twelve countries twelve months » brazil

The Beautiful North

robcheek — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:31:50 +0000

We have just spent the most relaxing ten days of our trip so far in and around Salvador in the north of Brazil. The relative pricing structures of Brazils transport infrastructure left us with an impossible decision; should we get to Salvador on a 30 hour bus, or for the same price take a 2 hour flight ?! We got off the plane and found a city full of music, dance, colour and finally somewhere with some decent spicy food!

Salvador

Terreiro de Jesus, Salvador

Salvador

The centre of Salvador has an amazing atmosphere, completely different to elsewhere in Brazil. There were street artists performing Capoeira, samba drummers in the cobbled squares, and endless live music in the open air restaurants. In amongst it all were women in traditional dress serving acaraje (a tasty snack of peeled brown beans and dried shrimp) and men with polystyrene cool boxes over their shoulder selling cheap ice cold beer.

Getting out of the city we moved inland to Lençois where we messed around jumping into rivers, swimming under waterfalls and exploring impressive caves. Feeling in danger of being too active we headed to the beautiful beaches of Arembepe and Imbassai on the Linha Verde noth of Salvador. There we lounged around eating more acaraje and drinking more ice cold beer.

Messing about on the river!

Lençois

Stalagtites, Lençois

Underground river, Lençois

Lençois village

Arembepe beach

Lunch in the river, Imbassai

Imbassai beach

Imbassai

Rio – hated it, loved it!

robcheek — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:02:36 +0000

“If you see someone appear with a machine gun then don´t take their photo.” These were the first words we heard from our guide when we went to visit a favela (Rio’s version of a shanty town where one in four of Rio’s residents are said to live). The second thing he said was “See that guy behind me in the black shorts with the walkie talkie, he is a drug dealer.” After that tense start we managed to pass through the favela unscathed though, getting a good insight as to how its occupants live. Like most of the 1024 favelas in Rio, the one we visited was built on a hill. We rode to the top of the favela on the back of a motorbike then walked down through the mismash of houses.

Inside the favela

Favela

Within an hour of arriving in Rio we hated the place! Fresh from a 19 hour overnight bus we headed to the taxi stand, but convinced we were being offered an overpriced tourist rate, decided to get a bus to our hostel instead. It wasn’t until a bit later that we realised we had no idea how to get to our hostel by bus, and before we knew it we were wandering aimlessly around downtown Rio. Tired, hungry, carrying all our bags in near 40ºC heat. It was when the sweat started dripping down the outside of my trousers that my hate feelings towards Rio really kicked in!

However, two days later, when we drinking caipirinhas on Copacabana beach, having admired the spectacular setting of the city from the top of Sugar Loaf mountain, I decided I had been a bit harsh on the place!

Enjoying a caipirinha

View from Sugar loaf

Rio from above

Our trip up Sugar loaf

Not really!

Overlooking Copacabana

At the top of Sugar loaf mountain

No visit to Rio de Janeiro would be complete without checking out the 38m Christ the Redeemer statue which looks out over the city from the top of the 710m peak of Corcovado. We also found plenty of time to stroll along Ipanema and Copacabana beaches and of course swim in the sea.

Christ the Redeemer

Ipanema beach

Iguazu

robcheek — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:47:29 +0000

Iguazu Falls

Rach has been laughing at me all trip saying that the only four things that I like to see during travelling are waterfalls, squares, hills and views! She is definitely right about the waterfalls though – I can’t get enough of them, so I was really happy when I got to spend two whole days checking out Iguazu falls.

Rob full of excitement on the way to the falls

Eleanor Roosevelt is rumoured to have said “Poor Niagara” when she first saw Iguazu falls and she wasn’t wrong. Their size, power and even noise are staggering and the volume and flow rate of water is incredible. Here are some numbers for you:

Number of drops 275
Height of longest drop 82 m
Length of falls 2.7km
Flow rate 6,500 m³/s

The falls are on the Argentina-Brazil border and can be viewed from both sides. Argentina came first, where you can walk right in amongst the different falls. It was amazing to get so close to the water and every corner seemed to bring an even more impressive view.

The next day was Brazil’s turn, where you get a grand overview of the falls, and can also walk out to a platform in the middle of the river and get an excellent view of the highlight – the semi-circular Garganta de Diablo (Devils Throat). The power of the water here was overwhelming – just the spray was enough to get us soaked.

Close up

Grand overview

Impressive flow rate!

Rach on the Brazilian side

Iguazu

Garganta de Diablo

Pretty butterfly

Iguazu

There were some cool old photos in the Brazilian visitor center taken before Iguazu falls became a tourist attraction. They show people perched dangerously on rocks above and beside the falls, and people swimming under them. I did take my trunks with me, but apparently swimming isn’t allowed any more!