Rio and counting???

So here we are in Rio (WOW... ) I have always had this romantic idea of Rio and five hours in, so far so good...

We spent an extra eve on “our little private island” Ile Grande, what an AWESOME place (anybody thinking of a honeymoon or little get away I don’t think it could be beat). We have spent the last six days chilling by the beach, snorkelling around the island, riding in speedboats, discovering waterfalls, checking out some cute monkeys, meandering among a plethora of beaches and catching “taxi boats” that look like they should be a toy floating in a kids bath... LIFE COULDNT BE BETTER!!!!!!

Anyway back to Rio, and today we truly understood the frustration with the Brazilian transport system, we were sold (on the island) a three hour high speed boat cruise into Rio harbour where we then would be privately shuttled to our residences (only 20 people per boat)... Yeah right... we were shuttled onto a very cool colourful old boat and spent over an hour chugging along to some random port, then shafted into a minivan, where they did fit 20 people and our luggage (my legs are at least 6 inches too long for the space provided), and we shunted along to Rio which eventually took us over five hours... evidently we were lucky and  got here safely so again we right  it off to a great experience and i will no longer be grumpy...

I am writing this blog in Clauds’s university friends (Gill and Manuel’s) apartment 16 storeys high with a view overlooking Leblon beach and on the other the statue of “Christ”, an absolutely beautiful spacious parquet floored spot having a Vodka lime and soda at around 27 degrees, we feel at home already and looking forward to a true Rio New Year!! (FYI we were informed of basic housing costs around here and Cape Town sounds like a bargain).

I better inform you that Clauds has been to the doctor this afternoon as she has picked up another crazy disease, you were not told about the first being Ringworm that she contracted somewhere in Bolivia, but we were not aloud to talk about as she was so freaked out. She now has something called Limphonites (or something like that) that she contracted from cutting her foot on the island on some rocks and it has now spread. She thought it was just a slightly infected cut this morning that was pretty painful but Gill managed to swindle a doc appointment this pm, and yes my wife is once agiain infected... so Mr Anal is once again freaking out about general disease (this however is just an infection and cannot be transmitted like Ringworm where I quarantined my wife... no touching for a week...)

Thats it for now, off to sort out the lasagne before the ladies have too much wine.

Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and are looking forward to a superb end to 2010......!!!!!!!

The Karma Sutra of sleeping on a bus

19^th and 20^th December

Made our way further up the Uruguayan coast to Points Del Diablo, only about a 2 hour ride from the playground of the rich and famous (Del Este) but worlds apart. Think left over hippie fishing town, only sandy beach roads, small cabin type housing, no ATM, and kms and kms of unspoilt beach. Evidence of (unfortunately dead) but nevertheless a turtle on the beach with vultures eating it and another dolphin relative with a long thin toothy bill. Bren, thought of you as we galloped along on Rosenor and Emilo our beautiful and very obliging horses for the morning. What a treat, and half way during the ride, we stopped to let the horses explore in the forest and Fabio whipped out a bottle of red wine and a bag of biscuits which we duly made our way through passing it between us (no glasses) at about 9:30 in the morning!

The hostel we stayed in was probably our best so far, built by a young couple a year ago for that reason so it’s very functional. Massive open kitchen and sitting area. It was full and quite a walk into town (say 25mins) so most people cooked for themselves in the evenings – quite an interesting affair to have 10 people cooking in the kitchen, all different meals and all different nationalities.

We set off the next day on a mammoth walk along the beach into the reserve which is really an old Fort on the hill and a massive camp ground – we would guess about 1000 sites in the pine and blue gum forest that was pretty much empty but we were told by Fabio that from New Year the season picks up and the little village of Diablo goes from a mere 700 people to 30 000 and the camp grounds are packed! Once we had done the 12km I think was all it was but it felt much further, the idea of walking all the way back was just a bit much and we couldn’t seem to work out how to catch a bus back and not too many people around to ask, so we eventually spoke to some military guys who flagged their fishermen buddies down and we climbed into the rust bucket and got driven back. We paid a ridiculous price but it was worth it and they couldn’t believe their luck as their drinking money just suddenly appeared!

So far Uruguay has been our favourite country and took us by surprise as we hadn’t heard much about it along the way. But we need to move on, Brazil and Ile Grande is calling for Christmas.

The Karma Sutra of sleeping on a bus – 283 positions that leave you with a stiff neck!

5 buses later, and 53 hours exactly and we arrive in Paraty, an entire day late and still married!!

Wowee, how we underestimated that one. The one serious drawback not being able to speak the lingo is that making future travel plans is near impossible so we hop on a bus and only when we get to the next stop can we devise our next move. We gauged that we’d hit Paraty by the 22^nd but could not gauge exactly how much waiting time was required between bus legs. So, an 8 hr wait and then another 5 here and there becomes an interesting test of patience! And we thought a bus ride to Cape Town was long, try 20 hours with a toilet that absolutely honks and a seat that is impossible to get comfy in. But if you manage to get 2 seats, the best way to lie is facing the seats, head on the aisle side and feet at the window, trust me, I have tried all of them! If on the other hand you are my poor husband, you sit up right with the person in front consistently trying to put their seat back and getting a knee in the their back, with head lolling about when he sleeps. But we managed and arrived to an incredibly kind host and exquisite villa we had all to ourselves as he was closing the next day for Christmas – who gave us a beautiful breakfast for free and didn’t charge us for both nights. So worth remembering – Pousada Acquarela, belonging to Emerson.

Paraty is gorgeous!!! Cobbled streets, white houses with coloured window frames and shutters. Art shops, seafood, mini islands off the mainland and rows of brightly painted wooden boats offering rides. Pity we missed our other night there for a smelly bus!

24^th December

Another bus, but a quick one! And a ferry ride takes us over to Ile Grande where we get 4 nights! Paradise found! It’s everything we were hoping for. Palms, boats, white sand, warm water and great food! We have also been lucky with a beautiful Pousada to stay in that has a pool and a perfect view of the bay.  

25^th December

Ho! Ho! Ho! – Merry Christmas everybody!!!

What a beautiful day. Packed our towels and off we went on an island exploration hopping from one mini beach to the next. The one crossing required a bit of swimming so we wrapped the towels around my neck as I had inherited a tube from some party animals the night before. Andrew got the giggles and took some photos of me – said this one was for you Gav – “tits bobbing!” and the slip slops pic is especially for Rob and Em – check ‘em out! Have sent you the odd message but I don’t think sms’s are going through. Hope your wedding was spectacular. We heard it was awesome and can’t wait for the pics and detail!

We met a really lovely Dutch couple that we spent Christmas dinner with, they are just here for the weekend living in Sao Paulo. The restaurant (that Lize had booked way in advance) is tucked away in the middle of the forest a short(ish) walk along the beach all secluded. Fantastic evening, we decided we would be each other’s family for Christmas.

26^th December

Again, another “hellish” day in paradise. Set off this morning in a speedboat for a day trip around the island stopping off at beaches along the way to snorkel, swim, laze around and explore. The island is about 32km in length so it was a full day’s excursion finishing off with lunch at a beach restaurant. If this place wasn’t as expensive as it is, I think we’d be hanging around a lot longer!!



Salt anyone?

Wow, well it’s been a while since we updated the blog. Was such a treat to hit civilisation again in Argentina that we have been seriously chilling and even updating the blog is clearly too much effort.

So After La Paz, we hopped on a bus to Oruru and from there managed to get the last 2 cattle class tickets on the train to Uyuni where the salt plains are in Bolivia. The train really makes a nice change to the bus with that rhythmic rocking and being able to just watch the world go by. The scenery was beautiful, probably a bit like the Karoo as a comparison with dust devils and mountains in the background. We spent a day in Uyuni, which you can see in 45mins and booked for the salt plains tour the next day.

The scenery was startling. Salt plains as far as the eye could see which could be ice from it’s looks (not the heat!) dotted with islands of cacti and volcanic rock, and even the odd bird. The first night we spent in a salt hotel – the whole thing is built from salt bricks and even has some sort of salt mortar. The photo shows how they literally cut the salt bricks from the plains with an angle grinder and they are the perfect width as the next layer was much more powdery. Wish we could have brought a few bricks home for the farm – pure salt licks!

The next day saw us going into red dust terrain to see lagoon after lagoon with flamingos. Again interesting and extraordinary, from Borox mining and arsenic lagoons – we’re not really sure as our guide didn’t speak a word of English and talking about terrain and mining hasn’t been in our frame of reference, we just getting by ordering food, a room for the night and a bus.

Anyway, maybe we can look up Lagoon Verde for more info as it was also promoted for being the 8^th wonder of the world.

The 2^nd night we stayed in what could have been a mud hut in Hammanskraal (minus the litter) which was fun, just incredibly cold at night but wow!! what a night sky!!

Seem to have no concept of date, time and day so can’t remember when we left but we made our way back in the train to Argentina from Uyuni the next night. We stopped in Villazon, on the Bolivian side and made our way to the border which was a few km walk – amazing how you can get around with acting out, miming, pointing and the odd Spanish word. We somehow worked out that you need to walk across the border and catch a taxi into town and then a bus from there. So we hit Salta – a beautiful Argentinian town with a population of about 500k. Back to a normal altitude, shops, restaurants, cleanliness.

Yet another big bus ride to Mendoza which was selected as a destination when Rob and Jax gave us the coffee table book about off the beaten track places to visit! Mendoza was compared to Napa Valley and we decided to pin point it as a destination.  19 hours later we arrived in Mendoza –beautiful! The pavements are wide, the houses are quaint and the restaurants are plenty!! Meat, meat and more meat, we had such an awesome steak – and I have to admit, Argentinian meat is better than SA!! And we keep trying it to ensure that it really is the case! We ended up staying 5 nights in Mendoza and going for a run the one day now that  we could breathe at a normal altitude. Mendoza also has a massive park (500 hectares) to explore including stadiums, water, rose garden etc. It’s very popular to hire bicycles and cycle round the wine farms which we did yesterday and then end of with a chocolate and preserve factory – awesome day out!!

We have also been pretty amazed at the time schedules and haven’t quite accepted the siesta thing – blooming inconvenient when you want to go to the shops anytime between 2 and 5/6. Even the banks and the mid sized supermarkets! Then everything is open til 10 or so and the restaurants don’t start filling up til at least 10/10:30. What is fascinating is the fact that small kids are also still up having dinner 11pm with their parents.

15 December

On the road again.........

We’re off to Beunos Aires overnight, another 14hr bus ride!

16^th December

Beunos Aires for the day and just couldn’t pass on the opportunity to go to a Tango in the evening – very romantic! But we’ve realised that big cities hold little attraction for us so we only stayed 1 night and then caught the high speed boat across to Montevideo, and up to Punta Del Este. Lovely here!! Apparently the playground of the rich from Argentina and Brazil and certainly looks it. Mixture between Plett and CT in terms of accommodation, high rise apartment blocks and exquisite individual homes all mixed in together. We are staying about 5mins from the beach and 2 mins from the shops which are all Louis Vuiton, Tommy Hilfiger, and beautiful decor shops!

Off to go and do our normal lunch thing which is to find a supermarket, buy some wine, rolls, ham and tomato etc and sit in the park and ‘make picnic’!

Wishing you all a safe and happy Christmas break! Will be thinking of you all. xx

The Hygiene Chronicles!

YEEEHAA!!! Just got news that Mo has landed safely in Ghana, cleared customs, no damage and is already parked at the house waiting for us, HUGE THANKS TO ED, GUY AND ANDY FOR SORTING THAT OUT!!!!!

We are travelling South by train (with all the locals as we got the last two cattle class tickets as everything else was sold out, lucky us!) to Uyuni, the salt plains in Bolivia and I cant believe that we are almost one month down in our trip. We finally spent some time yesterday trying to choose the rest of our route before Christmas in Ile Grande, Brasil.

We are generally living at around 3800 MASL which means there is no extra exercise or exertion as you loose your breath walking up a flight of stairs, looking forward to some normal heights so we can breath again...

We did Death Road yesterday out of La Paz, it was AWESOME!!! 63km downhill on a dirt track, starting at an altitude of 4700m and finishing at 1000m (MASL). Clauds was fantastic and whipped over half of the teams ass in getting down, luckily you don’t have to look over the edge too much as you are pretty much focussed on the track ahead of you so we had no height issues. It is definitely the way mountain biking should be done... the tour company “Overdose” is very jacked which unfortunately means that they do quite a few stops on the way down to check everyone is alright and keeping together. The vegetation was amazing, starting high up  above the clouds with no vegetation and finishing at the start of the Amazon basin.

I had a bit of a wobbly in La Paz (which is just another typical 3^rd world city, too many indigenous) with the cleanliness of our hotel. Showering in luke warm water with my flip flops on and refusing to walk around the room without shoes is not my kind of establishment. When leaving this morning I found an old ear bud under my bed and it was time to get out, on the bright side they only charged us the equivalent of R 120.00 per eve for the both of us including a terrible breakfast. While discussing hygiene I better explain what occurs while heading to the head to have a session (dump); firstly on entering a general abode check the floor as you are probably going to slip (shoes are essential even in your hotel), you then need to establish whether your throne has a toilet seat or not (I can't fathom what these people do with toilet seats but it seems to be quite the rage to steal them). Ok so you have now established your view for the next few minutes, you get ready to make a “crows nest” (putting loo paper around the dirty toilet seat so you don’t actually have naked skin touching it), but ALAS!! there is no toilet paper so off you run to go and find some crummy single ply that will do the job, FYI never blow your nose with the toilet paper over here, it all ends up decorating your chin and shirt. Right, the urge is now getting desperate and you make it back to your “happy place”, perch on the end of the seat and try to have a moment in peace. During your session you look around for some reading material and what do you find on the dirty wall in front of you? something in bloody Spanish with a terrible translation explaining that you need to place ALL toilet paper into the bin next to you, and you wonder do they really mean ALL the toilet paper?? so you kind of stare over at the overflowing bin next to you and realise that the smudge marks on the paper is not from the ladies wiping off their mascara but something oh so much more vulgar. Your moment of peace and glory is shattered and your sphincter valve freaks out and shuts down before you could 100% complete the daily chore... so you get up, add some more stench to the dustbin, flush if there is any water and hope like hell that you can sterilise your hands on the way out before having to manoeuvre around the germ infected door knob ... SESSION OVER!!!  

Copa.....Copacabana......da da da da da da da dah da duh dah da da!

27^th November

Copacabana

Copa.....Copacabana......da da da da da da da dah da duh dah da da!

So after our indulgent night of pizzas and whatever English movie we could find on the TV, we set off for Ile de Sol the next morning, cocoa leaves stuffed into our cheeks to assist with the altitude. Instead of catching the easy route on a ferry to this Island off Copacabana, we decide to walk the 17km to the closest point as the crow flies to the island and hire a row boat to take us across.

It’s a good walk, especially at over 4000m in places, uphill is a new experience. But really worth it with amazing views of Lake Titicaca and walking through the tiniest of villages, it’s hard to imagine how they survive. Andrew assisted the boatman across by having a go with the oars.

We only took the basics with us (most hostals are happy to store your stuff, all in good faith from our side) and found a little hostal on the island run by the typical looking Bolivian woman. Long thick black plaits, usually with additions at the end that look like dangly tassley things you hold curtains back with, squat, thick gnarled nails, bowler hat on and lots of layers of skirts. Electricity and hot water were not guaranteed and we didn’t crack it lucky but were lucky to get fed as all but one restaurant on that side of the island actually had food and we had picked it luckily before the rest of the island visitors (say 12 people) came in, drawn by the candle light in the window (no electricity).

29^th November

Another hike to the Northern side of the island through little cultivated terraces along the coast, to catch the ferry back to Copacabana. Andrew braved a swim in the Lake, and then we sat on the bay shore munching our huevo and tomato sandwiches that or hostel hostess had made for us. After a very long ferry ride back, I think we walked faster, we hit the bustling metropolis of Copacabana (all 3 streets or so!) and found a pub run by an English guy who gave us interesting insight into living in Bolivia as a Gringo. Been there for 10 years and only now is being accepted into the community even after supporting and sponsoring the local soccer team, being engaged to a local and bringing money into the community. Said he was even expected to supply the booze at one of the local’s weddings because clearly he must be rolling. Hard to believe that you don’t lose faith.

30^th November

And we’re off again, to La Paz, the biggest city in Bolivia. Thought we were very smart to find a direct 4hr bus trip for R15 but realised quickly that you get what you pay for. I think direct means that you don’t veer much off the direct route but you stop constantly to pick up and drop off locals, fish in buckets, pick herbs from the side of the road, drop off gas bottles and poor Andrew could literally not fit into the seat without the guy in front of him having 2 knees in his back. And similar to home, fresh air is not a priority and some windows can’t even open up anymore. Anyway, we had a tussle with the old lady in front of us as we’d open the window and she’d promptly shut it – she won.

30^th November

La Paz

Just another big smelly city........but a popular mountain bike ride is on the cards for tomorrow, 60km downhill along “the most dangerous road in the world”. I had opted out on this one and decided that jewellery shopping might be more my thing until FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) set in, so here goes. Only an average of 100 people die each year!

The Friendly Swiss!

21^st November

Cock of the Rock Lodge

We set off early in the morning on our Jungle Tour which started in Cusco and drove down through into the cloud forest for night 1. We actually did see the Cock of the Rock which is the Peruvian National Bird, bright red – very pretty. Our trip was booked out of season so we were only a group of 4, a Swiss couple in their 40’s and us. But we are polite and ask them some questions to pass the time at our candle lit dinner.

Cock Of The Rock

22^nd November

Manu Wildlife Centre

Once we had driven all the way to river level, we hop into motorised dugouts and start a 7 hour boat ride down the river. Beautiful!

Cannot get over the size of the trees, they are all monstrous – even the banana plantations – the trees towered above us.

Manu Wildlife Centre is abandoned besides our little group as far as tourists go (it holds about 60), some wildlife biologists and a National Geographic photographer who had been literally waiting for over a week in a hide for the Tapir and Spider Monkeys to come eat clay at the clay lick. He has food brought to him and just waited (no showering clearly)........apparently his  American NatGeo Producer had seen a clip from ’94 of a baby spider monkey slipping off the branch and falling into the mud and this was now the script and she would settle for nothing less and he (Alistair McCuin) was sent out to refilm this in high definition!! Caused much shaking of heads in the camp.

Manu Wildlife Centre

We went and watched macaws and parrots eating clay early in the morning (assists in digestion) which was very cool. The Swiss are going off already.

23^rd November

Manu Wildlife Centre

Our guide is excellent as far as spotting wildlife goes as well as teaching us all sorts about the plants, butterflies, mammals, frogs and mainly birds. Couldn’t fault him. English wasn’t great but certainly good enough. We didn’t see as many animals as I was expecting but we did see Capaibara, Aguti, Tamarins, spider monkeys, brown cappachin monkeys, woolly monkeys......no tapir after hours of waiting at the hide and no jaguar even though they were around. The Swiss still haven’t asked us one question but we’ve had to trawl through pictures of their house, children, dog.......

24^th November

Manu Wildlife Centre

Awesome ox bow lake raft ride – saw plenty birds and even the Agami Heron which was apparently enough to give an ornithologist a reason to visit as it skulks around at the edge of the water, very slowly and of course the edges are seriously overgrown – still not sure how Klaus even saw it in the first place.

We couldn’t find any DEET with more than 7.5% - not that I am sure anything would keep the mozzies away, we are being noshed alive, but no potential of disease, just itchy and irritating. I’d rather sit in silence than try and have shallow comments stating the obvious with naive and stupid Swiss.

25^th November

Puerto Maldonado

More travelling down river, by boat, then road, then boat to get to Puerto Maldonado where we fly back to Cusco.

I thought Andrew was going to murder the taxi driver as he drove an automatic car with one foot on the brake and the other on the accelerator – simultaneously and accelerated and then slowed down continuously for 140km. I got to watch from the back (squashed next to 2 smelly Swiss) as he also expanded on the uses of an ear bud.  First, you swivel it in one ear, inspect the success of the dig, then hold it between 2 fingers while you hold onto the steering wheel. Then, pop it into the next ear, inspect again. Once satisfied, push the cotton part off each side and flick those out the window, and finally chew each end into a tapered point which you can use as a toothpick. Once process complete, throw out the window.

I refuse to try to be nice anymore, the last straw being when Swissie asked me whether I thought the driver flicked his lights and hazards as we went past other drivers to let them know that he had important people in the car. I just nodded and said probably, what was the point? The naughtiest thing she had ever done was let the service light in her car stay on for 3 days before doing something about it.

26^th November

Fly Back to Cusco.

Jungle tour was fantastic and I think we really got a good feel for the real jungle, it was expensive but worth it, and one can understand the expense when you look at the logistics of supplies and the empty boats that go back up the river and all staff including boatmen are employed all year round even though there is no revenue for the rainy months of the year.

Spent the last day travelling with an English Wildlife Biologist who lives in Peru who told us a bit about the gold mining activities and the impact on the river. Unfortunately tonnes of mercury are being dumped into the river every year as the daily process of extracting the gold results in the miners just allowing the mercury to evapourate into the air which condenses and goes into the river. They are finding mercury in fish that “uncontacted” villagers are eating on a 3 day boat trip up the river. The miners could use equipment to either reuse the mercury or at least save the environment but as Rob said, mercury is about 0.5% of their operating costs and all they are worried about at the end of the day is how much gold they have and whether it means beers and a prostitute or just a stripper. We say good bye to the Swiss, and 6 days later, they still don’t even know what we do back home. Adios!

Hop onto an overnight bus to make our way into Bolivia. We have arrived in Copacabana which is 3800m above sea level and both of us can feel it a little. Fuzzy headache and getting up to our hotel room is exhausting stuff up those stairs but the view is beautiful of the little village over the edge of Lake Titicaca with all the boats and restaurants.

Our hotel is USD$20 for the night and we have a double bed, single bed, TV, view and on suite bathroom – we just ordered room service pizzas and decided to stay in, acclimatise and watch TV J