My brazilian love affair continues...

Ola!

Time for an update...I am currently on Ihle Grande - a Jamaican-esque tropical paradise! (google it and check it out) it is pouring with rain (no surprise) but hot and delicious and we have have just spent the evening walking barefoot thru puddles eating Acaci berrie sorbet and listening to the local music...
Paraty was amazing - a beautiful, rich little town on the coast that reminded me of what I would imagine Italy in the 50s to be like with its cobbled uneven narrow roads and white plaster and teracotta buildings. It is a sleepy town during the day but at night it comes alives with lots of live music and its all surrounded by tropical forest.
Yesterday we went body sliding (on our backs) down a rock face waterfall which was amazing! I sat in a cave under a waterfall, we walked for two hours thru the forest and then went and bought dinner from the roadside stalls and danced the night away!
I am looking forward to getting stuck into the volunteer work side of things...and have some great contacts back in Rio and Salvador for when I get back up the coast in a couple of weeks.
This past week has been amazing and overwhelming!
I,ll be on Ihle Grande until Monday then head to Sao Paolo then Urutuba before doing a long trek down to Iguacu
Hope you are all well...
PLEASE email me x
xxxxx

Farewell Rio and Welcome to Parati

After four days in Rio we escaped with our lives, purses and belongings in tact, all feeling a tad stressed and tired but are now relaxing at Parati (google Parati in Brazil) ... 300 local beaches, safe and cosy and quaint!
I am having uploading issues with photos so if you click on this link you can see what I've been doing so far (on a very reduced scale)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=166525&id=643592670&saved#!/album.php?aid=166525&id=643592670

time for coffee so will write in detail after we've spent the day adventuring!

raining all the time - reminscent of Auckland!!

PHOTOS OF

 RIO

Day 3...

HOLA!
Right some more detailed blabber about Rio...

things here are cheap as! but more expensive than rest of brazil - we leave rio in the morning to go to paraty (a beach town 4 hours south with 360 beaches!)

the food is good so far - we are havin lunch wit some locals this afternoon so that~ll be real portugese fare!

We have been exploring the city on foot - walked 5 hours yesterday round Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon and back to our amazing hostel! had a crazy ass taxi driver on the way home who kept saying ´surprise surprise´whilst driving breakneck speeds round the place

he took us to a whole lot of sights and let us get out and take photos

was MENTAL!

the rain has stopped so we just did the local markets in the nearby suburb of Lapa - Gemma arrives tonite at 8pm so we are going to do Sugar Loaf and Statue of Christ tomorrow morning then jump on a bus

im havin the most incredible time! taken tonnes of pics but they not uploading for some reason!

the whole city is ruins surrounded by new buildings...street sleepers in amongst the suits

its got a funny smell that already is imprinted as RIO smell...

I wil upload photos as soon as possible! spent three hours trying last nite but the connection here is not working!
righto heading off to the city
xx love to all!!

 

MADE IT TO RIO

I MADE IT! woot
after a 36 hour debarkle just to get to Rio, I´m glad to report we (Neil and I) are warm, dry and stayin at a hostel in Rio (http://www.riohostel.com/).
It took an hour to get from the airport to the hostel and it was the most eye opening, insane drive I´ve ever experienced! The favelas are never ending...children walk barefoot in the rain up and down the highway thru the traffic selling food through car windows...it was heart breaking.  The whole city looks like it´s been bombed and not rebuilt...buildings are in ruins, narrow streets and people everywhere. 
I could never have anticipated the poverty and the chaos! It is exhilerating but moving beyond comprehension...It´s pouring with rain here which is a bummer so we will leave on Thursday once Gemma arrives and meander down the coast.
I am about to go to bed as I´m exhausted but full on cheap pizza from a place up the road and ready for a long sleep before fully starting the adventure tomorrow.
<3 xxxxxx