Why we love life: Part 2

Bula (hello) from Fiji. Julie and I are on the main island of Viti Levu. We arrived yesterday after a quick 10 day tour of the US: Houston, West Palm Beach, New York City, and Long Beach/LA.

We'd like to apologize for our lack of communication the last couple of weeks, as we've been frantically moving across continents. I promise to post our pictures from our quick visit home, but right now I should get back to relaxing on the beach!

In the meantime, here are some videos from Brazil and Chile, that are much overdue.

Iguazu Falls - view from top of falls.



Iguazu Falls - view from bottom of falls.



Penguins at Isla Magdelena

Rio de Janeiro and back home to B.A.

After our tour of Southern Brazil´s beach towns, it was time to visit the biggest beach town of all, Rio de Janeiro. My expectations for Rio were so low that it was easy for me to be pleasantly surprised.

The best part about Rio was that our good friend Maria flew down from New York and met us there. We miss all of our friends and family more than we can say, so it was such a treat to spend a few days with Maria. She even came bearing gifts--real New York City bagels! Jared and I ate those bagels with cream cheese and huge smiles.



Rio de Janeiro is quite possibly the most naturally beautiful city I´ve ever visited. Set in a bay and surrounded by sloping granite hills, Rio is much more than its famed beaches. Although those beaches are pretty nice too. While we didn´t run into any trouble in Rio, we didn´t have to look far to see Rio´s notorious favelas, or slums. On the hill below the Christ the Redeemer statue, only a small highway separated the favelas from guarded mansions.

All in all, we did Rio right. The three of us made the mandatory stops at Pao de Azucar (Sugarloaf mountain), Christ the Redeemer, and Ipanema beach. We snacked on coconut water straight from the coconuts and a sorbet made of a tangy fruit called acaí. At a samba club in Lapa, we happened onto a concert by an amazing band called Loroza. Lapa was a sight in itself, with a party in the streets and stands selling every snack and cocktail imaginable.



Without a doubt, the highlight for all of us was the soccer game we went to at Maracana Stadium. We splurged on tickets for the Rio championship between Flamengo and Botafogo. Getting into the stadium was one of the scariest moments of our trip, as our petite guide raced to the entrance with our tickets. Fortunately we got in fine and found ourselves with ridiculously good seats--twenty rows behind the teams´ benches.

The game was the Rio city final, but you would have thought it was the World Cup Final. These fans were INSANE. Both sides flew flags, chanted taunts, and even set off firecrackers in the stadium. American sports fans are just a bunch of pansies compared to Brazilian futebol fanatics. We didn´t shoot this video, but it gives you a good idea of the energy at the game. In the end, Flamengo beat Botafogo, 2-1, to repeat as Rio champs.



I had heard many firsthand accounts of muggings in Rio, but we got lucky. The three of us never carried purses, backpacks, or even wallets. All of our jewelry, even my $7 earrings from Bolivia, stayed in our hotel. When we went to the beach and had to carry bags, we used plastic grocery bags. To minimize any potential losses, we only carried the smallest amount of cash necessary, and I hid credit cards in the secret stash of my Reef flip-flops. Our hotel, Hostel Copa Praia, was in a very safe part of Copacabana and we highly recommend it. Jared and I didn´t bring our cameras out much, so take a look at Maria´s photos of Rio.

After saying goodbye to Maria, it was time to board a 38-hour bus back to Buenos Aires. Flights were $360 each, and the bus was $120 each, so it was a no-brainer. Our seats were like Lazy-Boy recliners, so the ride wasn´t that bad, though I am not itching to do it again anytime soon. Thanks to those of you who contributed to Jared´s birthday gift. Your generous gift paid for our bus tickets to and from Brazil.

Both Jared and I were thrilled to be back in Buenos Aires. After more than four months on the road, B.A. is the closest thing to home. It was great to catch up with our friends and indulge in as much ice cream from Freddo as I possibly could. We retrieved our cold-weather gear and boarded a flight to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world.

If you´re reading this via email, take a look at all the improvements we´ve made to our site. Thanks to Tal for all your help!

Saquarema and Arraial do Cabo

Julie and I are back in Buenos Aires after a grueling 40 hour bus ride from Rio. We had a great 4 days in Rio, but that will be another post altogether. Let me first fill you in on our week after Paraty.

After about a week in the Costa Verde (green coast) of Paraty, we headed four hours north to Rio de Janeiro, where we changed buses and went another 2-3 hours further north along the Costa do Sol (sun coast), to the tiny beach towns of Saquarema, and Arraial do Cabo. The drive from Paraty to Rio was one of the most scenic drives I have ever done, and around every bend there was a picture perfect postcard view. Too bad I didn´t take pictures.

Both Saquarema and Arraial do Cabo get little mention in the Lonely Planet guidebook, and because of this, we were finally able to get away from the backpackers and foreign travelers in Brazil.

The little resort area of Saquarema is the surfing capital of Rio state, and it reminded me a lot of a California beach town like Long Beach. The place gets a little crowded on weekends with Brazilian tourists, but never gets too busy. We stayed in an amazing beachfront pousada/guesthouse called Canto do Vila, with a pool and views of the ocean and sunset. It´s a strange feeling to witness the sun setting over the Atlantic ocean when you´ve spent your whole life on the East Coast. The land curved and faced west in case you are wondering.

I was so pumped up to finally go surfing, but of course it didn´t happen. The water was so cold, colder than New York in summer, and I could rent a board, but not a wetsuit. I lasted 10 minutes in the water until my lips went blue, then I turned around. Just a side note here, if you ever come to Brazil to surf, bring a board and wetsuit with you. My experience has been that if there are waves, there are either no boards to rent, or if you can find boards the water is cold and there are no wetsuits to be found. It´s a catch 22. Damn you Brazil. If you do make it to Saquarema, go to Itauna beach where there are huge waves (a left point break, and beach breaks further down).

Anyways, back to Saquarema. We had about 2 full days and 3 nights in the town over the weekend. The town square in the centro area where we were staying was bustling with street vendors at night, and they had a live cover band playing to the restaurant tables. It was actually pretty funny since the singer played all classic rock songs in English, but I don´t think many Brazilians really understood the songs. No one speaks English or Spanish in this country, but we´ll write more about that later.

After a couple days in Saquarema, we traveled an hour north to Arraial do Cabo. The town is a cape that shoots out into the ocean, and is surrounded on all sides by beautiful beaches. I have to say that these beaches were probably better than Paraty, although they had more people. The sand was the finest I`ve felt and the water crystal clear. Arraial is famous for scuba diving which is why we made a stop here. On our second day in town, I did two reef dives off of two different islands. The visibility was amazing, and I got to see about 4 sea turtles which are my favorite. I forgot how much I love to scuba dive, but I don´t think we will have another opportunity until we get to Australia in a couple months. The place we stayed in Arraial was so homely. The Hostel Villa Boas had a huge kitchen and pool, and we actually spent a lot of time relaxing and cooking at the hostel. We met some great couples from Argentina and Chile, and I can tell you, it was so great to hear Spanish again. With the rest of our free time we went to the best beach in the area, praia do Forno. The rest of the beaches were too crowded.

So, after about a week split between Saquarema and Arraial do Cabo, we headed back to Rio to meet our friend Maria, and had an amazing 4 days. More to come on Rio shortly. Click here for my photos of Saquarema and Arraial do Cabo.

It´s time to Paraty!

When we met a random traveler in Argentina, and asked him about places to visit in Brazil, we were really lucky that he suggested visiting Paraty (although our friends Kristen and Greg suggested it as well, but we forgot). An old Portuguese colonial gold rush town, Paraty is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town is located in a bay, about 4 Hours south of Rio de Janeiro, and is surrounded by approximately 300 islands. Here is the official tourist site.

The old part of the town has beautiful cobblestone streets, and buildings that date as far back as the 17th century. We unfortunately couldn´t afford to stay in the old town on our traveler´s budget, but we found a great pousada (guesthouse) just on the border of the new part of town for 60 Reals a night (about $33). If you end up in Paraty, we highly recommend the family-run Pousada Marques, just around the corner from the bus station. Their breakfast, or cafe do mañha as they say, was amazing, and is a typical Brazilian spread of breads, ham, cheeses, juice, coffee, and fruit.

All in all, we spent about a week in the area of Paraty. Unfortunately the town itself doesn´t have great beaches, but there are several options closeby. One day we took a boat trip to several private beaches around the bay. Another day I took a bus 40 minutes to the small town of Trinidade, which has 4 amazing beaches (unfortunately Julie was sick that day and couldn´t join me). The highlight of our trip however was the 4 days we spent on a remote beach not far from Paraty or Trinidade. Considering our huge readership (insert sarcasm here), we felt it would be a good idea to keep the location a secret. But if you really want to know, email us and we´ll tell you how to get there.

The beach is an unspoiled stretch of fine white sand, and you can only get there by hiking in for about an hour or so, or by boat. The beach is a small community of fisherman, and most people live in modest houses or tents. There was electricity, powered by generators at night, but other than that, no noise...except for the waves.

It was hard to tear us away after 4 days, and we probably could have spent another week there, but we wanted to see a little more of Brazil, and so we are now 2hours north of Rio in a popular surf town of Saquarema.

We will be around this area for a couple more days, and will then head to explore Rio with our friend Maria who is coming to visit us from New York! If you´d like to see what Paraty and the surrounding area looks like, here are my photos.

Iguazu Falls and Carnaval, our Introduction to Brazil

Hello, friends and family. As I write this post, Jared and I are celebrating four months on the road. Over the past four months, we have spent countless hours on buses because we would rather save the plane fare. Then again, an 18-hour bus trip isn´t so bad when you have an attendant serving you champagne and a seat that folds down into a flat bed. We traveled to Puerto Iguazú on the holy grail of buses, one with genuine flat beds.

Before we visited the famous waterfalls, Jared and I stopped at Triple Frontier landmark. As we stood across on Argentine soil, we could see Paraguay to the left and Brazil to the right, just across the river. Each country´s territory was marked with an obelisk in their national colors. Most likely, that is the closest we will get to Paraguay.


How can I describe Iguazú Falls? Only a poet could do it justice. Iguazú Falls are a series of 275 waterfalls along 1.7 miles of the Iguazú river. The cataratas, as they are called in Spanish, are mostly 210 feet tall, though some are as tall as 269 feet. (Niagara Falls, for the record, are 167 feet tall.) Separating Brazil from Argentina, the falls should be seen from both sides to be properly appreciated. Argentina has the closer look--we took a boat into the base of some of the falls--while Brazil has the panoramic view. And, oh what a view. Take a look at Jared´s photos and try to imagine the roar of Iguazú Falls.


We finally got our Brazilian visas in Puerto Iguazú. The small consulate in the Argentine border town didn´t want to see any bank statements or proof of onward travel, they only wanted cold, hard cash. My visa cost $147, and Jared´s cost $70, almost 50% more than we were expecting. (Sometimes it pays to be Canadian.) And for some strange reason, my visa has a big stamp on it that says "FREE." If only that were true.

From beautiful Iguazú Falls, it was another overnight bus to Florianópolis, Brazil, where we would spend Carnaval. We stayed on the Ilha de Santa Caterina, at the Armaçao beach. In the small village of Armaçao, the Carnaval party was centered right outside our hostel. Music blared from a lone parade float, hundreds of people danced in the streets. As soon as the Super Bowl was over (congratulations, New York Giants!), Jared and I grabbed our caiprinhas and joined the party. Check out our photos of Carnaval and Florianopolis.

Honestly, up until Carnaval, I wasn´t so sure I wanted to visit Brazil. The language barrier, higher costs, and crime stories made me nervous. All my fears disappeared when a group of Brazilian women grabbed me by the hips during the party and showed me how to samba. Even though I can´t understand their language, the warmth of the Brazilian people is infectious.

Now that Carnaval is over, Jared and I are still having a fantastic time in Brazil. We are currently in Paraty, a small town with the best examples of colonial Portuguese architecture. You´ll hear more about Paraty in our next post.

Remember the volcano we saw back in October in Banos, Ecuador? Now it is erupting, though currently Banos isn´t at risk.