Iguazu Falls and into Argentina

From the Pantanal, Marama and I bused down to Foz do Iguacu, the town on the Brazillian side of the falls. Given that we weren't sure of our plan for the day and whether or not we wanted to stay on this side of the falls overnight, we figured we'd go and see what there was to see and decide later. So we put our bags in storage at the bus terminal and off we went.

We started at the Bird Park which is just before the falls entrance. We both really liked the park for the number of birds and especially the tucans which get up close and personal. They seem to be intrigued by the sound of a camera shutter and so would come right up to the lenses, poking at them with their huge beaks. There were so many different types and they were all so colourful. Definately my favourites at the park. There were also some macaws as well which were pretty cool, with one that you could have sit on your arm for photo ops. Very touristy but of course I climbed on the bandwagon.

After the bird park we hit the falls. I've had some people say to me that compared to the Argentinian side, the Brazillian side isn't really worth a look. I disagree. I thought the Brazillian side was really stunning. Once you get off the bus, they're almost right there in the sense that it's not a long walk before you get a glimpse at them. And they go for miles. Or at least I was told they were 3km long. Once you get to the major part of the falls you're able to walk out on a boardwalk which goes along the bottom of them. Here you're able to get the full impact of the spray that comes off them. Wet we got. You can then take a lift to the top of the falls to see the drop off, though I think I preferred the lower view. Here, Muzz and I met a really nice guy from Costa Rica who we had a drink with in the park hotel. Afterwards he accompanied us to watch the light show at the Itaipu Dam.

The Itaipu Dam is the third biggest dam inthe world though I think it's the largest in the amount of electricity it generates. It supplies 85% of Paraguay's electricity and 25% of Brazils. It also stretches for around 8km, with 3km of it being concrete. That said, it's pretty impressive, particularly at night (though I never saw it during the day) with the lights on it. The dam people also put on a wee show with a sax player and Cirque-de-Soleilesque girl on a ribbon. We all really liked the show though perhaps wasn't worth the exorbatent cost of the taxi ride out there (we were running so late that a bus was out of the question).

After seeing the light show it became apparent that we were staying the night in Foz. Particularly given that the show finished at 10.30, the same time that the luggage storage at the terminal closed. We then had to find ourselves a hostel which turned out to be no easy task. We ended up taking the last two beds at the third hostel that we tried. Who would've thought Foz would be so busy? On top of that we didn't have any of our luggage and I felt so gross with not having showered in more than two days and spending one of those on a bus. I guess this is all a part of the adventure though.

The following morning we headed to Puerto Iguazu, the town on the Argentinian side of the falls. If anyone is thinking of heading there, I definately recommend Hostel Inn to stay in. It's an incredibly huge, clean hostel with two bars, a huge pool and loads of land. I can see how it'd be easy to get stuck there. We however didn't as we had plans to the wazoo. After checking in, Marama and I headed to the triple fontier where the two rivers (Parana and Iguazu) meet, with the three countries of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Very cool when you think that you can see all three countries at once and take a quick boat across (or swim, if the current wasn't so strong). You can actually head down from the Argentinian side and swim in the river providing you don't stray too far from the shore. Given how hot it was, we decided to go in, especially having brought our togs with us.

From there we went into town to do some emailing and so forth. We were lucky enough to stumble across a tour company place that managed to get us a full moon tour for that night. They do these tours only five nights in a month and that night was the last night. If you are ever heading to Iguazu Falls, I'd do my best to try and plan it for a full moon and if you can, do NOT miss this. It was just the most magical thing I've seen the whole trip so far...and perhaps even ever. (The evening was a little marred by the fact that I wasn't able to get my camera to take any photos that showed anything at all, but on the upside, I was then able to appreciate the view from outside of the viewfinder of the camera).

We revisited the Falls again the following day, doing the full Argentinian side. We started with the inferior path walks and then taking the speed boat under the falls. This was a lot of fun as they take you out on the boats right up to the falls where you get REALLY wet. I tell you what, there is a huge amount of water that comes off them and as such, vision becomes severely impaired. I wasn't able to keep my eyes open for the amount of water coming down on top of us. After that, we did the superior path and then the Garganta Diablo (Devil's Throat). This is the piece de resistance of both sides of the falls, and what we had gone to see the night before by moonlight. Again it was very impressive and a totally different view to the Brazillian side. Here you're right up at where the falls go over and you're able to really appreciate the force and size of it. Absolutely amazing.

All in all a great way to end Brazil and start Argentina. The following day the two of us flew down to Buenos Aires to start the next and essentially last "leg" of our respective trips.

The Pantanal

After busing to Campo Grande, I met up with Marama as planned so that we could book our Pantanal tour together. This we did with Pantanal Discovery after I arrived as they clearly looked the better of the two options. (We were also considering Ecologicial Tours but for the same price, instead of sleeping in a lodge, it was hammocks and we both preferred four nights in a bed given the choice).

After arranging our tour, it was dinner time and we both thought that the street BBQ looked good. And it was. While eating dinner, we got to chatting to the owner of the BBQ place, a 22yo Brazillian guy with really good English. He invited us to go to a local party/club to samba and given we didn't know anyone and both thought a local party might be fun, we were both keen. However, this "party" turned out to be myself, Marama, the BBQ guy and his friend. Set-up? I think so. At the time, we figured what the hey and stayed around for a few drinks. We eventually decided to split from it though when after saying that we didn't have boyfriends (BIG MISTAKE in South America it seems), they thought they would take up that title. Just to disclaim, it never got hairy or anything and we never really felt in any danger but these Brazillian boys were persistent. I'll give them that.

The following morning we headed out to the Pantanal where we stayed at a pretty nice lodge, the name of which escapes me now. This is where we spent the next four days, with activities like boating the river, piranha fishing, river floating, swimming (with caiman and piranhas) and horse riding. Given the heat, there was a lot of down time, particularly before and after lunch where we were able to just chill next to the river for hours at a time before the afternoon activity. Here there was no shortage of animals to see, with the exception of the elusive jaguar. We did manage to "spot" caiman, iguana, capybaras, deer, giant otters, the rarely seen other type of otter (again can't think of the name) and coati. There were a couple of exciting moments with the caiman. The first being that when the other boat was up against the shore looking at an iguana, a caiman actually jumped into their boat! It didn't stay in their long. The guide told everyone in it to stay still (duh) and it eventually jumped out again. It was probably only in it for a minute or two. The second incident was when horseriding. We were walking through a swamp and a caiman came a little to close to the horse for it's comfort and the horse kicked it. Good think it didn't make it angry cause I'd have hated to be the person riding it. The piranha fishing was fun and I have to say, modestly of course, that I was by far the best piranha fisher there. I think I caught over 10 fish and it got to the point where one of the other guys asked if after catching a fish, I was just throwing it in and out of the water to make me look like I was catching many! We did get to eat these for lunch, though I don't recommend it. Piranha are really bony and have very little meat. We were also really lucky (or unlucky?) with the weather. It didn't rain once and the days were nice and warm. However, as jaguar are more likely to head to the rivers edge prior to or during the rain, this mean't that we didn't get to see any. This turned out to be quite unlucky given that the groups who arrived before us saw one every night for three nights, and the group that arrived on our last night also saw one. Marama and I tried to convince our guide to take us out to have another look but he flatly refused. Disappointing but never mind. We did get to see a lot of other cool stuff so I'm happy with that.

Rio

From Manaus I elected to fly from directly to Rio to save time and in order for me to make it there for new years. When planning my trip I figured that if I was going to be in South America for this time of year, the best place to spend it would be where the biggest party is held...Copacabana Beach.

The flight itself was pretty uneventful though little sleep was had. After arriving in Rio I took a local bus to Ipanema where my hostel was to be found. I have to say that on checking in I was shocked at the state of it. Despite the fact that I was paying something like $80 per night for a DORM ROOM, it was not what I expected for that kind of money. The rooms and bathrooms were really dirty though the common areas were not so bad. I was staying in a girls 6 dorm that though it had it's own (filthy) bathroom, there was no windows and so no fresh air either. It was easily the hottest room in the house and as such sleep was difficult. I tend not to plan to spend much time in my dorm rooms as possible but there's still the eight or so hours that I tend to spend in them sleeping. Oh well, given the time of year there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

I ended up staying five days in Rio over new years from the 30th Dec to the 3rd Jan. In that time I was able to see the Christ Redeemer which was quite impressive standing extremely high on the mountain with spectacular views of Rio beneath, The Stairs in Lapa, the cathedral, Copacabana and Ipanema beaches and Angra which is a town south west of Rio, opposite Isla Grande. Unfortunately, because of the weather, I wasn't able to go hang gliding as I'd hoped but I was fairly time limited in the end after my little unplanned segue to Angra.

I managed to meet up with Milton the afternoon of New Years, a friend I made in Peru on our tour to the Uros Floating Islands. We went to the Garoto de Ipanema cafe (infamously known as the place where the song The Girl From Ipanema was written), and then arranged to try and meet up later in the night after the fireworks on Copacabana beach. We'd at that time also planned to head the next morning early to Angra where some friends of his had hired a beach house and had a boat, so that we could join them on the boat party. With all of that arranged, I went off with some people I'd met from my hostel to have some new years drinks before heading down to the beach. The beach was great. Copacabana is massive and despite there being over 2 million people there, it didn't feel that crowded. There were still people everywhere though, with street vendors walking around with chilly bins sell alcohol for those who still needed it (not me though, by this time I'd had plenty!), and snacks. A big stage had been erected on the beach for the after fireworks concert and cruise ships had lined the bay to take part in the festivities. The fireworks were pretty amazing. They went on for ages though weren't coreographed to the music at all. After the show, the music started and people generally either hung about listening or went off to after parties else where. We ended up just chilling on the beach til early morning and then heading to Ipanema where I then peeled off to get some sleep before having to meet up with Milton.

Unfortunately, because Milton's cell phone had died over the night, we were unable to catch up with each other until about 5pm, which I have to say I was pretty annoyed about. This was because we'd arranged to meet at 7am-ish and so after not being able to get hold of him by phone, I waited and waited and waited around the hostel. I'd have obviously preferred to go to the beach. This was not going to be the last time I'd be waiting for him though. We did finally meet up and we headed to Angra that night. Unfortunately we had missed the boat party, though the plan was then to go out again the following day and for me to catch a bus back to Rio afterwards, with Milton following the next day. When we did finally get to Angra, I have to say, Milton's friends were really nice and extremely inviting. The language barrier wasn't too much of an issue, especially as all they were really keen to do was dance. The music of the night was funk. I'm not sure if any of you have seen the way Brazillians dance to funk, but it's little different to grinding provocatively against each other, gender being no issue. Certainly an eye-opening experience for me.

The following morning we headed (late) down to the marina to take the boat out. Unfortunately, there was some problem with the battery and so we didn't actually get it onto the water until mid afternoon, after spending roughly three hours waiting on the marina for the issues to be sorted. Once we were out it was quite pleasant. I was taken on a little tour of the bays and what not, before we pulled up to do some fishing. After about an hour though, we noticed that the boat was taking on water (!) so needed to head back to land. By this stage it was looking to be a comedy of errors. Given by the time we got back and sorted it was 4-4.30ish, I was keen to try and take the next bus, as it's a four hour ride back to Ipanema from there. For reasons unknown to me, this wasn't possible and so I didn't end up getting back to the hostel until about 11pm, by which time all the friends I'd made at the hostel had gone out with no one left behind to let me know how to meet up with them. So it then turned out to be a pretty lame Friday night.

The following day, my last full day in Rio, I had hoped to head to the beach. The weather was not so great though so instead walked down to Copacabana with a friend to try and have a coffee in Copacabana Palace, the most expensive hotel in Rio. This was where Madonna had stayed a couple of weeks earlier and where most of The Stars end up. Funny enough though, when we asked if we could enter, the restaurant was fully booked and it was only four in the afternoon. Something told me that was the PC way of saying no, plebs, you may not enter. So instead we went and had six beers at a bar further down the beach. At this point I still hadn't heard from Milton as he was supposed to be coming back so we could hit the bars in Lapa that night. I waited and waited but when 10pm came around and I still hadn't heard anything, I decided to go for dinner with other hostel people as it was a birthday and celebrations needed to be had.

I didn't end up hearing from Milton in the end until the following morning when he texted to say he'd be back by 2pm (a little late for our night out). At four, I still hadn't heard from him further and at this point, I had to head to the bus terminal to make my bus to Campo Grande. I eventually got a text from him at 7pm, as the bus was pulling out of the terminal, to tell me he'd arrived. I have to say, that all things adding up, I was pretty pissed off at this stage with all the waiting around and time wasted. It really did put a damper on my Rio time. I guess that just means I'll have to go back another time...perhaps Carnaval?

Manaus and the Amazon

The whole reason for me heading to Manaus from Colombia was to do the seven day kayaking tour of the Urubu River which I had booked from home. I arrived in Manaus a day ahead of schedule (still not enough time to do Angel Falls in Venezuela) and spent the day wondering around the town to see the markets and Opera House.

I was picked up the following morning from the Hostel and was taken to the start point to begin my kayaking adventure. There were five in total in the group (myself, Anton, Marissa, Mike and Ignacio - Anton was from Russia and the other three the UK) , plus two guides and our cook. Our main guide was Ronaldo with Milton as his second, and the cook was Joseph. It was a great group and we all got along well which helps make the week a good one. We didn´t kayak as much as I thought we were going to but it was certainly enough. I´m sure I now have shoulders like a Chinese swimmer! We did roughly two to four hours of kayaking per day with the exception of the last two days. The kayaking was good. It was all down current (phew) and the water was nice and high and was was flowing fast. We had one day where we needed to navigate a small waterfall (read level 5 rapids given how high the water was) which was fun and exciting. We had to get out of the kayaks and into the water and ease them down using ropes and then follow on foot. Now THAT´s the excitement I signed up for!

Unfortunately though, because the water was so high and there were so few mosquitoes (thank goodness), there were also few animals as a result. The lack of mosquitoes is due to the black water of the river...it´s too acidic for the larvae to survive and so nothing for fish etc to feed off. We also did a couple of jungle walks and on the second last night, Anton (the Russian/Los Angelean) and I slept in the jungle overnight. That was an experience not because it was jungle but because it hadn´t rained so much during our trip as it did that night and we got soooo wet. We were sleeping in hammocks with tarps, but the tarps got oversaturated that it just soaked right through. Again, the adventure I signed up for. It´s just funny though cause every night we had that we didn´t have a "proper" roof over us (i.e. abandoned house with some sort of cover), were the nights it really really poured on us. The other nights were fine as.

As for the animals we saw, there weren´t as many as I expected but apparently that´s normal as the jungle is so big and the animals have so much area they can go in. We did see monkeys, snakes, loads of birds, giant otter, frogs and toads. Unfortunately the water was too high for caiman and piranhas but no matter. It was a great week and would recommend it to anyone interested in heading that way.

After the jungle expedition, I went the following day to see the Meeting of the Waters with Ronaldo and his family. This is about a 30min bus ride out of Manaus and is where the Rio Negro meets the other (white) river. It was pretty interesting to me but I won´t bore you with the details of how this happens or why. If you want to know, ask. It was a nice day overall but very hot and muggy. I was glad to be get out of Manaus that night and on to RIO!

Colombia to Caracas to Manaus

This entry is more to put information out there on the bus ride from Colombia, through Venezuela (Caracas) and down to Manaus, Brazil. Prior to doing the trip myself, I wasn't able to find much good or useful information on the route and how safe or unsafe it really was. Most information did point to the latter however when looking into flights to avoid Venezuela altogether, it was just way too expensive ($900USD). So the bus it was.

The bus from Santa Marta to Caracas itself wasn't too bad. I used Brasilia, one of the companies recommended by the Lonely Planet. The journey was pretty easy and the border crossing no hassels what-so-ever. Over the 14 or so hours of the trip there were no police and no bribes requested.

While on the bus, I met two Australian guys who were headed to Caracas to meet a friend of theirs who was now living there. They kindly invited me to have breakfast with me at their place to avoid a 6 hour wait at the bus terminal. I took them up on the offer and it was certainly a much more pleasant way to pass the time.

The bus from Caracas to Manaus was not quite so easy but again, no dramas. There is no longer a direct bus service between these two cities, despite it being advertised on the side of one of the bus companies. I ended up taking a bus from Caracas to Santa Elena, the Venezuelan border town. The company I used was Los Llanos and they were quite good. The ride took approximately 24 hours and they had enough breaks for food and drink. They did however stop at places that seemed to be owned by the bus company and snacks and meals were very expensive. The bus was stopped twice on route by the police to check identification but again, no dramas and no bribes. A group of Venezuelan girls on the bus that could speak English informed me though that we were really lucky at the second check point as they'd done that trip many times and that was the first time the police didn't search the bags as well...a process that can take over an hour.

Once in Santa Elena the easiest, though likely not the cheapest way of getting across the border was via a taxi. It cost approximately 40Bolivars which I didn't think was too bad given the convenience. The taxi stopped at both immigration points and then took me on to the bus terminal. Oh and he also found me somewhere I could change my remaining Bolivars to Reais. This took almost an hour in total.

The border town on the Brazillian side is Pacaraima. I was very lucky here as a bus was waiting to go on to Boa Vista so there was no wait at all. The bus company that does this section of the country is Eucatur and they are quite good. I wasn't able to pay by visa at this place but I was able to once I got to Boa Vista for my onward journey. The ride from Pacaraima took roughly 3 hours and was pleasant enough and once in Boa Vista it was again easy to get an onward bus to Manaus though this time there was a wait...both for buying the ticket and the bus. The constant power outages didn't help the process though.

The bus from Boa Vista to Manaus takes roughly 12 hours though they really race. The bus I was on (a 9pm bus) broke down at one point and when I woke to realise this, the 10pm and 11pm bus had both caught up with us and had stopped to help. Despite this long delay in the middle of nowhere we still arrived very much on time. I'm glad I didn't have a window seat at this point as the speeds might have scared me just a little.

So that's the journey in a nutshell. Again no direct services and from Santa Marta to Manaus tooke me a total of four days. I left on a Wednesday and arrived on Saturday. Good luck to anyone else who decides this is the trip for them!