Our stay in Brazil is almost over. We're about to cross to Argentina in Iguaçu. A bus takes us back to Campo Grande's airport then we fly to Iguaçu. We have a big scare at the airport again. They can't find us at first and we are dreading to relive the same ordeal but they eventually do find us... Phew! Intense relief!!! The rest of the day is seamless and we arrive late at night in Iguaçu.
Bonito
It was the shittiest bus we had so far in South America. It had no AC, we were bored to death but we made it to Bonito. No complains! The rest of the day is spent tour shipping... As is tradition ;)
Fun fact : the accent of the region sounds like a English speaker speaking Portuguese... Weird! I first though they were Americans or Englishmen speaking really good Portuguese but unable to do a proper Portuguese "r". But it was just their accent!
East to West
Up with the sun again, it's one of the trend of this year ;) We have to catch the 7:30am bus back to Salvador. It rained heavily all night and it woke us up a few times. It's still pouring as we go to the bus station. It's the way the Pati says goodbye I guess. We leave a bit late, miss our connection in Salvador and eventually arrive at 9:30pm in Diogo. Not a fun day but we don't need to move for the next few days, the program is back to being playa!
Vale do Pati
Our trek was organized online and we met with the company's owner yesterday afternoon for a quick briefing. We'll be four plus the guide. First, we pick up Phil and Alex, Belgians living in Bruxelles, then, in Palmeiras, on the other side of the park, we pick our hippie guide, Antoine. The driving is clearly wilder here but not as bad as in the Andes... but not as civilized as in the cities ;) It's not aggressive though, people keep their cool spirit behind the wheel.
Salvador de Bahia
Our hotel is in Barra, to the south of the city center. We wanted something quiet and close to the beach. We arrived in Brazil quite tired and even though the few days at the beach in Rio were some much needed rest, we need more of it. That said, there are still things in Salvador that we want to see, starting with St Francisco church. The blue mosaics are typically Portuguese, the scenes, however, are odd in a church: court scenes, battles, hunting scenes.
Rio
We were told it was way too late to buy the precious new year night metro ticket but that was not true. The subway works all night long during New Year's eve but you need a special ticket from midnight to 5am. Or you have to wait until 5am to hop on the regular subway. We're too old to stay up until 5am so we buy the ticket ;)
Paraty
DAY 202
We have been wondering whether to rent a car to go from San Paulo to Rio. The coastline is gorgeous and we could have stopped anywhere we liked. The price of doing that was a bit prohibitive though so we opted for the bus. Seeing the traffic as we come close to the coast, it was the right decision. A road trip with traffic jams is not really our idea of a road trip. It's so bad we arrive 3 hours behind schedule in Paraty! Our hotel is not that close from the bus station but taxis are hanging around. However they ask for a ridiculous price. We usually don't accept being ripped off like that but today we do and are proved right a few minutes later when it start pouring. Our experience with Paraty doesn't improve at the hotel. When we show up to check in, we learn they actually booked us in a different hotel. It's the same owner they say but it's not by the beach. To top it of, they pretend not to understand why it makes a difference. And despite our complains, refuse to offer a discount. Everything is fully booked in the city and they know it... We end this not so great day in a local pizzeria with live music; Brazilian music of course, the unavoidable reggae classics and some nice jazz and even cha-cha tunes!
DAY 203
Happy birthday to me! I did a lot of Skype today then went to the beach then did more skype then went to my surprise dinner. We don't go there immediately of course, I'm being mislead and walked around Paraty (which is quite nice) until we stop in front of a house. It doesn't look like a restaurant but I have little time to think about it as we're ushered in a greeted by our hosts. Strangely (?) they know who I am and what I know (and don't know) but I eventually learn that it's not just a dinner but a cooking class and dinner!
First we learn to make caipirinha! Then we taste them of course and it's easily the best one I ever had. I took detailed notes and plan on reproducing that experiment when we'll have a house again. I'll need volunteers to try them out though ;)
For the dinner itself, we have 3 dishes to prepare. One for each leg of the Brazilian culture, the native, African and europeans. Au menu: Stuffed tomatoes with manioc flour and cashew nuts, Vatapá, Palm oil farofa, Acaçá (steamed rice flour polenta), Tropical salad and Pineapple, colonial-style for dessert! While doing so they tell us about the history of the country and the influence of food in all this, etc... Our hosts are great, it's a Brazilian lady and a Franco-American guy, both citizens of the world. It's magical how they create a friend/family atmosphere with a bunch of strangers. Magical night really. We eat all of this afterward and it's delicious. I even have a surprise cake with candles and the birthday song that goes along with it. Happy birthday indeed!
DAY 204
It's hard to get up this morning, we got back home at 2am yesterday ;) We rush to catch our boat but thankfully they were waiting for us. The program of the day is very laid back. We cruise from island to island and hop in and out of the water. Some of them have beaches, some of the are suited for snorkeling, some of them are for floating around on pool noodles, napping. Super relaxing day!
DAY 205
Leaving Paraty and its soup-like water (seriously the water is too hot) we head to Rio. The traffic to enter the city and once again we arrive quite late (2h). A short racy taxi ride later, we arrive at our Airbnb. We waited too long to book things in Rio. Everyone wants to be there for New Year's eve so the few options left were not good and/or very expensive. We were left with breaking up our stay in between 3 locations (3 days each). Sure it would have been better not to have to move every 3 days but we'll get to live in different neighborhoods. We're also looking for accommodation to spend a few more days at the beach in the region but it's the same... Fully booked except for a few dodgy things.
"Sampa" for the cool kids
We have brunch with with friends of a friend today at the "fruteria". The food is good but the dessert is about to change our life. Brazil's well kept secret (even kept from Brazilians living abroad!) is called Açaí. It's a berry from the Amazon and they make a kind of sorbet with it that you can eat with toppings or not... And it's divine!
Goobye Peru
It was a long afternoon yesterday to go back to Barranco and today is the final leg back to Lima, ending our 1400km road trip. After having had a car, we now have a home in Lima!! When there is home, there is grocery shopping and no need to eat out every single day, yeah! :D
Because there was a life before the Incas...
Welcome to pre-Inca Peru! It might not be clear if you just visit the Andes region but there was a life before the Incas. Caral was home to the 2nd most ancient civilization of the world. It began here in 5000BC in these fertile valleys surrounded by desertic mountains. It's Peru's coastal trademark it seems. The white-yellow-brown mountains are for sure very scenic. The site, discovered in 94, is huge and impressive.