It appears Pachi Mama (Peruvian god of the earth and nature) is still shining on us:
Camped under a rainbow at one of many of Iguacu´s waterfalls
It´s been a big 9 days incorporating 2,426km of travel from La Paz to Iguazu Falls but we´ve entered Brazil and been fortunate enough to be greeted with some magic spots along the way!
We departed La Paz and made our last stop in Bolivia in Santa Cruz - a far cry from the other chaotic, crowded, and colourful big cities of Bolivia. Santa Cruz had very much a Brazilian feel, very relaxed, tropical climate that provided us with a great transition to our next destination - Brazil!
After another 12 hour overnight bus ride, we made it to the Bolivian/Brazilian border nice and early, where we finally stepped foot into Brazil. All we needed was to take a 20 minute bus ride to nearby town, Corumba. However we quickly realised 2 things:
1. We didn't have any Reals (Brazilian $) and there was no bank or cash machine to be seen
2. We couldn't understand a word of Portuguese! Our (Aurelie´s!) semi-fluency in Spanish certainly wasn't helping
Out of nowhere, a young Brazilian girl offered to purchase and pay for our bus tickets! First impressions are good impressions and this certainly didn´t do Brazil´s reputation any harm!
We arrived in Corumba trying to get our bearings when a dodgy looking character offered us all the information we were looking for, bus timetables, cheap hotels and places to go in the village. He even went onto the effort of walking us to the suggested hotel, which actually turned out to be an absolute hole! However, we had been told that Brazil was rather expensive for backpackers and this was no the time to be picky, so we decided to stay. Bad move. Between the 40 degree temperature, the rooms ínteresting´ odour, the relentless mosquitoes and a broken fan that looked like it could fall on our head at any moment, we were lucky to get a couple of hours' sleep that night between us. Corumba did not offer much and we waisted no time moving on to our next destination - Bonito.
Bonito was a hidden jewel in the far North West corner of Brazil. It provided the relaxed and idyillic feel we were looking for. We found a nice comfortable place to stay, rented a couple of bikes and cycled the 5 or 6km out to Bonito´s 'public pool' which turned out to be a natural lagoon/waterhole that immersed us into the middle of an abundance of the many and varied underwater life that this place has to offer...twas some ´public pool´ and the snorkelling here was magic.
Aurelie taking a dip surrounded by some of the local underwater Amigos
The next day, we jumped back on the bikes and took on the 22km cycle to the Mato Grosso do Sol (Blue Lake Grotto), a World Heritage Listed cave with calcium formation stalectites that encapsulates a vivid blue lake deep inside the cave. Astonishing place!
Mato Grosso do Sol - shimmering Blue Lake submerged at base of a cave in Bonito
After surviving the long ride back, on dusty, bumpy roads in the 30 odd degree heat, we spent another afternoon at the ´public pool´. By now we´ve developed a good flair for digging out the best deals and when it came time to finding a restaurant for dinner, we were fortunate enough that this occassion was no exception. We found a small local restaurant off the main street where we enjoyed a delicious Churrascaria Brazilian feast and drinks that cost about the same as a couple of coffees back home...brilliant!
It was then time to make our way down to the Iguazu falls which meant another long bus ride but it was certainly worth the trip. Iguazu Falls, in the Iguazu River is one of the world's largest waterfalls and it simply dwarfs Niagara Falls.
Chilling out in front of the Iguazu Falls (Brazilian side)
Surrounded by the subtropical rainforests and sitting on the border between Brazil and Argentina, the place definitely provided some ´wow factor´! We spent two days trekking around both the Brazilian and Argentinian side of the falls and even spotted raccoons, cheeky monkeys, a massive Iguana and a 2 1/2m solitary black snake (Shane spent at least 1/2 hr trying to get a decent photo, but all efforts were in vain!) slithering it´s way across our path.
Magic spot but it´s time to move on! Shane´s just brought a pair of the darkest possible tinted sunnies (not sure why!) as our next stop is Rio de Janeiro...exciting times!
No comments:
Post a Comment