Travel Log

Pix Argentina

Afgelopen weekend samen met Graciela, Ruben en Roberto het Aconcagua park bezocht. Dit park herbergt de hoogste piek buiten de Himalayas, de Aconcagua (bijna 7.000 meter). De eerste dag zijn we geklommen naar 3.400 meter, naar Confluencia, dit is de plek waar de Rio Mendoza ontspringt. Voordat we zover waren hadden we de dag ervoor klimmersvergunningen moeten halen. Hier kom je allerlei klimmers tegen die vaak genoeg de top willen halen. Eenmaal aangekomen bij het kamp in Confluencia keek ik mijn ogen uit, ik ben totaal onbekend in de klimmerswereld maar je ziet hier muilezels die goederen vervoeren, tenten die rondom met stenen zijn vastgezet om te voorkomen dat ze wegwaaien en een erg relaxte sfeer. Na wat gegeten te hebben zijn we gaan slapen, de eerste paar uur sliep ik goed maar na een paar uurtjes werd ik wakker met een serieuze hoofdpijn (dit keer niet door de wijn, maar door de hoogte). ´s Ochtend voelde ik me beroerd maar na een paar paracetamolletjes voelde ik me al snel beter. Wellicht ook door de kou, het ijs stond ´s ochtends op onze tent.

Vervolgens doorgeklommen naar Plaza Francia (4.200 meter). Ik voelde erg goed dat ik beneden zeeniveau woon, ik kon het tempo met moeite volgen, maar goed, twee van de mensen waarmee ik klom hebben de Aconcagua al beklommen in het verleden, de derde is een marathonloper. Door niet al te veel te praten probeerde ik stiekem adem te besparen.

Boven aangekomen weet je niet wat je ziet, je staat op ruim 4.000 meter hoogte en voor je schiet de zuidwand van de Aconcagua nog eens 3.000 meter recht omhoog. Kippevel! De zuidroute schijnt de moeilijkste route te zijn, maar 10 mensen halen de top per jaar.

De afdaling was een stuk makkelijker, je loopt langs bergen waarvan je het idee hebt dat ze geschilderd zijn, elke kleur bruin en groen zie je terug, vaak loop je langs de Rio Mendoza die vol geweld naar beneden klettert. Een van de meest indrukwekkende stukjes natuur die ik ooit gezien heb.

Vandaag de Cerro Cathedral per fiets beklommen tot het basisstation (1000m), vervolgens een dagpas gekocht voor de skilift en vervolgens drie keer de Cathedral naar beneden gereden. Dat was tijdens 6 kilometer dalen ruim 700m hoogteverschil wegtrappen. Ik had pijn in mijn handen van al het remmen. Wel ontzettend mooi daar bovenop die berg, jammer dat je er in volle afdaling niet echt veel van meekrijgt. De Cathedral is -het- skipgebied van Argentinie.

Ik ben nooit op dieet geweest en heb (nog) geen dieet nodig, maar als het aan mij zou liggen zou ik een Michel Montignac evangelist worden nu ik hier in Argentinie rondloop. Een dieet op basis van proteinen. Vlees, vlees en nog eens heel veel vlees. Heerlijk! Gemiddeld eet een Argentijn 60kg(!) rundvlees per jaar. Ik ben inmiddels goed op weg om mijn achterstand weg te eten.

Wat me erg opvalt hier in Buenos Aires is het contrast tussen absolute gehoorzaamheid en totale anarchie. Aan de ene kant heb je de keurige rijtjes van mensen die op de bus staan te wachten, ongelofelijk hoe gedisciplineerd mensen zijn. Waag het niet voor te dringen. Daarnaast de enorme aanwezigheid van politie. Aan de andere kant de autobestuurders die - ook al loop je op een zebra - je het liefst onder het asfalt zouden stoppen. Je wordt gewoon van je sokken gereden, asos! (ik kan het accent niet vinden op het toetsenbord hier).

Leuk aan BA:
San Telmo en tango
Recoleta en het kerkhof (daar ligt Evita)
Palermo Viejo (lekker alternatief)
Puerto Madero (restaurantjes aan het water)
La Boca (Maradonna is een heilige)
Heel veel bife de lomo
Heel veel mooie mensen

Minder leuk:
Aggresieve autobestuurders
Uitlaatgassen
Heel veel policia
De luchtvochtigheid

Eindoordeel: een dikke voldoende

Na een paar dagen acclimatiseren in BA heb ik mijn draai kunnen vinden. Ik vond het in eerste instantie een "stink"-stad, gigantisch veel verkeer, druk, en erg warm en vochtig. Maar nu ik de leuke plekken heb gevonden is het goed toeven hiero. Lekker eten, lekkere wijn, mooie buurtjes, ontzettend aardige (en vooral grappige) mensen en heerlijk eten. Wel even wennen aan het Lunfardo hier, maar mijn uitspraak past zich al snel aan, mijn Spaanse "c" heb ik al gedropt. De "sj" klank zit er ook al aardig in, maar dat is net als de Amsterdamse "sj".

Overmorgen richting Patagonie! Peddelen!

On my last day in Rio I visited Maracana a second time. This time the two other main Carioca teams played, FLA - FLU (Flamengo - Fluminense). While entering the stadium an amazing amount of rain came down, the gates were flooded so we were pretty much drenched by the time we entered the stadium but that did not prevent the fans from going wild again. It was a good game that ended in a tie, 2 - 2.

I had a last chopp along Copacabana, bought some t-shirts, another CD and just chilled the rest of the day. Three weeks have flown by. Two weeks in Rio were just enough to scratch the surface of a truly unique city. I will definitely be back there.

Went to Ilha dos Pescadores yesterday evening, it is a nightclub in the outskirts of Rio. One of the biggest samba schools in Rio, Salgueiro, was performing. It was quite a night. For three hours straight people went out of their dak to the samba rhythms. I was taught how to dance samba and I did, but a certain stiffness in my hips prevented me to keep up with the rhythm. But then I noticed that other people (especially men) danced as well but not to the samba beat but at a slower pace, and that was perfectly doable. Great night all in all, after the samba school´s performance another couple of bands played, some really good stuff.

A few nights ago at the beach in Barra i stumbled across a ¨bloco¨, this is a so-called ¨harmonia¨, a samba band that was playing. It was almost midnight but a crowd had gathered and went completely wild dancing. In Holland people take XTC to get into that mood, but here in Rio it is the samba beats that captivate people. It was special to witness.

Well, time has almost come for me to go back to the lowlands. I won´t blog anymore before being back in Mokum but I am sure I will spend some time writing a ¨sun set review¨ of my time here in Rio.

Today I visited two favelas in Rio. A guide took me to a relatively small one called Vila Canoas, about 2.000 people living there and also the biggest one, 160.000 people, called Rocinha. These are typically not places you would go to as a tourist but chances of getting mugged or robbed as a tourist are probably smaller than outside of the favela as the favelas are under total control of druglords and the last thing they want is the police sniffing around because a Dutch tourist got into trouble (I am sure Balkenende himself would get involved). I visited a school where favela kids go to next to attending public school. Hopefully some of them will be able to one day escape life in the favela. As my guide told me that most foreigners think that all Brazilians are gifted football players, he told me that this is absolutely untrue as he himself would starve to death if he would have to depend on his football skills. So, like anywhere else, it is good to study and go to school. Even though my initial thoughts were that favelas were to be avoided I was glad I got the chance to visit as I learned that people just try to make ends meet, by living their lives.

Also interesting to know is that there would be no carnaval without the favelas, as most of the top samba schools are based in the favelas. Nice to see also that under whatever circumstances people live, art is always present. Kids painting and selling their paintings to the occasional tourist, I got a painting from a local kid called Alex, his representation of life in the favela, a painting of little dwellings full of bright colours.

Yesterday moring I joined a capoeira class. I thought that would be a nice break from my hectic schedule, I thought it would be a relaxing experience. There were four other students in the class (the class was on the beach in the blistering sun, 38 degrees!). Little did I know that I am even stiffer than I even had thought. After the first (strange) stretching exercise I got a cramp in an abdominal muscle (I did not even know you could get a cramp in that spot). But it disappeared and I continued. Only because I am in good shape I was able to finish the class. I even made a couple of handstands and ¨fought¨ with some of the other students (who were pretty experienced). It was a lot of fun but my body ached the whole day. Even caipirinha didn´t help.

Yesterday evening I went to see a game in Maracana. What an experience! I rarely go to games in my own country but this was thrilling. Botafogo played Vasco da Gama, both teams from Rio. Romario played on the Vasco squad. I was sitting amongst the Botafogo fans, which turned out to be a wise decision as Botafogo won 5 to 3. Romario scored at least twice, I missed one of the Vasco goals. When Botafogo scored the samba drums filled the whole stadium and the tens of thousands of Botafogo fans went wild. Huge silk banners filled complete sections of the stadium. Even though there was a lot of military police in the stadium and helicopters patrolled above the stadium the atmosphere was pretty relaxed.

Martha going wild...

Tomorrow I am going visiting a favela (with a guide).

Guilherme

Returned to Rio yesterday. Went to see a samba show, truly impressive, especially the capoeira dancers, absolute perfection. I stayed at Leblon, the area next to Ipanema, i really like that neighbourhood. Tomorrow is the game in Maracana, Vasco da Gama against Botafogo. Romario is playing. Of course I will be supporting the winning team (as to not get beaten up). It should be thrilling. I heard that there will be more samba drums in the stadium than in any samba school in Rio.

Samba in action...

Time for a chopp (biertje),

Guilherme

I travelled from Paraty to Foz de Iguassu two days ago. We went by bus, quite an experience! ;-). The trip from Paraty to Sao Paulo took 5 hours and then we were on the bus for another 12 hours till Foz de Iguassu. The good thing was that it was an overnight bus so we could sleep and do the Brazilian side of the waterfalls yesterday. The Argentinian side we did today. The waterfalls are truly impressive, I was in awe most of the time. Such a humoungous amount of water, scary at times. I also went up the river in a speedboat, great thing to do for someone that goes -down- rapids usually.

It was nice to be able to speak Spanish and have people understand me again, after having spent ten days in Brazil. I got a huge compliment today from two Argentinians believing that I was a Brazilian! It must be my tan ;-).

Tomorrow I am heading back to Rio.

Guilherme

Oh, God! If there was a paradise on earth, it wouldn’t be far from here!
Américo Vespucci describing the area of Paraty in the year 1502 AD

I want Américo to know that I have found it.
William Willems describing the area of Paraty in the year 2006 AD

I left Rio three days ago and today is my third day in Paraty.

Rio was hard to leave, as I got into the speed of things quite quickly. Fortunately I am going back at the end of the week. Apart from more excellent food, I also took a trip to an island on a Schooner. We were dropped off at a bay and just chilled out sipping caipirinhas. You don´t need much more in life on those moments.

Paraty is an amazingly beautiful place. It is an old city in the middle of what I believe to be one of the most breathtaking pieces of nature I have ever seen. I have been listening to a couple of Bossa Nova concerts, really beautiful.

Yesterday I met a Dutch tour guide, Rick, who has been running his own kayaking expedition company for some years now. As I was the only one that signed up we kayaked from 10 in the morning till 7 in the evening. But without a doubt the kayaking trip (40 km) were the most beautiful kilometers I have ever paddled. The water is warm (25+), cristal clear, and at times a bit choppy from the winds (great surf at times!), and you are constantly surrounded by impressive nature and wildlife. We stopped a couple of times to visit beaches, had a bit too much beer for lunch and I was constantly on guard not to burn alive (from the sun).

The funniest thing is that we decided to carry over the boats to go to a mangrove area, which was definitely worth it but we had to carry the kayaks through a jungle for about a kilometer. First of all it was the hardest part of the trip, a sea kayak weighs about 30 kg, it was incredibly hot and steep, and there were strange noises to be heard (creepy noises, but then again it is a bloody jungle outthere). But I had some pictures taken of me with my kayak in a jungle! Kayaking brings you to the most unexpected places ;-).

Guilherme

This is my third day in Rio and have decided to stay a couple of days longer as the city is truly addictive. What a beautiful place to be. Probably because I am not over the time difference yet I wake up early still, so when I wake up I walk down to the Copacabana for a morning run. When I did that for the first time yesterday I was amazed. It was not even 7 o´clock yet but the beach was packed with people doing all kinds of sports, it is really amazing how much the locals are into sports. I ran down the beach and on the way back I got a fresh coconut to cool down again. Today I hit the Ipanema beach and also there loads of people doing sports.

I am feeling like a true Carioca already. During the day the beaches are packed with sun bathers, but once the sun is setting the people become active again, I saw an amazing game of foot volley yesterday, now I understand where the Brazilians get all their football skills from. I also found out that the last weekend I am going to be in Rio, Vasco is playing in the Maracana stadium. I am definitely planning to go see the game.

Foodwise I couldn´t have come to a better place, loads of seafood and amazingly cheap capairinhas. Even bottled water is more expensive than a capairinha. So I am mostly drinking non-water.

The nicest thing about Rio though is how easy it is for people to smile. So I am signing off with a :-)

Recuerdos,

Guilherme

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