Our luck continues! One reason we decided to come to Rio now was so we could try and find a place to stay during Carnaval. We had looked on the internet and almost everywhere was booked and the places that did have rooms were charging $300+ per night! We were worried we wouldn't find anything and have to miss the party. But as luck/fate would have it, Aldri has come to our rescue. He is going to Salvador in Bahia (his home town) for Carnaval and his flat will be empty, so he said we can stay here, AND pay the same price we are paying now. $30 per night! That's unbelievable! And what a relief!
Now that we're sorted for Carnaval, we can head down to Argentina with no worries. We realize pretty quickly that the best and cheapest way to get there is by bus. The bus ride to Iguazu Falls (which is on the border of Brazil and Argentina - and will be the first part of our journey) takes 20 hrs from Rio and there are only 2 or 3 bus companies that go the route. With Aldri's help we book a bus that leaves at 4:45pm.
This is the Inauguration Day though and we're both excited to see Obama become the new president. The ceremony starts at 3pm (local time) so, bearing in mind we have to be at the bus station 30 mins before departure and it's a 15-20 min cab ride to the station, we will be cutting it close. At 2:30pm we go to a bar across the street to watch on their big plasma screen. There's only one other person in there watching with us. What a contrast to being in Kenya on election day, where everyone was going crazy. Here no-one really cares about the American presidency. But we watched with millions of people around the world as Obama took the oath and gave another incredible speech.
Then with his words still ringing in our ears, we run back across the street to collect our things and get ourselves to the the bus station.
Ciao for now Rio!
