The next day we saw the Brazilian side of the falls and it was just magic. It was bloody hot and humid but the sun was shining which made for a different experience! Also a nice way to see the falls as you kind of walked alongside them..at one stage we were taking pictures and this beautiful butterfly kept landing on us it was so special! The naughty little native monkey things kept snatching at our bags..once back in town we got a cab to the bus station as it began to storm..yet another overnight bus! This time the bus wasn't so nice, people were noisy and it kind of smelt..and we were even stopped for a random drug search involving several armed guards and a sniffer dog..and we could have got a flight for a similar price but when we factored in getting to and from the airport the bus actually seemed easier (sounds crazy)..but nonetheless we survived and 17.5 hours later we arrived in the massive city of São Paulo..we weren't really keen on staying in another big city but there weren't any more onward buses that day (cons of last minute travel) so we found a nearby hostel and sweated our butts off getting there (soooo humid!). It wasn't so bad, there were loads of friendly people and we shared a room with a really sweet old lady..couldn't communicate too well but she showed us pics of her family which was super cute..we walked downtown and got a beer and some local food (steak, beans, rice, salad) then had an early night..as yet another long bus the next day! Getting pretty tired from all the travel..such a big continent, so little time..
The bus the next day was really nice. I'd kind of just found a town between São Paulo and rio online that looked nice (called Paraty) so we set off to there..and I'm glad we did! 7 hours later we arrived in the beautiful colonial water side town..all the buildings white with different colour trims, just gorgeous. We were tired again so just walked around a bit, paddled in the ocean, taste tested some local liquor (the main one is called Gabriela!) and went to bed early in our funny little hostel with beds all lined up in a row. Next day we visited a town on the coast (as the beach at paraty wasn't very nice/clean) which was beautiful! Much nicer than I expected..we bought matching t shirts and hiked through the jungle to another beach which had slightly less people on it. Met a really nice Bolivian couple who gave us some pointers for rio. Gab wasn't feeling very well so we had an early night which was ok by me too! We were both pretty buggered from all the traveling.
Next day we decided to take a boat out to some islands which was pretty awesome..it was a bit rainy and cold (probs not the best thing for our immune systems) but did some snorkeling and relaxing :) some very pretty beaches and inlets and the overcast weather meant I didn't get burnt!! we then caught the bus to rio..I was glad it was a shorter 4/5 one! We saw the Christ the redeemer statue from afar which was cool, it was lit up and had most surrounding it :) made it to our hostel 'discovery hostel' which was really nice and had a great vibe :)
We decided to do a tips for tour with the hostel guy to get a feel for the history of the city, which was great..and interesting ! Although I always seem to forget when there's too much info..but anyways a highlight was that he took us to a trendy little coffee haunt that only the locals go to and the coffee was amazing!! Afterwards we went and had a beer and some traditional food then went to what was supposed to a Samba street party..but alas apparently there was a new mayor in town and the party had been causing trouble so no dancing :( well a few people attempted at one stage and they were pushed back inside a bar by the police..was like bloody 'footloose'! Anyways we enjoyed a Caprihini (local drink), people watched and made some friends..all in all a good night although I really would've loved to see a bunch of people dancing!!
Next day the weather was clear so we got a van up to Christ the redeemer..an awesome thing to see, so big! Although pretty annoying how many people were there taking selfies etc..but anyways back down we went to Ipanema beach (just next to the infamous copacabana beach) which was really quick beautiful..we were the only ones with swimmers that covered our bums and I was most definitely the whitest one there :P a great place to people watch, people were selling everything from sarongs, prawns on a stick, even haloumi which they had a little portable stove to cook..getting pretty tired we wandered over to copacabana for a look but the weather turned a bit..so we opted to head home rather than tackle sugarloaf mountain as we both were sick with a cold. But we gave rio a red hot go! Did a lot in two days.
