Brazil and other stuff!

Hello all! We recently took a trip to Brazil in September and wanted to tell you all about it!

First we met up with our wonderful and fabulous friend Morgan in Rio de Janeiro. It was Morgan's first trip outside the US and she made it there and back on her own LIKE A BOSS! Once Morgan arrived we spent one night in Rio (Morgan surprisingly was not affected much by jetlag so we got quite a bit of sightseeing in at Pao de Azucar and explored the Santa Teresa neighborhood) and then flew out in the morning for Iguasu Falls.

The town of Iguassu Falls is not particularly inspiring. The architecture is blah and there's not particularly anything exciting in the town itself. But it is the home of Iguassu Falls, one of the 7 natural wonders of the world! and it is awesome! Iguassu Falls is amazing, it makes Niagra Falls feel sad and insufficient. Apparently upon seeing it, Eleanor Roosevelt said ' Oh! Poor Niagra!' We walked all over the Brazilian side of the falls and took a boat trip right up into the falls! We were warned by signs to not overtake the barriers and we saw lots of coati (if a raccoon and a possum had a baby) running around looking for snacks. We also went to a bird park and saw tons of birds including some time spent in some walk through spaces filled with Macaw Parrots and Tucans and tons of other kinds of birds

The falls

Morgan making a new friend

Coati, master of the garbage can

After that, we returned to Rio to spend a few days exploring the city, going to the beach, and enjoying the culture. Rio is awesome. I might even say its my favorite city I've ever visited. The people are friendly and kindly answer your questions when you are lost or point you the right way in the metro. We even met an older couple one day at an outside cafe who wanted to know where we were from and what we were doing there. They were so nice- they offered to share some of their food and bought us a beer and told us about all the places they had lived and what their kids were doing in one of the strangest conversations I've had being that it was a mix of Portugese, Spanish and English. The man was in his 90s and said he only eats eggs and cheese- more power to him I suppose.  The city itself is really beautiful with lots of old architecture and we visited a lot of really cool places from the Christ the Redeemer statue to the history museum, to a huge botanic garden, to Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. Rio combines the best of both worlds with a beautiful city surrounded by the beauty of lush green mountains and beautiful beaches. We also really enjoyed the music scene in Rio. In genereal, the musical taste in Brazil is really good. They have their share of American music but it was more like Ben Harper on the cover of Vogue magazine instead of Katy Perry played on a constant repeat everywhere you go. But Brazilian music itself is awesome! We visited a variety of places, the first was a classic Bossa Nova club in Ipanema call Vinicius Bar, the second a tiny bar in Cobacabana called Bip-Bip that is an official historic site where all of the tables are occupied by people with instruments singing classic samba songs and locals hanging out outside singing along ( we definitely didn't fit it not knowing a single samba song ourselves but it was fun anyways), and the third a giant samba club in the Lapa district called the Rio Scenarium which was really fun. 

Look how pretty it is! Pao de Azucar

Kissing on the gate at the botanic gardens

Looking out over the city at sunset

Then, as if we had not had enough fun already, we went a few hours south of Rio to Paraty. Paraty is an old colonial town that has been impecably well preserved and although we got bit to death by mosquitos it is definitely worth a visit. We walked around the old town and took a ship on a tour to snorkel at a few beaches. 

Downtown Paraty, the streets are built this way so that at high tide, they can fill with water and then drain out again

The street at high tide

Having a great time snorkeling and riding on a boat that looked like it should have pirates on it

At the end of our trip we spent about 5 days on Ilha Grande, a giant island (as the name suggests) in between Rio and Paraty. Ilha Grande is covered in jungle and has a few very small towns and no cars ( exceptions= police car and ambulance). The only thing there is are tons of gorgeous hiking trails and beaches. It was a little cloudy the first few days we were there but we enjoyed the oppportunity to hike with the heat to various beaches and we saw monkeys and birds along the way. 

View of town from one of many trails

Ryan taking a break to have a coconut. They sell coconuts in Brazil and when you buy one they drill a hole in the top and stick a straw in it and voila! Coco Verde!

We did get some sun on the last day Morgan was with us:

Saying goodbye to Morgan, I was so sad to see her go! It was such a blessing to be able to travel and experience new things with her

And my favorite place in the world, a coffee shop on the beach where the water reaches up to your toes and you can order any kind of fresh made juice you want ( this particular one is mango)

In the end, I would say Brazil was my favorite place I've ever been. Its like where Latin America, Europe and Africa meet to make a rich vibrant and diverse culture surrounded by amazing nature. The atmosphere is vibrant and the people are happy. There's great music and food and an endless variety of activities for whatever happens to suit your mood that day. Everyday at the end we were like ' What a great day!' We had no major problems throughout the entire trip- a few itchy bugbites and one day where we were not thrilled about the number of hours spent in a van travelling from Rio to Paraty but other than that smooth sailing. It was a great trip and one that I'm sure we'll remember for years to come with fond memories. I think returning there someday in the future is definitely something we will have to do. 

Now that we're back in Santiago, we're in the swing of things, teaching classes, riding buses, and renewing our visas (oh the beauraucracy!). Our good friends are having a baby and we're very much looking forward to meeting her when she arrives in November just in time for Ryan's birthday ( if he's lucky he might get a birthday buddy!). We're also hoping to make it out to the coast again and to a vineyard in the Cachagua Valley before the year ends. 

All for now!