Apologies for no updates

Hi All,

We wanted to apologise for the lack of updates but the island we are on has limited internet access, this means the entire hostel uses 1 computer to access the internet.

However you can rest assured that we are formulating blogs while offline and in the next few days you can look forward to new features including:

• To shave or not to shave that is your question - the peoples vote
• The Parrots pecker
• Life on the island

So please check back in a few days when we reach Rio.

Sarah and James

It' a beach life

So after a week of failed attempts to find sun and sand in Brazil it appears we have found it.

We find ourselves in the beach resort of Paraty several hundred km south of Rio, The sun is shinning and it’s been about 25 degrees for the last 3 days.

Paraty has received UNESCO world heritage status for its colonial Portuguese building which were beautiful and different at day and night.

For a beach town what do you need………flip flops that’s correct, and where are we??? Brazil the home of Havaianas!!

So Sarah being Sarah decided she would buy a selection one for each day of the week…

The views and landscapes here are un believable the forest meets the beach and the sea straight from the mountains.

We have decided that staying here for 5 days of rest and relaxation is needed, travelling is harder work than you think it’s a 7 day a week job!!

After we do finally leave here were heading off to a small remote island off the coast of Rio, we think were going to spend around 5 days there also.

I have been challenged!!!

Yes Sarah today threw down a glove as a sign of a duel....

A one sided duel in which I would grow a beard.

If I could???

Of course I can!

Day 3

This beard is itching like hell and I have almost ashamedly shaved, but I did resist and I may be through this phase....

I have coined a new medical condition however which is "INS" Itchy Neck Syndrome.

No Jokes please.

Curitiba Scenic Train- South of Sao Paulo (18-20/5/2011)

Next destination was the city of Curitiba which is set on a massive granite plateau 1000m above sea level that used to reside 10km below sea level 65million years ago!

We checked into the only remaining hostel in the city (as you can imagine it was wayyyy out of town) and booked for the 8.15am train the next day. This would take us through the mountain range of Parana, down through gorges and would wind it’s way between the huge trees and forest vista.

The train was empty (as it’s winter) so we could jump from side to side to take in the fantastic views. Unfortunately, nowhere here seems to have heating, so we sat frozen to our seats at 8am. We could see our breath until about 10am!! Is this really Brazil???

http://www.serraverdeexpress.com.br/

Not so ‘Ibiza’ - Florinopolis- South coast of Brazil (15-18/5/2011)

We had the expectation that this would be party capital- and is named as the new Ibiza of South America. We rocked up with this in mind, but it appears that in winter everything is much the same as Ibiza in winter- i.e. closed… rubbish! To add to this it poured with rain from start to finish so our initial party Island beach paradise turned into a staying in and watching DVD’s in the BEST hostel we have stayed in!  Thank you Submarino!! We wanted to stay longer than 3 nights, but we decided the weather was not on our side and we would head north to Curitiba. 

A few pics of Florinopolis when the sun was shining!!!

Border Control - 14/5/2011

So our time in Iguazu was over….

Our new travel buddy from Chicago had left us for Chile and we decided to go and say farewell to our other friends before they left for Bolivia.

We arrived at their hostel a mere 5 minute walk but they were no where to be found…We had a little lunch and eventually they appeared and so did a huge thunder storm. We said our goodbyes and waited for the rain to slow which it did.

Now Iguazu is made up of a lot of clay, when clay mixes with water you get a huge MESS!!

So Sarah and I military style decided it was a better idea to go through the bush than along the road where cars were splashing tidal waves of red water at head height. What this meant was our trainers got heavier and heavier and redder and redder as the clay took hold. Eventually with the hotel in sight we decided a 50 meter sprint along the road was worth the risk???

Now, I had calculated that Usain Bolt can run the 100 meters in 9.58 seconds, so therefore I should be able to do it in 20 right………Not with clay shoes!!!!

We waited for a gap in the traffic big enough and I shouted run!!! Half way in I turned in slow motion (movie style), I shouted to Sarah to run as fast as her little legs would carry her. At the last moment I hid behind a sign. Unfortunately Sarah’s little legs just weren’t quick enough to avoid the lorry J and she didn’t make it!!! She was covered head to toe in red clay water, very amusing, however I didn’t get a photo!!!! Apologies.

We spent the next 2 hours with Sarah washing everything she was wearing in the hotel guest sink!!! Her trainers are very clean now.

The next obstacle was Brazilian border control. This would be our first venture through a south American border control and we ventured in a taxi apprehensively.

The place was like a huge McDonalds drive through with 10’s of drive through’s each seeing people, It was no more exciting than that, the guy behind the desk never even looked at us……

Iguazu Falls

We have spent the last few days travelling to reach the Iguazu falls UNESCO national park, the park was given UNESCO world heritage status some 25 years ago. Iguazu lies on the border between Argentina and Brazil, this would lead perfectly for our entry in to Brazil at the weekend.

The park is made up of over 250 individual waterfalls over a distance of 2.7 km, this size leads to these falls being one of the most amazing in the world.

The falls were created over 200,000 thousand years ago by volcanic activity, a huge earthquake would have led to the drop in land and the creation of the falls. With the added fact that different rocks make up the area some wear away quicker than  others creating a continual movement of the falls.

Between Niagra, Victoria and Iguazu most waterfall records are held and people argue which are the most beautiful and awe inspiring. Having never been to the other two I would argue these are the most impressive J!

The park contains several walks that take you to various points of the park to view the waterfalls which are split in to 3 distinct zones.

The first was a walk to see the lower falls

It was from the lower falls we had arranged a jet boat ride in to the falls, this 15 minute thrill ride allows you to get up close and personal with the falls. You are driven right in to the bottom of the waterfall where the noise, air movement and power can be fully appreciated.

This ride leads to a thorough soaking and we left the boat wet through to our pants!

The next walk gives a more panoramic view of the falls and the distance they cover

The final and most impressive of the areas in this park is the aptly named Garganta del Diablo or the Devils Throat. The Devil's Throat is U-shaped, 82-meter-high, 150-meter-wide, and 700-meter-long, on the day we went the water flow was so high huge plumes of water vapour clouded the view however it was still spectacular!

(apologies for the crude panoramic, software would not help due to light differences between the photos)

The noise, power and ferocity of this natural wonder was more than we have ever seen or imagined 

existed in the natural world and is something to be marveled at.

Is this paranoia?

So we're back in Buenos Aires after a drinking session in Mendoza and much camaraderie by the troops. We booked a night bus back to BA and booked into Garden  Hostel in San Telmo.... And the story begins.....

We were initially intrigued by the local 'live-in', heavily tattooed, pot smoking, tv junkie occupant, nick named 'the rat in the hat'.... but soon our suspicions turned into what could have been a nightmare.....

I quote:

"Paranoia is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs concerning a perceived threat towards oneself. Historically, this characterization was used to describe any delusional state"

So on our last day in BA, after only 1 attempted pickpocket /attack on a friend we had met, we thought we had had a better experience of BA the second time around. So we all decided that after check out we would head to the local San Telmo tourist trap markets. We put all our bags in one friends private room who was staying an extra night... We thought this was fairly safe considering there was no lockers to use and their room was locked.

So we file out (all 8 of us) only to find a friend of the 'rat in the hat' had decided to hide round a corner and pop out of nowhere to speak to us and come along with us... How very strange we thought....About 10minutes into the walk he makes a couple of phone calls and distracts us by making sure he is the perfect host!! hmmmmm....... James at this point starts to become very paranoid that this guy is up to something.... he's keeping us together an away from the hostel!!! arghhhhh 

Alarm bells then start to ring loudly and he quietly flags to our friend Danny what he thinks is going on.. So at this point we're all crapping it. The boys decide to leave and head back, using the pharmacy excuse, literally doing a 100m sprint back to the hostel....Sweating like mad and greeted by very confused( and surprised)  hostel owners...

In the mean time, the friend of 'rat in the hat' is still with the rest of us, and he's asking where Danny and James are. He gets very shifty. By this time we are all hyper nervous about what is happening, so we decide to loose 'the friend of rat in a hat' by ducking and diving into the swarming crowds in the market!!! Think James Bond style... We take a left street, then a right, hiding behind cars and heading back to the hostel as quick as possible.

When we arrive back we are pumped of adrenalin, all belongings are there, but 'rat in a hat' is not happy and knows we sussed him.... The bugger!!!! Everything would have gone.....

Anyways, the freind of rat in the hat comes back quickly looking for us, we all decide to check out and move hostels as quick as possible........ Lucky escape and good for paranoia....

I'm not sure what the hostel thought when 11 people checked out, all in one go!!!

Morale of the story-DON'T TRUST ANYONE IN BA!!!!

.

So

High Altitude

We decided to take a day trip up in to the Andes for our first experience of the mountains.

We were picked up from our hostel at the very early 7.30 this meant a rise of 6.30 to sort out breakfast and lunch.

The ride out to the Andes takes you though the preliminary line of mountains which the Argentineans’ refer to as hills! These hills can be up to 3500 meters!!! That’s not a hill, in the UK anything over 700 meters is a mountain!

The drive up to the preliminary mountains included drives past lakes and volcanoes with some stunning views! The entire area is volcanic with hundreds of dormant volcanoes in the region.

Our first stop on the bus journey and 3 ½ hours on the mini bus was at the entrance to the Aconcagua national park, The mountain can be climbed but is for the extreme members of the community, not us. The mountain as previously mentioned is the highest mountain outside Asia at 6962m.

We now started the ascent to out highest point of the day and by far the highest point of the trip, The site of the Christ the redeemer statue at the Chile \ Argentina border. This statue was placed at 4000 meters above sea level to signify border peace between the two nations.

Once we reached this altitude we were all immediately hit by the effects the lack of oxygen has on your body. I was extremely surprised how affected I was with shortness of breath, dizziness and a slight headache. The temperature had instantly dropped but the views were spectacular!

After a rapid descent from this altitude the affects disappear as quickly as they appeared…

We now headed for our final stop the Inca Bridge

The bridge was formed during the period of the glaciers, this volcanic area has many hot springs and minerals that seep from the ground and debris sat on the glacier mixed with these minerals to form a solid platform, as the glacier melted the bridge was left. As time went by more and more sediment and minerals fused to the bridge making it larger and larger.

During the 1970’s a hotel resort spa was built and the hot springs by the bridge used as a spa with thermal pools, continual growth of the bridge led to the area becoming unstable and the hotel closing. The Orange colour over the rocks is caused by iron minerals in the hot spring water staining the rocks.

After this stop we were left with a 3 hour bus ride back to the hostel which allowed for us to see the sun setting over the Andes and a whole new vista could be admired.

Buses – Wine – The Andes

Our time in Buenos Aires was over! A good thing or a bad thing were not sure…It probably wont be a place we return quickly.

Our next adventure was getting from our hostel to the Buenos Aires Bus terminal, due to horror stories given by fellow travellers we had met this was more of a trial than it should have been. We had been told of pick pockets and muggings on the tube, so we intrepidly started our journey with an eye of suspicion on everyone on the tube. This journey wasn’t helped by the people trying to sell marker pens and pieces of paper?? on the tube to un suspecting tourists! However the journey ended uneventfully, luckily!

When we finally boarded our bus for the 13 hour bus journey to Mendoza we were shocked at just how nice the bus was, we had selected the second highest class but we were greeted with big leather chairs each that reclined to almost flat! We also managed to bag the front seats :-)

It’s pretty un believable the distances between places in South America when you look at a map you have travelled nowhere yet been on a bus for 13 hours!

What we were not so keen on was the dinner we were provided!!!

I was for once quite glad Sarah was a ceoliac…it meant I had more to eat!

However after an hour or so a bigger dinner was served with Wine, champagne and a movie and the obligatory pastry side dishes that must be eaten at all times in Argentina,  we then settled down for the night.

With the rising of the sun came our first view of the Andes mountain range and the highest peak in the Americas and actually the largest peak outside Asia at 6962 meters towering over Mendoza.

Our first few days in Mendoza were spent relaxing and visiting our new gym we are honorary members of for a week!! £2 a day isn’t bad!

We decided on Saturday to complete the winery by bike tour, there were about 15 from our hostel who went of all nationalities, British, American, Canadian, Dutch and Australian’s.

The tour involved renting bikes from the mad “Mr Hugo” http://mrhugobikes.com/ Hugo would great you all with free wine, free bad wine that could be used as paint stripper at 11 am was pretty hard going but duly drunk!

We then set off for our first winery..

Once at the winery unfortunately they had run out of clean glasses and it was a 45 minute wait…When does a winery run out of glasses?? we decided it better to hedge our bets elsewhere.

The second stop was for Chocolate, olive Oil and Absinthe. Drinking Absinthe at 12 lunch time is not a great past time but does make for a very eventful afternoon cycle ride!

The afternoon was spent visiting a few more wineries and back to see Mr Hugo for some more of that free wine!

We have met some amazing people in Mendoza and people we would really like to travel with for a bit, unfortunately everybody seems to be going in different directions right now. I hope our paths may cross again this seems to be the way it works in South America, The same faces appear in different cities in different countries..

We intend to spend a few more days here in Mendoza and then head up in to the mountains for a few days. We can walk up to about 4200 meters near the Chilean border so sure that will provide amazing views and a little acclimatization to altitude.