Flying in the Sky

One thing I really wanted to do was go hang gliding in Rio. I have never done it and not many places can compare with the views of Rio from above. It was not really in my budget, but my mom´s friend Annie helped me with a little Christmas donation. Thanks Annie!! Our taxi driver wound his way up to the top of the mountain and the view from the top was breathtaking.


Me at the top, pre-glide.


The platform you had to run off.


A hang-glider getting ready to go!


Flying like a bird. The treetops looked like
broccoli from that far up! :)


I figured this was better than a thank you card!
(Thanks Annie!)


Safely on land. Wanted to do it all over again!


Nice view of the beach eh?

Our last day there, we made our way up to see Christ The Redeemer, the figure of Christ that towers over the city. It was ridiculously busy up there since clear days were hard to come by while we were there. It was hard to get a good shot. But here are a few.


Taken from the back-side, after my hang glide.


Large and in charge.


You can see why it´s so packed. What a view!

I spent 11 days in Rio and loved every minute of it. Even on the rainy days! It was nice to be in a place for awhile, find a good group of friends and feel like I lived there, if only for a short time. Jules and I are headed to Quito, to live for a month and study Spanish. So we headed to Sao Paolo, boarded our LAN flight to Lima and relished in the luxury of airline travel. We are currently still in Lima. We thought we could get a bus, but because of the holiday we couldn´t get a bus until Tuesday so we will ring in the New Year here in Lima. Hope you all are doing something fun and celebrating the excitement of a new year. I am excited for what this year has in hold for me. And not having a clue is the best part!

A Copacabana Christmas

Being here in South America over the holidays has been a little hard, because although I wouldn´t complain about a thing, it seems weird to not have your family around during this time. Luckily, we were in Rio and there was plenty to do! On Christmas Eve, we went out on a boat trip with a bunch of people from the hostel and it was a blast! Things in Brazil do not move very fast so when something says it starts at 2:00 it really means 3:30-4:00. One thing I have gained on this trip is patience, so it didn´t bum me out too much. Eventually we set sail on a really nice boat with endless caiprinhas, food, a DJ and lots of good friends.

Setting sail!

Shaemus & Gary getting wild!

Jules, Me, Adam & Rachael chillin on the boat.

We all shared a dirty dorm room for many days

together!

Jules and I enjoying our Christmas cruise.

Me and Sugarloaf.

Rocking out with the DJ.


Rachael and I showing off our matching rings

from the hippie market.


A damn good way to spend Christmas Eve.

Tearing it up on the dance floor!

The party wore on well into the night and got a little fuzzy, but we all spent it like the Brazilians do - partying and dancing to celebrate. You wouldn´t expect any less would you?

Feeling good on Xmas Eve!

The next day, Christmas Day was spent on the beach of Copacabana with all the other cariocas. We had a great group and relaxed on the beach.

Copacabana - Christmas Day 2007.

Christmas in Rio was the next best thing to being with my family and we made the best of it. A bunch of girls ended up doing secret santa so we all got a little something. Of course Jules got my name and got me a cute pair of earrings. Guess it´s appropriate, she´s the closest I have to family here and I am so lucky to have her as a friend!

The Marvelous City

Ahh...Rio De Janeiro. The Marvelous City it surely is. I had heard so many warnings from people about how dangerous it is and wasn´t sure what to expect but I was blown away. Rio really has it all, national parks, beautiful beaches, mountains, great food and lively nightlife. It is absolutely gorgeous and much less intimidating than I had originally thought. The Portugeuse explorers entered the huge bay in January 1502 and thinking it was a river, named it Rio De Janeiro (January River). I can only imagine the excitement they must have felt approaching this jewel in the sea. We arrived to Rio on the night of the 17th and checked into Stone Of A Beach hostel in Copacabana. The next day was beautiful so we headed to the beach. Copacabana was packed with people and numerous vendors. You need not move an inch for anything you might want because these vendors are hawking anything your heart could desire - beer, water, empanadas, shrimp on a stick, fried cheese, hammocks, bathing suits, jewelry, sarongs..you name it and they are trying to sell it to you.


Jules and I on the beach in Copa-Copacabana!

Unfortunately, the nice weather did not continue. It was rainy and overcast for about 5 days straight. A bunch of us from the hostel headed to the mall and saw ´The Hitman´ at the local cinema. Quality filmmaking directed by Vin Diesel. Need I say more? The options are limited here in Brazil. But it was a way to pass the day and entertaining if only by how bad it was. On Friday night we headed out to Lappa which is a massive street party with tons of vendors, bars and clubs. But mostly it is fun to just walk around, drink in the streets and enjoy the energy of Rio. Saturday was yet again cloudy but Jules and I decided to head to Sugarloaf Mountain (slightly better view than the one in Frederick!) anyway and see the view of the city.


Tram up to Sugarloaf.


Copacabana is to the left and Christ the
Redeemer is in the upper right corner.

Every Sunday, there is a big market in Rio called the`Hippie Market`. They sell lost of crafts, jewelry, food. We met a nice group of girls from the hostel and all went together and bought lots of presents (for ourselves and others!). I also tried some Bahian food at the market which consisted of a corn cake covered in some kind of yellow sticky curry paste, fried prawns (shell and all) and fresh salsa on top. It was like nothing I had ever tasted. Bahia is the region in the North of Brazil and home to the Afro-Brazilian culture. We had originally planned on going up to Salvador but changed plans so trying this food was as close as I got. On another trip I suppose!


Tons of beads! These were made
from the seed of the acai which
is a popular fruit eaten in Brazil.


Julie, our new friend Rachael from Ireland
and I shopping at the market.

All of Rio however, is not beautiful and perfect as they may seem in my photos. Though Brazil has one of the world´s strongest economies, it has one of the world´s widest income gaps between rich and poor. And this is definitely apparent in Rio. In Rio, 1 in 4 live in favelas or slums and there are over 500 within the city. There were tours being offered by our hostel to take tourists into the favelas and while I find it interesting, I didn´t feel right about it. Personally, I do not feel comfortable riding a bus into the favela, with my shiny digital camera, taking pictures of poor people like they are some tourist attraction. To me it doesn´t seem right, but of course it is a very real part of Rio and should not be ignored. And the truth is, to see it you need a local Brazilian to take you as the drug lords rule the streets with machine guns and you could not easily go on your own. We did take one photo from afar as we were driving up to see the Christ statue.


One of the many favelas in Rio.

Headed Up The Coast

From Florianopolis we headed to the small colonial town of Paraty. It was much different than anything else I had seen in Brazil with it's white buildings with colorful doors and cobblestone streets. It rained pretty much the entire time we were there so we didn't get to explore as much as we'd like. On the one day that seemed promising we took the local bus to a nearby beach but on the way there it started to downpour so we just headed back. We got back into town, stopped by the fish market and the vegetable market to buy stuff for dinner and tried to wait out the rain but it didn't stop. Eventually we just braved it and were literally wading through the streets in water almost up to our knees.

Streets of Paraty.

Jules and I.

Pretty colonial church.

From Paraty we headed to Ilha Grande which is an island south of Rio that has no cars and no ATMs. The island was really beautiful and we had heard people raving but Jules and I agreed that St. John, USVI still has the most beautiful beaches we have seen. Unfortunately, the rain followed us and for the first couple days we just sat and watched the clouds set in amongst the lush green hills. It was still beautiful, but we were sick of sitting around the hostel. Eventually the rain subsided and we had a nice beach day. We took a boat to Lopez Mendes and still didn't do much, but at least we were on the beach!!

Out on the water, headed to the beach.

Lopez Mendes beach.

Yea a secluded island off the coast of Brazil is great and all, but what Jules and I really loved about Ilha Grande was the SWEET CART! For all you sweet tooths out there, this is true heaven. I had my sweet tooth under control at home, but here in Brazil they love their sweets!!They have these carts that are filled with all kinds of delicious treats. Jules and I visited the cart twice in one day. A little out of control...

Paradise = Sweet Cart

Us enjoying our sweets with our Irish friends

Kelly and Jac.

Old prison ruins on the island.

This cute Brazilian boy showed us

to the local water hole.

From there we headed to the fabulous Rio. I just left there and spent 11 wonderful days there. I will post those pics soon. I am headed to Quito tomorrow where I am going to be working at the Secret Garden hostel and studying Spanish for a month. It will be nice to spend some time in one place and really get to know Equador's landscape and culture. Being able to speak more Spanish will definitely help.

Brazilian Beach Hopping

Since I left Sao Paolo, Jules and I have been visiting the many beautiful beach towns on the Brazilian coast. First stop was Florianopolis. From there we took a bus to Ilha Da Santa Catarina. If you ever come to Brazil, it cannot be missed!! We went down to the very south of the island to Pantano Do Sul which was very remote, with not much besides small fishing villages. It rained everyday that we were there so we didn´t do much. The hostel we were staying at was owned by an Argentinian family who lived in a house in town and they left around 6 every night to go home so it was kind of like having a house to ourselves. The first night the 12 people that were there played some cards and hung out. But the next day everyone left except for these 4 Danish girls. So we ordered pizza and spent the night watching The Simpsons Movie and surf videos.

The beach at Pantano Do Sul.

After 3 days of being cooped up in our empty hostel in the rain, we decided to head north to Barra Da Lagoa which had a bit more nightlife. We arrived at the Backpacker´s Sharehouse and instantly I could tell this place had a good vibe. I cannot express how much I loved this place. Just a really great group of people at this hostel. They had a huge chalkboard on the wall with everyone´s name who was staying at the hostel. When you wanted a beer, caiprinha, water, you just put a B or W next to your name and they added it to your tab. The atmosphere was more like hanging out at your friend´s house than a hostel. When we arrived, it was still raining and everyone was drinking and playing BINGO and it got a little crazy!!

The Backpacker´s Sharehouse.

I got used to this view everyday.

The crew. Representing Australia, USA,

Sweden, New Zealand & England.

The next day a bunch of us hiked to a nearby beach. The guys wanted to go fishing and us girls were ready for a beach day. Little did I know that it was a nude beach and that I would be seeing the Brazilian men in their entirety. One was so comfortable that he was doing push-ups on the beach. I found this hilarious!!

Randy (Oregon), Me, Jules & Phil (England)

hiking to the nudy beach.

Such a fun day.


I opted for a bathing suit.

Headed home with a bucket of mussels and

some sunburn.

I got pretty burnt so I spent the next couple days tending to my abstract shapes of sunburn. Damn gringa skin! We went to a few beach parties and chilled at the hostel. On our last day, I met a Brazilian guy on the beach who invited us over for dinner. His roomate Dan (from Colorado) had bought some fish from a local fisherman so we met them in town and had to take a boat to their house since they lived on the canal. We spent the night cooking, chatting and shaking up caipirinhas. I will probably never see those guys again, but I will always remember that night. They were such great hosts.

Rowing to their apt. I love this mode of

transport.

Our friendly hosts showed us a great time.

I loved Barra Da Lagoa. At our hostel, once you were in you could stay as long as you wanted. You just had to put a star next to your name the night before. There were definitely a few nights we got talked into erasing our star. But eventually we left, with great memories and headed up the coast to the colonial town of Paraty.

Luxury in the Treetops

After a lengthy bus ride which got in 2 hours later than scheduled, Jules and I met up with my cousin Natalie in Sao Paolo. She was studying in Curitiba and this was her last weekend in Brazil! We also met Aunt Rita (pronounced Hita) who was the aunt of Nat´s friend from NC. We hopped in Aunt Rita´s car with our huge packs strapped to the roof and set off for the drive to Guaruja, a town about 1.5 hours outside of Sao Paolo where she has a beach house. The drive was beautiful, winding along the coast. We arrived in the small town of Guaruja and stopped to get some lunch with was a stew of seafood served with rice. It was delicious and the seafood was so fresh. We picked up Pedro, the son of a friend of Aunt Rita´s and headed to her beach house. This place was amazing. It was basically a house nestled in the trees with a spectacular view of the beach.


Aunt Rita´s beautiful house. The window you
see is to the rooftop pool.

View from the patio.

The first night we relaxed at the house and headed to bed early. Jules and I shared a room with our own bathroom which was much appreciated by two budget backpackers! The next day Aunt Rita made us the most delicious breakfast, complete with scrambled eggs and bacon for us Americans. The one thing that I love about Brazil so far is the juice. It is all fresh squeezed and so delicious! She made us fresh maracuja (passionfruit) juice for breakfast. Yum!!!! After breakfast, we headed down to the beach. A local girl, Lolo and Pedro, both 11, were our guides for the day, showing us all the beaches. Lolo´s family was the first family to build a house on the island, and her family is the only family besides one other that lives year round on the island, so every security guard and lifeguard knew her. The beaches were all private so we weren´t allowed to take any pictures of the houses, but they were quite nice.

One of the many private beaches in Guaruja.

First beach day in South America.

We met up with Aunt Rita for some delicious cocktails made from fresh fruit and watched the many surfers pass by. Aunt Rita headed off to get some fish for the party she was throwing that night and we headed back down the beach with our guide Lolo.


Tasty tropical drinks!

Me, Natalie and her German friend Stefan

enjoying caiprinhas poolside.

View from the roof.

Underwater shot from inside the house.

So cool.

Aunt Rita threw a party with some of the neighbors and it was just one of those nights that I will always remember. The delicious fresh fish and rice, the samba music in the open air, dancing barefoot into the night. It was such a special night and we all had a blast trying to learn samba. Lolo´s parents & Aunt Rita were such good teachers, trying to teach us the feet movements which seemed simple but weren´t as easy as they looked. The people we met were so warm and Aunt Rita was such a gracious host.

Bringing food for the party!

Cooking up some delicious fish.

We enjoyed the food for sure.


Jules, Nat, Aunt Rita, Yolonda & I.

Dancing samba on the patio.

Oh yea, we were shaking it!

I was so thankful I got to meet up with my cousin Nat for my first and her last weekend in Brazil. When I was backpacking Europe in 2003 I met up with my cousin Sarah in Lugano, Switzerland where she was teaching so it was fun to meet up with Nat here in Brazil. I only have 3 cousins, so I am lucky they are so cool! I don´t know´Portugeuse so Nat and her friend Stefan were our translators the entire weekend. I said a lot of ´Obrigada` which means thank you. I hope my gratitude was properly expressed because it was a wonderful weekend with some of the friendliest people I have met.