Brazil Part 1- Rio and Paraty

On Wednesday 6th May we boarded the bus to Rio de Janeiro! It has to be said that it was definitely up there as one of the worst- no food, every seat occupied, a very large party of rowdy locals who think it's okay to shout their conversation at untimely hours, and an ogre of a man pretty much slept on my lap the entire way- the extra weight he was carrying reclined his seat further than the maximum recline and not to mention how uncomfortable I felt as he blew me wet kisses! We pulled into Rio's bus station after what felt like a forever descent through thick jungle, police littered slums, slow moving traffic and lashing rain- get me off that bus! It was after 9pm and because we had been in such a rush leaving Iguazu Punto, we had failed to book a hostel, which would have been a disaster had Tom not been on our bus and happened to be booked into a hostel called 'Books hostel' in the neighbourhood of Lapa. We jumped in a taxi disorientated and tired, soaking in the Rio nightlife in our delirious states. Fortunately there was space for the three llamas in Books, although all in different rooms. Straight to bed it was! In the morning we hoped to book in for another night in order to organise our next moves, but we were fully thrown off course when we were told it was full. Books had a cracking atmosphere and we were informed that at weekends Lapa comes alive with street parties and is definitely the place to be! That goes without saying the granola and fruit at breakfast was fantastic and Felipe (the owner of Books) had a heart of gold, casually saying that we could just pay when we came back and therefore, in his debt to return, one decision could be made- the following weekend we would stay in Lapa. Sat downstairs with our bags once again packed, we struggled to know where to go next. I felt a little disconnected being in Rio so early, especially as I had always anticipated exploring Rio with Longs. We eventually decided that we would get a bus south to Paraty- about 4 1/2 hours away and positioned between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In the day we ventured to Escadaria Selarón (the famous tiled steps) and walked into Santa Teresa for lunch. That evening we arrived in Paraty and checked into 'Paraty Beach Hostel'. We were exhausted and all we wanted was a bed to lay our little llama heads. Paraty is a beautiful Portuguese colonial town sprawling along a lush green corridor that runs along with coastline in the state of Rio de Janeiro. It was quite honestly the perfect place to chill and recuperate away from Rio's vibrant energy. On our first afternoon in Paraty, we took a boat around the islands. Our driver was a little weird, with not a lot to say, yet that didn't stop us from having a magical afternoon jumping off the boat and anchoring at an adorable quaint bay shining with colourful houses and boats. We watched the sun set behind the surrounding mountainous landscape, casting a deep orange glow in the sky. Soon after, the temperature drastically dipped- we were ready to get back to the hostel for a piping hot shower...oh wait there was none! We noticed that we hadn't moved in a while, and our fears we confirmed when we heard our mysterious driver attempting to re-start the engine. We had broken down. We were going to be stranded all night. No food. No water. We were in our own Castaway. But alas a boat full of Brazilian school children comes to the rescue and literally toes us back to shore. The school girls on the back of the boat were so excited to be toeing gringos- they were chanting at us and taking pictures, we were famous! The following day we took a 30-minute bus to a beach called Trindade. Unfortunately, just as we had laid out our sarongs on the white crunchy sand, a ferocious cluster of cumulonimbus clouds began to cast a dark shadow over the surrounding jungle. We ended up exploring the beach adjacent to the one we were on- we walked up a steep jungle path and entered out through a coconut dropping ground to the other side. In hindsight, had the grey spell not drawn in, we would have probably never put our Mowgli caps on and explored. Trindade is a natural paradise surrounded by the ocean mountain ridge and I feel had the weather been better we would have seen it properly in all its glory. I am so happy we decided to go to Paraty. It is a beautiful historic town, remarkable for its centuries old architecture and allowance of only foot traffic and bicycles on the cobblestone streets. This preserves character to its already quaint colonial appeal. There were many tourists, and that was hardly surprising due to its exquisitely preserved historical gems and the safe and friendly atmosphere the town possesses. Our hostel was fairly average, although what you'd expect from a small town. The aggressive sleep talker and recently recovered dengue Aussie sparked a little banter in our room. The beach was pretty, although small and posed as more of a bay than beach. On Monday 11th we took the 4 ½ hour bus back to Rio and checked into 'Oztel Hostel' for 2 nights, situated in the quiet neighbourhood of Botafogo. This residential neighbourhood has been hailed as an up and coming neighbourhood, though admittedly we didn't really explore it to see for ourselves. Oztel is extremely modern, and clean, offering a fantastic breakfast and even a small sofa room complete with a large flat screen TV on the wall. It was very chilled and the guests were all of different ages- some on holiday and others on business. I lay low for a day whilst Dais and Lou went on their favela tour (I was waiting for Longs) and Oztel was an ideal place to chill and have a FaceTime marathon. We took the bus one morning to 'Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro' and had lunch at a very quaint café/restaurant called La Bicyclette, before purchasing our Botanical Garden entrance ticket. I had a yummy goat's cheese, parma ham and walnut salad and the café itself has a very relaxing ambiance. The gardens are absolutely beautiful and offer magnificent views of Corcovado. The gardens have divisions of certain places such as, Japan and the Amazon and it makes the experience interesting. You could literally walk around the gardens for hours- we must of spent up to 3 hours lost amongst the variety of trees and plants and it truly poses as a majestic oasis away from the busy traffic and hustle of the city. After our two quiet nights in Botafogo, it was time to experience a different neighbourhood! We moved to the vibrant south zone barrio, Copacabana. We checked in to the 'Che Lagarto Hostel' for 2 nights and were happy to arrive to a lively atmosphere. We had a lovely and very chatty American guy, chasing his basketball dream in our room. He wasn't shy in opening up about how his wife no longer sleeps with him, and how he "don't care about the face- it's all in the body." Hopefully he isn't speaking on behalf of all men! We over indulged on both nights on the free popcorn and cheap Caipirinhas that Che offers! One of our days predictably dragged us to the famous 4km Copacabana beach. It is a beautiful beach (although not as beautiful as Ipanema I'd later learn) that stretches far, however admittedly I don't understand its hype. It is bustling with locals, tourists and vendors whom were drawn to us like a magnet. My pale skin was of course a unique attraction, but I did find the constant hassling a little frustrating. Whilst staying in Copacabana, we also got a bus to Barra beach to watch the 'Oi Rio Pro' surf competition- obviously being the budding surfers we are, we had to get involved with the surf culture. It turned out to be quite the event- arriving on the beach to a massive crowd watching the heats. There was a large indoor stand where the surfers were chilling and being interviewed, a replay screen and lots of smaller stalls to get involved in the surfing world. The best the llamas could do was take an extremely awkward picture on a surfboard with a wave backdrop and pose with a seriously ambiguous 'surf sign'. We all agreed what a fun day it had been and it definitely makes me want to become a total surf hunnay! After experiencing Copacabana, it was once again time to move and this time back to Books Hostel in Lapa, where we had spent that very first disorientating night. We were not only in debt to Felipe, but it was time to go out and experience the street parties of lively Lapa! What a weekend it was! Every Friday sees the locals spilling out of every bar onto the streets and the famous Arches become an animated melting pot of food and drink stalls and dancing. We went out on both Friday and Saturday and the observations I made were that the roads are closed to vehicular traffic, there is live music streaming out from every crevice and the charming atmosphere has everyone united in a 'let's have a good time' vibe. That goes without saying to be careful- we found out the following day 2 girls staying in our hostel had had their passports and phones stolen from their bags, which was apparently "so difficult to unclasp and we have no idea how the person did it." Unsurprisingly we had chosen NOT to take our passports out and in fact not even a bag and we were still smiling llamas after both nights. On our final day together and feeling a little ropey, we went to watch Flamengos vs. Sport at the Maracana Stadium. The first half was pretty average, but with a strong comeback from Flamengos, the second half had everyone fired up- one passionate supporter swung his top and threw it before it landed on my face. It was the best weekend to end with my llamas as the following day, the Longs was arriving!