Hola Amigos!
After a few rainy days the sun eventually came out for us to explore Rio's sights, thank goodness! Went up to the Statue of Christ which was pretty crowded with tourists but an amazing piece of sculptural construction & views from there!! After that we headed for a different viewpoint of the bay and beaches up Sugar Loaf which was great too! Luckily for the next day the sun stayed out for us, so we gathered the sunscreen, beach bat & ball, sunnies and other beach paraphanalia and hit the famous beaches of Rio. As tourists we stood out a mile as we were the only ones wearing board shorts and slapping on the sun screen and body surfing, not to mention that we even got dumped a few times. Body surfing just isn't the same without the odd bumping!!!! Anyhow we can now say, and have pictuers to prove, we have been there, and only to add that SA's beaches are still better, hands down...
We knew we had limited sunny days ahead so up at 4am the next day to get the bus and then ferry to Ilha Grande which is a beautiful island just south of Rio...we did a boat trip to make the most of the day and then just relaxed there for a few days even though the weather wasn't great. After that was another coach ride down to the coastal area of Florianopolis, where we spent about a week chilling (in the sun, on the beach & a few days in the hammock), cooking heaps of meat, and the odd swim in the sea, which was considerably colder than Rio..... Just a great time of r & r after a lot of running around, catching buses, packing up every odd day, sight seeing etc etc etc...as this traveling is harder that you think!!!!!
We then gathered ourselves and headed inland to the much awaited Iguazu Falls and it certainly did not disappoint us at all. We initially visited the Brazilian side and then crossed over the border to the Argentinan side. Both sides had a lot to offer but we spent more time doing trails to different view points on the Argentinian side which gets you much closer especially to the main drop, the devil's throat, and the spray thereof, so got pretty wet. Took loads of pictures but unfortunately they will never capture the enormity, power and beauty of this wonderful attraction. And now being in Argentina we were compelled to experience the true and much anticipated meat this country had to offer and have to admit the rumours are all true. The portions are huge, tasty and cheap... heehii, we like cheap meat!!! Away with the pasta's, pizza's and salads.....
So after another highlight (one of our main) of our South American leg we boarded the 1st class coach, which has fully reclining seats, meals and drinks served, we made our way to Buenos Aires (a 19 hour trip) to see what all the fuss is about, the Tango, La Boca, Evita etc.. Once again the weather was not too kind to us and the sky was grey but we endured and did the sights, trying to avoid the numerous piles of dog poo that litters almost every street every few metres, and took in a tango show while munching down another steak. Even went to the races, unexpectedly, which was free!!!!! Well no-one asked us for tickets on entry...?!
It was then back to the bus station to board through that 1st class gate for a 20 hour trip to take us to Bariloche, the lake district in the Andes, northern patagonia...More news to follow of the next adventures soon...
Caio!
