Brazl Pt 2

Of course we booked the cheapest flight possible so it included 2 stop overs, one in Sao Paulo, which is way past Rio. This turned a 2 or 3 flight into an 8 hour trip. When we got to the airport it quickly became clear that Scotti's bag must have been left at one of those stops, wasn't a big problem as it got delivered to our hostel the following day, although it was a good reminder how easy it can happen. We were staying in a hostel in botafogo, the same hostel as Emma and Haley, nice to have a few days in a group of friends. We got to see some awesome sights in Rio when we did a cheap tour, including Christ Redeemer and Santa Teresa than down onto the Lapa steps. Our view of Christ Redeemer was Marred by heavy fog but was still amazing. We were also happy to catch up with a new friend from carnival and to spend a few nights with new friends from Melbourne, Kat and Abby. We finished our time in Rio like any good gringo does, drinking caparina's on Copacabana beach. Followed by a night celebrating St Patrick's day, with the help of a local friend we were even able to find a British pub to drink a Guinness in. After less than one hour's sleep we Managed to get to the airport at 6am and jump on a plane to Curtiba.

Crazy Bastard Juliano & Carol

Curtiba was amazing, worlds apart from any other town or city in Brazil. It was clean, organised and quite rich, an example of what the rest of Brazil is aiming to be in a few decades. We were invited down by my mate from Skyworks days Juliano. After a day of rest in a local park/zoo we got completely lost on the buses and ended up on the other side of town and made poor Juliano drive almost 1 hour to pick us up. We went back to Julianos house about 20 mins out of town to Campo Grande, a nice quiet place, used to be all plantations but as Curitiba has grown more houses have started to be built. Our first night involved meeting up with some of Juliano's University friends and hitting a local 'underground' pub/club a great night of learning the Samba. Juliano refused to let us pay for anything, an amazing host to have. I finished off by sharing the good part of a bottle of Jack Daniels with Juliano. Slept right through to the next night then after a bit of dinner we headed off to a BBQ at Redman's house, turned out to be a 'diaper & beer' party (basically a Brazilian version of a baby shower, but much more fun!) all his friends were very exited to meet us as it was a good excuse to practise their English, some had great English, others were a little bit harder to understand. On our last night with Juliano we went to a nice Thai style bar where we were given heaps of free drinks, just for being Australian and finished with Tequila and Tacos and a Mexican pub. Also drove Juliano's car through Curtiba, got the hang of driving on the other side of the road on the highway, much harder once we were in the city but. Our plans to Visit the Pantanal on our way to Bolivia were literally washed away as the area was badly flooded, just another part of the world getting hit with ever increasing natural disasters. So we booked a flight to Santa Cruz, Boliva from Sao Paulo and spend 2 days of rest and relaxation in Juliano's house while he was working. We boarded our plane at 10.30pm on the 23^rd of March and said goodbye to Brazil (for now).

The Sleep Mexican

All in all I absolutely loved Brazil, my favourite country in South America so far. We saw some amazing things, from Igauçu falls to a former world wonder in the Jesus statue in Rio and many more. We made friends for life all over Brazil and as a result have a bed to sleep in in every state for the World Cup in 2014. Portuguese was a lot harder to understand and learn than Spanish, but I think a much nicer language to listen to. Brazil was probably the most expensive country so far, probably due to their strong economy. We defiantly didn't have enough time (or money) to do and see everything I'd like to in Brazil but will defiantly be back there before my trip is over.

Till next time...Peace