Brrrrrraaaazzzziiilllllllllll. Part 1(!)

So then, Brazil, first stop Rio for Carnival - it´s just one of those things that has to be done in life - even thought the majority of locals say to go somewhere else for carnival (Salvador for example) - the words ´Rio´ and ´carnival´ are just synonymous, so, against local advice, i landed in Rio, ridiculously excited...but before I get onto that, a quick word is needed about my journey from the international airport after my flight from Santiago in Chile...

Being a penny watching backpacker I opted to take the bus into town rather than a taxi (a difference of about 25 pounds - thats 2 nights accomodation!), but I soon wish i hadn´t. There was a huge traffic jam as soon as we left the airport...and a 15km journey turned into a 5 hour mission, culminating in me violating every lonely planet guideline on how to stay safe in Rio due to my hotel being beyond the reach of the airport bus and, concequently, having to switch to a public bus. The lonely planet clearly states that `most robberies in Rio occur on buses´..and stresses the point ´not to travel alone on buses´..and certainly ´dont travel with a backpack on the bus´..and to ´NEVER travel at night on buses´...so there i was, first day in Rio, sat on a bus, on my own, with my all my bags, in the pitch black (it gets dark around 7pm here), having no idea where i was! Suffice to say, I survived and arrived safely at my hotel in one piece, later meeting up with my good friend - Stella -who was here for work (lucky timing or what)! Indeed for all the warnings I had read and listened to about Rio I didnt actually feel threatened once for the whole duration of carnival. Now obviously I didn´t venture into the ´favelas´ and search out ´little Ze´ (favelas are the ´council estates´of Brazil...except more ´slum´ like and with one hundred times the amount of drugs and guns!), but the worst I witnessed was some pick-pocketing and little kids ripping necklaces off girls - ´touch wood´ nothing happens on my return. I returned to Rio to meet up with two of my best mates from home - Wandy and Scott - who have flown in for 3 weeks of hedonistic pleasure in the North of Brazil. Im really looking forward to it - as much as I love meeting new people, sometimes the ´whats your name..where are you from..how long have you been travelling..and where have you been´ routine can get a bit tiresome. At the end of the day, nothing beats travelling with your real friends.

So, Carnival, Rio, 2009 - waht can I say??! Well, actually, I have got to admit something...it was different to what I expected. Now dont get me wrong here, i had a good time, a bloody good time, but i was kind of expecting more - more parties...more costumes..and, well, more craziness! Maybe I should have done a bit more research but, for example, I thought that the parades you see on TV (the giant floats and beautiful women in ´spangly´ bikinis) were in the streets of Rio...i was wrong - it all happens in a very controlled environment called the ´Sambadrome´ - basically a purpose built ´street´ with stadium style seating for which you have to pay a small fortune to sit in (or get a cheap ticket on the black market as i did!). There are 12 Samba schools (each from a different favela) that parade for exactly 1 hour and 20 minutes down the ´street´ and, to be honest, its all a bit clinical, a bit commercial and, to watch, a bit boring! In other cities such as Salvador, the parade is on the stareets and everyone gets involved, but in Rio irts all a bit proferssion fro my taste and the public are far removed (although tourists can pay a wedge to participate!). The street parties that happen throughout the carnival period (5 days) are where its at for the people - but again, maybe its my ignorance, but I thought these would be everywhere and the city would virtually shutdown during the period as everyone would be on the streets...but instead the parties were fairly localised affairs, happening over 4 or 5 blocks in different parts of the city, at different times, on different days. The parites were cool...but not crazy! People stood around drinking beer, some dancing, some were dressed in random costumes (e.g. Amy Winehouse) and there was plenty of kissing - the Brazilian men were unbelievable - they just grabbed girls as they were walking along, sometimes by the neck(!) and just kissed them, before parting ways!...it actually reminded me of the under-18 discos I used to go to when i was 16 - no talking, just kissing!!

The setting for the city of Rio itself is the most striking I have ever seen. It is lined with beautiful beaches and surrounded by jagged mountain peaks, draped in lush, green vegetation. It really is breathtaking. I have saved all the tourist spots for when Wandy and Scott arrive (hence no pics of Jesus Christ looming over the city), but I still got a sense of the magic and enchantment that the city holds from just walking the streets (and partying!).

After Rio I moved down the coast to a small town called Paraty, which was a welcome relief after the crowds of Rio. Paraty is the type of place that I love to find when travelling - its a small, pretty little town, with cobbled streets and candlelit restaurants and bars playing live music - actually a very romantic little setting. The surrounding scenery was also beautiful, but I am a bit worried that I am starting to get blase about about beautiful scenery - I´ve seen some stunning places since I started travelling 6 years ago, and it does now take something a bit special to make me stand back and say ´wow´...luckily a 40 minute bus ride to a beach called ´Trindade´ provided that breathless moment in Paraty. It was like paradise - a perfect curving beach, with soft white sand, fringed with rainforest type vegetation, hills and clear warm water with gentle lapping waves - just beautiful - best beach i have seen so far in Brazil.

After Paraty I arrived with a bump in the metropolis of Sao Paulo city - it is a huge place and, to be honest, quite overwhelming. Luckily i met up with some Brazilian friends that I had met on my Spanish course in Buenos Aires, and they showed me around the city and took me out in the evenings, including a couple of cool Samba bars/clubs. It it hadn´t have been for them I dont think I would have bothered with Sao Paulo - its just too big and not a particularly pretty city.

One of the places i was keen to get to in the South of Brazil was a vast wetland area called ´The Pantanal´. The Lonely Planet (the backpackers bible) raves about it and, being a nature lover, i was keen to go and check it out. My only doubt was the amount of time it would take me to get there...but sometimes you just have to ´bov´ it up - so I set off from Sao Paulo and, 23 hours later, arrived at my lodge in a swarm of mosquitos! I booked myself on a tour and spent the next 3 days fishing (and eating) piranahs (very little meat on a piranah considering how much they eat themselves!), horse-riding (first time i´d been on a horse since I was 6 years old, and the short trek in ´the Pantanal´ just confirmed that i am definitely not a ´horsey´ person - it just bloody hurts when they start to trot!), trekking after armidillo (hard on the outside, soft on the inside), aligators (completely harmless unless you wander too close to their nest...which i happended to do!) and giant rat like creatures...and of course floating down the river on a giant tube (standard activity around the world in any jungle type environment that has a river!). It was a nice trip, but not really worth the mamouth journey to get there (Brazil is sooo bloody big!) - it took me 36 hours to get to my next destination (Florianopolis) which was a killer!

Florianopolis is a cool surfing island, with beautiful beaches and some laid back live music venues - Im getting into the Samba now - asking the locals to teach you is a great ´ice breaker´!! ;)

The final stop before arriving back in Rio was Ilha Grande - a tropical island covered in dense jungle, with not a single motor vehicle in sight - pretty much paradise and a good place to chill before heading back to the bright lights of Rio. It was while on Ilha Grande that I had one of those magical travelling moments - I fancied a bit of ´alone time´ one day so hiked through the jungle to a near-deserted beach to chill out. Upon entering the water for the seond time that day I was suprised to see a large, reptilian type head pop out of the water right next to me! After a bit of a panic that I was about to be attacked by a monster from the murkey depths of the ocean, I realised it was, of course, a turtle! I followed it for a while as it glided effortlessley through the water, coming up for air every minute or so - magical.

.....Ok, ok, before I go, I know that all the boys reading this are thinking the same thing ´yeah, yeah, animals, cities, beaches, samba, blah blah blah - but what about the women?!´...well boys, I can confirm that the widely held belief that Brazilian women are ´above the average´ is most certainly true - this country is blessed!!..And yes, the bikinis are very small!!