Travel Log

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