Oi,
The last 15 days were extremely intense and busy so I did not have much time to update my blog. For that you have my deepest apologies (and Maarten his :-) ).
When I left Puerto Iguazú to head for the Brazilian equivalent Foz Do Iguaçu, I immediately noticed that city wasn’t similar to the cosy Puerto at all! Lots of traffic, dirty roads, really busy etc...; on top of that my bus had had 2 hours delay so in the end I decided not to visit the waterfalls from the Brazilian side anymore (the Argentinean side was the best side anyway). I just left the terrible city and went straight to Curitiba.
T
he 26th of November I explored the cleanest and most European like city of Brazil, saw some of the finest architecture of Brazil (including a building in the shape of an eye that is an honour to the modern architect Niemeyer, who designed the capital Brasilia), frustrated myself on the limited amount of English people spoke here (the Brazilian Portuguese is unintelligible) and made a planning for the following days to come. It seemed it was going to be very intense and rushing was not ruled out.
The next day (27/11) Maarten arrived in my hostel in Curitiba (after a delay of 4 hours!!!). In the beginning it felt strange to see a familiar face again, but that feeling soon faded away. We had little time to chat at his arrival because of the tight schedule. Namely, that same evening we had to take the bus to the little cosy colonial town Morretes, close to Curitiba. There we finally had the time to come to rest and had a couple of beers at night next to the river Nhund
iaquara where only the floating stream and our voices could be heard. The following day we got up and went for a good strong morning walk in hot and humid conditions, crossing flooded streets and observing the junglish vegetation. Returning back, we had to check out from the beautiful hotel, after rapidly being taken pictures off by young teenage girls and we left back to Curitiba by one the most impressive railways of Southern America, crossing dozen tunnels and bridges and seeing the most beautiful landscapes in misty conditions.
Back in the city again, the planning suggested/commanded :-) a short pain which was going to Paraty that same evening; a trip that would last 13 hours. At this colonial town, located on the Costa Verde, our beach adventures started. We stayed in the Misti Chill hostel where chilling just plainly was our duty to fulfil (the walls had some of life’s best expressions, among them:
Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance).
The following days we wer
e very lucky with the weather (in December hehe) and went on a boat trip. We jumped of the side of the boat to explore the idyllic deserted beaches, snorkelled with fluorescent fishes and sunbathed like crazy so Maarten could show his family and friends he visited Brazil. Ah I forgot to tell getting on his nerves was part of the trip.
The first of December, we got up early to bike for the sliding waterfalls. On the way Maarten suddenly stopped because of piled up emotions/frustrations and su
ggested to use the word ‘Goozfraba’ (refer to movie anger management) every time one of us was verbally attacked. Come to think of it now that was a funny idea. We got there at the waterfalls after an extra half an hour steep climbing the wrong way and tried to imitate the Brazilian experienced guys. We attempted to surf our way down but after a second we smacked down with our faces on the slippery stones.
After this waterfall gliding we had to hurry back to catch the bus to Angra Dos Reis and from there take the ferry to Ihla Grande, an island that contains one of the most beautiful beaches of Brazil and where only a few police cars and an ambulance are allowed to ride.
We went to that Brazil’s top 5 beautiful beach called Lopez Mendez on foot (the beach surrounded by jungle reminded me of the beach shot in the series Lost), relaxed, swam in the blue clear water and turned back into the jungle encountering monkeys and a 3m long green snake. I saved your life Maarten! Remember this forever… :-)
After another boat trip we headed for the city of God: Rio De Janeiro, where we arrive
d exhausted the first night so only went to bed early. It started raining really bad so we left the island at the perfect time. The fifth of December we explored the city’s shopping mall, walked to Sugar Loaf (large rock) and stranded finally on the playas of Copacabana and Ipanema. That same night we decided to witness the winning Samba school of last years samba competition, which is held in the Sambadrome of Rio during Carnival. Those women really shake every muscle in their body at a frequency unseen. After watching the dancers do the samba, the musicians play the drums and after drinking a bucket of beer, we went back to the hostel at 5AM to lay to rest.
The following day we visited one of the 7 world wonders namely Christ the Redeemer, standing on the mountain of Corcovado (=Hunchback).
The statue is incredibly impressive and is watching over Rio in the direction the Portuguese landed here in Rio. We took the usual amount of pictures with my newly virus infected camera. Of course the ones I took were ok but the ones Maarten took were well … what shall I say less qualitative.
Sunday night it was the very important match Flamengo versus Gremaio on television in the pub nearby. If Flamengo won they were Brazilian champion and so finally they did after 12 years. The crowd went absolutely mental when the referee ended the game (2-1).
The next couple of days were relaxing, recovering from bowel issues and finally going to
a boat party Monday night to celebrate Maarten’s last night. The boat (with open bar) took us to open sea in the middle of the night where we danced all night long (Maarten not all night though). Arriving on shore again, no taxis or busses were to be spotted so I suggested to jog back to our hostel at 5AM in Rio De Janeiro. Jogging was probably a better option than strolling, as Rio is not safe during the night. We arrived in the hostel overheated and took an ice-cold shower before crashing onto our beds.
Tuesday the 8th of December Maarten returned back to Europe after a 12-day journey full of emotions (his quote). So, if you extrapolate my already 168 done days…
I will meet him back soon though.
Best regards
Splashing intense beach explorer Clint
Thanks:
