15th September - 17th September
Arrived in Rio after a long 14 hour plane trip. We had to go via Sao Paulo so that was a bit of a pain. After getting through arrivals I only had 30 mins to wait until Sara's plane arrived from the USA. She had to come via Miami but no sign of any hurricanes thankfully. For those of you not in the know Sara and I met on my last trip in Africa and she just couldn't resist following me to Brazil!!
Checked into the hotel on the famous Copacabana beach, the weather was great so we went for a drink to soak up the Brazilian atmosphere. Check out the photo below of Copacabana by night:
First stop on the tourist trail was to take the cable car to Sugar Loaf mountain. Day 2 and the weather was still great so we spent the morning relaxing on Copacabana and then took a trip to Christ the Redeemer statue that overlooks the whole of Rio. The views were fantastic, really starting to get into the brazilian way of life now.
Day 3 and we booked our bus tickets for the next stage on the trip to Curitiba. We also booked tickets to go to the Maracana football stadium to see Vasco play Botafoga. The weather wasn´t too good so the rest of the day we relaxed and went to an Irish bar late into the night.
18th September - Robbed!!
Weather was still not to good so we decided to take a trip on a tram to Santa Theresa, an old part of Rio. We took the metro to the tram station and were just walking to get the tram when DISASTER. Five guys attacked us both, it was very scary. Sara was hit with a bottle and I had 3 guys ripping my belongings from me. All in all we lost everything. Backpack, watch, cameras, wallet, jewellery, etc. We didn't fight back but just ran away, we knew we were very lucky not to be seriously injured. The rest of the day was spent recovering from the whole ordeal. We had to go to the police station and make all the relevant phone calls.
On our return to the hotel we had the most amazing luck. Someone had disturbed the robbers when they were going through our stuff and had managed to recover some of our items. We couldn't believe how lucky we were, Sara recovered her passport and I had my wallet and credit cards returned. I cannot express how happy this made us feel, without these things our trip through Brazil and Argentina would have been much worse.
The rest of the day was spent recovering and collecting our thoughts. It was a scary experience but neither of us were phased and we wanted to continue the trip. I guess it was better that something like this happened at the start rather than the end. I know we are much more cautious and wary now.
19th September - Football
The weather was much better today and we were feeling better after the ordeal from the day before. We packed our bags and left for the football match at the Maracana. It wasn't a huge crowd but it was great to experience a Brazilian football match. The game was exiting with Vasco coming back from 2 goals down to level 2-2. I enjoyed explaining the finer points of soccer to the American girl - I think she is a convert now.
Our next stop was to the city of Curitiba south of Rio. We had booked an overnight bus and were a bit unsure what the quality of the transport would be. We did not have to worry, the bus was great with huge reclining seats, films etc.
20th September - 21st September - Curitiba
This is a great city with a strong Spanish\European feel. It reminded us a lot of Barcelona. We spent the next 2 days replacing some of our items that were stolen (sunglasses for Sara and a 50p watch for me) and touring the sites. We also went to see the film "Super Size Me" in which a guy eats only McDonalds for one month. Very funny and worrying at the same time - highly recommended. It was also fun to go to a cinema in Brazil with the locals. Weather was hot and sunny and it was nice to just relax with a beer in the cafes.
22nd September
Our next stop was to the coastal town of Paranagua and then onto the island of Ilha do Mel. We took a three hour train ride from Curitiba which winds its way through the jungle. The views were amazing as the train track is cut into the side of a gorge with waterfalls all around. The train stopped at Morrettes where we took a local bus to Paranagua. Our boat to the island of Isla Do Mel was at 3pm so we stopped in Paranagua for a couple of hours. We enjoyed a beer on the quayside in this great cafe where the locals were playing guitar and singing, very Brazilian!! Here are some of the locals:
The island of Isla Do Mel has no roads and just contains a collection of guesthouses and bars on the beach - very cool. It is out of season at the moment so the island is very quiet (Sara calls it romantic, women huh!!!!). We are heading back to the mainland tomorrow and onto our next stop of the Iguacu Falls. Stay tuned for more details.
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