Our first stop was in Corumba...the town nearest to the Bolivian border. Not much to do here except relax, recover from the bus trip and plan where to go to next. Our hostel did have a swimming pool (what luxury hey!!!)...so not a bad place to stop!!!
Anyway, this area of Brazil is particularly well known for The Pantanel..a huge wet-lands where it is great for bird watching and animal spotting (and getting bitten by mozzies!!). It was possible to go there without going on an organised tour, but...HOW?! There was no "tourist information" in the town...only 2 tour agencies wanting to sell their expensive tours. We asked and asked to no avail, and in the end decided to go to another little town instead. I was more keen to go to the Pantanel than Jesus...as he gets eaten alive by mozzies!!! In the end, after we had bought our bus ticket, the girl that was working in the hostel that day told us that the bus we were going on actually went past the entrance to the Pantanel reserve!!! Welcome to Brazil!!! Oh well!!!
So...off we went to Bonito...which actually means "beautiful". This is a cute little town surrounded by lots of "beautiful" things to do. The only thing was that all the "tourist attractions" were on private land, so you had to go on a pre-paid organised tour to go anywhere. We are not the greatest fans of organised tour i might add!!!
The only thing that was for the general public was the Municipal baths. But, not your normal swimming-pool type baths. This was a beautiful area on the banks of the river. The "baths" were actually the river itself...crystal clear water filled with large colourful fish!!! The most beautiful municipal baths i have ever been to. There was one rock-pool type area that was shallower, and another deeper area where you could walk a bit further up the river and then slowly float down with the current. We spent the day there just enjoying the water, the relaxing surroundings and watching the local Brazilians practicing their Capueiyra (a traditional dance of the Brazilian slaves).
You could buy food to give to the fish...and watch them in their feeding frenzy!!! Jesus even threw some food in when i was in the water, and the fish were all swarming around me...it was a bit freaky!!!
There was also cute little monkeys playing in the bushland lining the river. We had decided to walk the 7km from the hostel to the baths, even though the girl at the hostel had said it was "very far"!!! On the way back, walking out of the area, we saw 2 toucans in the trees...their yellow beaks glistening in the sunlight!!! Ahhh...how wonderful is nature!!!
The next day instead of doing an organised tour, we decided to hire bikes and enjoy the surrounding countryside...which was really fun. We actually ended up at one of the "tourist attractions"...a cave where there was a beautiful blue lagoon inside. But, even though there was an office there and tour groups going in to the cave, they wouldnt let us join a tour and go in to the cave because we hadnt "pre-paid" and organised to do so...how stupid hey!!! But, anyway...we enjoyed our bike ride (apart from nearly getting "run over" by a herd of cows!!!...and 40km later arrived back in Bonito, a bit tired!!!
The following day i did one of the organised tours. In the morning they took us to this area to see the incredibly beautiful Mackaws. It was amazing...this big canyon like hole in the ground, about 150m in depth, where the Mackaws nested in the rock-faces, and you could watch them flying over the canyon or sitting on the ledges or tree branches around the red-coloured rock faces of the canyon. They are the most amazingly vibrant blue and red colour with their beautiful long tail feathers...it was so special to see them in the wild.
We got to see some other cute and colourful birds as well...
The next part of the day was a snorkling adventure in the river. It was basically 3 hours where we just floated down the river..the water was so crystal clear that yu got to see all the beautiful fish and different plants in the river. There was fish of all sizes...tiny little colourful ones, to some quite big ones. It was amazing...it was like another world down there. We wore wet-suits, which made us float on top of the water...so you didn't need to do anything...the current of the river just slowly floated you down-stream. It was a great experience.
Our last morning there, i woke early and decided to go for a bit of a walk. About 5 minutes from the hostel, i saw this yellow glistening in a tree in the distance...yep, a toucan. I was so excited, and watched a while hoping it would come a bit closer, but eventually decided to keep walking a bit further where there was more trees. I looked up and WOW...there was 5 Toucans playing in the trees just above my head. How special and amazing to see these incredibly beautiful birds in the wild. Such amazing colour. I imagined them to be bigger than they actually were..but their beautiful yellow beaks are nearly as big as they are!!! I ran back to the hostel (non-stop!!!) to get Jesus to come and enjoy this wonder of nature with me. So, that was Bonito...beautiful!!!
We enquired about other places to visit in this area...but discovered that apart from Bonito and the Pantanel, there was really nothing to do between here and Rio de Janero ...22 hours away in bus!!! So...our first really long bus trip!!! (the first of many!!!). But, this was absolute luxury compared to the buses in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia...where 7 hours seemed like an eternity!!! These buses are air-conditioned (and not by just opening the window!!!), have heaps of leg room, a leg rest, the seats are huge and even recline to about a 45 degree angle..so you can sleep a bit more comfortably.
Well...next stop 22 hours later, the famous Rio de Janero. Can't come to Brazil without visiting Rio!!! Plus, one of the friends we made during our trekking in Peru, Fabio, was from Rio. But, difficult as everything else was in Brazil...so was catching up with our friend!!! He was away working in Sao Paolo, 7 hours away, and told us he would be back on the weekend, so we hung around to see him...and he got stuck there for work. So... we didn't even catch up with him unfortunately!!! But...we did stay in the famous Copacabana...and enjoyed strolling along the beach-front and sipping Caiparinas in the beach-front cafes. Caiparina is a yummy Brazilian drink that you have to drink when in Brazil...so we did!!!
We ended up doing a really touristy "city tour" to see the sights of Rio...easier than trying to get around on your own. So, we visited the famous Statue of Christ that overlooks Rio, the road where they have the famous Carnivale Parade, for soccer fans of course...the Macarana Stadium and Sugar Loaf Mountain, with its spectacular views over Rio and the beautiful beaches.
The top of Sugar Loaf Mountain had lots of paths to walk around and enjoy the views. The surrounding trees had all these cute faced little monkeys!! We spent quite a bit of time there, enjoying the many varied views...and the monkeys of course. Later we went to one of the lovely beaches at the base of the mountain to enjoy the sun beginning to set.
Well...when you think of Brazil, what do you think of? Beautiful beaches...and beautiful they were. We were staying at Copacabana...so enjoyed walking along this famous beach front with its famous tiled footpaths, with "artisanos" selling their jewellery, crafts and colourful beach wraps and the most amazing sand sculptures.
The next day we walked from Copacabana to Ipanema (as you do!!!)...the next beach along. A nice walk enjoying the sunny day, watching people play volley-ball all along the beach front...and of course the "infamous" Brazilian beach views...yep, the Brazilians really love their g-string bikinis...no matter what the size or shape!!! I hope i dont offend anyone...but i thought i would share some of these beach "views" with you all!!!
But...there was also the usual "all shapes and sizes" beach views!!
I did also take some cuter views!!!
Plus, we stayed to watch the sunset over Ipanema beach, which was really r
elaxing and beautiful.
elaxing and beautiful. 
From Rio, we decided to head to a town in the mountains, Teresopolis, about 60km away, on the edge of a National Park considered to be the hiking capital of Brazil. We had imagined a smallish town...kind of like Olinda or somewhere like that. But...small town Brazilian style...about 150,000 people...with houses sprawling up the mountain sides!!!
From the bus station we decided to jump in a taxi and head for the Youth Hostel but arrived there to find it closed...apparently the owner had gone to lunch!!! But, waiting out the front we met a fellow traveller, Mark...also looking for somewhere to stay. So...he jumped in to our taxi, and we all headed down-town and found somewhere else to stay. A nice, clean place...expensive...but that was normal for Brazil. There was a really yummy breaky spread included though!!! Mark had also come here interested in hiking...so off the 3 of us set in search of hiking tour information. Hmmm...!!! The tourist information office basically only had information on places to eat or sleep!!! There was no tour agencies...so we headed to the National Park itself to enquire about hiking. They told us we would have to check out their website to get the name of a local guide...and phone him ourselves!! Yep, great...thanks for the help!!! But...a long story later, we did manage to get in contact with a guide, Rennan; a young and really enthusiastic guy. There was actually nothing organised for people like us wanting to go hiking...we basically had to organise it ourselves. Plus...nowhere to rent equipment, such as tents etc!!! Hmmm..and this is supposed to be the trekking mekka of Brazil!!! But...Rennan could help us organise everything..so "lets just do it" we all decided. Rennan took us to his house in his little Volkswagon Beetle for an "organising meeting". He was actually really helpful, and could help us out with a tent and all the things we needed. Plus, as he was used to organising food for treks...so we let him do all that for us as well!!! He even suggested that if we wanted to we could also hire a porter to help us carry all the stuff...as the hike was quite difficult in places and involved clambering up and down rock faces. So...we took him up on that suggestion to "supposedly" even the load out. We wanted to leave the next day...but, like everything else, that also proved impossible to get everything organised in time!!!
As we couldn't leave the next day, he took us on an outing to a different area in the National Park where we walked to a really peaceful and beautiful little waterfall and swimming area, with lots of beautiful, colourful flowers and then to a look-out over the town. Plus...views over the imposing mountain formation which made the background to Teresopolis called "El Dedo de Dios" ("God's Finger")
As we couldn't leave the next day, he took us on an outing to a different area in the National Park where we walked to a really peaceful and beautiful little waterfall and swimming area, with lots of beautiful, colourful flowers and then to a look-out over the town. Plus...views over the imposing mountain formation which made the background to Teresopolis called "El Dedo de Dios" ("God's Finger")
So...after 3 days we finally headed off on our 3-day trek...yipeeee!!! The night before we left he told us that he had organised for his girlfriend Paula to come along, as she spoke English (he only spoke Portuguese). When we arrived at the hike starting point...there was Rennan and Paula waiting for us. We were wondering where was the porter...well, she was it too!!! They started taking the food, utensils, tent etc out of their packs to organise everything "fairly". Jesus and i had packed really lightly to compensate for having to share the load of all this stuff. Rennan "weighed" the bags of food etc, and we all got ready to load up our packs. He started putting everything back in his pack. We just looked and laughed..."what is going on...when are we going to share out the stuff"? It turns out that he and Paula were also playing "porters"...so it was their "job" to carry a certain weight. As it turned out, we eneded up carrying nothing extra...he even actually offered to take more of our stuff!!! There was 2 huge avocados sitting on the table near-by, which Jesus offered to Rennan if he wanted to carry more weight!!! We were just wetting ourselves laughing...even the lady at the Park office was having a good laugh. Our packs weighed about 10kg...his, about 30kg, and i think Paula's almost as much!!! At least we were in for a funny time!!!
So...ready, and off we set. The first day was a nice and fairly easy hike, with views over the surrounding mountain range and even back to Rio de Janero.
After 4 hours we arrived at a look-out point...where there was also this big rock formation perched on the hill-top called "El Pescado" (The Fish). "Can we stop here for a little while to exlore a bit" asked Jesus. "This is where we are camping" was the answer!!! So, we got to explore the rock crevices and caves and views while Rennan and Paula prepared our yummy dinner. We did help set up the camp though!!! It was actually a cold night...so, what to do when camping...go to bed!!! It was earlyish...and as the 3 of us lay in the tent, Mark said "I'm bored"!!! So...Jesus started telling ghost stories!!!
The next morning we woke to cloudy skies and a bit of rain. Hmmm. We packed up the camp, but had to wait to see if the weather cleared up , as Rennan said the days hiking was dangerous if it was raining. So we waited, protected under "the fish", and waited...until eventually at about 11.00 the weather cleared enough for us to continue on. Yippeeee!!!
And we soon discovered why it was dangerous to continue if it was raining. A lot of the ground was actually flat, exposed rock...so really slippery. And parts were on slopes...so we had to be really careful. One part we had to walk across a sheer rock-face that was at a 45 degree angle, just using the grooves in the rock to put our feet, so if we slipped, we would have slipped...down!!!
A couple of other times Rennan had to secure a rope so we could "rock climb" down the rock-face, as it was too steep and too slippery otherwise. One other time it was actually climbing down a 90 degree angle drop, using the rope as security. The last "adventure" was climbing up and over another 90 degree angle rock-face...this time even using a harness. So, yep..you can add rock-climbing to our list of newly aquired skills!!! Just as well Rennan was an experienced rock-climber!!!
But...it was a beautiful days hiking with lots more amazing views, even though it was very cloudy...and also lots of colourful wildflowers.
That night we camped at a refuge...although we still slept in our little tent. The next morning was also cloudy and drizzly...so we enjoyed the "comfort" of being inside the little house to keep warm and dry, waiting for the day to clear. Which it didnt!!! But, this was an easy 3-4 hours hiking back down through the bush-land. A bit wet, but invigorated, we arrived back in Teresopolis!!! After our hiking adventure, we decided to stay the next day in Teresopolis to dry out our clothes and boots!!! After this, we actually decided "enough of Brazil". Too difficult for tourists, and actually really really expensive. So, the next day we returned to Rio, and the same afternoon jumped on a bus bound for Puerto Iguazu...just over the border in Argentina...and home to the famous Iguazu Falls. But, that was a 24 hour bus ride away!!! So, until Iguazu...
Lots of love Llamas Bailando xxoo
PS: I leave you with a cute photo from the shop at Suger Loaf Mountain..o good way to drum up business!!!
