Saturday, 28 June 2008
UNLUCKY IN URUGUAY
After a bus marathon to Montevideo, Uruguay (40 hours, 3 buses!), we finally arrived in the early morning with only one day to see the city (due to a change in our boat departure time to Buenos Aires). And frankly, one day was enough... there really was very little to do or see, apart from a few crumbling colonial buildings and lots of second-hand book stores. After wandering the stinking, dirty streets for a few hours, we found an old bowling alley to pass an hour or so and then went to see a shockingly bad film (The Happening by M. Night Shite-amalan) at a crappy cinema! But thankfully it wasn't all bad as we went back to our hostel (absolutely freezing, no heating or hot water!) and spent the evening on the roof, chatting with some other travellers over a barbeque and a few Uruguayan beers. Next stop Buenos Aires...
ADIOS RIO!
Okay... so we didn't make it to any art museums (damn those Caiparinhas!), but we did take the cable-car up Sugarloaf mountain and we did buy some Havaianas. Our luck was in - our last night in Rio offered up a stunning sunset over the city, as the storm clouds rolled in. The following day, as we prepared to leave, the skies opened and we knew it was finally time to say goodbye to this fantastic place...
Thursday, 19 June 2008
WATERFALLS & RAINBOWS
We managed to get a great deal on return flights to Foz De Iguazu (by the Brasil/Argentina border), so the 3 of us flew down to see the famous Iguazu Falls - the largest in the world, consisting of 275 waterfalls and set in a unique location on the borders of Brasil, Argentina and Paraguay. We based ourselves in Foz De Iguazu in the great Hostel Bambu.
On the first of 2 days there we visited the falls on the Argentinian side, where we were able to get some great close up views and got thoroughly soaked when we took a boat quite literally into the falls. On the second day, we took in the breath-taking panoramic views from the Brasilian side. Lucky for us the sun was shining, so the spray was producing rainbows left, right and centre - perfect photo opportunities! After that we squeezed in a visit to the bird park nearby, which gave us the opportunity to walk through huge aviaries and see many of the native birds close up. Then we jumped back onto a plane to Rio, our third visit in 2 weeks...
ISLAND LIFE
Just a short 3hr bus ride from Rio and then an hour and a half boat ride is Ihla Grande, home of some of Brasil's most beautiful beaches. The 3 of us headed out there and were unfortunately greeted with miserable cloudy weather and a skanky hostel. But the next day we checked into a nicer, cleaner place (albeit with a shower that gave you electric shocks through the taps!) and spent the day catching up on sleep and had a bit of a wander waiting for the sun to come out. Sarita & David joined us that evening and we had the 'best pizza in Brasil'.
The following morning we woke up to sunshine and jumped on a boat to the beach. A short trek across the island, checking out the weird little monkeys on the way, and we found ourselves on the picture-perfect Lopes Mendes beach. Much frisbee, body-surfing, sun-bathing & beer consumption was had until we took the boat back into the sunset...
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