I took so many incredible photos of the Falls and its difficult to only put a few of them on here - I will put more on facebook for those who want to see more........
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Foz do Iguazu
I took so many incredible photos of the Falls and its difficult to only put a few of them on here - I will put more on facebook for those who want to see more........
Rio de Janeiro
Fidel and I at the top of Pao do Acucar
View from Pao de Acucar (sugarloaf hill)
Pao do Acucar
View from Pao de Acucar (sugarloaf hill)
Pao do Acucar
View from Cristo Redentor - Pao de Acucar (sugarloaf) in the back ground.
Photos: Rio de Janeiro
Cristo Redentor
A Favela (slum)
It rained for 3 days....but they still took me to see different places around Rio...Copacabana beach, Rio Centro, Tijuaca National Park, and we finally got a sunny day to visit Cristo Redentor!!
The amazing family I stayed with in Rio.........
I have finally been able to upload some photos......here are some from NYC.......Saturday, November 1, 2008
Pantanal Expedition!
Holy smoke the Pantanal is HOT HOT HOT!!!! We had an overnite bus to a place called Campo Grande (15 hours) and then had a 4 hour break before getting in the van that transported us to our lodge in the Pantanal (another 4 hours). We had the option of paying a bit extra to stay in the lodge or we could stay in the camp site down the road from the lodge......both Avi and I paid the extra cost and man we were stoked we did!!!!!!!!!! It was so hot every day and at the lodge we had a swimming pool to cool us down after our excursions during the day (the camp people couldnt use the pool). It was minimm 40 degrees every day out there!
Our guide´s name for the 3 days was Carlos. He was fantastic. He used to be a gaucho (cowboy) but gave it up to be a tour guide. He was born and breed in the Pantanal. I bumped into another Kiwi for the first time so far. He was in my tour group - an aucklander (i will let that slide lol).......actually a very cool guy as I guess all travelling kiwis are!!!!!
Santa Clara lodge was awesome. A really tranquil place with loads of birds chattering all day long. But very peaceful and relaxing. We had the swimming pool and also hammocks to laze around in when we had down time from activities. I met a very cool English couple who are on their honeymoon and it turned out his brother lives in NZ (married to a kiwi) and they live just down the road from my sister in Aucks! So Nick and Nic you might have a random english couple called Clive and Claire turn up on your doorstep around Xmas time! The first night was a laugh - it was a case of spot the newbies.....Avi, Clive, Claire and I sat at a dinner table and thru our whole meal we were bombarded with insects, bugs and whatever else! It was horrible and we were thinking how we were going to handle that for the next 3 days!! It turned out we were sitting under a ceiling fan and all the insects were getting blown directly down onto our plates and into our food from the fan!! We had to laugh in the end.......needless to say we didnt sit at that table again!!
The next 3 days were awesome! HOt but awesome! We went walking in the forest, did a jeep safari and spot lighting at night, a boat safari down the river, piranha fishing and horse trekking!!! We saw lots of caimans (look like crocs), the biggest rodent in the world (these look like small rhinos with brown hair all over them and are about the size of a big pig), otters, monkeys, racoon type animals, iguanas, deer, and lots of bird life! Woodpeckers, tucans (these are cool!!), baby storks (the symbol of the pantanal), and so many more!!!!! My favourite would be the big blue macaws which are amazing birds! Unfortunately no anacondas or jaguars to be seen boo hoo...........
I loved the boat trip - it was hilarous and Im sure would never pass inspection in NZ! 9 of us got into a dinghy with a small motor, with no life jackets and off we went down the river. Another group had two boats full of people - one of the boats was lashed to the other and off they went down the river like that!! Very amusing!! At one point we stopped and Carlos told us to jump in and swim in the piranha and caiman infested water!!! So we did!!! I freaked out tho and lasted about 3 minutes only!!
The piranha fishing was another highlight....standing in 40 degree heat at the rivers edge with a fishing rod made out of bamboo and baiting our hooks with beef!!!!!!!!!! It was disgusting!!!!! I almost puked every time I put the bait on the hook. The piranhas just start attacking the bait the instant it goes in the water and there is definitely an art to hooking them!! We were basically swinging them up out of the water onto the bank when they took the bait. I caught heaps but they kept falling off back into the river!! We got enough to have one each for dinner tho! Not the best fish i have tasted.....they deep fry them whole and you get about two forkfulls per fish!!
I didnt want to leave the Pantanal because it was such a great place to relax but unfortunately it was time to move on.....Avi and I went with 3 other girls in our group to a place called Bonito......it was a 5 hour drive over mostly dirt roads into a cute little town. It definitely lives up to its name (Bonito means beautiful in portugues and spanish). On the way we spotted two ant-eaters. What incredible animals!! I have never seen anything like them before!
I will leave the Bonito stories for my next blog..............and I hope there will also be photos for you all!!!!!!!!!!
Our guide´s name for the 3 days was Carlos. He was fantastic. He used to be a gaucho (cowboy) but gave it up to be a tour guide. He was born and breed in the Pantanal. I bumped into another Kiwi for the first time so far. He was in my tour group - an aucklander (i will let that slide lol).......actually a very cool guy as I guess all travelling kiwis are!!!!!
Santa Clara lodge was awesome. A really tranquil place with loads of birds chattering all day long. But very peaceful and relaxing. We had the swimming pool and also hammocks to laze around in when we had down time from activities. I met a very cool English couple who are on their honeymoon and it turned out his brother lives in NZ (married to a kiwi) and they live just down the road from my sister in Aucks! So Nick and Nic you might have a random english couple called Clive and Claire turn up on your doorstep around Xmas time! The first night was a laugh - it was a case of spot the newbies.....Avi, Clive, Claire and I sat at a dinner table and thru our whole meal we were bombarded with insects, bugs and whatever else! It was horrible and we were thinking how we were going to handle that for the next 3 days!! It turned out we were sitting under a ceiling fan and all the insects were getting blown directly down onto our plates and into our food from the fan!! We had to laugh in the end.......needless to say we didnt sit at that table again!!
The next 3 days were awesome! HOt but awesome! We went walking in the forest, did a jeep safari and spot lighting at night, a boat safari down the river, piranha fishing and horse trekking!!! We saw lots of caimans (look like crocs), the biggest rodent in the world (these look like small rhinos with brown hair all over them and are about the size of a big pig), otters, monkeys, racoon type animals, iguanas, deer, and lots of bird life! Woodpeckers, tucans (these are cool!!), baby storks (the symbol of the pantanal), and so many more!!!!! My favourite would be the big blue macaws which are amazing birds! Unfortunately no anacondas or jaguars to be seen boo hoo...........
I loved the boat trip - it was hilarous and Im sure would never pass inspection in NZ! 9 of us got into a dinghy with a small motor, with no life jackets and off we went down the river. Another group had two boats full of people - one of the boats was lashed to the other and off they went down the river like that!! Very amusing!! At one point we stopped and Carlos told us to jump in and swim in the piranha and caiman infested water!!! So we did!!! I freaked out tho and lasted about 3 minutes only!!
The piranha fishing was another highlight....standing in 40 degree heat at the rivers edge with a fishing rod made out of bamboo and baiting our hooks with beef!!!!!!!!!! It was disgusting!!!!! I almost puked every time I put the bait on the hook. The piranhas just start attacking the bait the instant it goes in the water and there is definitely an art to hooking them!! We were basically swinging them up out of the water onto the bank when they took the bait. I caught heaps but they kept falling off back into the river!! We got enough to have one each for dinner tho! Not the best fish i have tasted.....they deep fry them whole and you get about two forkfulls per fish!!
I didnt want to leave the Pantanal because it was such a great place to relax but unfortunately it was time to move on.....Avi and I went with 3 other girls in our group to a place called Bonito......it was a 5 hour drive over mostly dirt roads into a cute little town. It definitely lives up to its name (Bonito means beautiful in portugues and spanish). On the way we spotted two ant-eaters. What incredible animals!! I have never seen anything like them before!
I will leave the Bonito stories for my next blog..............and I hope there will also be photos for you all!!!!!!!!!!
Foz Do Iguazu (Iguassu Falls)
It has been a while since I updated my blog and I have done so much in the last 10 days! It was raining when I landed in Foz do Iguazu so I taxied straight to my hostal ($18 for a 5 min ride!!!!!!!! little did i know there was a $1.50 bus there grrrrrrrrr) and settled in for the rainy night. When I arrived the place was deserted and I thought that I would never meet anyone.....of course everyone that was staying there was out at the Falls for the day and they all trudged in totally soaked that evening. I was in a dorm with two really friendly Irish sisters which helped with my feelings of being totally alone! The hostal is great and is situated in farmland in the middle of nowhere making it a really peaceful and relaxing place. That night myself and the Irish girls met a few other backpackers and a group of 5 of us organised to go to the Argentinian side of the falls the next day. We arranged a taxi from our hostal which was much easier because the driver took care of all the border exit and entry stamps for us both ways and waited for us the whole day at the Falls. What an absolute hoot the driver was......an argentinian guy who cracked jokes the whole way in whatever language he was speaking - couldnt understand a word ha ha - i think it was a cross between portuguese/spanish and english. He told the guys we were with that his name is Dracula and he told us girls his name is Antonio Banderas! Total crack up! We found out that he has 18 children to 9 wives!!!!!!!!!!!!!! His latest wife is 25 apparently lol. He looks about mid 60s i guess!
Wow wow wow the Iguazu Falls are incredible!!!! We took a boat ride which went right up to the falls - everyone was screaming and hooting and we got totally saturated. Great fun and it meant we stayed cool because it was a stinking hot day! The best and biggest part of the falls is called the Devil´s Throat in english. Masses of water - its just incredible!!
The following day I went to the Brazilian side of the falls. Its also incredible but in a different way. The Argentinian side gives you the close up view whereas the Brazilian side gives you the overview of the whole Falls.
I met a guy from Malaysia (you are famous now Avi ha ha) who was at the hostal and he decided to jump on the overnite bus with me to Campo Grande for the excursion into the Pantanal Wetlands..........overnite bus rides leave much to be desired.............I froze the whole way...........
I have tried to put photos up but for some reason the hostal I am in now wont recognize my camera! Soon soon i hope!
Wow wow wow the Iguazu Falls are incredible!!!! We took a boat ride which went right up to the falls - everyone was screaming and hooting and we got totally saturated. Great fun and it meant we stayed cool because it was a stinking hot day! The best and biggest part of the falls is called the Devil´s Throat in english. Masses of water - its just incredible!!
The following day I went to the Brazilian side of the falls. Its also incredible but in a different way. The Argentinian side gives you the close up view whereas the Brazilian side gives you the overview of the whole Falls.
I met a guy from Malaysia (you are famous now Avi ha ha) who was at the hostal and he decided to jump on the overnite bus with me to Campo Grande for the excursion into the Pantanal Wetlands..........overnite bus rides leave much to be desired.............I froze the whole way...........
I have tried to put photos up but for some reason the hostal I am in now wont recognize my camera! Soon soon i hope!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Rio de Janiero
I am really lucky that I have the Big Guy up above looking out for me! Apart from the mishap of losing my luggage I have had a fantastic time in Rio. On my flight from New York to Toronto I was seated ne*t (the letter after W doesnt work so readers figure it out ha ha) to a guy called Lloyd (lloyd i told you i would write about you). Lloyd and I talked non-stop the whole flight - you could not find two people more chalk and cheese - seriously - he couldnt believe I was travelling alone, with a backpack, for 3 months, no hotels, no fancy restaurants, only having a vague idea of where i will head ne*t! He thinks Im totally unique and totally crazy and we laughed non-stop (i should say i laughed at him.....) LLoyd booked his holiday to Toronto a month in advance and has spent the last month searching the internet for restaurants and making reservations!! ha ha who does that ha ha. lloyd seriously u cracked me up! He wouldnt dream of backpacking and I told him he needs to go to NZ and he will meet many people just like me lol. Well - there is only one me but you know what i mean!
On my connecting flight to Brazil I was seated ne*t to Gustavo who is Brazilian. We got talking and he said he would help me out with finding the right bus to take me to Rio de Janeiro from Sao Paulo which was awesome! We arrived in Sao Paulo, Brazil to find that my backpack had not arrived with me! Gutted! The airline said they would locate it and send it on the ne*t flight from Toronto.....yea right...they should make that a Tuis add.......enter Gustavo...my brazilian angel......Gustavo stayed with me the whole time in the airport to talk with the Air Canada staff about finding my bag and then he took me in the ta*i his company pay for to the bus station (bout 30mins drive from airport) and the ta*i driver waited while Gustavo took me into the bus station, helped me buy my ticket, took me to the right gate for getting on the bus and then said goodbyes and left to go home! Total angel for sure! I looked on the bright side.....i didnt have to carry my pack to Rio - they told me they would deliver it to my door there.
On the bus to Rio (a 6 hour journey) I got talking to the only english speaking person on the bus and his friend, Mike and Monica, who are from the states and Mike just happened to speak Portuguese and has been living in Brazil for a while! So, another angel to help me out with language difficulties during the bus ride. While on the bus I realised I had no idea where I was supposed to meet the people I was staying with in Rio. I had no idea what they looked like and also knew that they spoke no english so trying to call was out of the question! Ahhhhhhh......i got off the bus and just stood in one spot for 5 mins until someone resembling Tulio (my friend in the Mount) came up and grabbed me saying Carla Carla....ha ha i nearly cried!
I have been staying with Walter and Jacqueline in their tiny little cute apartment in an area of Rio called Grajau for 5 nites. They have been so good to me, totally going out of their way to make me feel at home, feed me, clothe me (i had to wear all Jacqueline's clothes including underwear!!!!!) and drive me around Rio every day. It has been so awesome and they are the bomb. Totally amazing family - they have 3 young sons, Mathius 11, Lucas 9, and Samuel 6 and they live in a 2 bedroom place. The boys shre a room. When i arrived they took the mattresses from the boys room and moved them onto the floor into their bedroom and gave me the boys room - this is how out of the way they went to make me feel comfortable. The whole family speak no english which has been a total crack up at times. Never the less, with my spanish and somewhat very limited Portuguese and numerous hand signals we have been able to communicate no problem for the whole time. Its amazing how you find ways to communicate without language! My portugues has improved dramatically which is cool and now i speak a mad combination of spanish, portuges and english and somehow get understood. Wicked!
Unfortunately the weather has been not so great in Rio. I arrived late on Friday night and it rained for 3 days after that so going to visit the famous Cristo Redentor and Pao de Acucar were out of the question. You cant see them on a cloudy day let alone rainy! Walter and Jacqueline took me to shopping malls and a museum on the first day. Oh yea - Brazilians are freaky crazy drivers man!!! Insane! I had to close my eyes......everyone zips in and out of the traffic and toots horns at each other and drives twice the speed limit. Cops seem to be ornaments here and not sure how much use they really are!
Walter and Jacqueline have feed me amazingly well - i have never eaten so much queijo (cheese) in my life and they are stoked that i now have a little round tummy to take on my future travels ha ha. Brazilians love to eat!!!
Finally yesterday we woke up to the sun shining and we went to Cristo Redentor (the famous MASSIVE statue of Christ on top of a hill) - it is absolutely incredible. Up close it is huge!! And then after they dropped me off at Pao do Acucar (sugarloaf mountain) where I took a cable car up to the top. Amazing, incredible views!! I thort the $33 charge was a bit steep at first but when i got to the top (i had a free tour guide as well) i realised it was definitely worth it and I recommend it to anyone going to Rio!
Walter and Jacqeline are Christians and took me to their church, Maranatha. Really cute little place near their house. They go to church every day here! The first nite it was awesome just to sit and listen and have no idea what they were saying. Amusing...and then last nite the pastor brought his son along and got him to sit ne*t to me and translate the whole service - songs included!! Turns out their church is the same church we built the school at in Tijuana! Crazy but not coincedence im sure.......
Im now sitting in Foz do Iguazu - decided to fly here to save myself the 24 hour bus ride from Rio.........its pouring down with rain and there are hardly any travellers about so it is a bit lonely at the moment....i hope to meet some people when I go to see the amazing water falls tomorrow!
On my connecting flight to Brazil I was seated ne*t to Gustavo who is Brazilian. We got talking and he said he would help me out with finding the right bus to take me to Rio de Janeiro from Sao Paulo which was awesome! We arrived in Sao Paulo, Brazil to find that my backpack had not arrived with me! Gutted! The airline said they would locate it and send it on the ne*t flight from Toronto.....yea right...they should make that a Tuis add.......enter Gustavo...my brazilian angel......Gustavo stayed with me the whole time in the airport to talk with the Air Canada staff about finding my bag and then he took me in the ta*i his company pay for to the bus station (bout 30mins drive from airport) and the ta*i driver waited while Gustavo took me into the bus station, helped me buy my ticket, took me to the right gate for getting on the bus and then said goodbyes and left to go home! Total angel for sure! I looked on the bright side.....i didnt have to carry my pack to Rio - they told me they would deliver it to my door there.
On the bus to Rio (a 6 hour journey) I got talking to the only english speaking person on the bus and his friend, Mike and Monica, who are from the states and Mike just happened to speak Portuguese and has been living in Brazil for a while! So, another angel to help me out with language difficulties during the bus ride. While on the bus I realised I had no idea where I was supposed to meet the people I was staying with in Rio. I had no idea what they looked like and also knew that they spoke no english so trying to call was out of the question! Ahhhhhhh......i got off the bus and just stood in one spot for 5 mins until someone resembling Tulio (my friend in the Mount) came up and grabbed me saying Carla Carla....ha ha i nearly cried!
I have been staying with Walter and Jacqueline in their tiny little cute apartment in an area of Rio called Grajau for 5 nites. They have been so good to me, totally going out of their way to make me feel at home, feed me, clothe me (i had to wear all Jacqueline's clothes including underwear!!!!!) and drive me around Rio every day. It has been so awesome and they are the bomb. Totally amazing family - they have 3 young sons, Mathius 11, Lucas 9, and Samuel 6 and they live in a 2 bedroom place. The boys shre a room. When i arrived they took the mattresses from the boys room and moved them onto the floor into their bedroom and gave me the boys room - this is how out of the way they went to make me feel comfortable. The whole family speak no english which has been a total crack up at times. Never the less, with my spanish and somewhat very limited Portuguese and numerous hand signals we have been able to communicate no problem for the whole time. Its amazing how you find ways to communicate without language! My portugues has improved dramatically which is cool and now i speak a mad combination of spanish, portuges and english and somehow get understood. Wicked!
Unfortunately the weather has been not so great in Rio. I arrived late on Friday night and it rained for 3 days after that so going to visit the famous Cristo Redentor and Pao de Acucar were out of the question. You cant see them on a cloudy day let alone rainy! Walter and Jacqueline took me to shopping malls and a museum on the first day. Oh yea - Brazilians are freaky crazy drivers man!!! Insane! I had to close my eyes......everyone zips in and out of the traffic and toots horns at each other and drives twice the speed limit. Cops seem to be ornaments here and not sure how much use they really are!
Walter and Jacqueline have feed me amazingly well - i have never eaten so much queijo (cheese) in my life and they are stoked that i now have a little round tummy to take on my future travels ha ha. Brazilians love to eat!!!
Finally yesterday we woke up to the sun shining and we went to Cristo Redentor (the famous MASSIVE statue of Christ on top of a hill) - it is absolutely incredible. Up close it is huge!! And then after they dropped me off at Pao do Acucar (sugarloaf mountain) where I took a cable car up to the top. Amazing, incredible views!! I thort the $33 charge was a bit steep at first but when i got to the top (i had a free tour guide as well) i realised it was definitely worth it and I recommend it to anyone going to Rio!
Walter and Jacqeline are Christians and took me to their church, Maranatha. Really cute little place near their house. They go to church every day here! The first nite it was awesome just to sit and listen and have no idea what they were saying. Amusing...and then last nite the pastor brought his son along and got him to sit ne*t to me and translate the whole service - songs included!! Turns out their church is the same church we built the school at in Tijuana! Crazy but not coincedence im sure.......
Im now sitting in Foz do Iguazu - decided to fly here to save myself the 24 hour bus ride from Rio.........its pouring down with rain and there are hardly any travellers about so it is a bit lonely at the moment....i hope to meet some people when I go to see the amazing water falls tomorrow!
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