Crossing over...

into the land of the Portuguese, gorgeous people and sunny beaches...

Or so we thought. We arrived in Florianopolis after 3 buses. The last one that was over 3 hours delayed due to the massive amounts of flooding in the south of Brasil. We arrived on Ilha de Santa Catarina. Our hostel is called Tucano Hostel. I have to say this because they are probably the best hostel we have stayed in. Not only are the two owners incredibly nice but they were helpful and friendly. I love this hostel and Marilia and Caio. We stayed at Lagoa da Conceição. We found out that many of the people in the hostel could not leave the island because of the flooding and mudslides.
Essentially we were stranded on the island. No buses were arriving and none were leaving. Our bus was the last to arrive and on our drive in we saw :

• an overturned tanker
• many houses flooded to their rooftops
• flooded farms
• 1 mudslide
  

At the end of the whole disaster, 130-150 people died.

Luckily our island was spared from over flooding, though the lagoa in the center of the island was definitely flooded and the northern end of the island apparently had more mudslides.
Because no one was allowed to come or go, we settled in for several days of cloudiness with sunny breaks.

**Unfortunately my camera broke and we have no photos of this beautiful island but I am returning so I will get tons of photos**

Our first night, I decided to go with some hostel-mates to check out an authentic Samba club. It is located at a nearby sand dune beach. Because it is still low season, only the locals and people who live year round are on the island. It was a small joint and it was packed...on a Sunday! The live Samba band was incredible. And this nice older lady saw my incapability to dance Samba and gave me lessons. Shaking your hips the way they do is very hard. But it is a great dance and a lot of fun. And the best dancers have a nice booty to shake. Unlike other dances (ie Tango) Samba can be danced solo, though others do dance with partners. This was to be the beginning of many Samba parties in Brazil!

The next day because of the clouds, we decided to rent a car with 2 guys to tour the island and check out all the beaches.
The South is less developed and at the tip is a small fishing town and beach. The beaches on this island are all millions of kms long, perfect sand with gorgeous greenery or sand dunes behind you.
The North has a few small towns, with lots of Portuguese influence (as our Portuguese friend told us) and we saw a shrimp fishing town, an oyster town etc. These towns by the way are literally one street, barely a town. But in the very North it is super developped and the rich Brazilians have their massive beach houses here. Such vast differences all about 15 minutes drive from each other.

Our spot on the Lagoa is in the center of the island with a nice little "downtown" and close to the beaches so its not too developped and not too empty either.

We also went into Florianopolis to do some shopping for CHEAP Havianas (the flip flops that EVERYONE wears) They cost about $25-$35cdn or more in Canada. Here they cost $5-$10cdn. Bought myself a pair....when in Rome...

Speaking of doing the local thing, Caio, our hostel owner, introduced us to caiprinha's made with love by a Brazilian. After going all the way to the north of Brazil, I have to say that his were honestly the best. Katie got a lesson on how they are made and will probably take it home to Canada to introduce this fantastic drink.
The recipe:

• cachaça - Brazilian whiskey made of sugarcane
• limes (mashed to a pulp for the juice)
• sugar
• ice

There are variants as well - Caiprifrutas with all sorts of fruits. I especially like the pineapple one or the strawberry one. It is so refreshing in the heat and only a few can get you drunk very quickly. The reason there are good and bad ones depends on how well the limes are mashed and how much sugar is added.

On our last day, the sun came out and with some fellow hostellers, we took surf lessons. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

Eventually the roads in and out of the island cleared up and we headed north to Ilha Grande. One of Brazil's larger islands...

Surfing in Brazil photos!

Surfing in Brazil!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2274134&l=d1540&id=13603844

Brazilian photos

Brazilian photo albums 1 and 2.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2274095&l=1f732&id=13603844

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2274106&l=11ec8&id=13603844

Iguazu Falls photos on Facebook!

Photos of Foz do Iguazu

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2274044&l=21642&id=13603844

Puerto Iguazu

Finally managed to drag ourselves away from the amazing city of Buenos Aires to go see Iguazu Falls. We arrived around noon and headed to our hostel which looked more like a resort with everyone lying around by the massive blue pool. It was hot so we quickly joined them for the rest of the day.

That evening the hostel had a big BBQ and a Brazilian show. Our first glimpse into samba. The women were amazing hip shakers. It was also our first taste of the Brazilian drink Caipirinha (though definately not the best).

The following day we woke up early to see the falls on the Argentinean side. You should also see it from the Brazilian side as well but we didnt end up going. We arrived right when the gates opened. And headed straight to Garganta del Diablo (Devil´s Throat). This is the biggest waterfall of all the waterfalls. The bridge out takes you right on top of the waterfalls and you can feel the water and mist on you. Most everyone was drenched by it. Also there has been a lot of flooding in the area and the bridge was apparently closed off for a bit so we were lucky.


There are 2 hikes to do, a lower and upper circuit. And a boat ride. So it was a full day at the falls. Also whenever people findout you are from Canada they want to know how it compares to Niagara. Well the second part of the falls are stunning. Iguazu is set in the middle of the rainforest. The greenery is so lush and beautiful against the waterfalls. And Iguazu, I believe, is taller than Niagara. Both hikes take you right on top of the waterfalls. The upper circuit obviosuly to look down and the lower you are standing right at the bottom with great views to the top to really appreciate the sheer magnitude of some of these falls. One of the view points is right at the bottom of one of the bigger falls and you have to just run out get soaked, get your picture and run back.


On our hikes we also saw big lizards, ant eater type animals but no monkeys =(


The boat ride was all of 12 minutes long. But it was SO MUCH FUN! We got lucky and got the front two seats and the boat takes you into the waterfall slash under the waterfall. It was like one big amusement park ride! Again we were drenched. Seems to be the theme of this post.


Luckily we had a gorgeous day so drying off was no problem. This post really doesnt do the Falls much justice. Wait for the pics I promise they will be worth it.

Buenos Aires

Its actually been awhile since Buenos Aires. And we set up camp for about 10 days there, which was nice after all the travelling around. My friend Manny messaged me to say that he was arriving the next day in BA for the week so it turned out perfect!

Here is a list of things we saw and did during our visit in BA. I know its not the best post but Im so behind (I´m writing this from our 3rd stop in Brazil).

Recoleta Cemetery - This Cemetery is unbelievable. First it is in Recoleta, a very rich and expensive neighbourhood and it occupies a fair amount of land. It has only mausoleums and houses famous people of Argentina including Eva Peron (Evita). It is impossible to get space there now and if you could have the space I doubt you could afford it. The mausoleums each out do one after the other. I guess they have to prove their wealth and importance.

Plaza de Mayo - This is where the main plaza is and almost all the roads lead here. The Casa Rosada is the Pink House. (For federal government) There are pedestrian streets galore all around this Plaza for shopping, cafes etc.

Avenida de Mayo leads to the Plaza and it also crosses 9 de julio. The street with 16 lanes of traffic! It is insanity. This is also where the Obelisk is.

Teatre Colon is also here on 9 de julio. Unfortunately it is so rundown that they have closed it to completely restore it so we could not see much of it.

Our neighbourhood where we stayed in is called San Telmo. It is very cute and artisty. Lots of antique shopping and individual stores and tons of cute cafes and restaurants. Very much like the plateau area of Montreal.

Palermo is another neighbourhood with gorgeous parks and also a richer area. It is also the party area with all the all-night clubs clustered around there.

One thing we have learned in Argentina, is that time is all shifted forward. A typical day starts with breakfast, then a large lunch followed by 2 hours of siesta or so. And dinner doesnt begin until 10, 11 or even midnight! And then you go to the bar for a couple of hours and head to the clubs around 2 or 3 am! Kates and I had gotten used to eating late in Argentina. We also did the late night partying several nights coming in at 6am! Running around the city at 6am is really fun. Oh yeah, and apparently there are after hour clubs that people enter at 8 or 9am! Not sure how these people do it!

We were in BA for the night of the museums. It was a big outdoor party down near the water and I believe the museums were free for everyone (similar to Nuit Blanche in Montreal).

Another really nice thing we did on our first day in BA was visit a small town outside of BA called San Antonio de Areco. This is a typical gaucho (Argentinan cowboys) town. They still live as gauchos with ranches etc. The day we went was Tradition Day where they celebrate the gaucho culture. Gauchos from all over Argentina come for this week long celebration with competitions and parades etc. I think it is similar to stampede. We went for the final day and got to watch the gauchos herd their horses, rodeo, lasso-ing etc. It was a great day outside of the city and to see some real gauchos.

Manny had a friend in BA whom we met for a drink and he is one of the nicest portenos (person from BA) we met. He gave us ideas of places to visit and what to see and do.

I think I´ve covered most of BA. I loved the city and will definately post pictures up. It is definately a city I could live in. The culture and food is just amazing. Kates gorged on $10cdn steaks and I ate my fill of empanadas.