz and feel-good vibe which, if I could bottle the energy, I could surely power Vegas for years! Even though it was a big city, the people were very helpful and friendly and it was just a lovely place to visit. Getting around was also easy as the public transport is very good. I cannot recommend visiting Rio enough – a brilliant and vibrant city with lots to do!

The beaches: There are two main beaches in Rio namely Copacabana and Ipanema.  I’ve never seen so much flesh and so little cloth on the hordes of people that descended on the beaches. We were surprised not to see topless sunbathers, although I have to admit that the Brazilian bikinis are some of the smallest I’ve ever seen in my life! Most of the girls there were very cheeky (literally!) Just for the record, of course I didn’t lookJ. On the beach it was difficult finding a spot to sit as there were literally thousands of people of all shapes and sizes on every inch of sand! There were some really big waves with a strong rip current which made the water quite dangerous especially for many of the locals who can’t swim! Adrian saw 4 lifeguard rescues and even one helicopter rescue in one afternoon! On a really hot day the sand can be so hot that it would be almost impossible to walk on with bare feet, therefore they’ve laid out pipelines with holes to spray the sand with water! Another thing you see on the beaches is the vendors selling sunglasses, swimwear, cool drinks, beer and even prawn kebabs.

Christ the redeemer: This is the huge iconic statue of Christ with outstretched arms overlooking Rio. To get there we had to take a bus to the bottom of the mountain and from there the cog train to the top. Most of the tickets were sold out by the time we got there but luckily we could immediately board a shuttle service for a few extra Reals. The statue was impressive as it towered over us. There was a platform in front of the statue that was absolutely jam packed with tourists. Many of whom laid on the ground to capture a picture of someone else standing with outstretched arms. After taking a quick few pictures of Christ the Redeemer and the view over the city I had to make an escape from the milling crowd. Big crowds are definitely not my thing and I would have flung a few snap-happy tourists over the edge if I had to endure any more stop-suddenly-and-stand-in-the-middle-of-the-walkway-with-outstretched-arms tourists…

Hang Gliding: We booked this trip through the Stone of a Beach hostel and although expensive it was worth every penny! A taxi picked us up and we got dropped off at the foot of the hill where we met up with our instructors. After filling in some forms we took off to the top of the mountain. The day turned out perfect for paragliding and hang gliding as we had clear sunny skies. There were five of us – Adrian, Sally, Vanessa, Gillian and myself. Gillian opted for the paragliding whereas the rest of us went for the hang gliding. The top of the mountain were bustling with entrepreneurial instructors and we had to patiently wait our turn. Vanessa, Gillian and Sally were the first to take off.

Adrian and I waited about an hour before it was our turn. We were dressed in a harness and had to do a mock run next the instructor to practice for take-off. It felt a little uncomfortable standing in the frame and I was slightly nervous just hoping I was going to do the right thing. There was no need to worry though as my instructor was very good and soon, after running down the platform, we were airborne! It was a great feeling gliding over Rio with the wind rushing through our hair. The buildings looked really small from high above as we headed to the beach. There were even a few vultures riding the thermals with us! My instructor kept taking pictures with a camera rigged on the frame and air pressured trigger. The landing was especially fun as we raced in towards the beach for a perfect drop. Gliding over Rio was definitely one of the highlights for me visiting South America!

Sugarloaf Mountain: For a beautiful view over Rio, Sugarloaf Mountain is a must. The ride up consists of a two part cable car ride. The stop-over on the first mountain had restaurants and shops and we even saw a small monkey begging for scraps of food. Many of the trees were jack-fruit which I mistook for durian fruit. The look very much the same except the durian is larger, spikier and smellier! Adrian and Sally joined us for the trip and it was to be the last time we saw them. Good ‘ol Adrian brought one of his many bottles of red wine for sunset. After taking the second cable car to the top we waited for the sunset - armed with a few cold beers (bought from the restaurant) and Gillian with a gin & tonic which came without the tonic. The sunset over Rio was spectacular – the sun dipped behind the mountains and turned the sky crimson. From where we sat we could see across Rio to the busy Copacabana beach and Christ the Redeemer looking at us looking at him. The city slowly turned its lights on as we worked our way through the bottle of red wine and we had to reluctantly leave to get the last cable car back down. 

Another highlight for me was dining at Zaza’s restaurant near our hostel. Adrian and Sally joined us for one of the best meals we’ve had in South America. The interior was decorated in warm red colors and we sat on the floor around a low table. Alongside some cocktails and wine, Gillian and I ordered a selection of spring rolls followed by pork ribs in a tamarind sauce and slow cooked lamb with ravioli in a creamy sauce. For dessert I had a sticky chocolate pudding and Gillian had a melting caramel pudding which was a perfect ending to a lovely evening. We all loved Rio. It was a great city to visit with endless things to do. It was a nice place to also say our final farewells to the Tucan group as we all went our separate ways. 


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Complete photos - Foz do Iguazu to Florianopolis:  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=326951&id=749927742&l=ddf94b0992
Complete photos - Pantanal to Rio: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=326846&id=749927742&l=b526a72f69