Ola, Oi! I have been back home in Somerset, England the last couple of weeks since my travels. So it is about time I should blog about my time in Brazil. As stated my start was going to the Iguazu falls on the Brazil side which was spectacular as the Argentinean side but different at the same time. I decided not to stay to Foz du Iquazu but keep on moving. I was really not sure where to go, so looked at my guidebook thoroughly for the nearest city that seemed acceptable.

My first problem that I had acquainted when I came to Brazil was the language barrier. I had become used to Spanish in the Latin America countries and now I felt like I was in a completely different foreign country but did not as well. Anyhow it was the start of saying things (sometimes shouting) in English or simple Spanish & pointing, waving my hands all over the place. I finally decided to go to Curitiba which is an innovative urban city, with it being very eco-friendly. It was not heavily geared for the backpacker scene so settled in an ok hotel for a couple of days. It was only ok because I got heavily bitten by mosquitoes in the room. It was nice to have space to myself for a bit from the dorm & gave me a bit of independence.

Curitiba is a lovely place; it has some great sights via the tourist bus which is innovative. It gives you a choice of about 20 tourist stops over 50km & you can decide the 5 that would suit your preference. I could have easily gone on the bus for two days with so many sights to see, but limited myself to one day on the bus. Curitiba has plenty of parks, historic buildings, good shopping & great bars/restaurants. One thing about Brazil is that you are unlikely to get hungry. The portions there are massive; most meals consist of some kind of meat with rice, fries, some sort of breadcrumbs & beans in a dark sauce.

Next stop was Sao Paulo, I was restricted with time so only spent two nights here which I regret. Many people who I have talked on my travels have not bothered with visiting this city or did not enjoy the area. I can understand at first why people would not enjoy this city, partly to do with the vastness of the place. It scared me a little when coming into the city & just how big it was & wanted to get the next bus out of there. Sao Paulo is the biggest city in South America with 16 million inhabitants. However, the Okupe hostel & their staff were amazing and so friendly. They could not do enough for you, and were giving you ideas of sights to see & places to go. I got on with quite a few Brazilian travelers' there; it was a 2 day national holiday after the new president (Dilma) had been elected. I stayed in an area called Vila Mariana and felt very safe in the neighborhood. The main one day I was there I crammed as much as possible but of course it was impossible to see everything. I would have loved to stay for longer but unfortunately I booked ahead.

Next stop was Ilha Grande which is Brazil's third biggest Island. But before I got to the island I had a little problem getting there forcing me to stay the night at Angra dos Reis. The problem being I missed the boat by seconds forcing me to wait a couple of hours for next boat & had a few bevvies. Then they cancelled the next boat due to not enough passengers for trip across. So I decided to get a hotel room and go across the sea in the morning. Now, there is not a lot to do in Angra dos Reis plus it was a public holiday so not much was open. I found a bar & had a couple of beers; I then looked at the menu and saw they had a typical Brazilian drink called Caipirinha. The ingredients are a spirit called Cachaca, lots of lime & a lot of sugar, a recipe for disaster. I had about 5/6 of these cocktails, got talking with these random Brazilians & cannot remember any of the conversations. In the morning I had one of the worst hangovers of my life and obviously I was a very poorly chappy during the night.

Anyway I somehow made it to the ferry and crossed the channel with my head in my hands vying that I will never touch another Caipirinha in my life (I lasted until Rio). Ilha Grande has no cars and is peaceful and relaxing. I spent three nights on the island just to chill away from city life. I had great weather and was relaxing on beaches, trekking to other beaches trough forests (one day I walked about 14km). It is a nice destination, one criticism is that it is just a little too touristy for my liking. It was made up with the hostel I was staying at which was excellent. It was cheap, so many hammocks to chill & sleep into and the best breakfast I have had on my travels.

My final destination of my travels was Rio de Janiero. What can I say about the place? It is amazing and fell in love with it the first night. It has fallen into my favorite cities of the world along with Melbourne, Nelson, Kyoto & Cordoba. On my first night I went to a samba night where a Samba band and dancers practice for the Rio festival in March. It was immense; the sound was booming and when they started I had goose pimples; at that point I swear I am staying for good. Later on everyone could dance which I duly did; I was happy at the end when some Brazilian girls praised my samba dancing. I had done the usual sightseeing in Rio plus partying in the evening which has to be done. This was set trend for some of my last days. Again had a perfect hostel that set up everything; not sure if I have been lucky in Brazil but the hostels seem to be top class.

Went to watch a football game of Fluminense (top of the table) vs Vasco playing at an impressive football stadium. It was about half full but the noise generated from the fans was awesome. On my last day I went to a favela tour in Rio de Janiero; went to the largest favela called Rocinha. It was an intriguing tour where you start off on the back of this motorcycle taxi going up a hill and being inches away from other traffic en-route. You then walk down the hill; and start to get a picture of the community they have here. Of course police do not dare enter this neighborhood; so the drug gangs are basically the law where they settle disputes etc. On these tours you are quite safe; basically a proportion of the money goes to the community so obviously they want the tours to continue. It was a real eye-opener.

Now I am back home I have had time to reflect on my 'holiday'. The scary thing is I want to visit all these Countries I have visited and many more others that I have heard from fellow travelers. Looks like I may have the bug; one thing you need is money; all I need to do is win the lottery! However it has been great seeing family and friends again.

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