Daily Life in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Hidden Pousadas Brazil Launches a New Web Site

I have spent countless hours researching "where to stay" in Brazil. There isn't much written. It's not always reliable. Usually I am a big TripAdvisor user but it's not used enough in Brazil to be as useful a resource as it is in other countries. (Not to mention that it seems hackers skew it at times. Here's an example: while Togu is a cute little spot, my apologies to the lovely people at Togu but it is DEFINITELY not the #1 best restaurant in Rio, yet on Tripadvisor it has apparently somehow achieved that status).

Since finding a place to stay can be incredibly frustrating and a wild goose chase  Hidden Pousadas Brazil has been a fantastic resource for me. I've stayed in a few of the properties featured on the site such as Pic It consists of reviews you can trust, of amazing little spots around Brazil.

My only complaint? It is a boutique web site, meaning it only concentrated on a few special properties which are highly recommended. However, web site founder Alison McGowan has now launched a sister site, Pousada Hotel Brazil, featuring information and reviews of a much wider scope of all sorts of pousadas around Brazil. Check it out!

Our Recent Getaway

A couple of weeks ago, Mr. DRL, the Canadoca and I headed up to Porto de Galinhas, just outside of Recife, for a week's vacation.

We're not really go-to-a-resort-on-the-beach-for-a-week travelers. But we loved it. Mr. DRL really needed a break from work. The Canadoca and I had spent more than a month away in Canada, so some family time was just what we needed.

After doing some research, we ended up booking in at Ocapora. It's quite a big resort with several pools and a nice beachfront, the breakfast there was fantastic.

We initially wanted to stay at the Summerville Resort or The Village, but both were fully booked (we only booked about 10 days before leaving). If you are really looking to celebrate/splurge check out Nannai resort as well, it looks amazing, (as it should, for R$800 per night).

We wanted to stay somewhere where we could put the Canadoca to bed and go outside and hang out close by. Ocapora has little waterfront bungalows which were perfect.

 

Porto de Galinhas is known for its coral reefs and tidal pools which form when the tide goes out; it's really quite amazing. The sea is so calm when the tide is out, perfect for little kids to play. Educational for older kids as well. Such a family-friendly destination - highchairs in every restaurant, cabbies with carseats, it was perfect for us.

There were flowers for the Canadoca to pick for her lucky mama!

The Canadoca loved running around on the beach at dusk...

The natural pools were the highlight of the trip for sure... this first set is right out front of Ocapora at low tide in the sand. So perfect for the Canadoca to play independently in the warm, clear water. 

 

A few yards down the beach from the resort there was a huge set of pools at low tide, amazing for viewing and swimming with sea life...

There were two restaurants we loved in Porto de Galinhas - Beijupira (which also has a location in Olinda) and Domingo's. Here are some photos from Domingo's....

 

Great Gift Idea for people in Brazil

Gift Cards haven't totally caught on here in Brazil but I found some innovative gift-card-like packages at FNAC in Barra Shopping. They are put together by a company called A Vida e Bela. There are spa packages, hotel packages, leisure packages, hostel packages, adventure tourism packages - all at what I am assuming is a significant discount (the hotel package gives you a night's accomodation with breakfast for 2 people at your choice of 60 different hotels, for a whopping R$119).

The gift of choice - isn't that what everyone wants?

 

Help!

I have some dandy blog posts up my sleeve, coming soon, as soon as I get a chance, I promise. Until then, maybe someone can help me out? Can anyone recommend a good place to stay in Olinda or Recife? Restaurants and must-see recommendations are welcome too!

Waterfall Waterslides & More: Our weekend in Visconde de Maua

Recently we went away for the weekend to Visconde de Maua. We enjoyed the cooler temperatures, had a fire in our room, ate a lot of fondue, watched the world cup game with the locals, and most importantly: went on the waterfall waterslide. Best waterslide EVER.

What to tell you about V de Maua... well the scenery is gorgeous, it's quiet and feels super safe, there is plenty to do if you like hiking/waterfalls/the outdoors, the roads are HORRIBLE (windy, bumpy, steep dirt roads with gigantic potholes). It's definitely worth seeing, in fact we'd like to return sometime.

Deciding where to stay having not been there before was also not easy. Now, having been there, I'd stay one of two places: 1) RIGHT beside the waterfall waterslide or 2) within walking distance of the two little towns called which are connected by a footbridge (and or on either side of the Rio-Minas Gerais border). I liked the MG side better. We stayed in the middle of nowhere which was nice and quiet but not exactly convenient, especially with the state of the roads and how much driving was required to go there and see the waterfalls as it was. Here is a map.

 

Other highlights: our meal at Gosta Com Gosta Comida Mineira in Vila de Visconde de Maua. One of the best Brazilian meals I've had. Reportedly the best Minas food in all of Brazil (and it's not even in MG). The Canadoca also enjoyed herself there and I don't think I've ever seen her eat so much in one sitting...   Here's the web site. 

Below: Cachoeira Santa Clara

   

From above the main falls of Santa Clara
 

Jungle shot
 

Finally we are at the waterslide: Escorrega
 

This guy was fun to watch. Here he is going down the slide on his feet.

 

The full slide.
 

Here Mr. DRL is getting plunged into the icy cold water. Remember, I'm from Canada. When I say icy cold water, that water is cold. The pressure of the water from the falls pushes you down pretty deep!
 

We watched the Brazil-Ivory Coast game at this little place. The people were wonderful.
 

Rachel over at Rachel's Rantings in Rio did a little post "For the Canadians" this week where she mentioned our national love for Homo Milk (as in homogenized or whole milk). We now also love Homo Bikers (see below). Just a couple of little things from the stack of brochures we returned home with...

 

Some of the many waterfalls you can visit:

Before we visited, I looked through all of our Brazil/S.A. travel books for recommendations/suggestions. Not a one! Didn't even think to crack open our Danusia Barbara or Circuito Elegante books but was flipping through the other day and they both had some, which I'll share:

In the area, Danusia Barbara recommends:

• Babel
• Bistro das Meninas
• Capril Deville
• Capril Maluvito's
• Gosto com Gosto (I also recommend!)
• Pousada Casa Bonita
• Pousada No Caminho do Marimbondo
• Pousada Terra da Luz
• Pousada Terras Altas
• Pousada Tijupa
• Pousada Verde Que Te Quero Ver-Te
• Warabi

Circuito Elegante recommends:

• Rosamarinus
• Champignon
• Serra Fluminense

OMG You must go to Cachoeira Inn in Buzios

This place is amazing. Here are my photos.  Here is their web site. Book quickly!

 

Go. Relax, swim, make babies, whatever. Do what you have to do.

I think these are the best chairs in the house...

 

There are just four rooms in this massive, unique property and the only thing more welcoming and fantastic than the property itself are its owners, who run the place themselves and make fantastic caipirinhas. Go!

Quick Tips from DRL - Traveling and just generally BEING in Brazil

Just trying to make your life easier here!

• Beware overcast days in Brazil. Twice recently we've gone out on an overcast day and come home burnt. Well, ok, mostly Mr. DRL has been burned. Without realizing it AT ALL when out. As in burned to the point of looking like he acquired a hairy red pair of gloves with matching boots. I think I tan MORE on the overcast days, so be careful, that sun is STRONG!
• As I mentioned a couple posts ago, bringing ID (Not just your passport,I'm talking every piece you own...) is important when traveling out of Brazil, but also WITHIN Brazil. Friends of ours traveled to Bahia last weekend with their 18 month old. Upon arriving at the hotel they were informed that they could not check in with their exhausted daughter until they saw all of her ID including birth certificate, etc. Which they then proceeded to photocopy, and it had tp be inspected by higher-ups. This traveling with the birth certificate AND passport thing is obviously a big deal here.

So Where'd We Go?

When I asked my online community to recommend a vacation spot for us, a young family, in Brazil, Bahia was definitely the favorite among the crowd. We agree, we like it - we've been! Mr. DRL spent a great deal of time there when he first started working in Brazil. We've been to Buzios a few times as well and are starting to think that we need to get outside of our comfort zone and expand our horizons a bit. Mr. DRL used to work with a bunch of Paulistas who always bragged about the beaches of SP state. So we looked into going to Ilhabela or Sao Sebastao. However, we couldn't find quite what we were looking for in terms of accommodation - the places that appealed to us didn't accept children, and we were definitely bringing the Canadoca along.

We found out about the Pousada Picinguaba early on in this little goose chase but weren't sure if we wanted to book right away as we had our hearts set on Ilhabela. But in the end, the Picinguaba is where we went, here are some photos from their site below.   What did we think? Well that's a story for tomorrow...

Last Day of Vacation

 I'm writing this about a week before you're reading it, and I'm going to take a wild guess at the fun game we like to call "Guess DRL's Mood" - here's my official guess:

Why? Well, the day that this was published, I'll just be finishing up what I assume is a fantastic vacation with Mr. DRL and Canadoca, sem technology! No Blackberries, Internet, TV, Phones.... (of course, after waiting for my new blackberry and being without one for the last 2 months, what do you know? It is ready the night before we left... haha)

Where'd we end up going? I'll tell you tomorrow, when I'm back in Rio!

2009 Rio Expat Survey Results: Treats and Daytrips

Some of the pleasures of Brazil...

I asked the expats - what is your favorite Brazilian treat? Here is what they said:

I left space for them to fill in other answers, which included several mentions of fruit, feijoada, chopp, salgados, petit gateau, churros, warm sweet caramel popcorn, sao paulo pizza...

I also asked what was their favorite daytrip from Rio. Here are the responses, ranked by popularity:

1. Buzios
2. Petropolis
3. Beaches past Barra (such as Recreio, Prainha, Grumari)
4. Itaipava
5. Niteroi
6. Tijuca Forest
7. Santa Teresa
8. Ilha Grande
9. Angra
10. Sailing around the Bay
11. Cabo Frio
12. Paraty
13. Vargem Grande
14. Boa Esperanca
15. Paqueta
16. Serrinha
17. Fazenda Vargem Grande

FInally, I asked participants where their favorite place is in Brazil. Here are the answers ranked by popularity:

1. Buzios
2. Rio - with specific mentions of Arpoador, the beach, Santa Teresa, Tijuca Forest, The Jardim Botanico, Posto 10, Barra Beach Post 8, Ipanema, and finally "My apartment in Flamengo! It provides me a wonderful retreat from my work and a great place to entertain my friends and associates." 
3. The NE, specifically Old City Centre of Recife, Recife, Natal, Fernando de Noronha, Salvador, Itavare, Morro de Sao Paulo, Itaparica
4. Ilha Grande
5. Paraty
6. Ouro Preto
7. Foz de Iguacu
8. Florianopolis/Santa Caterina
9. Pantanal
10. Sao Paulo
11. Teresopolis
12. Arraial d'Juda
13. Pernambuco
14. Bosque da Barra

Itaipava Weekend

We spent a wonderful relaxing weekend at the Marina resort (Parador Santaram Marina) in Itaipava recently. It is amazing how different the air, climate, and just general energy is out there, and it's only an hour from Rio! What a great getaway.

It's a great property with lots to do (though it's perfect for relaxing as well).

It has a beautiful little chapel, a fantastic restaurant with a wine cellar you can dine in, a pond and pool area, attentive service, QUIET....

The Canadoca made lots of little friends that particular weekend as well, including a cute little cowboy named Bruno. She now does this gasping sound when she sees something she likes, we are calling it the "mating call" - she must have learned it from the geese (above). 

This made us think that buggy styles haven't changed much in the past 100 years or so...

We loved seeing a maple tree!

 

The Canadoca now has the cutest leg roll tan lines ever:

Where to vacay?

I'm craving beach.

I want to go somewhere in Brazil, somewhere I haven't yet been, where there is clean, pretty water, calm/small waves, good food, and a nice yet smallish resort to call home for approximately 5 days. Somewhere where it is possible and appropriate to take a baby.  We've been throwing around a few ideas including Morro de Sao Paulo, beach resorts in  Sao Paulo, the Fortaleza/Pipa area... but thought I would check in and see what you thought. All recommendations appreciated! 8)

Kayaking in the Amazon: Part II

Part II of an entry about our friends' kayaking trip in Amazonas in July.

We slept in hammocks and fell asleep each night and woke up each morning to the sounds of the Jungle.




The Urubu river is a black water river. Because of the acidic water mosquitoes were not a problem (I think I got one bite the entire time), but this also meant that the animal and plant life was not as diverse as on the Amazon river.  We were lucky to spot three different types of monkeys, a pig, snakes, frogs, lizards, a multitude of birds, and catch a piranha.  
 



 

The entire experience was magical- we would really recommend the adventure!

http://www.amazon-outdoor.com/textos.php?MENU=Home

Kayaking in the Amazon: Part 1

Our good friends who visited us in July took a kayak trip in Amazonas - here is the first of two guest posts on their trip:

Our Kayak trip in the Amazon of the Urubu river was fantastic! 

We flew four hours from Rio to Manaus on TAM airlines (although we would not recommend TAM, as they cancelled both of our originally scheduled flights to and from Rio without contacting us).

Manaus a city of almost two million is a manufacturing hub and a jumping off point for Amazon tourism.  The city is not nearly as aesthetic, modern or developed as Rio, but it has a lovely central plaza, some interesting Museums, a large port, and intriguing markets at every corner.  We had two days in Manaus and found that we had more than enough time to explore the city.  Hotels and Restaurants are very limited.  We stayed at the Dez De Julho Hotel. Our room was very basic but was in a good central location, had air conditioning, a fridge and was relatively clean.  Jungle lodges outside of the city are a popular attraction but are expensive (especially if you enjoy hot water) and crowded with tourists. 

The company Amazon Mystery Tours was really great, answering all of our questions and concerns before hand and making us feel safe, comfortable and well taken care of during our time in the Jungle.
We ventured deep into the Jungle, and had an authentic, natural wilderness experience.  It was just us and the animals and apart from meeting a local family we did not see any other people during our five day 4 night adventure. 




Our transportation to the river.  Between our two guides, the two of us, our driver, and all of our gear it was loaded!

We were the only ones on the adventure, along with two highly experienced professional guides.   Fabio spoke English and was a wealth of knowledge and information about the area, plants, animal, history, local customs, traditions and way of life. 

Josue set up our camp, carried many of our supplies in a canoe and cooked us yummy meals, he also made fantastic capahrinas.   After kayaking between 3 and five hours each day, exploring waterfalls, caves and hiking through the jungle we were ready for a drink when we made it to our camp.

Around the web - travel in Brazil

Since becoming Canadoca's mom I have neglected reading a lot of the blogs I normally enjoy. Which means I haven't been passing some of the interesting stuff I find on to you. So here are a few (and some are not so new but that's why!) interesting articles and tips on travelling around Brazil.

Great posts from "Brazil for Insiders" - including:

• Pre Catalan in Rio - Sofitel - which I also recently visited and quite enjoyed. 
• A Tiradentes weekend - great looking pousadas.
• A review of Conde Nast's top beaches in Brazil - and why it might be off-base. Here is a more complete list on the same site. 
• This post is a must for anyone heading to Salvador, Bahia, as is this one from The Moment blog.

From the "Gringo Times"

• Hiking in Rio - fantastic way to see some of Rio's sights in an active manner!
• Some coverage of Trinidade - a little beach community near Paraty that we visited with my inlaws back in November. 
• Or, for a weekend in Rio, check out Markets in Rio in case you are sticking around here... or head to Santa Teresa for the weekend (something I am actually tempted to do on a regular basis since there are so many amazing hotels and dinner spots there!)

From Ben in Rio:

• I don't know where this is but that waterfall waterslide looks like so much fun! 

From Expat American Living in Brazil:

• Pantanal via Train

Finally, with all these great destinations we need some cheap flights! Apparently Brazil's airline industry is going through some deregulation.

Babymoon part II

I had promised to write up my stay in Florianopolis/Santa Caterina awhile back, finally I am getting to it!

First of all, I would just like to say that if you have a week to do a sidetrip from Rio, I highly recommend this Buenos Aires/Florianopolis combo that we did. We felt as though we'd "travelled" ie) explored a new city, and "vacationed" - relaxing in Floripa, all in one week.  A full week of doing either would be "too much" in my opinion, so this was fantastic.

I was a bit confused when we started booking our trip - were we going to Florianopolis, Santa Caterina, or Floripa? All three... SC is the state, Florianopolis is the main city on the island, Floripa is the nickname. I had at some point made notes to visit all three - recommended by different people - so it was nice to kill three birds with one stone ;)

We flew into Florianopolis at night, and really did not experience any of the city as we immediately headed out to our Pousada. It was about a R$100 cab ride from the airport.  In hindsight, renting a car from the airport would have been a better option for us, but I will get to that later...

We stayed at the Pousada da Vigia on the north end of the island.  We were absolutely THRILLED with the service we received there, and with our accomodations. They were sooo great. Even let me order off the kids menu :)

In our room.

We enjoyed our resort SO MUCH. It was small, just 10 rooms, a governor's mansion converted into a hotel. Below is the view from our room.

The restaurant was overlooking the ocean and we enjoyed all of our dinners there listening to chill music (a lot of Sade) and the crash of the waves.   How could you help but relax?

We spent many afternoons on this patio (above) listening to the waves, reading, playing scrabble, enjoying lunch...

The water was so peaceful, clear and calm - great for floating.

Each day at 12:30, the peace and tranquility of Lagoinha beach, where we were staying, was temporarily disrupted by "the pirate boat" - which we figured was either inhabited by 

a) the severely, permanently intoxicated or 

b) actual pirates threatening passengers to "walk the plank" if they didn't keep up with their dance moves, or 

c) a hypnotist show. 

Either way, those pirates had everyone moving!

 On Saturday we decided to venture out and do a scuba/snorkel tour of Arvoredo Island,  a nature reserve located off the north coast of the island of Santa Caterina.  Obviously Mr. DRL did the diving, I stuck to snorkeling.  I was a bit nervous about him diving as it had been 2 years since his last dive but was very relieved when one of the dive masters spoke perfect English.  All he really needed was a 5 minute refresher but as we often say, there are certain things where you can't afford to have misunderstandings with language barriers! It was muito tranquilo.

The boat ride out to the island was about an hour.

After the scuba trip we spent some time "in town" at Canasvieiras beach, but quickly realized we were not missing much back at our isolated little spot... but enjoyed lunch there nevertheless.

It seemed we parked right in front of the beach's "geriatric" ward... looked around for the senior's center but couldn't see it:
  A storm seemed to be rolling in but it blew over quickly. Made for some great shots though!

After lunch, we embarked on another adventure that is deserving of another separate blog post. I am not yet sure how that story ends though as I am still dealing with some of the repurcussions today, so I will save it (nothing too bad just a company we were dealing with, etc.). I don't want to ruin the tranquility of this post so I will keep it separate.

We enjoyed every moment in Florianopolis, we realize we did not see much of what the island is all about, being up in our little isolated corner, but for our purposes we didn't mind. We read, spent time together, named our baby, walked the beach, swam, ate, and soaked up every moment. It was the most relaxing few days we'd had in quite a while!

DIY Travel and Brazilian sales tactics...

As I mentioned in a recent post, I was quite irritated by the "service" I received from a local travel agent. I was trying to book a multi-destination trip (babymoon) for us, and enlisted his help, which ended up being a fairly pointless endeavor. Why?

In the end, he quoted me US $6,266 for a trip that is sub-par to what I just booked myself for US $2,490.  Ummmm yeah that is a US $3,776 difference, not to mention the waste of time in even dealing with him!

Let it also be known that my booking includes very nice hotels in prime areas. His didn't. Unbelievable.

As an aside - I got a smoking good deal on our multidestination flight with TAM, even better than what was quoted to me on Kayak.com. All I did was phone TAM and book it that way. Just FYI.

It sometimes seems to me as though "sales people" be it travel agents, real estate agents, retail shop girls, etc. take a very different approach to their job than what I am used to back home. Sales tactics back home: listen to the customer and find out their needs, then recommend products.  Here I don't see much regard for what I as a customer want.  If I don't know what I want, that's one thing.   But here are some examples of such situations I have found irritating over the past year:

• The travel agent mentioned above - instead of looking into any of the 10 or so small, private, spa-like boutique hotels we requested and had already researched and provide us with rates, took it upon himself to only give us one rate - and choose a huge chain hotel for us. In other words, the exact opposite of what we were looking for. When I asked why, he said because it was not as far from the airport as the hotels we'd chosen.  We were well aware of this fact when we requested the hotels - rather than simply asking us, he simply assumed.  And paid no attention whatsoever to the type and calibre of hotels we had originally requested.
• While looking for an apartment, the real estate agent takes us to apartment after apartment with neither outside space/veranda nor view (we specifically requested that we wanted at least one or the other).  When after several places like this I finally commented on this to him, he looked at me incredulously and said "but this place is great, it has 4 parking spaces."  I informed him that we did not have a car.
• While shopping for appliances there was an attempt to talk me into buying a refrigerator I did not want, with features I found useless...
• Anytime I go into a clothing store, hideous clothing items are offered to me that are completely opposite of what I am looking at/wearing.  Like I am talking lime green sports bras, and oh my favorite! Crop tops.  I am in my third trimester, folks...

I don't find that a lot of sales people take the time to read the customer, do the homework, or anticipate needs. It honestly feels like they are just trying to get rid of whatever inventory is getting old, whichever hotel rooms offer the highest commission for them, etc... but maybe I am wrong!

Can anyone comment on how sales people are trained here in Brazil?  What are some of the fundamentals?  How do they differ from North America?  Are there some philosophies?

On Travelling to Brazil

Canadian site Canoe.com published a report on some of Brazil's hot spots such as Santa Catarina (...where I think we are now going on our "baby moon" after a stop in Buenos Aires), Salvador, etc. Check it out here!

In airlines news...
US Airways wants to start flying to Brazil - check it out here.  They currently do not fly to any South American destinations.  We like more options. Options are good.

No word on whether Continental has gotten the green flag to extend its direct Rio-Houston/Houston-Rio route it currently operates a couple of days per week.  It really does make a huge difference in my opinion, not having to stop in Sao Paulo.  They would like to extend it, beginning June 1.

Speaking of Continental, in December my husband was flying through Houston, when a snowstorm hit, then was sitting on a plane for more than 4 hours befire the flight was finally cancelled... lovely!  Here's some redemption - Continental now has a new policy that allows passengers to get off a plane that has been grounded for more than 3 hours...  Still not a great situation but then at least you have an alternative!

Anyway!
If you are looking for some smoking deals to get yourself down to Brazil, there are many to be had... check out Kayak.com.  My alert this morning gave me the following deals (flights to Rio):

Like from ...

Miami: $673+     Feb 22 - Mar 25
Toronto: $833+   Mar 15 - 21
London: $724+   Feb 23 - Mar 16
Seattle: $838+   Mar 31 - Apr 14
NYC:     $755+    Apr 7 - 14
Houston $785     Deals to be had in March, April, May & June
LA:        $724+    Mar 14 - 28
Vancouver: $763+   Deals to be had in Feb, March & April
Calgary: $767+    Mar 7 - 18 - Deals in April as well!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm with my Valentine on a beach somewhere and will be eating chocolate from North America, thanks to my trip home last week....

And no, it's not Valentine's Day in Brazil.  Their equivalent comes in June so I am fully participating in double duty this year, and expect my husband to do so too... 

Flowers are just one of the splendors of South America, but with this recession, sales of flowers in the US are waaaayyyyyy down.

Some interesting little flower facts: 60% of roses sold in the US for Valentine's Day come from Colombia, as do 92% of the carnations. Overall, Colombia produces about 77% of U.S. cut flower imports, and Ecuador 17%. So this recession will really affect these countries with the sales being down...   Click here for more details. 

Photos of orchids taken by yours truly, in Jardim Botanico.

Splendid Splendia

I've been using this site Splendia to find hotel rooms for my guests and for myself over Christmas. It features unique, boutique style "Luxury and Character hotels" from all over the world and is a central bookings system.  The rates are also quite good!!!!

What I like best about it is that the site only uses a selection of pre-screened hotels, and it allows you to enter in your dates and where you'd like to go and then it shows you what is available.

A word of warning : if you are booking in a hurry, skip the destinations that only allow you to send an "inquiry" to the hotel rather than ones which allow you to book immediately.  In my experience this saves you a lot of run around.

There are a good selection of hotels in Rio & Buzios on the site - check it out!  I highly recommend booking this way for people who don't speak Portuguese as it is possible to do it all in English.

Iguazu: Visa's, Business & Dogs

The reason we went to Iguazu was to pick up our 5 year visa's so that we can legally be in Brazil and so that Mr. DRL can legally work here (yay!) and start paying taxes in Brazil (boo!).

Our agent picked us up at the airport and took us to the hotel in Argentina.  When crossing the border we did not need to get out of the car nor did anyone come to the car to ensure we were in fact the people on our passports... the agent then asked us to fill out some paperwork that looked suspiciously like preliminary paperwork for a visa application.  Despite the fact that our visa application has been in the works since last November and we have had to prove Mr. DRL's expertise and jump through various hoops already, we thought this could be worrisome yet we decided not to let it rattle us.  We filled out the paperwork the next morning at the consulate, where exactly no one spoke with us, then our agent told us we could leave and he would bring our passports to us at the hotel with the visas in them later that day.  Okay by us!

When it came time to cross the Brazilian-Argentinian border again the following day, again the agent went to the counter and left us in the car.  This time, a fellow came about three steps out of the office to ensure there were in fact two people sitting in the car, but certainly could not have proven our identities from the distance at which he stood.

After jumping through so many hoops and waiting for such a long time it seems laughable to me that we pretty much could have sent stand-ins to pick up our visa's for us.  But I will not complain about something in Brazil being "too easy!" I'll just take it.

I must also comment on the number of cars being waved through the border without even stopping to check in.  It was disturbing particularly when a person considers the amount of illegal arms trading that goes on between South American countries.

Many foreigners living in Rio brought their pets from home.  This process is I would argue more complicated than bringing a child.  It is expensive, time consuming and emotional especially considering people often have to wait to bring their pets down which means a separation from them for a time, or even just sedating the pet for the flight, and apparently not all flights will bring animals down. Watching a number of dogs run wild through the Argentinian - Brazilian border (right at the office!) made me think of these people and their struggles to bring their pets down...

All observations, hoop jumping and surprises aside, we are now legally in Brazil which is a good feeling!

This concludes my little series on Iguazu/Iguassu - if you have any questions feel free to email me or ask in the comment fields.

Iguazu: For Kids

I got a kick out of how one of the hotels we stayed in, in the "Iguassu" Brasilian side:  Mabu Thermas, catered to kids, not only throughout the resort but at reception:

Unfortunately there weren't any kids checking in at the same time we were but I assume they get some sort of treat or special kids pass upon check-in. 

There seemed to be quite the comprehensive kids program & entertainment staff much like you'd find in an all-inclusive in Mexico.

Iguazu: The Views from the Brazilian Side

To fully appreciate the falls, I think it's essential to see them from both sides of the border.  The views are quite different. 

As you can see, the views are quite different from the Brazilian side, and eventually you get to a point where you are standing virtually underneath the falls.

Iguazu: The Views from the Argentinian Side

Without further adieu, the views of Iguazu.

From the Argentinian side:

 

 

Iguazu: Duty Free & the Peso

I must also mention how far a dollar goes in Argentina.  For what we paid for two amazing dinners and two great lunches, we paid the same for one average dinner while back in Brazil.

We also visited the duty free store... accoLegally we were each allowed to bring one case of wine or alcohol back into Brazil.  We paid 40 Argentinian pesos per bottle of Luigi Bosco wine (which costs about 65 - 70 Reals here).  So it cost us about a third (and we bought a case).  We also bought a case of hard alcohol - and paid an average of $11 US per bottle (most of them 40's).  Nice!

The Duty Free shop in Puerto Iguazu is really something else... it has electronics, clothing, sports items, sunglasses, home accessories, perfume, and of course alcohol and food. It is gigantic, pretty much the size of a shopping mall.  There is even a large fountain outside. Oh and the security guards ride around on these ridiculously funny little scooter things.

The end result? 

The liquor cabinet is now stocked for our visitors, to say the least. 

Iguazu: People & Views

We met some very friendly people while visiting the falls. A lovely Canadian family living in Santiago, some very nice Argentinian students - teenage boys who were as polite as could be and wanted to practice their English skills with the foreigners!  When on the Argentinian side, a group of rambunctious Brazilians stole the show (and irritated a lot of people...) on the train by screaming and laughing as though they were all on some sort of er... substance.  A lot of glaring from old ladies was going on.

We were impressed by the infrastructure, particularly on the Argentinian side. There are amazing walkways, a train to take you around the park, and even separate containers for recycling (!) ... I know!

Then back on the Brazilian side, on the double decker buses, the crowds are doing their best to sway the buses and rock them... oh and to scream as loud as possible at all times. Oh, gotta love Brazil!

The views on the Brazilian side are to die for, and I would say slightly better and more impressive than the Argentinian side, however to be fair I think to fully appreciate the falls it is essential to see both sides.

Iguazu: Hotels

We recently visited Foz do Iguazu - both the Argentinian and Brazilian sides - as we needed to get our Visa issues straightened out (yay we are now legal!) and enjoyed some days of R&R.

Although it's a bit out of the way I highly recommend for everyone to visit Foz during their time in Brazil.  It is amazingly beautiful.  It is about three times the size of Niagara falls. These are the 2nd largest falls in the world.

I would recommend staying at the Sheraton on the Argentinian side if possible. There, you have a view of the falls and although the hotel is nothing to look at from the outside, the inside is very nice.  The spa comes highly recommended.  However, it was fully booked up with a conference of some sort so we stayed in the town of Puerto Iguazu at the Panoramic Hotel Iguazu and were thoroughly impressed. Great beds, new rooms, beautiful view (where we enjoyed a fantastic thunderstorm, amazing lightning!), attentive service, nice property. The restaurants were excellent and the pool area fantastic.  I was incredibly relaxed there. I even had a nap.  Which I never, ever do. For more amenities, such as tennis, etc. the Panoramic has a sister hotel: The Iguazu Grand Hotel, located closer to the Brazilian border.

Back on the Brazilian side we also stayed at the Mabu Thermas Resort, which we did not enjoy as much. However it would be a good choice for families as it has a ton of activities, activities staff and a large pool and pond area.  But do not pay attention to the photos on the web site, no, in fact you cannot see the falls from the hotel! But someone at the company sure is handy with photoshop.

Here are some photos from our stay at the Panoramic Iguazu:

The River view of Argentina, Paraguay & Brazil.

The pool.

Driving from Bahia?

With the Canadian dollar being almost at par with the US for the past while, a lot of people we know have flown down to the states, bought a car, and driven it back.

We figured most of them were nuts (not really being "car people" ourselves either), that is a lot of driving and time and paperwork(!) to save a couple thousand bucks.

Fastforward to now when there is now a bit of pressure on us to get our vehicle & driver situation figured out since we have so much company coming.  Yes we could go buy a vehicle but it would take time to come in, and then we'd have to make decisions.  The company has one, a great one actually, that is ready to go and available for us... only catch is... it's in Bahia.  So we'd have to either hire someone to drive it down or (road trip!) go ourselves.

So after thinking friends of ours were nuts to drive 6 or 8 hours to pick up a vehicle, we are now considering driving 19.

Mr. DRL thinks this is a great idea and a wonderful way to experience 19 hours of the Brazilian countryside and shoreline for ourselves.

Let it be known that I am a bit of an anxious passenger in Brazil.  Especially when my husband drives (I think it's because I worry for him too much). But I am convinced now, because some of our friends want to join us which makes me think this will be a bit more fun and safe. 

Curious if anyone has any interesting road trip stories or warnings or areas between, oh, say, Salvador and Rio that we should be particularly wary of...?

Beautiful Buzios Scenery

To conclude my little report on Buzios, let the photos speak for themselves...

Buzios after Sunset

After struggling to find a decent place to have dinner out in Angra, I was thrilled to see the restaurant selection in Buzios and looked forward to some amazing dinners out... then we got into the wine early and dinner ended up being some late night appetizers (and the guys arrived to five very intoxicated women, one of which they had earlier kept calling to get directions from but she insisted on only responding in what I am assuming was very broken and poor Portugese.  Very helpful...  Did I mention this may have been me?).  Nevertheless, there are a ton of great spots to choose from including Shitake, Sawasadee and a few other restaurants which also have locations in Rio.

Buzios has great nightclubs such as Privelige and Pacha, which makes for some late nights and long recovery times on the beach (big long lunches with sand between your toes, followed by a rest, swim, and an acai helps, we've decided).

I must note the number of men in the clubs - there sure did not seem to be many women around.  Also - Privelige's computer system went down the night we were there so no one was able to enter or leave the bar for over an hour.  For those not familiar, most bars here work on a card system where you are given a card or piece of paper or receipt upon entering, which you use to purchase drinks, etc. (they swipe your card or punch your ticket or receipt), then you pay on your way out.  You don't want to lose your card under any circumstances.  You'd think this might create some efficiencies but I have yet to see it... anyway  this is the reason for the big mass confusion at the door that night - when the computers shut down everything freezes!

After the bar we found some late night snacks at this crepe place that even has its own DJ...

Buzios feels very safe at night, especially compared to Rio!

Buzios Boogies (Buggies)

One of the highlights for the guys - renting dune buggies and tearing around town on them.  They come in every color of the rainbow and are about $R70 per day to rent. The locals must absolutely detest these things, they are loud and everyone drives like madmen.  Fun though. A word of warning... if you see a large semi rolling down a hill backwards, ahead of you, look out!!

I am a nervous passenger while ripping around little narrow roads in these types of vehicles in developing countries, long ago my husband and I were tossed off of a scooter in Cuba, and subsequently nearly run over by a passing truck... yet we emerged unscathed to laugh about it immediately afterwards and tell the tale (although my husband HATES it when I tell that one...)  But still!

VISAS!

Our Visas are ready!!

Hooray we can be legal!

Wahoo! 

And this means we get to go to the Foz de Iguasu sometime in the next 90 days to pick them up - so excited.

Outing in Centro

Our friends have a visitor from back home. So we decided to play tourist with him yesterday.  And he was our tour guide (haha I know!) - and will be again, today. 

We did a little walking tour of Centro yesterday and saw some very pretty buildings, among other things.

Some of the photos:

Colombo

This has to be the best liquor store ever...

Holidays in Brazil (Feriados)

Today is a holiday in Rio de Janeiro state.  But not in Sao Paulo apparently... Although I will not make the mistake of trying to drive back to Rio on the last day of a long weekend again, for vacation planning purposes I was happy to get a hold of a calendar of Brazil's statutory holidays, hope this comes in handy for you as well.

2 nights in Petropolis

We decided to beat the long weekend traffic and go to Petropolis for a couple of nights ahead of the game - so we went up on Thursday and came home Saturday. 

Traffic was great and we really enjoyed our time there. 

We took in the cathedral, as you can see, and the Imperial Museum and Casa de Santos Dumont, went to Bingem, Rua Teresa and then found a fantastic antique dealer and bought a truckload of antiques to have refinished for our apartment. See one of my pretty new chairs below. 
A very Positive Brazilian Furniture Buying Experience!

We stayed at the Pousanda Magister and quite enjoyed ourselves.

But next time, we would stay at the Locanda della Mimosa, as we went there for dinner and thought it was fantastic.  It has a reputation for having one of Rio State's best sommelier's and it did not disappoint.  I highly recommend the fixed menu with the wine pairings! Which is why next time we would stay right there overnight...

Photo Album Up

I finally posted a photo album of our weekend in Angra dos Reis.  (Scroll down on the left hand side to access it). Again, we stayed at the Pousada Figuera, which was fantastic.  Angra is amazing, you should check it out!

March 24 - Weekend in Angra Wrap-up

We had a FABULOUS time in Angra dos Reis and can't wait to go back and take some of our friends and family with us when they come visit.  We saw some spectacular scenery and relaxed, snorkelled, kayaked and went boating.  Our resort was a pleasant surprise - we booked last minute and were not sure what to expect but everything was fantastic.  The drive home was killer - 6 hrs (should have been more like 2... and we still are not sure why we were at basically a deadlock for about 20 km... ) driving into Rio at night was more than a little bit sketchy. We planned to be home before dark, but, well... it's all an experience that is for sure.

I started my Portuguese lessons today and my instructor is super cute (about 65, full of life - lifts weights in her spare time, happy woman) and my classmates seem great.  I plan to walk to and from every day unless it rains - it's about 40 minutes each way.  So that should keep me out of trouble...

Today I had two reminders of some of the thoughtful little items people sent down for us today (books and momentos of home - thanks!)... the first is Easter related...

The second was finding out that Paulo Coelho, the author of "The Alchemist"  among other books, lives on our street in Ipanema!  Ironically we were given "The Alchemist" as a bon voyage gift... how appropo indeed.

I cannot possibly end this post without commenting on my husband's new swimwear.  Yes, he bought a speedo.  And he likes it!  To quote directly from the source he says his speedo makes him feel "liberated yet confined..."

I applaud his willingness to embrace the culture, no baby steps here… you may also notice that he went straight for the full on speedo, not first to the “boy short” style ones as I predicted. (Although as he points out, he could have gone for a more skimpy style… yes, I suppose that’s true.) By the way he has also taken to wearing his speedo while hiking and, um, to the gym. I kid you not. 

March 19 - Easter Holiday Weekend Getaway

With Easter is fast approaching (there is no way you could miss it in Brazil! Easter is EVERYWHERE... huge here... a post on that coming soon...) since it is a long weekend, we have decided to say Happy Easter to ourselves by getting out of town and exploring some more of this beautiful country!

We are off to Angra dos Reis, staying at the Pousada da Figueira  -  be warned, the English site does not work but you don't need to understand Portuguese to look at pretty pictures, or the fish that greets you when you log on!

Apparently we need to climb a small ladder of sorts to get into our room...

Angra dos Reis is a 2 hr drive from Rio, an area with over 365 small islands, 2,000 beaches, beautiful waterfalls. It's highly recommended for hiking, biking, diving, sailing, jetskiing, surfing, paragliding, etc.    Local site to learn about the area if you are interested.

No word on if the Easter Bunny makes it out there or not but we are not too worried...