Island Hopping

Our second day in Paraty we took a scenic boat tour of 2 beaches and 2 islands. At every stop, all aboard hopped in the beautiful blue water for a swim/snorkel to cool down and check out all the different fish. When we were back on the boat someone spotted a really creepy looking fish that kind of resembled an eel, but had a long pointy nose and didn´t look like something we would like to get too cozy with. It was too quick to snap a photo, but I just have to report all of the critters we have run into on our adventure. The boat tour was very relaxing, as our guide (who only spoke Portuguese of course, so we didn´t get the audio tour to go along with the sights) sang and played guitar for most of the day trip. In the evening we went out for dinner in the old town and then watched the streets fill up for Carnival with street performers and spectators.

Paradise in Paraty

The places that you have the least expectations of when you arrive seem to steal your heart the most and Paraty is no exception. We are staying here for four nights, two of which will be the first nights of Carnival, because it will only be a 4 hour descent onto our last and final destination of the famed and chaotic Rio de Janeiro. When we first arrived in the wee hours of the morning, the bleak little main strip didn´t seem very promising all but all changed when we woke up to the sun and the hustle and bustle of a gorgeous beach town. Paraty is similar to Colonia, having a historic old town that sits on cobblestone, architecture from the colonial days and a pier lined with boats. Paraty is however, much bigger and hosts some of Brazil´s best beaches and islands. We walked all over taking in the views of mountains and water before taking a trail over to a beach to do some kayaking. We kayaked to a nearby island that looked so inviting and picturesque. That night we went to a buffet BBQ at another hostel and then joined in on the street parade that rung in the first of many Carnival nights to come. You think Canadian´s have unhindered spirit when it comes to sporting events and holidays, you should have felt the street vibe in Paraty last night! And this is only the beginning...

Rainy Daze

Well, all our complaining about the heat brought us two days of rain in Floripa and lots of time to browse at the street market and get to know other people staying at our hostel. We were both feeling a little sentimental leaving Sunset Backpackers because all of the great people we met there. The rain kept us away from the beach, but not from going to the city center and finding fresh coconut milk, corn on the cob and coconut treats. On our last day in Floripa we went and checked out the sand boarding on our way out of town. The typography of the island is incredible because it has lots or rolling hills either covered in exotic trees or draped in sand dunes and beaches scattered everywhere in between. Sand boarding is a big tourist attraction no doubt, the sand is so white and soft. We drove to Curitiba which is inland and to the North of Brazil just to stay one night before giving up the rental car and busing to Paraty. I say "we" drove, but really it was all Aaron and I have to give him credit for surviving driving the crazy streets or Brazil. In Canada, people´s road rage is unnecessary and luckily not an everyday occurrence. In Brazil, people use their horns like they´re getting paid for it and motorcyclists weave in and out of two lane traffic like they are in a video game or something. The only comforting thing, if you can call it that, is that no one here drives like that because they are actually pissed off and no one on the receiving end takes it personally. It´s just the way the driving culture is here. Looking up motor vehicle accident stats from Brazil is on our to-do list for when we get home for sure! Needless to say, we both came out unscathed and a little more thankful for Canadian driving conditions.

We were only in Curitiba long enough to eat and sleep before catching a bus to Sao Paulo and then onto Paraty. We caught the bus at 9 am and only drove an hour before all traffic was delayed for 7 hours because of a landslide. We sat on the bus for 4 of those hours before attempting to figure out what was going on. Everyone spoke Portuguese and only Portuguese except for one guy from Holland who caught wind that we were struggling with the language barrier and came to our translating rescue. He and his Brazilian girlfriend were so nice, they kept us updated on the status of the road reopening and even got us on the bus to Paraty that we surely didn´t think we would be able to catch at such a late hour leaving Sao Paulo. All was not lost, as we arrived in Paraty at 4:30 am and didn´t have to forfeit our hostel reservation or sleep in the sketchy Sao Paulo airport until the morning.

Floripa is the new Cali

We are in Florianopolis, Brazil on the southeastern coast and the beach is our only escape from the heat. Its about 30 degrees here, but the humidex must be busting through the roof because my hair is curly, skin is moist and thong bikini spotting's have become second nature. Floripa is definitely leaving a great first impression of Brazil for us, as we have already seen two fantastic beaches, eaten delicious seafood, slurped back papaya/mango/banana smoothies that were made right in front of us on the beach and went to a pre-carnival pool party in the ritziest part of the island. We have a rental car and GPS that Aaron bought before we left home, so we have been flying around the island checking out the lifestyle of the locals. Our hostel is right by Barra da Lagoa which is apparently the most popular beach here and we went for a walk down to the shore side the night we arrived and caught an outdoor soccer match on sand between two local teams. We have wanted to see a futbol (soccer) match since BA, but the time schedules never work with our travel plans so it was cool to bump into this live, outdoor match. The way of life here is really interesting because all the locals are so family oriented. Down on the beach that night everyone was out with their kids, either playing games or fishing. Fishing is very prevalent here and my first indication of this was when we were driving to our hostel and I looked out into the water and girls in their bikinis had nets in the water trying to make a catch. You don´t see that everyday! We have already discovered which beaches have warm water and which side of the island to go to for freezing water when we just cant handle sweating anymore. We can´t seek refuge in either our hostel (our room has 12 beds and only 3 fans and all the doors are open all night) or our rental car because neither have ac! Today however, we woke up to overcast skies and maybe 4 per cent less humidity than the days prior. We drove to the south of the island and hiked 90 minutes over a mountain to a beautiful and what I am told is the most secluded beach in Floripa. There were only about 15 other people their which is miraculous when trying to fathom the hundreds on the other beaches we had visited. I´m not complaining about the crowds though because the beach vibe is the best way to experience Brazilian culture in my opinion. You get an experience for all the senses, between the waves, the people and the vendors selling exotic fruits, snacks and goods.

The hike into Praia da Lagoinha do Leste was another jungle-like experience with its unfamiliar plant-life and the incessant bird squawking. We ran into a massive spider that gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. If we haden´t ran into as many passing hikers along the trail as we did I would have totally chickened out because this mountain seemed like something you would see on an African safari trek. I sang songs and talked to myself (as Aaron just walked along unphased) as if I was back in bear country, where the more noise you make means the less of a chance a bear will come upon you. Apparently that was my piece of mind and solution in case we ran into a jaguar, snake, monkey or poisonous spider. Eek! I may be being dramatic, but we are in a foreign country where a little bug dope and our scrawny Canadian legs might not protect us. Getting to the clearing made the jaunt well worth it because we had a great view and pretty much the whole beach to ourselves. Did I mention how nice the sand on the beaches is here! We made it in just enough time to take in the views and head back up the trail before thunder, lightening and rainfall began. Imagine walking through the wilderness in Brazil with the echo of thunder coming at you from ever pocket in the trees as rainfall beads down. Exhilarating. Not too long after the hike, Aaron caught the stomach flu and was horribly ill for about 6 hours. A kiwi staying at our hostel supplied him with nausea and stomach cramp pills that act as an antihistamine and it seemed to help. By today he is feeling much better and I think we are going to go to the market and enjoy the rest of our time in Floripa before we head north tomorrow.

Creepy Crawly Critters

As much as I love sleeping in 6 bed dorm rooms every night and as much as I know it is just part of the backpacking fun, I do not love bed bugs or fleas or whatever we just got rid of! I had lost count of my bites before Aaron started getting them and then suddenly the vicious little things were popping up all over my face and the two of us were acting like a couple of flea-ridden pets. It only put a small damper on our fun however, as we proceeded to wash everything we own, fumigate, soak ourselves in bug dope, treat the existing bites and take allergy medication. It was probably bed bugs, but the thought did cross our minds that it could have been fleas because I may have petted a stray kitty back in BA. Oops. Anyway, we survived and now have all the resources to battle any bugs that should cross our paths for the remainder of the trip.

To take our minds off the invasion, we ventured away from the hostel to do a 4 hour excursion from our hostel in Iguazu back into the depths of the jungle. We went canopying through the trees and repelling down a waterfall. Both were a ton of fun and the repelling has definitely sparked an interest in trying abseiling in me. We also got to see some of the landscape, namely tons of red dirt, vines hanging from trees (Tarzan style) and some of the locals at work and play. The people of Iguazu appear to live very poor, many in shacks, but that didn´t kill there ability to wave frantically at us as we drove by.

We enjoyed our hostel thoroughly for four nights and met a ton of great people. Today we flew to Florianopolis, Brazil. A new land, culture, language and best of all, food for our enjoyment. I will report back soon. Ciao!

Montevideo at a Glance

After our lovely visit to Colonia we thought we should check out Uruguay´s capital city, Montevideo. We arrived on Monday afternoon on the bus and set out to explore right away because we were leaving to Iguazu early the next day. We stumbled onto another cemetery that has massive burial plots, statues and walkways through it. We were the only people in the place, other than a homely looking woman feeding stray cats and a maintenance person. It was a little eerie, but beautiful all in the same. This cemetery has memorial plaques actually built into the walls, which is neat. We rented bikes and rode along the city´s waterside on a pathway to some of Montevideo´s best beaches and planted ourselves on Playa Pocitos to catch some rays. The water in both Colonia and Uruguay has been mucky from silt, so it hasen´t been the most enticing for swimming and we are looking forward to Brazil for that very reason. Montevideo was neat to see, but we are happy we were there for only one night because it didn´t offer anything we had not already experienced in both Colonia and BA. We did manage to catch a really good singing performance by some locals in a pub we ate at for dinner, which was fun. South America thrives on its music and dance, which is one of its best qualities. This performance was just a sneak peak at what wonders are in store for Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.

Oh and if I haven´t already mentioned, South America is a mecca for stray dogs and cats. My heart goes out to all these animals that are skin and bones. Check out how deformed this little kitten´s ears are. Sad. Also, a little tip for anyone traveling to BA in the future. Watch where you walk, the streets have piles of dog poop everywhere!

Jungle Fever in Iguazu

We are back in Argentina at Puerto Iguazu which is home of the amazing, dazzling, all-encompassing waterfalls that swept us off our feet. I have never seen Niagara Falls but my suspicion is that Iguazu falls would win in a falls-off. Hands down! In order to really picture our Iguazu experience though, I need to brag about our hostel that is more like a Mexican beach resort. Massive outdoor poor, thatch roofed hut where an Argentine bartender makes mixed drinks and shows off his flare (for all you non bartenders, ´flare´is when bartenders spin liquor bottles like Tom Cruise in Cocktail. lol.), nightly buffets, a tourist desk right in reception, pool tables, ping pong, laundry service and best of all air conditioning! If I haven´t mentioned it´s been smoldering hot for most of our journey thus far and ac is often hard to come across. The hostel is so good because there is literally nothing in the town and we are quite comfortable with laying poolside whilst sipping $2 Pina Coladas.

Back to the falls. We set out to Iguazu National Park, where you can take a short train ride right up to the ´Devil´s Throat´which is the closest and most impressive experience of the falls. You can feel the mist off the falls far before you actually get up to them and when you do, it´s pretty hard not to get a little emotional...and WET. We were soaked! After the Devil´s Throat we walked to the lower circuit and the higher circuit which provides a more panoramic view of the falls and shows just how vast they really are. The photos we took do not do this world wonder any justice! Walking through the insanely dense jungle alone is awe inspiring. We saw hundreds of butterflies, some looking up to six inches long, and ran into a lizard on a pathway we were taking down to the base of the falls for a boat ride. A wild, massive lizard. In the jungle. Brilliant! We hopped on a boat that brings you to two different areas of the falls and brings you as close to being under them as possible. Totally thrilling and refreshing in 30 degree heat.