Hello everyone
How slack are we? We have finally come to write the last entry for our around the world trip and it's only 3 months after returning home. So, sat in freezing Leeds we'll do our best to remember the last few weeks of the trip of our lives...
After leaving Chris and Robbie and sunny Buenos Aires, we jumped on a plane to Puerto Iguazu. Unfortunately, we arrived to torrential rain, which had been going on for the last 5 days. Predictably we hadn't sorted out any accomodation, so wandered around for hours, getting pissed wet through, trying to find somewhere to stay.
Luckily the next day, the sun came out for us, so we got up early doors to check out the Argentina side of Iguazu Falls. They were absolutely breathtaking. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see Garganto del Diablo or Isla San Martin, as the water levels were too high from all the rain. Bit gutted about that, especially as we couldn't do the jungle walk either, but still had a wicked day.
Next morning, we got a taxi to Brazil! Bit of a shock to the system, as it was so different to Argentina, even though only half an hour away. We were staying in Foz do Iguacu, which was a bit grubby and seedy, and although the people in our hostel were dead friendly, everyone else was really scary. We thought we'd be able to get by knowing a bit of Spanish, but we couldn't understand a word of Portugese, especially the way it was spoken there. So, we were feeling a little insecure, and to make things worse, we had no local currency, and couldn't get any with any of our bank cards or travellers cheques. We started to panic a bit when it started to get dark and we had no food or means of paying for our accomodation, but luckily we found some Argentinian money and managed to change that. Next morning we saw the Brazilian side of Iguacu Falls, which were also amazing, but we still couldn't see Garganto del Diablo because the water levels were too high - gutted.
That afternoon we started a nightmare 22 hour bus journey, which turned into 26 hours, and we finally arrived in Rio de Janeiro at 4 o'clock the next day. We checked into an Ibis for the night, and had a quick wander around downtown (but got ourselves back to the room as it turned dark because it started to get a bit dodgy). Next day we checked into a cool apartment in Copacabana, where we spent the last 4 days of our travels chilling on the beaches at Copacabana and Ipanema, and drinking Caiprinhas (although the weather did turn a bit cold and cloudy the last couple of days). The beaches were picture postcard perfect: beautiful and sandy, and stretched for miles, with Sugar Loaf Mountain and other outcrops on the horizon. It was great because it wasn't too busy, but there was always something cool going on. It was wicked watching the locals playing football in the sand - young and old, they all played to a really high standard. On the Saturday night we ate Goat Brazilian style, which was delicious and then went to a really cool Samba club for some Brazilian dance action. The next night we (unnecessarily) paid a fortune to go to the Maracana Stadium to watch the local derby between Botafogo and Flamengo. The stadium was wicked, we had great seats and it was a good match, but the atmosphere was nowhere near that at the Boca Junior stadium in Argentina.Still a top night though.
We picked a clear, sunny day to go and see the mighty statue of Cristo Redentor atop Corcovado mountain, overlooking Rio. However, by the time we got to the top, a huge dense fog had descended, and we spent about 3 hours up there in order to get a 5 minute glimpse as the clouds cleared! It was well worth it though, and the views of Rio were spectacular.
It rained on our last day in Rio and we were feeling a bit blue at the prospect of going home, so spent all day in bed drinking Caiprinhas and watching movies (hence the final entry didn't get written until now). We had our final meal (the obligatory plate of meat) in a little restaurant full of locals, near our apartment, and so ended our amazing travels.
Coming back home wasn't as hard as we thought it would be, but 3 months down the line our trip seems like a lifetime ago, and we wish we could go back!