Brazil so far

Hi guys

Well I have decided to start documenting the big South American journey. I started a hand-written diary, but that lasted but one week... Lukas has been a bit better at writing things down! I have never written a blog before so hopefully this is interesting for anyone who decides to read it. At the very least, this can be a little motivation to keep a diary of my impressions of South America. The intention is for both Lukas and I to contribute to the blog. Where I can, I am going to be a little geeky by adding my impressions on the planning/urban design of citites, towns and spaces which we come across. Obviously, this is an interest that Lukas and I both share in our professions.

So here we are, finally, in South America. This trip has been a looong time in the making and I am so happy to finally be doing it! Travelling around South America for one year has always been a dream of mine. It all started when I was in high school, when I became good friends with some Brazillian exchange students who got me interested in the Brazillian lifestyle, the people, the language... which is when I decided I must go to South America, and for a good chunk of time. Since moving to Australia in 2009, Lukas and I made it our mission to get to South America within 2 years. So we saved and skimped... and now here we are!

The trip to South America was certainly eventful. Our first stop was Buenos Aires, Argentina where we stayed for 3 nights. Beforehand, I was so so sick! The moment we stepped off the plane in Auckland I got a terrible cold/flu. I think it was an accumulation of getting ready for the trip and moving away from Australia. The most awkward was when I threw up 4 times on the plane to Chile (our first stop). Do you know what it is like to be sick while travelling? Not fun - I can say that much!

We have been in Brazil now since 11 August 2011. How do I even begin to describe all the things we have seen and done in the past 5 weeks or so! I am not going to try and write about everything, but a few highlights which have stood out for me.

Sao Paulo

What a crazy city. This is where the adventure in Brazil began. I would describe it as a concrete jungle. For starters, there are 25 million inhabitants so you can imagine the number of high rises and highways that sprawl throughout the city. There is a massive gap between rich and poor. To give you an idea, to avoid rush hour and kidnappings, rich businessmen take helicopters to and from work. Still getting my head around this! It is a somewhat dangerous city so I was a little scared to say the least. But, Lukas and I were so fortunate to stay with my good friend from my Canadian exchange, Fabi. She took care of us so well! There is really something special about staying with a local, especially in a city like Sao Paulo.

Southern Coast

Between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro we hugged the coastline while traveling with some French and Brazilian companions. We stopped off at a fantastic rustic beach house in Ubatuba, a quaint colonial village of Paraty, the subtropical island paradise of Ilha Grande and the hip upmarket beach town of Buzios. The scenery was stunning, especially the stretches where the rainforest-clad hills tumbled straight into the sea­­­ and where the palm trees gave the landscape a real tropical flavour.

Rio de Janiero

Another crazy city, but in quite an exquisite setting. One thing we did there that stood out for me was go to party in a favela. Yes, that's right - a favela! I was quite scared at first. But we were with abunch of locals who knew where we were going. Have to say it was amazing. The party was at a 'favela mansion' bought by an English guy. It was called 'The Maze'. Shows what you can do without a building consent! The house really was a maze, it was all over the show. It had an amazing view of Rio, caprihinas and a jazz/ska band playing. Walking through the favelas to get to the party was quite the experience. It's chaos but it works. The favela is it's own world. It has it's own network of alleys and shops and facilities. I wondered if perhaps the community works better in a favela that in other parts of the city.

Ouro Preto and Bahian Beaches

On our only venture seriously inland in the country we picked out Ouro Preto, a beautifully well preserved 18th C gold mining town set amongst the hills. Taking a stroll around the old town was quite special, churches and grand public buildings galore, no expense spared at the time and as attention steered away from the area after the gold rushes, the town is in an almost untouched state today.
Interested in keeping the beach theme going (partly in the interest of not blowing the budget!) we headed back out to the coast and covered the stretch up to Salvador over a few weeks, stopping in places with fantastic names like Arraial d’Ajuda, Trancoso, Porto Seguro, and Itacaré. Many days were spent lounging out under the palm trees with a picnic lunch and the daily treat of the odd piece of local delicacy like fresh tropical fruit, açaí (Amazonian berry blended with ice) and chilled coconut water. Salvador was an all together more intense and intruiging experience. The central part of town is another great example of a well preserved colonial centre and the African heritage of a large part of the population is evident in the music and dance, food and pace of life. It's also one of the more dangerous places to visit, so we needed to be alert constantly. The city is well worth a visit as it is quite unique for the continent.

The buses - well this is where it all happens! It seems every time we hop on a long distance bus, we get seated next to children who throw up everywhere. Seriously, it has happened 3 times! All sorts of people come on to the buses, and it seems we are usually the only backpackers. People sing, play their radios (very loud). The scenery out the window has been beautiful.... mountains, sunsets, the sea, paddoks. How do I describe it?!

Well that's all I am going to write for now. I am going to post some photos on Facebook soon so hopefully this will give a better visual explanation of what we have been experiencing here in Brazil.

Over and out for now.