And so we left Buenos Aires and now here I am in Brazil! We crossed the border last night after visiting the Iguaçu waterfalls on the Argentinean side, which was an incredible experience, including a train journey and a “quiet” boat trip on a rigid inflatable where we had to sit on the sides of the boat rather than on seats. Then we had a walk around the falls themselves, viewing them from all angles – and what an incredible sight they are! We took another boat trip under the falls in a high powered boat which appeared to turn on a sixpence and gave us plenty of opportunities, if we wished, to take photographs of the falls from below.
I didn’t take advantage, as there was so much water spraying about, the camera would have been swamped – and we were swamped because part of the fun of this trip was to go right under the waterfalls themselves, where the water churns up into huge waves which invariably ended up in our laps and all over us! Everyone wore either rainproofs, which weren’t terribly effective because the water found its way into everybody’s ponchos and macs, or the braver ones just wore shorts and a t-shirt and just enjoyed the soaking! I would have liked to go over them in a helicopter but decided it really was too expensive and in the end, as we had such incredible views from the ground, decided that was enough.
We crossed over into Brazil from Argentina and visited the falls here, which affords a greater panoramic view than on the Argentinean side. Talking of water, we have at last reached the rainy season and it has poured more frequently while we’ve been around the falls than at any time on our trip so far. Trouble is, our campsite has no proper roads, just mud tracks and when I tell you that the earth is bright red, you can imagine that my shoes, my trouser bottoms and most of my clothes that I am wearing at the moment seem to have red stains everywhere. So it’s a question of running around, trying to avoid all the red muddy puddles, all the deep red mud, and live as normally as possible!
We took a bus to the falls within the national park, and our truck just parked up outside and our leaders prepared lunch for us while we were away as we would only be there a couple of hours, as it is just a walk along a designated path to see the falls. It was, as I have said a spectacular sight. One hears the falls before seeing them and when one bursts upon them, one's thoughts turn to the first Europeans to discover them (and don't ask me their names now) and how they must have felt to see such a sight. We were taken to a bridge right under the falls and were all sprayed by the water and it cascaded down, but that was only one tiny part of the falls. They just go on and on and on, and each turning of the path brings a different perspective into view. It is totally impossible, I would say, to photograph them in their entirety whether you are in the air or on the ground. No photograph, however professionally done, can really do full justice to them. At the tourist shop, I got a book about them and it contained a CD with 60 photos on it, so hopefully I may be able to get a better perspective when I am able to view it.
Well, we then got on the road heading for what we expected to be our next camp site but somehow or other, the roads got rerouted and we ended up lost! However, Brazil has these fabulous restaurants called Churascias, which means really, barbecued steak, and they charge you for your food according to how much it weighs. We stopped off at this roadside restaurant at about 2100 as we were all starving, and as we entered, they gave us a credit card and it turned out that whatever we bought in their restaurant or shop went on to this credit card and then in order to get out, we had to present the card and pay our total bill. A fantastic idea, as the restaurant is a buffet type meal and one can choose whatever one wants, as much or as little, etc, and it doesn't matter whether you love meat or are a vegetarian because everyone is catered for.
After leaving there we moved on, trying to find the right road to our campsite but in the end our redoubtable leaders had to give up and we arrived at this dicey looking transport cafe, which really wasn't too bad, except the petrol station alongside was either being completely revamped or reconstructed and it was a building site. However, they let rooms and so that's where we stayed for the night, not without a little trepidation to start off with. As soon as we had climbed the stone steps to the upper floor, everything was transformed – clean tiles everywhere, a room with a fan whirling around creating lots of cool air, clean beds and a shower room with hot water, towels and toilet paper! Luxury. We had a thoroughly good night's sleep and Judith and I were able at last to wash all the red mud off our shoes although they didn't dry out for a day or two. We both had flip flops to wear and I had my black shoes I bought for £9 which have proved one of the most comfortable pair of shoes I have ever bought and which don't even stain one's feet black no matter how much they perspire!
Anyway, we arrived at the next camp site in Paraty rather late the next night, as we had decided to miss out the one night stand on the way and press on to the place where we would be staying for a few days. Paraty is a seaside resort, with a lot of history but don't ask me what it is! It has an old town, with cobbled streets, and of course it was carnival fever there already. We stayed in a nice campsite which had soap dishes and nice showers and toilets which were kept a lot cleaner than the other place in Foz and also did not have any red mud. But it was a bit of a one horse dope and also made me realise how much more expensive Brazil was going to be for just about everything than the rest of South America. Laundry was costing four times as much as elsewhere – you would laugh and say I was still paying pennies, but it is in comparison to the rest of the continent that I judge it.
The highlight of our stay there was a boat trip, or I should say a schooner trip around the islands. It stopped off every now and then to let down anchor as the boat couldn't get too close to shore, and people who could swim just jumped off and had fun. We non-swimmers were rather restricted until one our leaders ask the captain to let the dinghy down and go ashore, so I got Paddington out, slung him round my neck and together we progressed to shore where we had our pix taken several times. So who's Paddington I hear a lot of you ask? Well, Paddington Bear, of course, from Peru, who has been my trusty friend this many a week, blown up and placed round neck when necessary, although at the falls he could not be utilised because only the proper life jackets were allowed. Anyway, Paddington and I are now on record, braving the waves to go ashore and return to boat.
After Paraty, where we stayed three nights, we were off to Rio and arrived in time for carnival. Now, my companion, Judith said she could forgive our truck company, Exodus everything for the marvellous package we had in Rio. The Imperial Hotel turned out to be very imperial and provided us, albeit three to a room or more to keep the cost down, with a swimming pool, which suited me down to the ground because at the deep end it only came up to just over my shoulders, and at the shallow end was just under my armpits. So I was able to go there, open air, with a palm tree, together with growing coconuts, and a few pot plants, in the early morning, do my exercises (with Judith doing hers too) and then we would take a dip in the pool, Judith to swim and me to just paddle around. And then down to breakfast with a buffet meal which provided us with all sorts of dishes, bread, cake, fruit, juice, coffee, etc. The laugh was, I ask wherever I go for hot water and lemon and everywhere I go I get it, with the lemon suitably sliced. However, this is where the Imperial Hotel let me down because they could not understand my request and brought hot water and a whole lemon and left it on the table. I went and asked the waiter to cut it, and he took it from me, took an ordinary breakfast knife from the bar, sliced it through once and handed it back to me! It took until the last day of my stay to educate them as to how that lemon should be served up!
As for the rest of Rio, we went to see the Christ Redeemer statue, and that was quite an experience which we both loved. It was very busy there with huge crowds and we had to wait over an hour to get on the train, but one buys the ticket in advance, a time-stamped ticket, so we are assured a place on the train and so can go away and come back. We stayed in the immediate environs and sat in the shade and had a cool drink, etc. But it was worth the wait as the vantage point of the statue gives the most marvellous panoramic view of the whole city and gives a large scale photograph of each section one can see, highlighting the various buildings of interest, so that from the north, south, east and west, we can see not only the focal points but identify landmarks etc. The statue itself is a little disappointing because if it had been New York, we would have been able to go up inside it, come out at the top and see even better views, but Christ is not hollow!
That night, which was Saturday, we went to see a carnival procession in Rio. It is not the proper procession, which we saw at the sambadrome on the Sunday night, but it had a special place in my heart as it was the little people, putting on their own little displays, the ones who will never get to the sambadrome but are given their moment of glory anyway. And it was fantastic with floats and marching and dancing people, with their bands and we could get right up close to them and in some cases join in if we wished. The part where we were was great because there was no hard liquor being sold, just soft drinks and the odd beer. Judith and I had had nothing to eat and all the restaurants apart from the fast food places like McDonald's all street stalls were closed, and so in the end we finished up having, would you believe, two salads, chips and chicken nuggets in McDonald’s. Judith is a vegetarian and just had the salad and chips with orange juice but she was well satisfied and said it was one of the best salads and orange juices she had ever tasted. Before we left McDonald’s I went out to the street and bought us a couple of wigs, a green one for Judith and a blue one for me, made from tinsel, and we then donned these and went back out on the streets to enjoy ourselves.
One particular lady in the parade caught out eye and we wished we had taken out cameras to catch her – a black lady completely naked except for a G string and a spray of gold paint. She looked fabulous and had a figure any girl would die for. She was obviously enjoying herself and giving everyone else a lot of enjoyment.
We said goodbye to the parade quite early as we wanted to be fresh the next day to go to the Sugar loaf mountain and to prepare for our long night at the sambadrome. Sugar loaf was not as exciting as the Christ statue vantage point, but it provided a different perspective and we went up in cable cars, whereas there is a train which goes up the side of the mountain to the Christ. But Christ has far more to offer and we only spent an hour up Sugar loaf, whereas we spent a couple of hours at the Christ and saw far more and were entertained by a carnival band who were being filmed for TV.
I loved the Rio Branco parade the night before because I felt I could participate in it, whereas we were stuck up a terrace and behind big barriers at the Sambadrome and although we were at the end of the parade avenue, where all the parades came to an end, and the participants mingled to some extent with the audience, it was not the same as being on the streets. Having said that, I enjoyed it all, and glanced up at the lit up Christ statue and then back down at the arena and what was going on there and I too thought: “Goodness, it's carnival in Rio and I am here!”
We finally left at 0330 before the end of the parade and walked some distance to get a taxi as the taxis right outside, when you could get to them through the pressing crown, were charging exorbitant fares. We slept late the next day but then were up again to do whatever we wanted by 0830. No exercises, though, we were too tired and it was too hot!
We finally left Rio on the Wednesday. We had not been able to see a lot because the shops and a lot of the sights were closed, but we saw enough to satisfy us and were well pleased with our stay in Rio at such an exciting time.
If you’d like to contact Iris, whether to wish her luck with her trip or to ask questions about her itinerary and places visited, I am sure she would like to hear from you. She can be contacted on: irisej2002@yahoo.co.uk