Here we are in Rio de Janeiro!

Last known location: 22 58 24.3 S 43 11 04.3 E

Well we have now been in South America for a week, and it has been quite an adventure already. Just learning how to navigate around the cities and perform the simplest tasks (like asking for food!) has been interesting.

On Monday we arrived in the sprawling metropolis of Sao Paulo (home to over 18 million people!) and after an hour and a half bus trip, found that the hostel we had pre-booked on the internet had closed down! Not a great start, but luckily some friendly locals were able to point us to another B&B down the road. We spent a day checking out Sao Paulo, including some time bird watching in one of the huge urban parks (Blonde crested woodpecker, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Swallow-tailed hummingbird amongst others).

From Sao Paulo we took a 6 hour bus trip to Rio de Janeiro, and found a hostel here in Copacabana. We spent a day relaxing on the beach and finished it off with caipirinhas -just what was required to remove the final traces of stress! Birdwatching on the beach consisted of both the feathered (Magnificent Frigatebird) and non-feathered variety! The city is full of ´the beautiful people´ many off whom seem to live on the beach. We did some travelling in and around the city, visiting the stunning Parque Nacional de Tijuca. This reserve is a huge forested area covering several of the massive granite domes that are an integral part of the city. Along with the ubiquitous Black Vultures we saw Blue Manakin and Toucan.

Yesterday we took the train up to the huge statue of Christ on the Corcovada overlooking the city. Typically the clouds arrived at the same time as us - but we did get some magnificent views of the city. Today we are planning to walk up SugarLoaf mountain, and then probably some more relaxing on the beach :)


The food preferences of the Brazilians have been surprising - they seem to alternate between cheese and Poa de Acucar - sweet breads and cakes. I don´t think I´ve ever seen so much cheese, on and in everything. Meat is incredibly cheap here and we had an all-you-can-eat meat buffet for the equivalent of R40! The meat arrived on huge skewers carried around by waiters, who carved bits onto your plate, a bit like the Carnivore.

Just before we left SA we found out that more pedestrians are killed in road accidents in Sao Paolo than drivers and passengers. It´s not difficult to see why, with 3 lane highways through the middle of the city and no way of crossing them safely. Brazilians seem as immune to speed limits as South Africans and it has been an adventure learning to cross the road, especially because they drive on the wrong side of the road and all have tinted windows!

Travelling and eating in the cities has been challenging enough, where a handful of people speak a smattering of English. Tomorrow we head off to Manaus in the middle of the Amazon basin, where the real adventure will begin!