Brazil -- The End of the Trip

Hello and Happy New Year!

Shortly, I'll be joining Carrie out in California, as we prepare to head back to reality. Until then, I might as well write about what we did to finish our epic South American journey. At Iguazu Falls, we crossed the border from Argentina to Brazil. Our original plans for Brazil included locations up in the Northern Coast, but due to fatigue and lack of time, we decided to simplify things.

After our time at the Brazilian Falls and Itapu Dam, we boarded a plane to Rio de Janiero. Our plan was to first investigate the island of Ilha Grande, then finish the trip in the city of Rio. With that in mind, we rode a 3 hour bus from Rio to the town of Angra dos Reis, where we found a place to stay for the night. The next morning, we investigated boats to Ilha Grande. We discovered that the "official" ferry left town at 1:30pm, but there appeared to be some "unofficial" looking guys willing to take us at 10:30am. Since we were eager to get to the island, we decided to take our chances with the unofficial boat. While it seemed a bit shady at times, it turned out fine, and 1.5 hours later, we were at the island.

From Ilha Grande, ...

The Island consists of one main town of about 3000 people, and has no cars besides one emergency vehicle. We quickly discovered that people freely walk down the main streets barefoot and in swimsuits (which don't consist of much in Brazil). We stayed at the Pousada Beira Mar, owned by a friendly German named Lutz, who thankfully spoke perfect English. Lutz enjoyed telling us his many travel stories and was very helpful in helping us decide what to do while on the island.

Ilha Grande is supposedly home to over 100 beaches, so needless to say, the primary activity on the island is going to the beach. The most famous beach on the island (and possibly in all of Brazil), was Praia Lopez Mendes. To get there from the main town, we could either hike 3 hours each way, or ride a 45 minute boat followed by a 30 minute hike. For the first day, we hiked to the beach, stopping along the way for a pleasant lunch along the water. We also stumbled upon some monkeys along the hike, but since we were scared of theft, we didn't have our camera with us to take pictures.

The next day, we went on a boat ride / tour, where we got to see other parts of the island. At one stop, we hiked into a cave, which got quite claustrophobic as crawling was necessary at times. Once we got further into the cave, there was a pool of water where we could wade and observe fish swimming in the distance. Outside the cave, we also made a boat stop at a lagoon where we did more swimming and snorkeling, before stopping for lunch and heading back.

On our third day on the island, we decided to take the easy boat ride back to Lopez Mendes beach, and bring our camera. Here are some photos:

One of the boat drivers:

From Ilha Grande, ...

The beach:

From Ilha Grande, ...

Drinking out of a coconut while waiting for our boat ride back:

From Ilha Grande, ...

As we waited for our 5pm boat ride back, we noticed ominous clouds moving in. Around 4:45, rain started falling. Since we were in our bathing suits, we weren't too bothered by this at first. However, after boarding the boat, the rain started coming down harder, and the roof of our boat was not shielding us all that well. Midway through the boat ride, the rain was pouring down in sheets, with high winds blowing the rain horizontally into the boat, where it pelted us with a hail-like strength and intensity. Our boat driver struggled to steer the boat due to the blinding rain blowing directly into his eyes. Huddled together with the fellow travelers, we couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Thankfully, we made it back safely to the town and dried off.

It rained for the remainder of our time on the island, so we spent most of the time relaxing after attempting to hike in the rain and realizing it was not a good idea. After that, we left the island and headed to Rio de Janiero!

Our first hotel in Rio was the Hotel Vermont, in Ipanema. Due to repeated warnings from travelers, family, and Ilha Grande residents, we were extremely cautious with our belongings in Rio, and therefore didn't bring out the camera much. Ipanema was a nice area, with the town having decent (but expensive) shopping, and the immense beach two blocks from our hotel. The beach itself was quite the scene, with all sorts of different types of people crowding together enjoying the sun and very intense surf. We ventured in to test the waters, and quickly realized that we were no match for the immense waves and strong current. Instead, we enjoyed the sun and witnessed the interesting sport of futvoli (volleyball without hands). The video below is from youtube -- we didn't take it:



We also took in some Bossa Nova, and I was thrilled to watch some great music after so much Andean Flute and Tango, which hadn't excited me as much. One night, we went to a smaller club, and the next, we went to a 3 floor club where they had a 10 piece band! The music was great at the clubs, and I also bought numerous CDs from the local bossa nova music store.

After a few days in Ipanema, we switched hotels and moved to Copacabana to finish the trip. Since this was the end, we decided to splurge, and we got to enjoy this view from our hotel room:

From Rio de Janier...

One day, we decided to visit Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer). This immense statue is located atop a mountain, and the view overlooks nearly the entire city. Here are some photos:

From Rio de Janier...

From Rio de Janier...

Another day, we decided to try hang gliding. Here, we were driven to the top of a mountain, where we got strapped into some wings with a guide, then ran off of a platform and hoped that our wings would fly!



For our last night, we sipped caipirinhas along the beach, before heading to a churrascaria for some all you can eat meat!

From Rio de Janier...

All in all, I really enjoyed Brazil. Over time, little things kept happening that made us really appreciate the people and culture of Brazil. From the fresh fruit juice stands and snack bars at every block, to people politely asking at restaurants if their smoking is bothering neighboring tables (and doing something about it if it was), to the music, to the beaches, to the laid back personalities (despite our lack of Portuguese), I really felt at home here. I think Carrie and I both felt like if we hadn't been so tired and short on time, we could have spent a long time exploring Brazil. Perhaps someday we can head back to Brazil to explore some more!

Coming soon -- A final wrap up of the trip!

Quick thoughts at the end of the trip

Hello everyone!

Carrie and I are now in our last hotel, in our last city, Rio de Janiero, Brazil. It´s finally setting in that a trip that began with trips through the frigid Andes is now concluding with beautiful Copacabana Beach and 90 degree sun. For the last week or so, Carrie and I have decided to stop being "tourists" and just enjoy being on vacation. Therefore, we probably won´t be doing anymore extended blog posts or photo uploads, etc, until we arrive back in the USA. I promise though, when we get back, we´ll tell you all about what we´ve done in Argentina and Brazil over the last month and a half, and give a final recap and summary of the trip as a whole. There´s lots to write, but after seeing all the snow in New England and Chicago, beaches and bossa nova are taking priority!

Happy holidays to all, and we´ll write more when we get back!

Ecuador -- We managed to spend a month here!

Hello!

Carrie and I are in Quito, having finished our jungle and Galapagos tours. We've been watching the World Series here... let's just say that Red Sox Nation doesn't exactly extend into Ecuador, but the atmosphere is still fun. Many Ecuadorians cheer at any exciting play, regardless of which team is executing it. Needless to say, I'm quite happy with the results so far. As for our journeys, the last long blog post left off in Peru in Machu Picchu...

Upon arriving back in Cusco, we found that our hotel had evidently forgotten that we were due back, despite us telling 3 different people before we left. They only had a room with tiny single beds left, which we regrettably took because it was late and we were tired. The following morning, the hot water didn't work, which made us quite angry because we hadn't taken a good shower in many days. We decided to switch hotels, and from there things were better.

After taking a much needed hot shower, we tried to figure out the best way to get to Ecuador. We quickly found out that flights to Ecuador are very expensive. With that, we decided to arrange a flight from Cusco to Lima, followed by 2 days in Lima, followed by a flight to the Peru / Ecuador border. Once that was arranged, we decided to relax and enjoy our last few days in Cusco. Here are some photo highlights:

The Irish Pub in Cusco:

From Cusco, Peru

A random parade going through the Plaza de Armas:

From Cusco, Peru

The view of Cusco from the hills of Sacsayhuaman:

From Cusco, Peru

Gradually, I became a bit worn down by Cusco, mostly because of the relentlessness of the people on the streets trying to sell things to tourists. Initially, Carrie and I enjoyed getting begged to dine at restaurants, but eventually I got sick of having someone follow me around when I was just trying to walk down the street. In the end, I felt that many people in tourst areas of Peru saw us more as walking dollar signs than as people. Unfortunately, this gave me a rather negative final impression of Cusco, which is really a decent city.

After Cusco, we took a 1 hour flight to Lima, the capital of Peru. It was warmer there, given the coastal location, but it was still not hot, and it was extremely cloudy, as apparently the sun doesn't shine there until December. We stayed in the Miraflores neighborhood, which was actually quite nice. Our hotel showed lots of promise to be one of our favorites, until we realized that there was loud construction taking place from 7am to 6pm every day. Here are some photo highlights from Lima:

Parque del Amor ("Lovers Park"):

From Lima, Peru

The Plaza del Armas:

From Lima, Peru

Guards marching in front of the palace:

From Lima, Peru

One of the highlights of Lima was a seafood dinner we had. Here are some highlights from what we ate:

Carrie got Ceviche, which is raw fish that gets cured by the vinegar:

From Lima, Peru

I ordered flounder, which apparently is the fish to get in Lima:

From Lima, Peru

We then got 2 fancy desserts:

From Lima, Peru

All this, plus a bottle of domestic white wine, $58!

After Lima, we boarded a flight to Tumbes, which is a town at the northern edge of Peru, near Ecuador. Unfortunately, Carrie had the privelage of sitting next to Peru's fattest man on the plane. Once we got to Tumbes, as expected, a travel agent type came and talked to us, and offered us a ride across the border. We took the offer, especially once a local said he wanted to do the same thing. The border crossing was very confusing, and we eventually ended up ditching our travel agent, but we eventually made it into Ecuador and boarded a bus to take us to Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city and gateway to the coast.

Guayaquil was very hot and sunny, which Carrie and I were thrilled to experience again. We didn't spend much time there (we wanted to get to a beach town), but the highlight was the Iguana Park, in the middle of downtown! Iguanas were basically walking freely throughout the park, and people could get close to them and even touch them! Here is one picture of me attempting to bond with an iguana:

From Coastal Ecuador

After Guayaquil, we boarded a bus for Montañita, a coastal town known for its great waves, surfers, and nightlife. The town itself is very small, with only a couple main streets. On the main streets are a bunch of businesses that are all about the same: On the ground level is an open air restaurant that blares mp3s all day, and becomes a bar / nightclub at night. Above the ground level is usually some sort of hostel, with most rooms or common areas containing many hammocks to lounge out on and relax. Carrie and I settled on a $20 per night room that contained ocean views and a private balcony.

While in Montañita, we spent time seeing the ocean again, and began to shift our diet to shrimp, squid, and whitefish. Here is one of my favorite dishes that I had there:

From Coastal Ecuador

Here is a surfing shot:

From Coastal Ecuador

Unfortunately, our Montañita experience did have some minor downsides. Like much of the Ecuador coast, it was very cloudy and not especially warm at the time of year we were there. Also, there was an election in Ecuador the weekend that we were there, and so by law, the bars were not supposed to serve alcohol. Most places did not follow this rule for us, but the town seemed to have a much calmer and quieter vibe than normal. Finally, our delicious culinary experiences were interrupted by an ant infested breakfast that Carrie received. When we told the waitress about the ants, she simply wiped off the top section which had the most visible ants, and gave the plate back to us, still containing insects! So after the weekend, we decided to head out of Montañita.

Our next stop was a beautiful ecological hotel called Hosteria Alandaluz. This came highly recommended to us, and it did not disappoint. Carrie and I had a choice of places to sleep, and we settled on a private cabin for $32 per night!

From Coastal Ecuador

From Coastal Ecuador

It even featured an "ecological" bathroom where you poured sawdust instead of flush!

From Coastal Ecuador

From Alandaluz, we did multiple day trips. One was a canopy / zip line type place that wasn't expecially exciting, but the others were very memorable. We spent a day at the Playa Los Frailes, which was a beach located in a National Park. It's location was somehow set up such that it was actually sunny part of the time, and we could comfortably go swimming!

From Coastal Ecuador

The other day trip was to Isla de la Plata, which is known in some guide books as "the poor man's Galapagos". Since it was very similar to Galapagos, I'm going to postpone writing about it until I write about Galapagos (hopefully soon). You can view pictures from it in the Coastal Ecuador album on the photo site.

The Alandaluz experience wouldn't be complete without food... They specialized in seafoods accompanied by vegetables from their gardens. It was delicious. Here is one photo:

From Coastal Ecuador

After Alandaluz, we got ready to head to Quito. From there, we did the jungle and the Galapagos. Carrie and I will have more posts to come about those. The photos and some videos are now uploaded, so you can go to the full photo site and full video site (links in upper right corner of blog page) to get sneak previews! Until then, I wish everyone the best!