Rio de Janeiro

Well, the tales of the awesome city are true. Apart from completely detatching ourselves from our desired budget in hopes to have more fun, everything has been an unbelievable experience here. It is a hard place to describe, but a must visit for anyone who will be in Brazil.
En route to the city, we had read that it´s not a very safe place and probably the most likely city ro run into trouble. With this in mind, we wanted to get a taxi as soon as we got off the bus. However, the bus dropped us off in a not so bad spot and we managed to catch another bus straight away heading to Ipenema, where our hostel pick was located. It´s three blocks north of the beach and everything from food, to banks, to shopping is within that radius. A very nice place.
The ´Girl from Ipanema Hostel´ is in an alley with 2 or 3 other hostels and is a very organized and happening place. The first evening we went out to a local pub with Ole and Mathius from Norway to have a relatively cheap night out. Friday we went to the beach where we got plenty of sun and experienced our first lobster-esque look. I think that is about all we did that day, and that night after some poker in the hostel, went out to another local bar.
Saturday, the Norweigans took off, and Matt and I invited ourselves to go for a walk with Karyn and Jane from Australia. We walked around the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, checking out the beautiful Jardim Botãnico (Botancial Gardens) on the way. 5 hours later, we had easily meandered 10km, and decided to go play in the waves at the beach. We ended up at the gay beach and Matt and I fit in with our matching speedos. One friendly guy even approached us inquiring, "I love your speedos; where did you get them?" with an on-fire accent and all. A safe beach despite the awkward display of male intimacy.
The Australians headed out that night, so Matt and I played some more poker with a Swiss girl, Titiana, a Frenchman and Sharon from California. After buying in twice, the Frenchman took it. Following that we read and went to sleep for our early Sunday morning.
Matt and I got up early to hit up the internet, where Matt and Robyn skyped. At around 8:30, Ricardo, a hang glider pilot came looking for 2 guys who had booked a flight, but they weren´t around, so we decided we would go. Very, very cool! The wind was good and steady and both the view and weather were amazing. Hang gliding is not really a huge rush that adrenaline junkies should chase after at every turn, but more of a peaceful ride. We soared above Rio at 520m and criss-crossed over rich residential areas, towering skyscrapers and the waves crashing into the beach. The ride only lasted approximately ten minutes, but it was well worth the cost. Yet another thing for us to check off our to do list.
After that, we hit up the beach again before going to Maracaña Soccer Stadium (the biggest soccer stadium in the world) to watch a high level friendly match between Rio Flamengão club and Northern rival, Fribuguense. In the end, the favorite Flamengão team one 1-0.
At this point it was nearly 8pm and we were pretty exhausted from the long day. Nevertheless, some drinks and poker were in order and we decided at the last minute to go to a Favela Funk party, which was definatley worthwhile. We got VIP passes into the club, and partied from midnight til 4 in the morning. Danced so much, my Canucks sandals had seen their last of South America. Apart from all having our turn getting lost in the crowd of two thousand plus, we had a great time and were ready for sleep. In the end, it was about a CAN$220 day...
Monday was a chill, inexpensive day. We went to the beach with a group of Californian girls (Sharon, Molly & Rashan) and Aaron, from Indiana. Playing in the waves was good fun, and when the rain started to pour we peaced out to find some food. Rio has been our first real experience of Brazillian cuisine, and we may just have to write an entire new blog on that alone.
After swimming, food, açai and chocolate, we headed back to the hostel and watched the 40 year old virgin. A nice cheap day indeed.
Tuesday, we had one mission: to get ourselves to Cristo overlooking Rio. We wanted to hike it earlier in the day, but the clouds were kind of detering, so we lazed about and finally decided to take the bus over and check it out. While we were searching for the proper bus to take, the sun came out and we could see Cristo from the streets below, so it had to be done. This was the first day time appearance he had made since we have been here. Finally found a bus and it dropped us off right in the hands of a helpful tour guide. He took us to a viewpoint before taking us right to the top. A lot of people taking pictures, so it was easy to fit in and got some incredible pics of the amazing city. After about an hour of enjoying the view, we headed down again and back to the hostel. Just as we were leaving, the clouds and rain came in, so it all worked out so nicely. That night we went to a club in Leblon where we were charged 10 reais for entry and 20 reais for drinks. However, from 10 til 12 they give out free caprinhas. It's about 80% cachaça, and 20% lime/sugar/ice. They tastes pretty good, but the hangover is deadly.
The next day, a good handfull of us weren't feeling so hot, so we made our way to copacobana beach to laze and play in the waves. Apart from getting power owned by a few giant waves, we were successful in feeling better. Still, Ipanema beach is preferred.
Today is our last time in Rio, and tonight we will head to the bus station and hop on one that is North bound, hopefully to make our way to Itacaré. Later!

Photos: 30m statue Cristo Redentor at 710m above Rio. Matt hang gliding over a Rio beach. Flamengao getting ready for a free kick against Friburguense. Crowd at Favela funk party.

Ilha Grande

After a very sad goodbye to our wonderful hosts in Paraty we hopped on a bus to Angra Dos Reis where we caught a ferry to Ilha Grande, which from the name you may have been able to figure out it is a large island (Brazil's third largest in fact). However, as large as it is, we only read as the ferry was leaving the port that there were no banks on the island, so our stay was limited! I had enough cash on me to spot Mitch some and we made the best of our time for sure. The city we stayed at on Ilha Grande was called Abaraos and was quite compact. We would notice the same people over and over and even ran into some of our friends from the hostel in Paraty! Great times! We camped in what felt like a very shady camp ground with a grumpy and abbraisive owner, but the price was right. I didnt feel particularly safe there as there were not very many other campers, but the owner later warmed up to us and all was well.
Just our luck, we arrived just in time for the Islands celebration of Saint Sebastian, so during our stay there were plenty of fireworks and people celebrating. Early on Tuesday morning (6am), we even got up and caught a glimpse of the parade around the city, which is all of 3 streets. The island held a plethora of exciting things to see and we wasted no time before heading off on an epic hike. Apparently walking through the jungle in your flip flops and speedo was not out of place so we quickly followed suit...and then the first burns ensued! Nothing a little alovera couldnt handle though. At the end of our two hour hike we came across a beautiful waterfall and has the whole thing to ourselves. We were able to stand underneath the falling water of what we had only seen in post cards before. Amazing! Lucky for us too we left just as about thirty more people we making their way to the falls. We head back for a huge lunch which included my first beans (which I thoroughly enjoyed!) and then headed to the tent for a ciesta. Later on the beach we were told by an english woman that we could not leave the island without seeing Lopez Mendez, which is supposedly one of the top ten beaches in the world! We thanked her thoroughly and headed to bed so we could rise early and hike to the beach and still leave the next day as our funds were low. Then the rain ensued...and ensued....and ensued. The rain stopped for a few hours during which we began our hike to the beach, hiking a 2.5 hour stretch in one hour, but we were saturated with rain and decided the beach would not be so impressive in the rain anyways so we bargained with a local boater to take us back to Abaraos. It still wasn't the greatest price, but since we were done with hiking in the rain, it was our best option. We kind of thought of it as a cheaper, shorter, more adventurous boat tour. It all works out. Once back in Abraao, we packed up our drenched tent and headed to Mangaratiba.
The boat ride to Mangaratiba was an epic journey in its own as the captain agreed to tow a smaller boat behind. Choppy waters apparently made this quite a task as the rope pulling the boat snapped twice, braking some of the railing beside where we were sitting with it the second! Fun times I suppose...we spent the rest of the ride standing with a watchful eye on the (much thicker) rope. We stayed in a hotel in Mangaratiba for some luxury and then made our way to Rio de Janeiro! More to come soon!

Photos: Village of Abraao from a viewpoint on one of our hikes. Our taxi boat captain in the rain. The end of our waterfall hike.

Rough Life in Paraty

It´s really not a rough life at all. Us two are staying in this wicked hostel called Auberge Aventure, which is owned by a fantastic couple. We´ve already met a good bunch of fellow travellers and exchanged contacts with.
These have been our first series of days just chilling in one spot for a while, and it has been awesome. Wake up when we want, have some breakfast, meander to the beach for some swimming, ciesta and drink some cheap liquor about sums it up. But to go into a bit more detail, the beach we have been going to is in a bay so there is no surf...just pretty muddy, bath-like water.
Friday we met some girls from Squamish who are nearing the end of their travels in South America, so we hung out with them and tried to score as much information as possible (which turned out to be too much to remember). Sounds like we have nothing but 8 months of good times ahead of us though. Friday night, a bunch of us from the hostel went to wander the bustling streets of Paraty to catch some live music, some late night beach time and entertainment in Praca Centro (Central Park/Square). It wasn´t much of a late night because like everyone else we had talked to, we had to save ourselves for the big show on the beaches of nearby Trinadade. We managed to squeeze onto one of the last busses there at 10pm. Upon arrival, we made our way to an electronica dance spot and killed it for a bit. Despite there being hundreds, or even thousands of other people there, we managed to meet up with our hostel friends from Buenas Aires, Mattieus & Maria-Jose. After we were techno´d out, we made our way to the main stage, where they played reggae. Somehow, our hostel friend from Norway (Ziggy) found us in the immense crowd and we danced until about 5:30am. At this point we were pretty bagged, so made our way to the beach and slept until the sun had come up. We must´ve been really tired because when we woke up, some locals had made a practical joke of use by building a sand frame around us and puttin flowers in it. It was hilarious....for them. We just up and left to go sleep in our Hostel which was a good drive away. We hitch hiked for half, and took a bus for the other half. Upon arrival to the hostel, we had breakfast then proceeded to sleep until 2 in the afternoon. Woke up, had a snack then headed to the beach. En route, we visited the Forte, a nice viewpoint. Like during the other afternoons, it started raining so we headed home. Before leaving the beach however, we saw a good place to so some chin ups and arm dips, so worked a little muscle beach action in our matching speedos. Definately drew a crowd, and not because of the speedos (they are normal here) because apparently we were doing more dips and ups than the average brazillian. Representing for Canada for real!
We pretty much layed low and played poker for centavos and drinks this afternoon. We´re still pretty bagged from last night so are going to hit up bed pretty soon. Just as we adjust ourselves after jet lag, we decide to pull an allnighter. Put our bodies out of wack, but it was worth it for sure!
Hope you enjoy the tales and be in touch soon! Tomorrow, we head to Ilha Grande.

Photos: Matt G in the Hostel Kitchen. Paraty from Forte. Reggae Show in Trinadade

And It Has Begun!

Well we have made it to Brazil safe and sound after 34 hours of travel! Our longest layover was in Salt Lake City where we spent nine hours of wandering, playing crazy 8´s, and having the unbelivably/frustratingly lucky Mitch beat me in yatzee. Out of 9 games I managed to win one! After that stint we headed to Atlanta and watched the sun rise through the glass of the /´busiest airport in the world.´The name seems fitting as the airport was so large we had to take a train to get from one side to the other. We then took a 10 hour flight to Guaralhos, which is 25 km from Sau Paulo. We worked our broken portuguesen enough to gradually get a taxi to a hotel where we thankfully rested our heads if not our minds. Very exciting times! We have met a lot of nice people so far who have helped us out. Not a lot of english speaking people, so we are using our dictionary a lot. We are now waiting for a bus to head to Paraty (which to our embarrassment we later found out is pronounced Para-chi) which leaves in half and hour. In Six hours we will FINALLY be at the beach where we belong! That´s all for now!

Photos: Leaving Vancouver. Entering the Tropics

Getting Set for the South

So I've got the blog up and running. I'll probably be updating it weekly with some adventure tales and pictures too! Weee!

So this time next week Matt and I will be somewhere between Salt Lake City and Atlanta (weather permitting) on our way to Sao Paulo, Brazil. :) That is merely our starting point and we fly back from there on September 9th. Between now and then we're not sure where we'll find ourselves going to or staying at; we can only hope for great times and great swells.

As for now, nothing too exciting to say apart from that. Hope you enjoy the blog!

Mitchell

Photo: Matt and I with our bags ready to leave the koots