Rio’s reputation goes before it, the beaches, the setting, the criminal mayhem. All is true except the last, it is a fantastic city and probably the most relaxing one we’ve been in for a very long time. The setting reminded us very much of Hong Kong, high rise buildings lap up against the forest covered mountains that come down to the sea, and the whole place linked together by tunnels. The difference is though while Hong Kong was all work, work, work – where’s the money? In Rio its all fun, fun, fun – where’s the beach? Where else in the world do barefoot girls walk through city streets carrying surfboards?
We stayed in Copacabana just three blocks from the beach, which was packed with people all day, and yes the girls do wear dental floss bikinis. In many ways the place seemed unreal, no one seems to do much in the way of work, the main occupation seems to be shopping or topping up that tan. A perception of Rio is that it is very poor and that there are vast shanty towns run by drug gangs. These no doubt exist but they are not obvious and we never saw them. In Copacabana and even more so in Ipanema what is most startling is the wealth, shops and resturants of the highest quality and lots of people enjoying them. It’s rather like being transported to the South of France twenty years ago. Even the few security guards that you see wear suits.
Apart from strutting our stuff on the beaches we went and did the usual tourist things, going up the Sugar Loaf mountain on a cable car and of course taking the cog railway up to ‘Christ the Redeemer’ who overlooks the city. Some great views, this has to be one of the best settings for a city in the world.
From Rio we moved quickly on, by passing San Paulo to Iguazu Falls at the very end of the country. Apart from having some of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world it is on the borders of three countries and is a big resort destination. Lots of Brazilians and Argentineans come here to go shopping in Paraguay, which is duty free. The Argentineans also come here to escape the cold in Buenos Aires (15 C). Another big attraction is the nearby dam at Itaipu which is the largest man made structure built in the 20th Century and of which both the Brazilians and Paraguayans are very proud. It’s very impressive in a poured concrete sort of way, although it was not looking it’s best, as there was not enough water in the lake behind, for the slip way to having water pouring down it.
The drought is a much discussed problem not least because the main tourist attraction in the area, the Falls, are not looking their best. In fact large parts of it were dry but it’s so big this doesn’t matter, it’s is still a stunning sight. We saw it from both sides of the river, in Brazil and Argentina. In Brazil there were some old friends of ours, the Coatis, the little raccoon animals we’d last seen in Panama. Here in Iguazu, they were so used to having been fed by visitors they now virtually mug you for food. We went across to Argentina on a day trip, the Argentineans have built walk ways that cross the now ‘dry’ rivers but which take you up to the main falls which you look directly down on. Awesome views.
The whole area was so pleasant we spent most of a week there before crossing the ‘Friendship Bridge’, dodging the returning Brazilians clutching their duty free booty, into Paraguay, where we are now.
Written by Will.
