Singani in Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz was HOT! It's a biggish city very different from the rest of Bolivia.  In the Eastern lowlands it's developing as a big commercial centre but it's not really a tourist destination.  More a chance to do a big laundry and catch up.  

We managed an early morning sort of Park Run in a dilapidated park and visited some art galleries and walked up the bell tower.  We also started taking our Diamox altitude tablets inpreparation to fly to Sucre.

We had moved from the land of the caiparinha to the land of Chuflay, a mixture that is suppposed to be hangover resistant.  It's based on a spirit distilled from Bolivian wine and while I wasn't impressed with the ginger ale and sprite it's mixed with in Chuflay it goes down a treat with plenty of lime and a dash of sprite with plenty of ice.  Best taken on a roof top bar late at night.

The next day was a 25 minute flight up to Sucre.

Hammocks and humming birds in the Pantanal

.We had lunch in the base lodge in the blistering noonday heat and started to see proper wildlife.

This is a capybara with attendant parasite remover. 

And here's a stork with baby in the nest. After lunch we transferred to a tractor trailer for the dirt road ride to the fazenda where we claimed our hammocks in a great big room with screen sides and some fans.  They were really comfortable apart from the heat. Our guide was Paolo who was glad to see we were interested in birds and had a fantastic ear for birdsong and seemed to know at a glance what things were. We had a 2 hour walk with him towards sunset and saw loads. 

This was a rare and tiny Toady Flycatcher nesting just outside the hammock room and below is a caiman - we had to watch out for them as they climb out of the lake at night and walk across the path. They are timid creatures. 

The next day saw Verity and I up for sunrise and again saw loads of birds. Our tally for the 2 days was 55 but there was no guide book so we weren't sure of others.

One of the loveliest birds is the Hyacinth Macaw - usually seen in pairs or bigger groups with great long tails streaming in flight.  I managed to find a feather for my hat.  A word on technology. Verity thought the SLR with zoom telephoto would be too heavy (1.7 kg in fact) so we took Miner Marshall's advice and bought a nearly new Panasonic LUMIX with fantastic zoom (450gm) and these are the fruits of mainly Verty's handiwork..

We were definitely the sad gits of the tour - the only ones with binoculars and keen to see a lot more than the others.  For the others there was of course the ever present caiparinhas near the campfire and made in buckets.  Even I knew when to call it a night. 

For those familiar with Wales units the greater Pantanal is 8 times Wales and floods after the big rivers bring the water from the highlands. It was very dry for us but at least we escaped the midges with liberal use of DEET. I would definitely be tempted back at April time. We did get to go piranha fishing and we ate the ( team ) fruits of our labour. In other words we just spent a couple of hours feeding bait to the greedy beggars. By the way they are delicious. 

The next day was a long day travelling first by the tractor trailer enlivened by seeing various kingfishers and deer, followed by transfer to minibus to Bolivian border which took ages waiting for a stamp from a bored official.  All of life was there from little old ladies in bowler hats, through travellers with unicycles on the road for two and a half years to the slightly bizarre picture of a family of Mennonites - Dad and five boys in overalls and caps and Mum and daughter in old fashioned dresses and head scarves - all blonde as could be. Apparently there are 7 or 70,000 in Bolivia.

Then an extremely slow overnight train through the flat hot desolate Eastern lowlands of Bolivia to Santa Cruz taking just 16 hours. Luxury.

More to follow.

Snorkelling in Bonito

GgThe town of Bonito has only recently changed from being a supply station for the vast Pantanal to a tourist destination because of the attractions of the surrounding clear rivers and caves in the limestone scenery.

That's my rather inelegant dive into one of the natural swimming holes. The day was scorching and gave a taste of what was to come. We probably wouldn't have chosen this as a day out, standing around and consuming yet more caiparinhas and guess what? more barbecued meat, but Bonito has limited charms otherwise. 

The real deal in Bonito is the chance to snorkel down to the Rio Plata in a small group. People we had met doing the trip the other way all rated it highly.  After a rough ride down dirt tracks you get to the fazenda and have some instruction and get kitted out with the gear which appears ridiculously hot in the baking sun. You have a half hour walk down through the thick forest and eventually get in to the river to familiarise yourself with the gear and my latest gadget - a waterproof cover for my camera.  Just as we got into the water a giant otter wriggled round our legs and swam around. A fantastic sight.

The experience was fantastic and I would thoroughly recommend it. If we hadn't done this bit then Bonito wasn't really worth it. We were lucky because places are so limited to protect the river.  Nice to finish the day drinking beer and listening to live music.

Up early to run at 5.30 but still too hot and then we headed off in a minibus into the Pantanal proper.

Iguacu Falls - one of the 7 natural wonders of the world

We took the very early (5.30) bus to Sao Paolo which is a huge city in the South of Brazil and flew up to Foz de Iguacu. It was an orange juice and packet of peanuts flight if you know what I mean. 

The bus goes up the very windy pass over the sierra del mar and after that it was a long flat ride.  Then straight to the Falls to walk along the Brazilian side. Apparently October is the best time to see the falls because of all the water falling beyond that Sierra flows Westwards to the Falls.  From Brazil you have a magnificent view of the river as it splits and falls over the basalt cliffs in a multitude of falls.  

The guide said it was better to do the Brazil side first because you get a better VIEW but when you go to the Argentinian sde the next day you get INTO  the falls.  There are Toucans to see and the nasty raccoon like Qatis (they bite) but the falls themselves are overwhelming especially as we got there late and there were less tourists (by the way we are travellers not tourists) and lovely evening light. 

This is our group - we have managed to use discretion when too much heavy drinking has been going on (well not so much discretion on Jim's part - Ed) 

We  got back to the hotel and went out to the guides house where they regularly arrange barbecues for the groups. There followed the usual Brazilian over consumption of meat and a mini samba display by two relations dressed in all the gear. Let's face it the costumes don't hide a lot and certainly not the advanced state of pregnancy of one of the girls. Verity and I made the wise decision to make a quick exit at 11 while the others stayed til 2. 

The next day it was a slightly convoluted trip to the Argentinian side crossing the wide river and showing passports then into the (slightly shabbier ) Argentininan park where you do a slightly tatty walk and tractor trailer ride explaining the wildlife to get into the boat.  We had been warned and so changed into bathers and put everything else into a dry bag. 

See what I mean about experiencing the falls? Apparently the very next day nobody could take a boat trip because there was just so much water coming down - we would have been gutted. It was slightly crazy - a bit like having a warm shower and adrenaline rush at the same time.

There is a special swallow which lives behind the falls (safe place heh?) and we could see them clinging to the rock next the plummeting water.  The falls were certainly (one of) the highlights so far.

The evening meal was a Rodizio which literally means going around.  You pile your plate with salads and carbs and men come round constantly with skewers of ever kind of meat fresh from the grill (anyone for chicken hearts?) and all for £6.50 per person. 

The next day we  went to a bird park where they were trying to breed endangered species. It certainly helped later trying to identify species in the wild. Then we had an overnight bus to Bonito on the edge of the Pantanal a huge flat area which floods after the rainy season brings water down in the big rivers. The bus was an interesting experience. I'll leave it at that!

Paraty

Time was when the only way out for all the gold in Brazil was down the old road from the mountains to Paraty and then by boat to Rio.  Then they built a road from the mines and Paraty was left in suspended animation. It was only this century that they built a road along the coast and it became a tourist attraction (and UNESCO heritage site). 

We had a mix of food with a first experience of a "per kilo" restaurant. Basically they weigh your plate first and you pay for the food you put (ie pile) on it.  It's matched only by the Rodizio (which means going around).  We  paid 25 Brazilian Reales or £6.50 and you pile your plate with salads and frit and vegetables  or cassava  and wait for tehe guys to come round with skewers from the barbecue. This could be finest beef or pork or ham wrapped with cheese or chicken hearts or beef or pork ribs or unkown (but still tasty) bits of undisclosed animals. I know some friends who would love this experience (that means you Williamson).

Travelling in South America is of course fraught with dangers but I never realised that even oysters could be dangerous.  This was the sign up by the old fort seen in an early morning run.

The next day we went along with the arranged tour which was billed as the Caiparinha Boat. Essentially a days cruise on a boat while the crew made bucketfuls of the brazilian national drink. It was made bearable by stopping at remote beaches to swim from the ship and in one place we climbed up the rocks and jumped from the cliff.  Fortunately i wore my sandals and so did NOT rip open my feet like one girl did on the aforementioned oysters. Now I understand why they are so dangerous. 

We took the opportuniy to go to some falls where there was a natural rock slide of about 30 metres and a plunge into the cool water at the bottom.  Unfortunately, I went over a bump and whacked my Ischial tuberosity - a literal pain the rump.  The last day we rented truly awful bikes and went to another waterful.  There was an abandoned distillery with the remains of a hydroelectric turbine used to power up the Alembic.  Stopping for lunch at a roadside kiosk we could see humming birds and fantastic butterflies to make up for the missing gears and pushing up the hills.

And so it was time to set off for the big falls.  An early morning set off to Sao Paolo and a flight up to Iguassu. More to come.....

Ilha Grande

Travelling West from Rio there is a beautiful "Green Coast" so the tip to sit on the L side was well worth it.  There are hundreds of small islands which shelter the coast and all seem covered in dense forest.  The biggest one is Ilha Grande which has only one one small town and no roads connecting all the other tiny settlements.  

The boat ride was a bit slow due to someone realising they were on the wrong boat after ten minutes, requiring a U turn. Later on it was quite a swell and the wind got up so it was quite cold. And then the engines stopped. At this time I was in the loo trying to balance while it swung around and eventually the captain managed to start it up.  We had been eyeing up the life jackets up til then. 

The accommodation was quite basic here with intermittent hot water but breakfast was the usual mix of the healthy - different sorts of fruits, and the decidedly unhealthy - cake.  In general food in Brazil is heavy on pasties and baked stuff. In fact I've just had a brilliant idea involving "The great Brazilian bake off" on the beach with bikini clad contestants. I'll work on it. 

Next day I was was keen to do the hike to the famous Lopes Mendes beach on the far side of the island and everyone joined in. Aine and Linn set a cracking pace and we sweated over the hills but it made it all the more worthwhile when we came to the largely deserted beach with clear water and crashing surf. As you can see we carefully observed the warnings.

The rest of the day was spent sunbathing and bodyboarding (and did I say there were cold beers?) and then a great ride back by water taxi

We did the walk up to a waterfall past the ruins of the Lazaretto they built to deal with all the pox ridden immigrants coming to Rio. Later from 1920-1960 it was a penal colony. Thinking of what was to come it barely qualified as a waterfall. 

Dinner was on the beach at a restaurant where music played and the Caiparinhas flowed as the waves lapped on the shore.  We both felt that beach life is great for a couple of days but we would both get bored. 

The next day it was back to the mainland and bus along to the old colonial town of Paraty......

Rest of Rio

 There was so much to do in Rio we have left ourselves things to do for a return trip. We really enjoyed the benefits of staying with Hero and Jim, not least because of Earl Grey tea which we may not get again til Lima.  One morning we joined in Hero's yoga lesson up on the deck - brilliant venue.

Here we are going up the Sugarloaf by cable car with the kids. Everywhere you go there's a view of water in one of the many bays around all the mountains. 

We also did a free walking tour of the centre and saw the old Confiteira Colombo which is a posh cafe where the Queen had tea when she was here.  There's an interesting contrast with Buenos Aires which  seems to have peaked earlier in economic terms so has some great older buildings but they are now falling down, whereas Rio is much more thriving.

Rio is definitely all about beach culture and there are some great views to be had. 

For our final night we went out with Hero and Jim to a great club in Lapa with a live band for salsa and samba and they had a violinist lead for the second set.  For food we went to a little bar with Portuguese tapas and had beers and caiparinhas - the national drink of cane spirit, sugar and lime with lots of ice.  There are variations with any number of fruits and fruit juices or made with vodka as the spirit, but I go for the original (more of which later). 

Before we left we visited the apartment Jim has just had renovated, with a fantastic deck overlooking sea and mountains, it's just about to go on the market.  If anyone is interested let me know!

So it was to say goodbye to Rio and join our group which was smaller than we expected. Just us and our guide and 4 girls in their mid twenties, 2 English and 2 Norwegian. More to follow from the Costa Verde coming up.......

Running in Rio

This is the view from the top of yesterday's walk, starting down there on Ipanema beach where we are staying. And yes the girls are tall and slender and lovely and I have to stop myself going Aaaah when they go past. Young people should google Girl from Ipanema to understand the reference. In one walk we went from rich beach life through a favela and up into dense forest where we saw leaf cutter ants, a troop of meko monkeys and a Chilean Eagle with the inevitable vultures. You should be able to make out Christ the Redeemer just to the left.

The day before we had a great tour of Rio with the inimitable Dolores who drives people around in her tiny buggy attracting lots of attention.  Seeing around the different areas with a fund of information from her gave us a great sense of how complicated Rio is (in many different ways). Brazil was the last place to do away with slavery in 1880 and now about 30% of Rio's population live in the favelas - some with fantastic views that would cost a fortune in a mainstream area. We thought we heard gunfire but it was just fireworks being let off to warn people that the police were coming into the favela. 

Christ the Redeemer is very impressive in many ways - it certainly is massive and the surface is covered with a mosaic of tiny pieces of soapstone.  These were distributed to every parish in Brazil and all the old ladies got to work grinding away to fit them into little squares which could be put together on the statue like crocheting squares for the world's largest tea cosy. They would scratch the names of family members on each one and Brazilians feel they should visit and see Cristo at least once in their lifetimes.

Our first day on the  beach was hazy but hey... it's all relative. On Sundays they close the road along the beach and all the world and his wife are there running, cycling, playing beach volleyball, sunbathing and surfing but in every case....posing.   

It's been a tough day so far - up at 6.15 to go running the 7km path around the lagoa and then cool off in the surf.  We've just had a yoga lesson up on the deck of the apartment and this afternoon we are going up Sugarloaf with the kids when they finish school.  What a wonderful place to grow up.