Been There Thread, Brazil

My holiday was fabulous possibly the best holiday we have had so far !

Brazil was everything we could have wished for, we did a lot of travelling first to Rio which is huge and dominated by the Christ the Redeemer Statue which dominates the City and is just as impressive close up. Our time in Rio was spent in a Hotel opposite Copacabana Beach, and you could see the Christ statue from our bedroom window. We went on an organised tour of a Favella [Slum] which cling to the hillside and are huge thousands of people live there and they are virtually self ruling, tiny narrow streets but inside they were clean and well furnished and surprisingly clean. But of course we were on a tour so they are not going to show you the worst] we went up in the cable cars to Sugar loaf mountain and had another spectacular view of the city.

The food was fantastic but not the place to go if you are a veggie, we went to a Brazilian Barbecue and they come around the table with large portions of meat and slice it on to your plate and it just keeps coming, even himself had to call a halt.
Language was another problem as hardly anyone spoke English and even those with Portuguese had a problem but with a smile and good humour you can get by, so it as a wise decision to go on an Organised tour.

After we left Rio we flew to Igassou which we thought wrongly was a small border town, on the borders of Paraguay and Argentina it was huge and 2 hours flight from Rio. It is also home to the biggest hydro electric power station in South America.
You needed you walking shoes as the water falls were huge and so many of them set in a National Park, we saw monkeys , pelicans and butterflies as big as tea -plates and some were the most beautiful shade of iridescent blue. We had a boat trip on a Zodiac boat and we were warned to wear bathing suits and we soon found out why when the driver put on waterproofs from head to toe and drove with breakneck speed into the edge of some of the waterfalls, freezing water, drenching us, it was the sort of experience which is better in hind sight but I would do it again.
That was the Brazilian side the next day we went to the Argentinean side and more water falls, at the Customs post they still have a sign say the Malvinas [Falklands] are Argentina's. It was very warm a lot warmer than it normally is for this time of year so we struggled a little with the walking but it was another breath taking view of some huge waterfalls with walkways right up to the edges and over the top, we sat a Cayman basking awaiting any tourist who wanted a cooling swim.
As we made away to the coach and then on to the Airport for the relaxing part of the holiday a storm blew in, we went from hot still and humid to strong winds and a spectacular thunderstorm.
We got to the airport but then all the lights failed and the flight was cancelled, the airline was very efficient they put us up in a hotel over night and we flew off in the morning and arrived in our resort for a rest.
The Resort was just what we need very peaceful and tranquil with good food and so clean, they nearly followed you in to the loo

Attached Images

igassua_falls_argentina.jpg (12.0 KB, 37 views)

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Over 50 Rocks

If you go to Brazil don't take travellors cheques as we had a terrible problem changing them, we were warned to be careful but the crime appeared to be no worse than any other large City, we walked quite safely and as we are both fair haired sowe might as well have had tourist stamped on pur heads but we had no problems, street sellers do target you but a shake of the head and they disappear, but just be careful where you go

A picture of a favella clinging to the hillside

Attached Images

favella.jpg (25.5 KB, 28 views)

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Over 50 Rocks