Day 43 to 59 Brazil - a country of water wonders

30 Dec to 15 Jan 

My experience with Brazil is that it has impressive water works - the Igauzu falls, the beautiful beaches along the coast, and interesting islands! Oh, of course, the national drink of Caipirinha cannot be overlooked! :) In terms of people, the Brazilians are not as skinny as you'd expect but they surely are proud of their body, especially their bottoms! 

Day 43 to 45: After a long journey, we arrived in the Pantanal area in Brazil! Over the 2-day stay, we saw some interesting animals such as caiyments, capbaras, tuyuyus, buffaloes, emmuals, monkeys, tucans, Macaus, hawks, spiders, frogs and several type of birds. But the most memorable experience is how I became a feast for the local mosquitos and ants! I must have over 100 bites all over my body ... So far, no one has made a donation for me to get new legs! About Hamocks - they are nice to lie in for a few hours, not for sleeping more than one night! Overall, I've learned that I am not a jungle person :P 

Day 46 to 48: Bonito is a popular holiday destination for Brazilians. Although there isn't any major attraction in the city, the surrounding rivers are popular. We went to a private park and some of our group members did snorkelling in the river. In general, these snorkelling excursions seem expensive (about £80 for one hour) and overrated (not as many fish in the river compared to the sea). Instead, we went to local restaraunts and had the largest fried local fish for dinner! :) 

Day 49 & 50: I was impressed by the Igauzu falls especially from the Argentinean side - you can get quite close to the falls. I was also positively surprised by how many animals in the national park! We saw lots of coyotes (they are quite vicious as they try to take food from tourists), a few monkeys, iguanas and many colourful butterflies. 

Day 51 to 53: Paraty is a nice, cute beach town along the coast. The old town is of colonial style - no surprise there, but the style is quite different from the typical Spanish or Portugal styled  buildings. So I quite like this little town because it feels a bit different than the other Soutb America cities. We took a caipirinha boat trip (unlimited caipirinhas) - it's more about drinking than snorkelling /swimming. Lars definitely drank my share of caipirinhas! 

Day 54 & 55: Ilha Grande is a very interesting island because of its prison history. The island was only open exactly 20 years ago to tourists. Before that, an important prison with held on the island, where both political prisoners were mixed with normal criminals. This was a mistake by the government because the educated prisoners taught the petty criminals how to commit "organized" crimes! And one of the mafia/gang in Rio was allegedly established this way.  We did a day trip to the Blue Lagoon by boat and I really liked the clear water (green colour though) and snorkelling. We tried kayaking and the conclusion is that I lack rhythm when I paddle ... 

The temperature on the island was a bit uncomfortable - 34/35 degrees with high humidity. That's why we had so much ice cream each day. We discovered one type of ice cream only available in Brazil - Acai, which is a fruit local to Brazil! After eating nearly one kilo of Acai ice ceam, I was shocked to find out that I am allergic to this fruit! I had rash on my body but luckily no other severe symptoms. 

Day 56 to 59: Rio has the best city landscape/view amongst all the cities I have visited. Apparently it is the first city that has been declared heritage by UNESCO in the landscape category. I say it is the luckiest city as nature is on its side: 

1. Several moubtains offer breathtaking views from various angles 

2. The beautiful beaches are filled with fine, white sand and stretch out to a couple of kilometres - best part, the water is shallow and there are no rocks 

3. The forests/national reserve areas are within reach inside of the city - the urban planning seems to be a success! 

The only downside of Rio is the heat - with the high humidity, it feel like 40+ degrees! 

On the cultural side, I was surprised by a few things:

1. The main Cathedral looks nothing like what you'd expect of a church. It's not colonial at all! 

2. The Favela (slum) area in Rio (the largest one in SA) does not look as poor as you think - there is water, electricity and shops! 

3. There are not as many good looking people as you expect on the beach. The average Brazilian people are of large size (surprisingly, Brazil is the fifth fattest country in the world!) and they are NOT afraid to show off their bodies ... I finally spotted some hotties playing beach volleyball - Lars and I had an agreement to do our own people watch on the beach :) 

4. People look quite different than the typical South Americans in Peru and Bolivia - there are more Caribbean / Cuban influence in Brazil. We were called Gringo and China by a boy on the beach! 

5. A lot of restaurants try to add on the bill a few things that you didn't order - it happened to us 3 times. But in general, Brazil doesn't have the same tipping culture as in Ecudor/Peru/Bolivia. 

To sum up, Rio (with 10mln people) is a very diverse city in terms of architectures, people and culture. Brazil is a large country with 202 million people, much bigger than the other counties we visited in SA so far (Ecudor, Peru, Bolivia) and it also seems more wealthy (at least the south coast of Brazil). Most importantly, the Brazilians are more warm & welcoming. Not sure why, I like Brazil very much and would definitely like to come back again if I have a chance!

Day 31 to 42 Bolivia - a hidden gem for landscapes

18 to 29 Dec

If Galapagos is the paradise for sea wildelife, Bolivia is the paradise for unique natural landscapes. Maybe because I didn't have much expectations for this country, I felt that Bolivia is a hidden gem that should have attracted more tourists. The poverty, lack of infrastructure and unreliable services and government bureaucracy all make the country somewhat unfriendly for travellers in my opinion. 

Day 31 to 33: We arrived in La Paz after a 2.5-hour wait at the customs - only one immigration officer was working while the others at Siesta ... (we had similar experience when exiting the country!). We were warned that patience is required for Bolivia. 

La Paz is the worst looking city I have ever visited ... It feels like a big flea market ... the city is extremely crowded, polluted and congested. There are almost no nice buildings except one pretty square! Not a city for me. 

Day 34 to 36: From Uyuni, we did excursions to Salt Flats and the surrounding area. The Salt Flats in Bolivia is the largest one in the world - 12,000 square Kilos. I was impressed by the size and and some of the illusions created  - e.g. the moubtains look like they are floating from a distance. I was most impressed by some of the volcanic mountains, rock formations, cacti and lagoons nearby. The most notable are Incahuasi (land of cacti and coral) and the red lagoon. The formal proves that millions of years ago, salt flat was under the ocean. The latter has at least 1000 flamencos when we visited. 

Day 37: Potosi is UNESCO heritage city because of the tragedy over its mines. It was estimated that 8 mln people died during the colonial time to mine the silvers. I visited one of the mines and it was very basic - the guide told us the average life of a miner is 48 years and most die of lung problems ... 

Day 38 to 40: Sucre is where the rich people or mine owners (of Potosi) live. The city has a nick name called white city   - unlike the white city (Arequipa) in Peru, this city is made of white buildings. We met a Dutch guy who has been living there for 3 years and his decision to stay was a spontaneous one after travelling in SA for 3 months - I respect his courage! 

Day 41 & 42: We travelled to Santa Cruz, a city apparently have two extremes - the poor and the rich. It has a nice church in the city centre but nothing else notable - the city feels a bit odd to me. We left to Puerto Quljarro (from where we can go to Pantanal) via a local train - the nearly 20 hour train ride was the worst train ride I have ever taken! 

To sum up:

Just as I thought Peru is poor, there is Bolivia - it is the poorest country in South America but has the most impressive natural landscapes. It doesn't mean getting to these landscape is easy, so the old rule applies again - no pain no gain! Our guide sums it well - Bolivia is a country of contrast. It does not only apply to landscapes but also the poverty vs. wealth ... 

Okay, Brazil next!