I think Jonny left off in Buenos Aires where we caught yet another overnight bus to Iguazu falls. These spectacular waterfalls were slightly less dramatic than usual due to a drought in the area, none the less we were impressed and spent 2 days in the area seeing the falls from the Argentinian and Brazilian side. Our first impressions of Brazil were hot and expensive.
We caught ANOTHER overnight bus to Campo Grande, a large town in the north west which served as our gateway to the Pantanal wetlands. Unfortunately Campo Grande had nothing to offer in the way of tourist attractions - dining options were so limited that the freshest food we could find was at McDonalds.
The next day we set off in a rather crowded minivan to Pantanal. The tour was not exactly what we had been sold in the travel agency when we booked- our luxary private jungle lodge with all the mod cons was infact a fishing hut shared with 25 other middle aged fisherman on a boys weekend away. It all worked out OK in the end after Jonny and I got the frog out of the toilet....
Like Iguazu, the Pantanal region is also experiencing a drought, so the wetlands weren´t so wet, with lots of dried up lakes and river beds. We did a boat safari at dusk and saw more aligators than a trip to Australia zoo (our guide assured us they were the non man-eating kind), otters, monkeys, a camelion and lots of exotic birds. The boys were very dissappointed at the lack of jaguar and anaconda sightings but kept up a brave face.
The next day we went to the ranch for some `gentle pony trekking´. The horses seemed to have worked out that the quicker they went the sooner they got back to the stable for lunch so we galloped all the way home against our better judgement- very fun but a bit nerve racking. Jonny won by a mile on his lightening steed but couldn´t walk properly afterwards.....We also did a bush trek, a sunrise walk and piranah fishing (Claire got upset watching her fish die out of the water, I was so suprised to catch anything my fish got away and flapped back into the water and Jonny was just chuffed to catch a fish before Andy did).
It was then time for the ultimate bus journey, a mega 30 hrs to Rio on a very basic and rather crowded bus. Needless to say it wasn´t a trip highlight but we got there in the end and headed to a Copacabana hostel for some well needed rest. The next day was spent exploring Rios beaches and working up an appetite for the buffet to end all buffets for dinner. It was all you can eat for aprox 11 pounds and this included pizza, sushi, BBQ meats, salads, pasta, cheese etc.... Needless to say we all over-indulged, Andy thought he was going to pass out at one stage but recovered in time for dessert!
The next day we travelled to Ilha Grande 2 hours south of Rio, a beautiful tropical island with clear waters and white sandy beaches. The boys came down with a cold which turned out not to be swine flu, despite Andy´s initial concerns. We thought the hostel was OK until the party outside our dorm went on till 4.30 am and we realised we were too old for sleepless nights. So we found 2 lovely guest houses on the beach with no noise but the sound of the waves and spent the last 3 days walking, swimming, kayaking, drinking the local tipple (caipirinhas) and eating delicious fresh fish (who said old was boring!?).
Back in Rio we split forces again and found 2 lovely guest houses near Ipanema beach for the last 4 nights. Yesterday we all went up the hill to see the infamous Christ the Redeemer and spectacular views over the city.
Jonny and I did a tour of the favelas, which are Rios` shanty towns housing hundreds of thousands of people all over the city adjoining some of the nations richest neighbourhoods. We were assured by our guide that it was the safest place for tourists to be because the main industry is drug dealing. The drug barons are so keen to keep the police away from the area that they ensure there is no petty street crimes to attract them. We learnt a lot about the city and its people and some of the money from the tour goes back into the communities.
On the penultimate night in Rio we went to Lapa for a samba night, with lots of live music and the locals rather impressively strutting their stuff. Claire and I weren't desperately keen on the idea and Jon and Andy\decided against scaring the locals with what would have been the perturbing sight of us dancing together
The main activity on the last full day was sugar loaf mountain, although we discovered it was closed for a week when we got there as they were changing the cables!
That was pretty much it for, with severalbeach visits dispersed amongst the week. An assume and interesting place and luckily we managed to avoid the muggings that we heard so much about.
It's good bye from them, and it's good bye from me. Until next time...
XXXX