Iguazu falls

The first stop on our visit to Brazil was Iguazu falls, on the border between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. The worlds widest waterfall is truly an awesome sight. Rosa and I spent the first day exploring the Brazilian side and the following day the Argentinian side. We enjoyed both days but probably the second was the most memorable as we took a short jeep ride through the sub tropical forest and then a boat ride up the river through some rapids and finally approached some of the waterfalls. You cannot get very near the Devil's throat (the most famous bit) on a boat as it is so thunderous and dangerous, but we were taken right under a couple of lesser falls to give us a taste of the power of the water, and of course to get us completely wet! Great fun and something not to be forgotten. We then explored the network of walkways around the falls, finishing at the Devil's throat in the late afternoon sun. Cathy also took a helicopter flight from the Brazilian side and had a birds eye view of the full extent of the waterfalls.

On to Rio de Janeiro

After another long delayed and changed journey, (we seemed fated with Brazilian airlines) we finally arrived at Rio de Janeiro. Our hotel was the 1940's art deco style, Olinda Othon, on front at Copacabana beach. After suffering a noisy first night and workmen banging away the next day in the hotel we were upgraded to a beach view room for the following 5 nights, so we were happy. Rio is a beautiful city, obviously there are many crime problems and much poverty, but what you see as a tourist is very appealing. It is very green with parks and hills,  bays of white sand beaches and the blue sea so it seems to be a city with many positive aspects. The first day was quite cold and grey so we visited Saint Teresa, an area of old grand houses set on a hill, now rather run down but becoming a more trendy artists area. The attraction is Rio's last remaining old tram/trolley bus which takes you over the Lapa Viaduct up to the top of the hill. Good fun especially on the way down with a samba band playing at the front of the tram. I didn't take my camera that day, having been warned it was a area noted for bag snatching, so unfortunately I don't have any photos of this day. Indeed somebody did have their bag nicked on the tram, but luckily Rosa and I didn't lose anything the whole week. In the afternoon we walked around the city centre- bustling and full of quite grand municipal buildings.

Sugarloaf mountain

One of the highlights of Rio for me was the trip up the Sugar loaf mountain. The next day the weather had cleared, it was lovely and warm and sunny, so we decided it was perfect for exploring around this famous iconic sight. You have to take two cable cars, first to a lower hill and then on to Sugarloaf itself. The views of Rio are stunning, as Sugarloaf mountain rises right from the sea, you can see the beaches arcing away on either, with the mountains rising further inland and across the bay to the other side, more bays and hills. Of course there are many high-rise hotels and buildings but the combination of sea, mountains, trees and beaches is very beautiful. We spent several hours walking around the top and soaking up the views from the cafe on the top! Later we walked along a path at the base of the mountain, right by the turquoise sea...Unfortunately we had forgotten our swim things, as the previous day was so cold, so we couldn't bath in the lovely bay at the base of the Sugarloaf.

Petropolis- the Imperial summer city

After two days in the city we decided to spend a day venturing out to Petropolis, this wealthy city was full of lovely old houses and palaces built by the Brazilian royal family and other well off families in the 19th century. About one hours bus journey from Rio it was set in beautiful mountains and a perfect place to escape the summer heat and disease of Rio in those days. We had to take 3 buses each way to get there- so it was quite an exploration of the Brazilian public transport system-clean and well organised, but still an adventure for us foreigners. That evening we had a meal at an Arabian restaurant near the hotel, the food and atmosphere was good. I was keen to see the dancer, interested to see if Brazilian belly-dancing is very different to what I know. She was young, pretty with a lovely body and she was technically good, but surprisingly similar in style to the UK. I was expecting maybe something a bit more lively and gutsy- influenced by the African/Samba roots, so I was a bit disappointed.

Ipanema beach and dancing at the Rio Scenarium

The next day after all the travel we were a bit tired and had an easy day wandering along Ipanema beach, drinking agua de coco, straight from the coconut at beachside cafes admiring the beautiful Cariocas (Brazilians who hang out at the beach.) One of the lovely things about Rio is the many juice bars around the city, where they take the fruit from the piles on display and freshly squeeze it for you. We also spent some time trying to find out about a none existent ferry to an island just south of Rio- Isla Grande. In the end we couldn't get there in the time we had left, and had to book an organised tour to some of the other islands nearby, for the following day. That night, as it was our second to last, we decided to brave the central part of Rio to find music and dancing. Someone had recommended a club/venue in the central part of Rio-  the place where all the music venues are Lapa, so we ventured up there with only enough cash for the evening. No camera- so no photos I'm afraid. It was a very nice old building converted into a music venue, with three floors with plenty of tables for food and relaxing and a dance floor, which we made plenty of use of! The music was an Argentinian tango group, with a hint of samba to keep the Brazilians happy, so we enjoyed dancing and watching the other dancers strut their stuff.

'Tropical' islands trip and the last night dancing samba

 This was quite a relaxing day as we were picked up from the hotel and driven down the coast to a small town from where we had a boat ride among the islands. Sadly after three lovely days it decided to cloud over and be a bit grey, so it wasn't quite as tropical as we hoped. However we enjoyed seeing the scenery south of Rio and relaxed on the boat. I did my only drawing of the trip- circumstances had conspired against other drawings- (Iguazu too much spray at the good viewpoints, I had forgotten my pad and pencils on the Sugarloaf day and I didn't have the time in Petropolis!) Anyway I enjoyed sitting on the beach after lunch sketching the boat and mainland  behind it. This was our last night so we had to make the most of it and returned to the Lapa music area to find a good venue to see some real samba (we didn't want to see the glitzy samba tourist show - but real Brazilians dancing.) Luckily, mainly by chance (we didn't have enough money for the other posher clubs) we ended up at this little venue where a Brazilian singer of African descent and her band played some really great music. She had brought with her about 7 dancers who showed us what they could do- amazing fast footwork and hips too, dancing two at a time one man ,one woman and trying to out do each other. Fantastic dancing- very lively and joyful and very African influenced. Then the audience was invited to join in an have a go if we wanted, so Rosa and I learnt a few samba steps and a nice Brazilian man taught me a slow up close and personal samba! Mostly we just watched the dancers in awe- a thoroughly great time and a perfect last evening, one of the highlights of the holiday.

Christ the Redeemer statue

We had saved this trip till the last day as we had the whole day before our flights home. In the morning we had a swim on Copacabana beach, enjoying a bit of sun and sea before the return to grey cold Lima. Later we took the railway up to the statue of Christ, now a new wonder of the world. This is on a higher mountain further inland than the Sugarloaf, so you get to see the whole city spread out below you. It is an impressive view and interesting to see the statue, another iconic sight connected with Rio de Janeiro. However there were a lot of people at the top and it felt a bit hassled and not as relaxed as we might have liked. We were pleased to have been there, but didn't stay very long, returning to Copacabana to have our final coconut milk or juice on the beach front before our long journey back to Lima.

All in all Rosa and I had a great time in Brazil, we saw all the things we had hoped to do, had a few adventures while exploring by bus and had lots of laughs and two great music/dancing evenings. We didn't have any problems with crime, so we have left with a very positive image of the vibrant city Rio de Janeiro and the magnificent natural beauty of Iguazu falls.