Brazil
Well that was Brazil! So, we visited just two cities in this massive country and yet we are scratching the whole country off the map back home. It seems wrong, but sometimes doing the wrong thing feels right so that’s exactly what we did!
.
By Shri & Firuza
Intro
Hello everyone and welcome to our South America blog! We’re very excited to share this journey with you as we’ll be hitting some significant milestones along the way which include: visiting our 5thcontinent, visiting our 30thcountry (remember we’re trying to do 30 countries before we’re 30) and seeing 2 of the modern 7 wonders of the world which takes us to a total of 6 (one more left to go after this!).
More importantly than all the milestones and ticking things off the list, this was another amazing opportunity to explore a part of the world we hadn’t seen before and discover Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and even get a glimpse of Chile (but not enough to scratch it off on the map though). The only downside was we’d miss the final series of Game of Thrones and the final Avengers film while we were away – but at least there’d be no spoilers as we didn’t have internet access for half the trip and in any case, portrayals of violence, incestual behaviour and ridiculous egos can’t be more entertaining or interesting than magnificent landscapes of the southern hemisphere…can they?
We’ve included details along the way about each place but if anyone wants further information about flights, accommodation or even any of the tours please either comment or message us (using the contact page) and we’ll come back to you with hopefully some helpful responses. Now, first stop Rio!
Rio De Janeiro
Whenever we told anyone we would be visiting Rio they always said the same thing – “be careful”. At this point we’d done a fair bit of travelling, and never been told to “be careful” as much as we were now (excluding Shri’s mum throughout life). We heard a lot of stories of muggings and daylight robbery both before and after our visit from other tourists and so we took some precautions, which are advisable if visiting the city. First, we prepared a drop-down wallet for Shri to carry in his pocket. This consisted of a couple of US dollars, some old credit cards (all expired) and an old California driving license (also expired). He also took an old brick phone with him that was probably ancient enough to still have the ‘snakes’ game on it. This way if anyone tried to pick-pocket or mug us then they wouldn’t get anything of much value to us. In the meantime, money and actual cards were carried in a fanny pack, which he kept hidden under his shirt. Firuza meanwhile carried nothing except a smile.
We arrived in Rio late in the evening and headed straight for our hostel in the Botafogo area called Aurora Hostel. This place was very relaxed about security, even though there was a huge favela visible behind it. There were no keys needed to enter the place and also none needed to get into your rooms. We did find this strange on the first night as we thought anyone could just walk in but by the end of our stay realized that actually nothing seems to really happen around here, and the Hostel has blended in quite well with the community. The staff also recommended we hike up to the Christ the Redeemer statue by ourselves as it would be free this way rather than go in a tour group. We also found this strange (especially after all the advice given by others) but after talking to them were assured that it should be fine.
We made our way up to our room but stopped on the balcony halfway there. Christ the Redeemer (or Christo Redentor) was visible from the Hostel and illuminated in the night sky, shining brightly from the top of Corcovado. We had just seen our 5thwonder of the world. The next day we would climb up to it.
Christ the Redeemer– We walked from the Hostel all the way to the entrance at the top of Corcovado. The route we took was completely isolated and we saw hardly anyone along the way. It took us a total of about 2 hours to reach the top and we had to adjust to the humidity and heat, which were just a bit higher than that in the UK.
Having seen only a few people en route, it was a bit strange suddenly seeing the place packed with tourists at the very top. They had all it seemed, come up using the tram, which we decided we’d take down instead of spending another 2 hours climbing. The statue itself did have a divine look about it, with the clouds drifting above; it was enough to make you feel dizzy or even nauseous if you looked up for long enough. Having been erected in 1931, it is the newest of the modern wonders of the world.
So, we joined in with the other tourists doing selfies and photos but secretly feeling superior to them all because we had hiked up whilst they had taken a tram. We are not sure if that was the best decision to hike up as many people had recommended against it, but we can only talk from our experience which was absolutely fine and without incident. Key thing to remember is don’t flash your valuables, keep a drop-down wallet with old cards and an old phone just in case. The safer option will always be to take the tram up and down.
Copacabana and Ipanema Beach– Well both beaches have quite the reputation and it’s quite apparent why. How many beaches are surrounded by mountains as well as having a major city bustling in the background. It makes for a spectacular view although it isn’t quite as amazing from the ground as it is from the mountains. The beaches themselves are not majorly different from any others but always seem to be packed and there’s a lot of activity going on including football and volleyball. Firuza struggled to pronounce Ipanema so that became known to us as ‘Empanada Beach’ (In case anyone doesn’t know an Empanada is a baked pastry). Just remember, don’t leave your belongings alone while you go in the water, make sure someone you trust is watching them for you!
Vista Chinesa– Built as a tribute to the Chinese, this view point does offer exceptional panoramic views of the city of Rio. We took an uber up here from the Hostel as it’s not so easy to access by walking or public transport and went with a few other people from our Hostel. We ended up detouring on some random path (unfortunately we cannot remember the name of it, but it was uphill and off the track from the Vista Chinesa). This led us to some of the most majestic views of Rio and to a rock which somehow became the focal point of an intense photoshoot (as it looked dangerous – which it technically was as you could fall). We continued on to another view point a bit higher but without the rock, we just couldn’t recreate the first photo shoot there.
We then made our way back down past the original rock viewpoint (so many memories already!), past the vista Chinesa and down the mountain all the way to a hidden waterfall. Not only did we discover this waterfall (okay, we didn’t discover it we just went and looked at it), but we also saw some monkeys here. Following the experience we had in Hong Kong last year, Firuza took special care to keep extra distance from the monkeys and made sure the bags were all handed over to Shri as soon as she saw them.
Other Stuff
Well would it be a trip to Rio if we didn’t visit the Escadaria Selarón? Well the answer is ‘yes it would’, but it just wouldn’t be the same! These world-famous steps are the artwork of Chilean artist Jorge Selarón. They have become iconic of Rio and have even featured in music videos as well as other media in recent years. We took a walk up them amongst the many tourists, with lots of stalls along the side where you could buy souvenirs, drinks or even an Acai (frozen fruit quite popular in the region- which turns your tongue purple). As you can imagine, we took a lot of photos of the steps as you do!
Other noteworthy places included having lunch at Bob’s Burgers – probably just because of the name. We also got some experience of the Rio metro system, which was actually pretty good and easy to use.
Well Rio, you’ve been amazing but unfortunately that’s it for us here! A very short visit (only 2 full days) but we may yet be back again in the future! 2 days is enough to do what we did, but you probably need a bit longer if you really want time to properly explore the city and chill on the beaches and get a good sense of the nightlife. Next stop for us – Iguassu Falls!
Foz do Igaucu
We travelled from Rio directly to Foz do Igaucu by plane as we had limited time on the trip to cover a lot of ground and we found internal flights in Brazil were fairly easy to arrange (although not quite as cheap as flying around South East Asia that’s for sure). We ended up staying at quite a random hostel called the ‘Tetris Container Hostel’. This place is built entirely from recycled shipping containers in a Tetris formation and is apparently the largest of its kind in the world. The place was pretty cool although there was a leak in the dorm right above Shri’s bed and this was where he got ill, but as far as we know it was only this room with the leak problem – the others were probably fine…
Iguassu Falls– So why did we come to Foz do Iguacu? Well, this city in the state of Parana, is home to one of the world’s most amazing waterfalls which stretches across the Brazilian and Argentinian border and spans almost 3km long; Iguassu Falls. We took a bus from our hostel to the falls (the buses are very cheap and probably a better option than uber or taxis here) and then spent the whole day in the national park looking at the falls.
This was one of the most stunning sights we’d ever seen in a single view and looked like something from a Lord of the Rings film. Standing amidst the falling water, observing the sheer size of the falls was extremely humbling and made us realize that, this really is a wonder of the world and never mind the 7 actual modern wonders. Our only regret was that we weren’t able to visit the Argentinian side of the falls, which is supposed to be even more breathtaking. But that’s a reason for us to head back to South America in the future.
But every positive comes with a downside. While they appear innocent enough and quite cute, the coatis, which are a member of the racoon family, dominate the national park and can be found wherever there is food. While these fury little guys don’t really cause any issues when you’re on the bridges and trying to get an epic shot of the falls, they will go wherever the food is. So, if you can, avoid eating while in the park because they will go after it and they are not afraid of you. We didn’t eat anything while we were there, but we noticed them swarming wherever the restaurants were and many people still feeding them despite being told not to. We’ve seen a few YouTube videos of minor coati attacks but at the end of the day it all comes down to being sensible with your food and definitely not trying to feed them. There are facilities in the park in case you do get bitten by them too.
So well worth a visit to the Brazilian side of the falls and from what we saw you can take excursions form here to Argentina or even Paraguay if you want. There’s also a bird park you can visit if you have some extra time.
Local Food– Pão de queijo which is a popular Brazilian snack (basically cheese bread rolls) was all anyone had told us about when we said we’re going to Brazil. But, our most memorable food experience had to be a Brazilian steakhouse in Foz Do Iguacu the day after we saw the falls.
It was Easter Sunday and pretty much everywhere was closed, that is except this steakhouse down the road from the Tetris Container Hostel. So, we went in, realized it was a buffet and so went up to get our salad. The meat on the other hand was brought around to each table by a Brazilian man with a chunk of meat and a massive knife. They’d offer us the meat after explaining what it was (which animal and which part of the animal). This seemed like quite good table service at first as we didn’t have to get up and the meat just made its way over. But soon, they were popping up every few minutes and we’d barely made a start on the huge pile of meat on our plates. We had to start refusing, which led to the servers giving us very sad looks – it was as if there were some sort of quota and the chef had a rule that they could not come back to the kitchen with meat. Incidentally, when we did accept it (after taking mini breaks between) they seemed very happy and jolly and practically skipped to the next table. We noticed that we accepted a lot more from the server who spoke fluent English and who always seemed to manage to find a way to convince us to take a little more on our plates.
All in all, a very interesting experience. If you do go, make sure you are starved or that you’ve eaten nothing all day to get the most out of it. And also, try not to go with someone who will not eat their fair share as Firuza expected Shri to have half of hers and so the pile up all went to him in the end. It might seem good to start with but the never-ending supply that you are coerced into continuously accepting can become difficult to keep up with!
Well that was Brazil! So, we visited just two cities in this massive country and yet we are scratching the whole country off the map back home. It seems wrong, but sometimes doing the wrong thing feels right so that’s exactly what we did!
Stay tuned for the next part of the trip as we’re heading to Peru for an epic trek to Machu Picchu.
D. Wolfstaedter
24 May 2019Lovely again! It is pure joy to read ur blog and see your serene faces along the lines! More! Soon!
E kimachia
26 May 2019Well done guys! Loving the blog!
shirishj
16 Nov 2019Great to hear Esther – plenty more to come 🙂
Amanda Knaggs
26 May 2019Love your blog, brings back many memories of my backpacking trip to Brazil back in 1990. I’ll share some pics with you as so many look similar. Thanks fro sharing this with me 🙂
Parviz
29 May 2019An enjoyable description to a great trip cuz! Loved the photos and everything!
ปั้มไลค์
29 Jun 2020Like!! Thank you for publishing this awesome article.
Mark
10 Sep 2022Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.