Brazilian`s answer to V

Yes, they call this drink Kuat, and it taste almost better then the green V that I have come to know and love. Well... actually, I think it taste better as I have been drinking this all throughout Brazil. It has less of a sugery and fizzy taste then the green V.

BUT... in saying that, the red V is still my favorite drink in the world and I am expecting my ex-boss Al to have a couple of boxes ready for me to collect when I return! ;)

Iguazu Falls

Instead of posting photos of this amazing waterfall. I decided to take a video clip and let you see for yourself the sheer size and power of this waterfall.

The Iguazu Falls borders Brazil and Argentina, and consist of a whopping 275 waterfalls along 2.7 km of the Iguazu river. The video is taken from the Brazilian side, as it is here that you get an overrall picture of the mighty falls. The part of the video where it goes all misty is the Garganta del Diablo or known as the Devil`s Throat. It is accessable from the Argentinian side (alongside most of the other impressive falls) and seeing it is amazing to walk right into it. As you are almost surrounded by waterfalls (all 260 degrees of it according to Wiki!), at 150 metres wide and 700 metres long, it kicks ass to be in the midst of it!

So unlike Angel Falls with it`s sheer height, Iguazu Falls impress with it`s width! For more info on this amazing fall, check Wiki or the World Heritage Site List.

Goodbye Rio

What a fantastic city Rio has been. I think it will be very hard to top this city. And trust me, I have visited a lot of cities!!!

The setting, the people, the landscape and the parties must certainly make Rio one of the most sought after travel destination in the world. You can see it too, with numerous hotels and so many international tourist.

On New Years day, the city put on an incredible show. The beaches were packed with patrons, rich and poor, black and white, from all over the world. The Brazilians of course partied the hardest. And come 12am fireworks were shot off numerous barges parked on the water, and it went on for 20 minutes. Whilst the 8 big cruises parked off shore join in the fun too with their spot lights. There were stages put up on all the main beaches in Rio, with all sorts of music played from Samba, bossanova to electronic music featuring top name DJs (Above and Beyond, Astrix, Yahel, Infected Mushroom for those wondering!!!).

And on New Years day, the crowd return to the beach, this time to relax and recover under another beautiful sunny day. For me, these 9 days in Rio have been perfect. I met some great people, ate great food, stayed at a great hostel (´cept for the camera business!) and saw many beautiful sights.

I do intend to return to Rio, as there are so much more that I haven´t done.

I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS PLACE!!!

KFC Brazil Style

You know how much I love KFC! Everywhere I have traveled I have seen the local´s take on it. And here we have the Brazilian version.

For 9.95 Reals (5.50USD) you get 2 pieces of chicken, chips, rice, black beans and *maniac* flour... LOL actually it is called manioc flour, used by Brazilians in almost every kind of cooking. In case you are wondering, the manioc flour is the yellow flaky stuff you see on the bottom left hand corner of my plate.

Also notice how the portion are served in a proper plate with proper cutleries? Why don´t we do this back home??? It all adds up to a tasty dish.

rūzu sokkusu

Well not quite the Japanese loose socks style, but omg this lady has taken dressing dogs up to a new level. And I have not seen this until arriving in Brazil. Parnell mums take note!!!

Also of interest, Brazil is second only to America when it comes to pet ownership. I just hope not all of them are C R A Z Y like this lady!

Stolen items

My iPod and camera got stolen out of my locked backpack in my dorm. The shitty thing is that it was only my backpack that got searched, with all my contents spilling out. The thief manage to pull the zip open whilst the bag was locked, and manage to fit his hands through and looked about. Everyone elses bags was not touched.

However, the thief did me a favour really as it was my broken camera. And it is missing both the memory card and the battery. LOL!

HAPPY 2008

Hey everyone!

Just wanna wish you all in NZ a Happy 2008! I know as the countdown begins everybody will be full of excitement of what the new year will bring. I love you all and can´t wait to see you all in Feb!!! :)

This delicious photo was taken at the top of the Sugarloaf. Up here I saw a beautiful sun set with Copacabana beach stretching away in the distance. I am loving it here at my favorite city in South America!

It is a cold day in Rio!

NOT! Today was probably the hottest day in Rio too! As the temperature sore to 38 degrees... And the coconut (as shown) and other juice vendors were doing a brisk business.

But seeing this temperature reading cracks me up! I don´t know if it was deliberate due to the Pepsi advert above, or that it is broken (I believe the later!). As there are ad billboard with temperature meters such as these everywhere in Rio.

Havaianas

You know how these pair of jandals cost 25NZD and you can only get them at fashion stores like Amazon back home?

Guess what, in Brazil they cost between 7USD and 12USD, and you can buy them everywhere, even from local dairy and pharmacy's!

Apparently it is a bit of an institution here, and everybody wears it. From the mothers to the bums on the street. Very nice!

Update!!!

I have seen Havaianas for 3USD at a market street! So you can buy them from between 3USD and 12USD. Lovin it!!!

The most beautiful city in the world

Rio de Janeiro is the most beautiful city in the world and this is why:

The setting - Big bays, Bright blue ocean, kilometers of beautiful white sandy beach, hills with rocky tops and seems to bend at odd angles all over (and you can rock climb them!!!).

The people - The Brazilians invented thongs and the butt-lover bikini bottoms. The tan body, the beautiful face and the athletic body... Which leads me to...

The sports - Football yes... They have more World cup medals then anyone else, yes they have a world class Football stadium and yes they have a couple of heroes like Pele but for me, it is... 2 on 2 Beach volleyball! Yes where else are you going to find next to nothing costume (!!!) and model like players on the beach. Also, the men and women team are the reigning champs at this sport!

The buildings - Not quite Europe but a fine blend never less. The downtown area is full of majestic colonial buildings which has been left to age... It can do with a new lick of paint or the graffiti could be removed but it all gives it some kind of rustic charm.

The sports - Rock climbing (of course with so many beautiful rocks around!), cycling (nice and flat with a beautiful beach front - eat your heart out Mission Bay!), kite surfing, surfing, hang gliding and, the Brazilian capoeira (That is Eddy from Tekken in case you are wondering!), and not forgetting all that dancing which leads to...

The Music - Home of bossanova and the samba style drumming... It is also home of the biggest street party in the world - the Carnival in February!

I spent day 3, a beautiful cloudless day, wondering the streets of Rio, riding on my push bike, people watching, jumping in the clear blue ocean myself to cool down in the drenching 34 degrees heat, and then... at 7.45pm, watched the most amazing sun set over the big ocean on Ipanema beach, to a round of applause from the crowd around me. It was a wonderful feeling I tell you.

So I am in love with this city, and it´s citizens. I am here to see in the New Year, and plan to be wearing white in Copacabana beach alongside 2 million people. I cannot wait to see this!

Cruising down the Amazon river

I am currently in the middle of the Amazon river, at a town call Santarem. I am only stopping over here until this afternoon, when I will board another boat for Belem out on the coast.

The boat trip has been fantastic so far! The boat I board was call Ana Vitoria, it has 3 level, with the top being an open bar area. The boat itself is tiny, but it was full of passengers! Me and the Aussies was on the second floor, away from the engine room downstairs. We slept in the ``hammock class´´, otherwise known as Rede class, for the last 2 nights.

And what an experience! The whole floor was filled bumper to bumper with hammocks. I did not sleep too well on the first night as there were just too many hammocks, I was touching hammocks against 3 other hammocks! I am guessing the boat is full as most people are going home for Christmas.

Despite the number of people on board (I estimated 150) the boat was kept surprisingly clean. The staff swept the floor and clean the bathroom regularly. There was also unlimited drinking water and the meals was not too grubby tasting. Meal time is fantastic, the crew would bang on a pot, and everybody would rush downstairs to queue up for dinner. But the dining table is small, accommodating only 24 people at a time. So you could imagine the wait! But the crew are very efficient, clearing out the table as groups of 24 people finish. It all feels very boarding-school like due to the rush to eat as much as possible, in as little time as possible!

Cruising along the Amazon is not just for tourist here, the locals use the river as their major highway. In fact, the cities within the Amazon river are connected by boats only. So it is a great way to meet locals. I spent my time on board sleeping, hanging out with locals and other tourist, listen to my iPod or read. It is all very relaxing.

My favorite part of the trip is during sun set, sun rise and when docking at a local port. That is when all the action happens. Yesterday, I saw a bunch of Amazon river dolphins, playing near our boat whilst docked at a local port.

So, I still have another 2 days of down river to go. Am looking forward to getting back on, but this time I will be doing it alone as I say goodbye to Richard and Penny. They are off to a little ``beach´´ town call Alter do Chao.

Brazil is $$$

I have made it into Brazil, after leaving Venezuela a day ago.

Coming into Brazil has been a bit of a shock, on the $$$ side of things. As this is the most expensive country in South America. And don't you know it!

I mean... my 13 hours night bus cost USD48! This compare to me paying around 1USD an hour on bus rides in Venezuela and 2USD an hour on bus rides in Colombia! Also, accommodation at my hostel cost 11USD a night. And that is in a 8 person dorm!

But I did expect this, so am prepare to bite the cost and carry on with me travels. :)

I am now in the city of Manaus, in the middle of the Amazon region. This city was once known as the Paris of the South America. Thanks to it's massive rubber boom in the late 1800's and early 1900's. So many massive and rich looking buildings were built. The highlight includes the Theater, the floating platform out on the docks and the market. However most of the other buildings are now in a sorry looking state. Something which can definitely be done about once more money pours in.

It is pretty surreal though, as at the river mouth there is a HUGE German ocean going cruise ship, which has entered the Amazon river and is now dock at Manaus's floating platform.

Tomorrow, I will be on a smaller cruise... a tiny boat, compare to the German cruise ship. And I will be making my way out of the Amazon river, out to the sea, to the big city of Belem. I am sleeping in "reed" class, meaning... I will be packing a hammock for the 4-5 days cruise.