Stepping off the bus in Iguazu falls was like being back in
Central America…we were back in the rainforest…hot and humid baby! We hauled
our stuff about 10 blocks to a hostel named STOP, owned by the same people as
PAX (where we stayed in Buenos Aires). Keep in mind that with a fresh tattoo on
my shoulder, I’m now carrying the big backpack on one shoulder and the small
backpack in my hand…good times. It was already late-ish, so that night we
didn’t do much. Next morning it was on to the famous Iguazu falls. The falls
are shared by Argentina & Brazil, mostly on the Argentine side with an
amazing view from the Brazilian side. The pictures will do a lot more justice
to this place than my descriptions, so check em’ out or click here to watch the video.
They just go on and on and on, I’ve never seen so many waterfalls, coming from
all directions it seems. We were both really impressed! They have done an
excellent job of building walkways and paths so you can see them from many
different angles. In addition, there are a bunch of different tours you can take,
some slow and steady, one where they literally drive you into a huge waterfall. We didn’t partake in the tours but it definitely looks fun. With all the people
and these tours going on it sort of feels like you’re in a water or amusement
park, everyone is soaked, either from the falls, the mist or the sweat and
everyone is clamoring to get the best pictures.
We couldn’t stay for too long because we had to catch the
bus to the town on the Brazilian side of falls (this way we could get a bus to
Florianopolis the following day). So, a few hours later we arrived in Brazil.
Pretty cool walking into the immigration office with our Brazilian visas we
had gotten before leaving LA, felt like a lifetime ago and now we finally put
them to work. No problems there and we were on our way. We grabbed a cab to the
hotel we had reserved and turns out it wasn’t even in the town and taxi ride
was bit expensive, we go to check in and the hotel can’t find our reservation
(we had already paid a deposit on the travel website), now keep in mind that in
Brazil they speak Portuguese, and although it may have similarities to Spanish,
it is a totally different language! Talk about frustrating, trying to work out our
reservation problem in language we don’t speak at all…rough. We got into the
room and the next morning a woman who spoke some English was there to sort
things out.
A few hours later and we on a bus to Florianopolis. This is
an island connected by bridge on Brazils Atlantic coast, about a 15hr ride from
Iguazu. We arrived early in the morning with no reservation and while checking
out hostels on-line we were approached by guy trying to sell us on an
apartamento (little apartment), this guy is also speaking Portuguese (funny
thing is, if you ask any Brazilian if they speak Spanish, they all say some,
but really they only know the words that are the same in Spanish…lol) anyway,
the deal closer here was this guy will drive us to the apartamento for 5
“reals” (Brazilian money, 1 real = 1.7 dollars) each, that is cheaper than the
city bus and it saves us an hour! He got us out to the island and after some
checking around we went for the apartamento, it was awesome, we actually had
our own little kitchen with a fridge, table, chairs…so nice.
As for the island,
I fell in love instantly, this place has to be the most complete beach
destination we’ve been to. For one thing, it’s an island, so there are like 20
different beaches on all sides, all offering their own advantages. The sand is
white and water is clean, not warm, but clean. Most beaches we’ve been to
either had good diving & snorkeling or surfing, but here they’ve got it
all, surfing, kite surfing, diving, snorkeling, boating, volleyball, soccer,
foot volley (like volleyball but played with soccer moves), plus, there is none
of this no alcohol on the beach BS, they have bars and clubs on the sand plus
guys with big drink carts that will mix you up anything you want. Looking for
somewhere to spend a summer or a few years, this is the place! I just wish we
could have stayed longer. We had such a good time just relaxing on the sand and
in the apartment…of course because of the new tattoo, I couldn’t go in the
water or get any sun on it, but oh well, I knew that was gonna happen…I was
still lying on the beach, just with a shirt on ;)
We were in Florianopolis for 3 lovely nights and then headed
back to the bus station for a 18hr, $125/per person ride to Rio de Janeiro…our
last bus ride, crazy. And yes, the tickets as well as everything else cost a
lot more here in Brazil, but what can you do. Rio is our last city before
flying back to US, crazy.
Brett
