Planning to come to Brazil was difficult, it is such a big country with so much to see. Buses between places are very long
and cost the same if not more than flights. As a result we were limited in just how much of this big country we could visit. This was further impacted
by the fact we'd decided to be here for the Christmas and New Year slowdown.
Our plan was to start by visiting the second side of the amazing Foz do Iguacu waterfalls before taking in some of the local sea side areas and then
heading on to Rio for the major tourist sights. After this we knew we'd need to be stationary for the days surrounding Christmas day and so we decided
this would best take place on a nice beach island. We then wanted to be back on the mainland for the party to bring in the New Year before heading to
the Amazon rainforest to finish off our trip to Brazil having taken in as much of the different offerings it has as possible.
Brazil would end up being the first place on our round the world trip in 12 months of travel that we'd have a card cloned. While this didn't undermine
our experience of Brazil, Brazil certainly felt like one of the places you were most likely to be scammed, mugged of otherwise taken advantage of throughout
our entire round the world trip travels. Particularly in Rio De Janeiro and I can't simply imagine how bad it would be during Carnival or for the New Years
fireworks.
Having come from Central and some of South America before arriving in Brazil we were also surprised by the change in both type and quality of the food.
Brazilian food was much more expensive and left a lot to be desired compared to all of its neighbours in the Americas. This extended to the types of alcoholic
drinks e.g. wine on offer. I don't really know what we expected coming to Brazil but it has a very different feel to most of its smaller neighbours.
The majestic Foz do Iguacu waterfalls. One can only be in awe visiting these as you watch their tremendous power and the sheer scale.
With all that being said the Brazillian side of the falls is a lot smaller. The majority of the islands, river and view points are from the Argentine side.
This isn't to say it's not worth visiting from the Brazilian side but if you can only choose one the Argentine side has way more to offer. From the Brazilian
side it is mostly a long walkway overlooking the falls with a small walkway out to get some pictures close to the base of one section of the falls. We had
immediately crossed from the Argentine side to the Brazil side as our entry into Brazil so we had the privilege of an immediate comparison. I really do feel
these world renowned waterfalls should be visited from both sides. We had done this now with both Iguazu & Niagara Falls and felt although each side has different
takes that's sometimes what can make the different perspectives nice.
From Foz do Iguacu we headed to the airport for a flight one thousand kilometres away to the coastal town of Florianopolis.
A local beach resort town. It was clearly popular here with Brazilian locals, families on holiday among others. This wasn't a heavily foreign tourist destination. For us this gave it a nice break from some of the more touristy towns we'd visited beforehand. The water here was still fantastic, clear and warm enough. The weather being in the Southern Hemisphere was sunny and hot during December. We enjoyed are few days here chilling on the beach, swimming and getting in some respite.
Rio, Rio, Rio, a busy place. We had planned to do a few things in Rio like visiting favelas but we didn't
end up having as much time here as we'd originally planned. We were supposed to come through here and visit Christ the Redeemer and
Copacabana beach before heading out to a beach island for Christmas. Then we would return for the whole New Year period to welcome
in the New Year before moving on with our trip. Unfortunately despite us confirming three times with the hotel at varying times
that the booking was confirmed and having paid a deposit the hotel still tried to exploit the situation and fleece more money out
of us and refusing to refund the deposit. Little did they know we'd be in Rio earlier on and would simply turn up demanding our
money back :) As a result though we could no longer find affordable accommodation to stay at in Rio for New Years, so we did the
next best thing and headed to the more local town of Paraty down the coast. This did mean that we only actually ended up having
3 days in Rio in total.
During this time in Rio though we still got to see the impressive Christ the Redeemer, walk the length of Copacabana beach while
watching the numerous street performers and vendors and spend time relaxing in the sun.
Ah.... Ilha Grande, we couldn't have picked a more perfect place to spend Christmas. We were staying in a nice small town where we enjoyed sitting out on chairs with little tables looking out to the beach and ocean while hearing the waves crash. There is also so much to do here from visiting beaches, black sand beaches, hiking to ancient aqueducts, bamboo forests, colonial towns, spotting monkeys and who could forget Santa Claus arriving via speedboat. This had been just what we needed to recover from the fiasco of Rio.
One of our favourite things to do on Ilha Grande was to hike across the centre of the
island to the Dois Rios Beach. Taking 2 to 3 hours each way the hike really lets you take in the jungle and
natural side of this beautiful island. At the start the hike has amazing viewpoints back other the beach,
port and towns on the inhabited side of the island. Soon this gives way to a flatter track through the
jungle in the centre of the island before eventually opening out into what was an old town and prison complex
which has long been abandoned as it was. The prison here was one of Brazil's most infamous, some refer to it
as the Brazilian Alcatraz.
There are no hotels, no restaurants, for the most part no tourists or others around. This means that with some
effort even in Brazil you can find a long stretch of pristine golden sand to yourself. It really is a lost world
place where you can sit on a beach surrounded by steep jungle cliffs, explore the ruins of the large old town
and prison complex complete with abandoned vehicles, main streets and buildings.
Dois Rios was one of my favourite places in Brazil if not my worlds travel. The mix on Ilha Grande of available
connivences and then a moderate walk away total isolation was perfect for us.
We had hoped to be spending New Years on the famous party on Copacabana beach. But after being mugged off
by the hotel we'd booked we end up spending it here. As a result we got a more truly authentic Brazilian New Years experience.
While we were obviously bitter about missing out on one of the two biggest festivals of the year in Rio we had a fantastic experience
here. Also in terms of mainland beaches in Brazil from Paraty we reached the best one by miles. It took a bus and then a hike through
rain forest but on arrival it was a simply gorgeous beach like you'd been transported to an Oceanic island.
Paraty itself was a small colonial town with lovely cobbled streets and old style buildings. It was also an artsy place and if I have
to be honest it was a much nicer place to spend time then the congested, busy and tourist focused Copacabana area. As luck had turned
out we'd been able to see more of Brazil than originally planned and our trip had ended up all the better for it.
The Amazon, we'd been before and that meant we knew how unhospitable it could be wearing clothes
that fully cover you and still being bitten on the face and head is not really my idea of fun at all. Most of the wildlife
in the Amazon is hard to spot and wants to attack you. Really 90% plus is just insects. That being said we knew we just
had to see the Amazon again from the Brazilian side.
We set out on a transfer to the water's edge from the city of Manaus. We then got a boat to see the point at which the Rio
Negro meets the Solimões River. The dark waters and muddy waters from each river never mix giving a strange illusion where
two bodies of water flow in the same direction as one, but while never mixing. It was certainly a first for us even if it's
difficult to really focus from on the river itself. Next we got back on a transfer before reaching another smaller speed
boat which would take us to our accommodation for the night few nights in the heart of the Amazon jungle.
The only effective way to travel around the Amazon is by boat or foot. While we stayed here we were lucky to see pink bottlenose
dolphins swimming by as we sat out on the lodges decking. The lodge wasn't massive but it was well enough equipped to be comfortable.
Our days here consisted of boat tours out to watch the sunset come down over the Amazon river, hiking through jungle areas
to see the various species that existed here and canoeing through dense river forest. Yes we did get stuck several times
and yes several of us had to hack away at reeds and branches with machetes to enable us to progress. The Amazon had continued
to be the Amazon but we'd much preferred visiting it this way on a scale and more assisting local way than we had before in
Peru.
On our way out of Manaus we transferred via Sao Paulo for a couple of days before catching our flight on to South Africa.
Here we ended our trip through the Americas after 3 months. We had had traversed North to South a lot of which had been overland. We had originally planned to jet set to the Caribbean to have a relaxing end on a beach drinking cocktails. However after a year of travel we really weren't the same people who'd started out on this trip. For us at this stage spending a week on a commercial tourist beach with overpriced drinks just wouldn't have sat right, especially for the obscene costs. So off to Africa we went to touch yet another continent on this trip.
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