Beautiful Brasil

The first three things I noticed about Brasil: it`s hot, it`s expensive and man, is Portugese hard!

I started my two weeks in Brasil by crossing the border from Argentina. This was a lot easier than my last border crossing - I just got a taxi from one hostel to one on the other side and the taxi driver simply passed my passport through the window at each border, they took a look at me, gave me a stamp and we drove on. It was a bit of a pricey experience (about US$25) but it was either a nice comfortable, quick taxi ride. Or a mission on three buses with a backpack, which could quite easily have taken all day. Being a budget counscious traveller (read: tight arse) I would usually have taken the bus option, but I don`t think I could have handled another hellish border crossing experience. I may just have stayed in Argentina.

I actually preferred Iguacu Falls from the Brasilian side. Although in Argentina you get up close and personal with the water, on the other side you get much more of an idea of the scale of the falls - which is MAS-SIVE  - very impressive and beautiful. Niagara Falls has got nothing on these bad boys. This side was also a bit more organised, slightly cheaper, didn´t take a whole day to navigate and didn`t have nearly as many bloody tour groups. The only draw back was being chased by wasps at the cafe.

After a couple of days in Iguaca, I got the bus to Florianopolis (an 18 hour bus ride, on a less comfortable and more expensive bus than Argentina - welcome to Brasil). Florianopolis is situated on an island off the coast, connected to the mainland by a bridge. It`s stunningly beautiful with clear blue water, decent surf, white sand and a chilled out, beach town atmosphere - my kind of place. I stayed in a hostel that could only be described as an party hostel - and it was awesome. So I spent four days hanging out with a really good bunch of people (including more Kiwis than I have met anywhere else on my trip so far, and strangely, half of Melbourne seemed to be there too), relaxing on the beach and drinking very strong caipirinias. I also spent a day white water rafting for the first time, which was fantastic. It was a bit of a struggle to organise (we`re on Brasilian time now, man) and to get there, but luckily I went with some people who spoke Portugese. Score.
I would have liked to have stayed longer in Floripa (as it`s affectionately known) - in fact, when I originally checked in just for two nights, the guy on reception said "I`ll check you in for three nights. Trust me" and oh, how right he was. I`ve been flying by the seat of my pants so far on this trip and staying where I pleased for however long I pleased (one of the benefits of travelling on my own) but as I had recently booked a flight to Colombia from Rio, I had to sacrifice a day in Rio to stay an extra day in Floripa and I could sacrifice no more. So I got my last ever (thank the sweet baby Jesus) overnight bus to Rio de Janeiro. I sat next to a very nice man on the bus and, although he spoke no English, we had a nice chat about where I should visit in Rio and he showed me some pictures on his laptop and pointed then out to me in my guidebook. Thanks Ivo!

I arrived in Rio de Janeiro at about 8am and being the gung-ho backpacker that I am, I decided to do a

favela tour at 9.30am. A favela is like a slum or shanty town and there are more than one hundred in Rio alone. Now, you may question my motives (and sanity) in my decision to visit a favela but my reasoning is this: first, I selected an organisation that was approved by the community it ran tours to, and I made sure that some of my money went back into the community to help them - this particular organisation ran a daycare centre within the favela. Second, I think it`s an important part of traveling to not just be a tourist who enjoys the good stuff places have to offer, but also to learn more about the cultures and ways of life of different groups of people and do what you can (however small) to help. Our guide, Marcelo, was very passionate about this favela (Rocinha) and as we walked around the community, he showed us the good and bad sides. There is an incredible amount of gang related gun violence and drugs, which is very sad, and there is some work that can be done to help (thanks to Marcelo and organisations like his) but some things are unlikely to change (thanks, in part, to a pretty corrupt police force). But moslty, it´s just normal people, living normal lives - they have jobs and families just like everyone else. There were plenty of drug dealers around and brick walls imbedded with bullets, but I never felt unsafe. One of the best parts was visiting an art studio where I bought a canvas from one of the local artists.

I spent my remaining time in Rio (all of three days) eating Brasilian barbeque (so good), attempting to samba (so bad), checking out Christ the Redeemer, hanging at the beach (Copacabana was a bit dirty so I went to Leblon instead) and drinking fantastic and fresh tropical juice blends....and more caipirinias of course. The it was off to Ilha Grande, an island about four hours south east of Rio. The island is car free and therefore is very chilled out and somewhat unspoilt, with an odd fondness for Reggae. I spent three days here doing much the same as I did in Floripa. On one day I did a boat tour to some far flung beaches as well as Laguna Azur and Laguna Verde (guess what colours they were!) and snorkelled a bunch, and even swam with a turtle - a bit of a dream come true. I did, however, not see any monkeys. I seem to miss them wherever I go that they are supposed to be! Stupid monkeys. I also spent a morning hiking to Lopes Mendes beach and I have never sweated so much in my life. Oh the humidity!

After a somewhat relaxing few days on an idyllic island of secluded beaches (I say somewhat, as I should have listened to the inner voice that said "You`re on an island, it`s probably not a good idea to eat chicken - where do you think it came from?"), I got the boat and bus back to Rio. My flight to Bogota, Colombia was the following morning at 6am so I decided to not shell out for a hostel and stay up all night. I returned to the hostel I had been staying at in Copacabana to collect my backpack, and no-one seemed to notice that I just hung around. I watched some movies and managed two hours sleep on the couch, before getting the receptionist to call me a cab at 3am. Nice work.

And now Colombia.....the land of coffee and cocaine.....but oh so much more.....