Ok, we've been away for a while... Whoopsy ^^
So, what were we up to in the last month? Wow, it's been a month, man we are lazy with this writing. We went trekking to Serra da Bocaina over the 3-weeks ago weekend. That was amazing. Will write about that when stuck in Sao Paulo again...
Now the story about our 2-week tour (have a feeling this will be a looong one..)
Our first stop was Foz do Iguacu.
The amazing waterfalls, 840 km SW from Sao Paulo, situated right ot the border of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. We took an overnight bus, a 16h long drive, and it was actually not at all that bad (I was expecting it to be a complete uncomfortable disaster... and I read about this overnight buses being stopped and robbed in the middle of nowhere... so yeah, I was prepared for the worst :D) It was a pleasant drive, with few stops on the way... Every time I woke up I could see amazingly starry sky all around us. Every time we get away from São Paulo I'm amazed how starry sky actually is ('cause you don't see stars in this city, not really) & still have problems with stars on this side of the planet. We arrived at Foz in late morning (can you actually say that?) I mean, before noon. A nice guy from our hostel picked us up (we stayed at Klein Hostel and no, we did not (only) pick it 'cause of its name :P & if you go to Foz, highly recommending it! ;) ... and after dropping off our luggage we headed to Iguaçu National Park, which is 2nd biggest national park on the planet (Yellowstone beats it for just a few square km).
As we were approaching the park itself, I could noticed, even from the bus, a lot of yellow butterflies flying around all over the place. Air so fresh, clean. What a nice change...
Since we were there on Tuesday the park was not crowded. A nice guide gave us general directions and few very precious tips & tricks and we were ready to face what they call âthe biggest waterfallsâ. Â A tour in the forest, then a boat trip to the actual falls (or under them) & getting showered there, walking around and getting dry, me freaking out about seeing all animals ( :D )
and getting wet again at the last waterfall (iPhone proved to be heavy rain/waterfall resistant - yaay :D )
...and the day was over just like that
After a loong breakfast with guys (what a funny bunch: a hot surfer from Australia, a PR manager from South Africa and a sociologist from Hungary) and a looot of funny/amazing/weird stories from their travels, we headed off to the airport.
It was time for... Rio!!!
...where Christ was with his head high up in the clouds...
Raining, and raining and raining... So, the first day we spent walking around city center and just trying to find our way around. And we loved it! It felt much more... relaxed than Sao Paulo. Cars are not that loud or smelly, city center in bigger and you can actually be a tourist. It just feels more.. easy, comfortable (Sampa people if you are reading this, don't get mad ;) )
Next day it was time for... Christ & PĂŁo de AçĂșcar.
.And wooooooooow what a stunning view that Jesus has.
And one thing: it is not *that* big. Half ot the statue is actually a base (I mean, it is still big, but I was kinda expecting something.. bigger :D ) From up there you can see the whole Rio and surrounding hills, beaches, the lake, our scary runway... Oh yeah...
So we landed at Santos Dumont airport. It was very cloudy so we couldn't see a single thing until we started to land. And, em... After a nice turn over the city, we saw a bridge and I realized that water is getting closer and closer... And then... I saw the runway (http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/176/238/176238663_640.jpg)  and I was like :O We are landing there?! I was almost too afraid to look if we will hit the runway or the water :D ...but that's not it. A deep breath of relief at the touchdown and then you notice that the runway not only starts with the water but also ends with it! ( (http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/89121744.jpg) ) Oh man... :D
What I was surprised with is that tickets for these top attractions are really cheap. Around 12âŹ/each. The same goes for Iguaçu National Park. Quite cheap I would say.
PĂŁo de AçĂșcar... Simply amazing. I could stare at that pointy hill on and on. It looks so funny yet at the same time so impressive. We first walked through the forest up to the Morro da Urca and from there a cable car to the top. We saw monkeeeys!!!Â
 And you just can't leave Rio without visiting Ipanema and Copacabana. With our luck, currents were so strong that swimming was not only prohibited but also impossible (trust me, we tried). Checked out the view from Arpoador and later walked down the entire Copacabana. That was a nice, 4 km long walk on the sand, sun was setting, a lot of people in butecos along the promenade, music coming from everywhere...Â
Next days, after renting a car, we said goodbye to Rio and headed south towards Sao Paulo. Next stop: Ilha Grande.
Massive, gorgeous island, with no roads (nor traffic), sandy streets, amazing beaches & wildlife...
First day on the island we did quite a bit of walking. On our way to the first beach, I saw the biggest snake I've ever seen, but it just crossed the road so I could only see it for few seconds (meaning â no pics). It took us around 3 hours to get to the Dois Rios. Â
The beach is called "two rivers" for a reason â there are two rivers, one at each end, flowing to the ocean.
...the point where river flows into the oceanÂ
Even though swimming was impossible âcause of the big waves, you donât really care about swimming when you're in the middle of that paradise. Could stay there forever. From there we took a taxi boat to drive to the other beach, Lopez Mendes, which is supposed to be the most beautiful beach not only on the island but also in the whole Brazil and one of the top 100 in the world. Our initial plan was to hike there as well, but time just flew by and we would never have made it. Once there, we were kind of puzzled why Lopez Mendes is more beautiful than Dois Rios. No way! What might be an advantage of Lopez Mendes over Dois Rios is the fact that it is more accessible (not really an advantage if you ask me..) So, if you ever go to Ilha Grande and have to choose between Dois Rios and Lopez Mendes - hereâs your answer. But (again me with âbutâ :D ) donât go there just for a day or two. If you can, stay longer, thereâs so much to see on that island.
From Lopez Mendes we hiked back to our hostel, which took us 2 or 3 hours Iâd say. On the way we crossed 3 more beaches before entering the forest. The thing was that it was getting dark. Since we overstayed a bit at Lopez Mendes playing in sand (ok, that was me :D ) and with coconuts (Itxi and Jens)⊠it got dark at one point. Yeah, we know, not the smartest thing ever but it was too late to do anything about it then, so we just hurried up to get back as soon as possible. Fireflies were flying around us; strange noises were coming from everywhere⊠On the last beach, 4 dogs joined and followed us all the way back to the town. Just because. They are all over the island, sleeping in the most comfortable hole in the sand, doesn't really matter if that hole is in the middle of the street or a beach or right in front of the supermarketâs doors :D and a great thing that they did follow us, it makes you feel safer in the dark forest, not being able to see what king of creatures are around you (I think even better, they did warn us about all kind of poisonous snakesâŠ) Last 20 minutes or so we really had to use flashlight on our phones, moonlight didn't do the trick anymore, and we safely reached our hostel, completely destroyed. Slept like babies 8)
 Second day we spend more touristic than we hoped we would. Took a boat tour to the north part of the island and visited few lagoons which are ideal for snorkeling.
On the boat I talked with a girl from Rio who told me such terrible stories about what is actually happening there that you just can't believe it. She was volunteering in a community activities in favelas over the city for 3 years and she really did see a lot of things and was often caught in the middle. Things that Europe has no idea about. At least I don't see headlines about police killing random people and kids, using toxic gas sprays in order to get people from their homes (not houses cause that are not houses) so they could destroy them. These people have no money, no place to go and they are simply forced to move...somewhere. Out of the city. Away from all the publicity Rio will get during the World Cup and Olympics...In 21st century, in Rio, not North Korea... It's a vicious circle of money, power and crime and there seems to be no stop to it. By the end of our conversation she had tears in her eyes... That gave me chills :/
Ok, back to the paradise... (kinda makes you feel guilty, doesn't it?)
After snorkeling tour, we walked to a nearby beach, Praia Preta. What is special about this beach is that.. it has black sand! And ânormalâ sand (I'm not a sand-rasist! ;))Â
  And they are arranged in layers! And now add two geologist to that picture and you get kids at the playground ^^ (not saying I was any better :D)
Next day we had to leave this paradise and head back to the civilization. A short drive down the cost took us to Piraty.
A small, historical town where streets get flooded when there's a full moon.
Also known for cachaça production (for those who don't know, that's the liquor you use to make yummi caipirinhas ;). Next day we went kayaking... Jens being ex-professional rower was perfectly happy when I, on the other hand, took on a role of âman overboardâ few times :D Surviving that, it was time to continue our trip down to Trindade.A very cute, small beach village, known for amazing beaches. Basically, all beaches here are amazing 8)
 Leaving Trindade meant that is already Friday (we totally lost track of what day it is during this two weeks, so we had scenes like: âIt's Wednesday?! Already?? Are you sure?â more that once :D ) .... and that we need to head to our final destination â the concrete jungle. Jaaaj â not :/
 Stay well folks, we are off to Amazon for a week! :*
