Chile - Puertos Varas and Pucon

We had 2 nights in Puertas Varas, and it was freezing. The trouble is that we were staying in a hostel (Ellenhaus) that didnt have any heating. Well they had some heating, but it took the form of a couple of kerosene heaters, and there wasnt one in our room. We opened the front door to be greeted by the smell of kerosene. And on top of that there wasnt any hot water in the shared shower. We went down to reception to tell them and they sent a wee man up (Manuel?) with a new gas canister to sort out the shower. The hostel was a bit of a maze (like different houses have been bought and stuck together) and we were up on the third floor (in the roof). Did I mention they dont seem to put any insolation in the roof in Chile?

On the upside there was free Wifi downstairs and free breakfasts with toast and scrambled egg (a welcome break from cheese and ham). In the morning Steve spoke to the Gap tour leader and we managed to get an upgrade to another room with an electric heater (what bliss) and a shower that had hot water - yay.

We went on a short walk / hike to see a Waterfall, a black glacier and a volcano (about 3 hours) and it was snowing when we went to see the waterfall and glacier. Unfortunately that caused a bit of a white out. So we didnt actually get to see the glacier (strike 2 for us after New Zealand) but we took photos in its general direction. The waterfall was beautiful and we got some beautiful pics walking in the snow. It wasnt that cold once we got going.

We took a ski lift up to get a better view on the volcano, but it was absolutely freezing on the way up (uncovered), and we were in thermals and cargo pants rather than ski gear, so we took a couple of quick snaps and then came straight back down again to the safety of the restaurant. Funny to think we were walking around on a volcano. Just looks like a snowy mountain. The locals were all there in their ski gear (no fools there).

We went for lunch and had a choccognac (hot choc with cognac in it) which was pretty good, and a couple of hotdogs. They have something called a hotdog complete here, which is a hotdog with avocado, mayo, cheese and like thin potato chips on top. Then we all bundled into the mini bus and made to start back down the volcano. By this point it was about 3pm and none of us had really paid much attention to the weather outisde(it was okay when we came up, just a bit windy).

However when we started down the road it was very icy, and we saw the car in front of us spin out 360 degrees. We reversed back up to the restaurant and the guide went in to ask for some help. They said the guy with the snow plough was just finishing something up (probably his lunch) and would then come down, so we headed back down the road to tell the other car. They were keen to wait for the snow plough, so we sat in the bus behind them for about an hour waiting for him to arrive (he was also on south american time- the locals rush for no man).

We noticed another car up in front in the same dilemma, and in the meantime the weather really started to turn nasty. The wind had seriously picked up and was whipping the snow all over the place (ala arctic tundra). The guys in the snow plough eventually arrived and ploughed some snow off the road. Then they got our their car and let down the tyres on the cars in front of us. Also rather worrying they took the two kids out of the car and put them in the snow plough! (women and children out first?!) Then they took over driving the two cars in front and took them down down about 100 metres, to where the snowline pretty much starts. Our guide managed to drive all the way down himself (using a strange method of continuously cutting out the engine). It was amazing to see how fast the weather cleared up once you got off the top of the volcano. Just ten minutes later we were down below the snow line and all was green and calm again (you couldnt believe wed just been caught in a snowstorm).

Puertas Varas itself is a pretty little town and we walked along the lake front and took pics of the volcano in the distance. Very glad of the electic heater that night.

We didnt have very long in Puerta Varas before we got a daytime bus on to Pucon.
Pucon is a really beautiful little town, a bit like Queenstown in New Zealand and is surrounded by lakes, snow capped mountains, and rivers. The only catch is that it was raining when we arrived (a five min walk from the bus station to the hostel) and the weather forecast said rain for the next 4 days. The main street of Pucon is pretty much full of volcano hiking, rafting, canopy zip lining and horse bike riding places, and then has a couple of shops and restaurants.

On the first day the group went zip lining through the canopy (trees) which we'd never done before and it was great fun. I wasnt as scared as I thought I probably would be, as you havent got a whole lot of time to think about how high up you are. It also helps if you dont look down. The guides were a good laugh and spun us around a bit when pushing us off, and showed us a couple of upside down tricks when they went across the line (higher grade stuff, we werent trying that ourselves). The weather also came good that day, which was a Godsend, as I just dont think it would have been the same if it was chucking it down with rain. Its also worth saying that we got an upgrade with the hostel in Pucon (Willys), which had 2 fireplaces in reception (wood burning) and gas fires in the rooms (yay warmth, although again a bit toxic, a central heating salesman could make a fortune down here).

Day two in Pucon we decided to take it easy and stayed in the warm, while the others rented bicycles and went for a cycle around the lakes. We did take a walk down to the lake and saw the sun setting which was beautiful. The beach was all black volcanic sand. The volcano in Pucon is active (although hasnt erupted in some years), and when the clouds clear you can see a little bit of steam puffing out the top! They have a geen, yellow and red volcano indicator lights in town (green the whole time we were here). Unfortunately we didnt get to walk up the volcano as the weather wasnt good enough, but we made good use of our time in Pucon all the same.

As our Gap tour ends in Santiago, weve started thinking about the onward trip, and booked some more time in a hostel in Santiago and then a flight up to Atacama to see the dessert. Then we've got a couple more days in Santiago afterwards before we fly up to Venezuela (yet to decide what we're doing there). We also booked our flights and some accomodation in Cuba, so that we can pick up our Tourist Cards in Santiago airport when we are there.

But anyway back to Pucon, after a day inside we decided to brave the weather (it tipped it down at night) and booked to go horse back riding the next morning. Luckily the weather cleared in the morning and we got some blue skies. We were told that the horse riding pick up time would be at 9am (you can see this coming cant you?).

So this morning we were up and ready to go (quick brekky from the supermarcado of yoghurts, muffins and OJ) by 9am. At 9h30 we knocked on the Gap guides door and asked him to call and find out where they were as they hadnt arrived yet. They said on the way. Now I should mention that its not the first time this has happened on a tour in South America. Hence me mentioning South American time above. We actually waited 2 hours for the tango trip in Brazil...Anyway the pickup eventually arrived just after 10am and at least she was apologetic. Apparently there was a mix up with the confirmation...

So we got in the 4 x 4 and drove about 30 mins out of town to get to their farm, where the horses were saddled up and waiting and the guy that came out to meet us was apologetic about the delay as well, so all was forgiven. They matched us up with horses based on our experience and gave us a short intro in to controlling your horse, then gave us some chaps to protect our legs/jeans. Note that I make no mention of helmets here as they arent legally required in Chile. They did offer to give us some, but we decided to brave it and kept our caps on instead (living on the edge).

Off we went on our trusty steeds along the base of the mountains and we also did a small river crossing (we took some convincing for my horse). On the way out I had to keep kicking Inca to make her keep going. We stopped under the mountains and the leader gave us a cuppa tea and small sarnie, and it was a great relief to get off the horse for a couple of minutes (knees aching, not to mention other body parts). Just time to take some pics and then back over the little river and along the big river back to the farm. We were out there a pretty long time and we managed to do a fair bit of galloping along the way which was good fun, although pretty hard on the back (Im a bit tender now).

At the moment we are waiting for a nightbus to take us to Santiago and then we've got one day left on the tour tomorrow before we say our goodbyes to the tour group, which will be a shame. However a couple of us are going the same way, so you never know who we might bump in to again.

Love to all at home.
Kirst x

Argentina - Buenos Aires and Bariloche

So we got the express ferry into Buenos Aires, and we were happy to spend a couple of days in civilisation. Buenos Aires is a big, busy city and we stayed in a hotel in the Centro (Central) area, with a big shopping mall across the road. Note for Jemma: I managed to find a Subway in there, so I took a photo for you!

We had a laugh trying to find the laundromat about 2 blocks away, as the guy on reception at the hotel gave us the wrong directions. We ended up stopping in a cafe and holding up a bag of our dirty laundry and saying 'laundry laundry', until someone pointed us in the right direction. Who knew that a place called Lave-rap would do laundry anyway?

I feel I should also mention the pavements in B.A. which are very narrow. You have these huge big buildings and then these tiny narrow pavements, which combined with the crazy taxi drivers (driving on the wrong side of the road and inventing new lanes ala cairo), makes for an interesting experience here. Note for Steven W: There are plenty of taxis here (radio taxis) and they all have meters in them, so if its too far to walk you can always hail a taxi on the street, and they cant rip you off because of the meter (well unless they drive in circles), although in our experience they are quite grumpy and dont tend to speak any english, so its best to have the name and address or map of the place you are heading to written down, so you can give it to them.

We were happy to find that there is free Wifi pretty much everywhere you go in Buenos Aires - in every corner coffee shop and restaurant, so we spent an hour in Starbucks having a cuppa tea and checking our emails for free - hurrah! And Yes Starbucks as in the very same...and you thought we were in deepest darkest South America. It is also worth mentioning that in Buenos Aires they have the cheek of charging you a Service Charge (or table charge) if you sit down in a restaurant and eat something. This varies from like 4 pesos to 35 pesos depending on the restaurant you go into, and takes a bit of getting used to. It only takes once for you to get a bill with 2 x 35pesos added to the top, when all you ordered were burgers for you to think twice about sitting down in a restaurant without checking the service charge at the bottom of the menu first.

The first day out in B.A. we took a walk down Florida street (a pedestrianised road that is packed with people selling knicknacks on the street to tourists, a bit like Leicester Square but longer and thinner) and visited a Falklands War Memorial, and then Plaza de Mayo, and a beautiful cathedral on the square.

We had to come back to Plaza de Mayo the following day to see the Mothers of the lost children slowly making their way around the circle in their quiet protest, carrying banners displaying photos of their lost children from the 70s - quite sad.

We also took a taxi to La Boca (the mouth) to see the colourful houses and tango shows outside the restaurants. This area is pretty small (2 streets) but worth going to see as it makes for some great photos. Again we had an interesting experience with a taxi driver that dropped us at the Football Stadium, that is a good 10 minute walk from Caminito (where the tourists go) and we walked around the slum for a while until we found what we were looking for. We ended up stopping in a shop and asking a woman (who was merrily breastfeeding at the time) for directions, and although she didnt speak any english, she got the message across by pointing and gesturing. It is worth saying that you have to get a taxi in and out of La Boca, as its surrounded by a slum (not a v nice area at all, well dodgy) so you cant just walk your way out of there, anyway its pretty far from Centro.

So that was the end of our first gap tour, and we had a farewell dinner in a fab steak restaurant (steak in argentina is obligatory) to say our goodbyes to the gang, and also wish Steve a happy birthday. He got a pair of thermals as his bday present (what a rock n roll lifestyle we lead lol).

Then we met up with our next gap tour that will go onwards to Santiago, only to be told that there was a bus strike going on, and we would have to spend another day in B.A. before we could head on to Bariloche.

So we had an extra day to play with and went to Palermo to see the street markets, and then took a walk down to the Botanical Gardens. Oddly their Botanical Gardens are full of cats. Well there were some plants in there as well, but we counted 67 cats while walking around there for half an hour and people seem to leave food for them on the ground. V odd indeed. As we had an extra night and our mates at the other hostel could get a good deal, we decided to take in a tango lesson, dinner and tango show, which was great fun. We had a very amusing tango instructor that picked me out from the crowd to demonstrate the importance of maintaining a connection with your dance partner, by looking deeply in to their eyes (very weird for a strange man to stare deeply into your eyes 2 mins after youve met them). The tango show was great too and we took a bit of a video, so hope it comes out okay.

Oh and we also managed to cram a big night out clubbing while we were there. We had a mad dash around the shopping centre where i managed to find a going out top in half an hour (new record) before the shops closed. And happily they let us in in jeans and trekking shoes.

The only catch with clubbing in B.A is that the clubs only get going at 4am. So we had a short sleep and then headed out to a bar at 12pm, to have a drink, before heading on to a club. They played a mix of normal dance music and some spanish salsa type of stuff, so it was good fun, although people faded a bit and were ready for home again around 3h30 am. Luckily we didnt have to get up too early the following day.

The other thing worth mentioning about B.A is that we saw an unusual number of woman who had clearly had a lot of work done to their faces (you can tell because those woman are all starting to look the same with their too tight faces, hooded almond shaped eyes and goldfish pouts). I had been told about the arrogance of Argentinians (portenos) and we did find some examples of these plastic woman walking around in fur looking down there unnaturately perfect noses at us. But then we were in fleeces and zip off cargo pants, so not exactly making a fashion statement!

So that was all we had time for in B.A, before we got on a 20 hour night bus - yes 20 hours nightbus to Bariloche.

Now its worth saying that the nightbuses in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina have all been pretty comfortable so far. So although it was a long way to go on a bus, they seats did recline pretty far, and they actually gave us a snack, a hot meal and a small brekky on the latest bus. Of course the snack consisted of a ham and cheese sandwich with a side order of rolled ham, but beggars cant be choosers. We still dont seem to have left the land of ham and cheese. We actually saw a Museo of Jamon (Museum of Ham) in B.A - can you believe that?!

So now we are in Bariloche and its absolutely bloody freezing. I am currently wearing the following layers: thermals, long sleeve t shirt, thin fleece and thick fleece and to top it off im sitting next to the radiator in the hostel typing this.

We arrived yesterday and went for a walk around the pretty little town. Its exactly like being in a ski village anywhere in Europe, except its next to a large lake. The shops are all full of ski gear and designer sunglasses. Apparently the Brazilians come here for their winter holidays. We stopped in a pizza place for lunch and the friendly waiter asked us where we are from. We said South Africa and his response was Springboks!!? We said yes...he didnt actually speak any english so thats as far as the conversation went. We also tried to catch the number 20 bus to find a ski lift that takes you up to see some beautiful views. Unfortunately we couldnt find the right place to get off the bus, so after about an hour, and trying to converse with a bus driver that didnt speak any English we got off the bus to see a mangy dog, that was literally convulsing and foaming at the mouth (very wide berth). So we got back on the bus and headed back home.

Today we got up early and went on a 4 hour hike in the snow to see a waterfall and a black glacier. The waterfall was beautiful and it felt a bit warmer once we were on the move. However unfortunately when we got to the glacier it was snowing so heavily that we were in a bit of a white out and couldnt see much of anything. We took some photos in the general direction of where the glacier was meant to be and we will see if anything comes out!

Tomorrow we catch the bus out of Bariloche again on our way to Puerta Varas (2 more stops to Santiago) and about 7 hours on the bus... but Ive got a Steven King book ive just started and will be charging the Ipod tonight, so were going in well prepared :)

Love to all at home.
Kirst x

Uruguay - Salto, Montevideo and Colonia

Next we got a bus and stopped in Salto for one night to break the journey on the way to Montevideo. Salto is a little town in the middle of nowhere and only has one real attraction - some hot springs.

It cost like £4 for entrance and then like £20 for a full body massage - so decided the price was right and it would be good to work out some of the kinks from the bus rides. It wasn’t bad and she managed to work loose my left shoulder.
The odd thing about Salto is that because of the hot springs, everyone walks around the town in their bathrobes!

The other memorable thing about Salto was that none of our cards would work in the one ATM they had, and we couldn’t change money when coming over the border.

Thankfully the hot springs accepted US dollars, so we managed to get a bit of change from them in Uruguayian pesos. This meant that we had about £10 between us to buy dinner that night. The football cup final was on that day, so we found a local pub with a TV ad watched Uruguay play with the locals. The kids faces were all painted with uruguayian flags and one guy was even blowing a vuvuzela when they scored. Well Uruguay put up a good fight, just a shame that they didn’t win in the end, as it would have made for a good party in salto. Managed to get a couple of bowls of chips and some pepsi with our remaining cash, and then borrowed some more to buy a pizza for dinner so it all worked out okay in the end. Fortunately the breakfast hotel took cards, so we could get some snacks for the next bus ride.

From Salto we got a bus to Montevideo at the crack of dawn. Picture 12 people with all their backpacks waiting by the side of the road at 06h30 in the morning for a bus to arrive. Montevideo is the capital city of Uruguay, so glad to get back to civilisation and working ATMs! Forgot to mention that drawing money in Brazil was pretty eventful too (the fourth ATM finally accepted our cards there, also interesting when the ATM prompts are all in Portuguese and you don’t know the word for Cash!).

So in Montevideo, we hired a couple of bicycles and went for a ride along the seafront promenade to a shopping centre, to have a look around and get some lunch. I should mention that we have now left the warmth and beaches of Brazil, and are heading further South, and we noticed when we hit Uruguay that it is now starting to get pretty cold. We are layered up in fleeces, jackets hats and gloves and considering hiring some ski gear when we get in to Chile later on. On the upside wearing all the heavy gear makes the pack slightly lighter.

Anyway Montevideo … we were surprised to find that the prices in the shopping centre were pretty much the same as back in London (ie not cheap), which was a surprise after Salto where food / drink / springs were very cheap. Was great fun cycling around the city (despite the cold wind) and also cycled around the old historical part of town while we were there. A couple of kids on the streets saw us and started saying ‘one pound’, one pound, so we must look English! We managed to find a bookshop that had 2 shelves of English books, so I got a stephen king book for the bus rides - its good to have reading material when you’ve got hours to kill on a bus!

I should also mention the hotel that we stayed in in Montevideo, as it closely resembled Falty Towers, without the Manuel. We got off pretty lightly - just a very small room that you pretty much had to reverse in and out of, but others in the group had a leaking toilet, a noisy fridge and a room that smelled like petrol - yuck. On the upside they had a lounge upstairs that the group took over, with a big telly in it and we managed to find an English movie on the tv. Also anywhere with free breakfasts and free Wifi is a winner. Its also worth mentioning that the Brazilians and the Uruguayians love their cheese and ham. When offered by the hotels breakfast always seems to consist of cheese, ham and bread/cakes. I dont want to see another piece of ham for a very very long time.

Then a bus to Colonia, which is another small town on our way to Buenes Aires. We just had one night…more cobbled streets and had a walk around town. Found a small craft market that was selling knitted jumpers, and these sipping cups with metal straws that everyone has in Uruguay. Don’t know what they are called, but you see everyone walking around with them and a flask, so they can make up the bitter tea. - so easy to spot the locals in Uruguay. We did have a nice dinner in a local restaurant / bar and managed to get drunk on the free drinks (I think it was the biggest party the barman had seen in a long time and they wanted to keep us there), and dance to Rod Stewardt and Madonna videos on their tellies lol.

We are now on an express ferry to Buenes Aires and there is talk of a big night out while we are here - woohoo. The only question is whether they’ll let us in in jeans and hiking trainers!? There wasnt exactly room in backpack for high heels and going out clothes lol.

Kirst x

Brazil - Paraty and Iguassu Falls

We got a bus to Paraty, which is a somewhere south of Rio (on the way to Iguassu). Paraty was a very quaint little town, with cobbled streets and old colonnial styled buildings with different coloured windows and doors (red, blue, yellow etc).

Now when I say cobbled streets, dont think Covent Garden, as these cobbles are much larger and you actually take your life into your own hands when you choose to walk down the street. Also unlike Covent Garden there was no option of walking along the side where there are no cobbles...it was cobbled all over. I was amused to see a man trying to cycle down one of the roads...I'm sure he's sorry for trying now lol.

So we spent 2 pretty quiet days in Paraty. After the BFH in Ilha Grande we werent keen for any more boat trips, and thought it would be better on the budget if we avoided the kayaking and horse riding trips offered, so we caught a local bus to the beach, about 45 mins away and what an adventure that turned out to be.

We managed to get 2 seats right at the back of the bus on the left, and were initially rather pleased with ourselves, thinking that 45 mins would be a long time to stand up. however the bus driver was a lunatic, speeding up everytime there was a dip in the road, so that all the passengers are thrown up in the air. At one point there was a sheer drop on the left handside down to the sea, and we hit a bump at the back of the bus swung out over the drop -arrggh! (and yes that was the bit we were sitting in). Thankfully the weight of the rest of the bus and our forward momentum managed to save us! Anyway the beach was very pretty.

However I (Kirsty) managed to pick up a cold somewhere along the way, so was taking flucaps on the beach and blowing my nose! Next day went for a walk around the historical quarter of Paraty which had some lovely little quirky shops. Then seemed to leave Paraty almost as quickly as we'd arrived, as we got a tourist bus to drop us at Sau Paulo bus station.

Now Sau Paulo bus station itself deserves a mention, as it is enormous and is more like an airport than a bus station. We got there early and went to the toilets to change in to some warmer gear, as the tour leader told us that the nightbuses feel like theyve come from Antartica. Oh and we had to pay 1.25 RS to use the toilets hmph!

So got an Upper Crust roll (yes the very same, relived to finally recognise the name of a food vendor) and waited for the bus to leave. The buses actually had platform numbers for departures (like a train station)so was relatively easy to find, and they put a sticker on your bag and give you the number, so the people getting on and off cant knick your bag.

So we got a 15 hours night bus to Iguassu (the Brazil side). The nightbus wasnt too bad, as they had a toilet at the back and supplied some water, and seats did recline a bit. However it wasnt freezing as was promised so were a bit warm in the many layers lol. Also the little personal reading lights above our heads were rubbish, so couldnt read anything for the duration, so just listening to ipods and got an early night. Oh and steve managed to read his Ereader (strike one for the old fashioned book).

So we arrived in Iguassu and checked in to our hotel (free wifi again hooray). Then rather than having a rest after the long bus trip, we had 2 hours to get showered and meet up again, so that we could get the bus out and see the brazilian side of the falls.

It only took about 2 hours to see the Brazilian side of the falls, as it is not as built up as the argentinian side in terms of walkways / lunch spots etc...but it was a beautiful walk along the edge of the falls and had a short walkway that took you out to the middle of the river.

Yesterday we left at 08h30 and got a tourist bus over to the Argentinian side (yes we got stamps). There were lots of different walkways on that side, and you got a real sense of how enormous the river and waterfalls are. We also took a speedboat up to the falls, so we were pretty drenched, although we were in our ponchos - great fun. We noticed a couple of turtles swimming around (and loads of fish) as we were going over the walkways on the way to see the devils mouth - which was a pretty spectucular sight - basically a whole LOT of water going over the edge into a big hole...and theyve built walkways right up to it so you can see the water going over the side- very cool.

Tonight we are taking a nightbus to Uruguay...so more about that later.

Take care,
Kirst and Steve x

Mobiles phones / contacting us

Please note that despite what the man in the Three call centre in India promised me before we left London, my mobile phone is Not working in Brazil, so you cant contact me by phone. I will try it again in the next country to see if its working there, as you never know, but in the meantime the phone is just a dead weight im carrying around.

However on the plus side Steves Three mobile seems to be working okay, so you can call us on Steves number if there is an emergency. I say emergency as it would cost us a fortune to receive international calls on his phone. We are only checking for voice messages every now and again.

Saying that we would love to hear your news, so please emails us at my yahoo mail account or Steves gmail account. There do seem to be internet cafes pretty much everywhere we stop, so we are checking our mail whenever we can (especially when there is free Wifi available).

Cheers,
Kirst

Brazil - Ilha Grande

So we got a catamaran across to Ilha Grande at 4pm, and then some guys met us at the end of the pier and loaded our backpacks on to what can only be described as a plank of wood with wheels on it, strung a bit of rope around the bags, and wheeled our bags up to the hostel. We were relieved as it turned out to be a fair walk to the hostel we were staying in, as as previously mentined they weight a tonne each. Although Im pleased to say that ours are not the biggest bags in our tour group. Not by a long shot. Actually we were glad that our hostel was a bit further inland, as less noise means more sleep.

For those that are wondering our gap tour gap consists of a group of 12 people, of varying ages, and the majority are from England, although 1 pair are from Washington DC and another couple are from Victoria in Oz.

So we checked in to the hostel and met up with the group for a bit of dinner. We went to a sort of buffet restaurant that charges you for food by the 100 grams - not good for those with eyes greedier than their bellies, but great at encouraging you to finish all the food on your plate, as youve already paid for it. Anyway had some pretty tasty food, whilst getting eaten by mozzies. It was at this point that I realised I should have put some of the Peaceful Sleep stick on to my ankles as we were sitting at a table outside eating, and so were those little b*stards! Did I mention there are a LOT of mozzies in Brazil?!

Next day we had brekky at the hostel (fresh fruit like sliced mango and melon yum, and cakes - they like their cakes from brekky here) and then went for a 2.5 hour trek around the island to get to Lopez Mendes which is a beautiful beach. Pretty untouched and thankfully no kikoy vendors, or vendors of any other sort. By the way 2.5 hours of trekking was enough to make me wonder how Im ever going to walk the Inca Trail for 4 days, but thats another story. The very same day Brazil happened to be playing in the footie world cup, so the boys were very torn between staying in town and watching the game or coming on the hike. The hike won, which is a good thing considering that Brazil went on to loose their game. PS the Brazilians Love their football its practically a religion here and the locals were clearly gutted at the loss...however not for long...

That night we were fortunate enough to land in the middle of the Islands July Festiva, where they string streamers (green and yellow of course) up over the street and set up loads of food and drink stalls. They also had a live band, which people were salsa dancing to, so we tried out or best salsa moves on the locals.

One interesting note about the dessert on the island...there are these large see through plastic boxes on wheels (like a cart) with cakes in it, and people stop in the street and get their dessert from that. I had some yummy rocky road, despite its weird origins.

Day 2 on the island and we decided to take a boat trip to do a bit of snorkelling. That boat trip has now become known as the BFH (or Boat From Hell)...We set off at 11h00 and were meant to stop at 3 different beaches for some snorkelling and also a restaurant for lunch (ie 4 stops). After 2.5 hours on the boat (it was a VERY slow boat...put...putt...putt) we still hadnt made the first stop yet, so our tour leader convinced them to stop at the nearest beach for a while to give us a break from the boat. Then the engine stopped and we drifted around at sea for 15 mins while they fixed it. Then we eventually stopped at a lovely little beach and did a bit of snorkelling for 45 mins. Then the driver honked the horn and we all clambered back on board the rickety boat to head to the next stop...putt putt putt...

When we arrived at the next stop, the driver of the boat suddenly announced that we had to pay an extra 5 RS each to go down in to the cave, to see the sight they had earlier shown in a photo when describing the tour, which we werent very happy with, since they didnt make it clear up front, so I didnt go down the hole and see the second site.

Then we set off back towards Barroa, and the boat broke down again, so we were drifting around for 30 mins listening to wrenches clanging while they tried to fix it. Weve never been so happy to hear an engine start up. Then it was another 3 hour boat trip back to hostel. There was no time for the promised last 2 stops, as it was already getting dark, besides the fact that we hadnt stopped for lunch and all were starving by that point, and desperate for a baneiro! Anyway we learned a good lesson...always check out the boat before handing over any money! Our tour leader managed to get some money back, so not too bad, just a shame we didnt spend much time snorkelling on the day. We did get back to Barroa to find the July festival in full swing and saw some traditional dancing in full costume, so ended the day on a good note. Although when I got in to bed, the room was still swaying gently beneath me, and I hadnt been drinking. 6 hours on a boat will do that to you!

Despite the BFH, Ilha Grande is a beautiful island and we are glad that we were lucky enough to see it, and had some great weather here. Now slightly sunburnt despite the factor 50.

Today we got up early and got the 9am catamaran back to the mainland. Then we got a bus 1.5 hours to Paraty which is a charming old town with cobbled streets. But more on that later. So many mozzies to kill and so little time!

Hope everyone is well at home.
Kirst x

Brazil - Rio de Janeiro

After an 11 hour flight we landed in Rio de Janeiro at 20h55 on Monday night (28/06).
It was pretty easy to get a taxi to our hostel, as the taxi operators shout out to you before you even get out of the airport with your bags. Hostel Jucati was pretty good, more like an apartment than a room, as it had its own kitchen and dining area. The only catch was the cold shower...which we later found out was because we had not switched a switch somewhere.

We spent the morning of the first day on Copacabana beach, only a ten minute walk from the hostel. It is a beautiful long white sandy beach, the only downside being the kikoy vendors that can spot a gringo from 2 blocks away and just wouldnt leave us alone - must work on the tan! In the afternoon we took a bus tour that started at the local football stadium (odd but there we go) and then went up to see Christ the Redeemer. Took lots of pics so hopefully got a good one. It was a little overcast so we were waiting for the clouds to clear to see his face. Then went on to take a cable car up to Sugar Loaf, well 2 cable cars actually and saw the sunset over Rio which was beautiful.

Steve here... taken over blogging... gotta get my 2 cents worth. So where we at. Right sugar loaf and Jesus super star out the way and one night in a hostel on our own steam. Next morning we were woken up at 6am with local Frut and Veg market in the square outside our window. Nice if you want Veg at 6am in the morning. I´ll let you guess on what my thoughts were at that time ;)

So after listening to as much Fruit and Veg banter that I could handle I headed for the 2nd cold shower of the trip. I tried to convince myself that it was like a cool swimming pool but other parts of my anatomy disagreed. Buy the looks of things it was friggen cold!

So showered... Wide Awake ... bags packed and off to next hostel to join tour group. We both reckoned we had packed light but by the looks on our faces when we reached the next hostel you would have thought we had just finished an Iron Man. Note to self... find hidden 20kilos in back pack and ditch.

Kirst now: 2nd Day we took a local taxi to Ipanema and drank out of Coconuts and sampled the local tipple called Caiprianha (its not very good but very strong, so quickly does the job). Spent the day on the beach and then got a local taxi back without too much fuss. The majority of people seem to speak a bit of English here, well more than we can speak Portuguese anyway. Headed back to the hostel to meet the Gap tour group for the briefing and headed out for dinner. Nice group of people.

Next morning we got brekky at the corner cafe, steve was convinced he had ordered 2 toasted cheese and tomato sarnies, and the waittress made nodding movements like she understood, only to deliver 2 ham rolls - close enough. Have learned that Laranje means Orange so managed to get some juice though. Then got a bus and a catamaran transfer to Isla Grande, where we are now. Beautiful island. Will update more later.

Kirsty and Steve xx

test one