Raebow & Georges hairy adventure

Locals say that God created the world in 6 days and on the 7th he created Rio, The City of God, and I imagine that if we had landed when the Portuguese did in the 1500’s it would have seemed perfect. Rio is set in a bay with long golden beaches, green forested hills and large lakes. It is still as picturesque today as somehow the high rise buildings and the Favelas climbing up the hills fit the landscape and add to Rio’s charm.

With only 8 days in Brazil Paul and I decided to remain in Rio during which time we hoped to pack in a lot of exploring. However the weather was not on our side and it rained for the whole week but as both of us have “enjoyed” enough wet camping holidays we didn’t let it stop us and we were drinking Caparinhas on the beach, with fellow Englishmen wearing waterproofs. The weather didn’t put of the local volleyball players either and wearing the tiniest pants in the world, with perfect bodies I quite enjoyed my cocktails in the rain! Sadly for Paul though there were not many women about and our hostel was located on the gay street, with more beautiful men!

Rio really surprised me and completely challenged my expectations, I imagined it to be dangerous, over populated and dirty but Rio isn’t any of those things, the people are so friendly, the city is full of culture and the beaches are great fun. Most of all though Rio is sexy which is a weird thing to describe a city but that’s what it exhaudes. After traipsing around a hippie market, downtown Rio and visiting the Maracana stadium (Which we both found disappointingly small) Paul and I took the cog train to Statue Cristo hoping that we would get a glimpse of the main man and the view but when we got there he was covered in more rain cloud and the view was non existent. We did what any other sensible person would do…hung around for an hour and then spent the day having a good drink with a bunch of Americans.

We couldn’t come to Rio without seeing the Favelas, Rio has 600 within the city alone but you can find them throughout South America. The history of Rio’s Favelas is that the government promised land to people from the country who fought in the Canutos Civil war but this promise was not upheld so the people that had migrated to the capital decided to stay on the hills and so the Favelas spread and in the last year the Favelas have grown by 50%. We spent a few hours in the largest Favela with a charity group who showed us around with the money we paid for the tour going back into a schools project in the Favela. It was a really interesting and informative experience. For a start they are not as dangerous as they are depicted but are self policed, people don’t steal from each other in the Favelas, they have a strong community spirit and police aren’t wanted. The amenities that the Favelas have are good too, the one we went to had electricity and water and on the main road there is an internet cafes, clothes shops, super markets, hair dressers - everything you need ,even a bank! They are a city within a city and when the government offered housing outside of Rio the people declined as most have jobs within the Favelas, family and friends. That’s not to say they are safe and the drug lords of each Favela have a serious amount of power and control over the corrupt police. We could only take photo’s of certain parts and not of anyone’s faces. Favelas are unique to each community some are completely safe and some are absolute no go areas. The government are now showing more of an interest in the situation however a lot more needs to be done, for example clean sanitation and a sewage systems.

Our last night in Rio was a Friday which is the biggest party night of the week. Paul and I had to leave for the airport at 6am but couldn’t leave Rio with out experiencing the Lapa street party. We went with everyone from our hostel arriving at midnight to streets full of dancing crowds, food stalls and vender’s selling cheap alcohol in the streets. Outside a bar we danced with everyone to live Samba music with green leaves in our hair (apparently for luck), the atmosphere was electric and the women danced like nothing I have ever seen before with every part of their bodies jiggling. No one was stupidly drunk, starting fights or being sick in the corner - everyone was out to enjoy themselves and each other with lots of kissing going on. We left at 3am but the party would carry on untill morning.

We are now swapping Samba for Tango and heading to Buenos Aires only to get an 18 hour bus to the Brazilian boarder to see a waterfall and in Paul’s case eat a lot of steak x

I am so sad to be leaving Chile, a week is never enough time in any country especially one that covers 7800 miles in length! Chile has a very diverse landscape with the most arid and lonely desert in the world in the north, lush green landscape with huge azule lakes in the middle and boasts glaciers, floating icebergs and the chance to see whales migrating in the south. The places that I went to were more beautiful than anything I had ever seen and on a much grander scale. I was more impressed by the outstanding picture postcard beauty of Chiles Lake District than I was by the diversity that I saw in the jungle. Santiago isn’t an ugly city either, it is architecturally pleasant due to its European style buildings and it seems that French culture was all the fashion at some point Chiles history. The other huge plus about Santiago is the fact that only an hour away you can reach plentiful vineyards and the port town of Valparaiso which has the best fish restaurants and more colonial architecture..

After three days of sightseeing in and around the city, eating lots of fresh seafood at the fish market and sampling copious amounts of wine at the Concha y Toro vineyard we took a cool night bus to the small idyllic town of Pucon. Pucon is on the outskirts of the lake district and surrounded by 3 volcanoes, several huge mountain lakes and National Parks. The area was a great place for adventure activities and in four days Paul and I made the most of our surroundings.

After our over night bus journey our activities started with a twelve hour cycle ride where we surviving on beer alone as we stupidly spent the money we had on mini golf and more beer! The next day with very sore bums we went white water rafting, which was excellent, helped by our crazy adrenaline fuelled guide, class 4 rapids and free beer. Then after two days of intense exercise, and after a bottle of wine the night before, we were well prepared to climb a 2800m high snow capped volcano. The climb was the toughest and most gratifying thing I have ever done, at times I felt sick with exhaustion, sweat collected in my goggles and fell down my face like tears and snickers bars were everyone’s life saver. Incredibly after four and half hours we made it, looked in the crater, took lots of photos and quickly froze even though we were wearing safety gear and the sun was burning our faces. The best part of the climb though was the coming back down as we strapped plastic harnesses to our bums and acted like human bobsleighs zooming down the volcano to solid ground in an hour - its defiantly the coolest thing I have done so far! The next day we took an hours bus ride to a National Park for a day of hiking. When we arrived I got of the bus and collapsed on one leg and screamed, it seemed I had given myself a groin injury that I knew nothing about - not the best start to a days walking. I found some bamboo to use as walking stick and hobbled on and I am so pleased I did because the National Park was stunning, the colours were so vivid they didn’t seem real and on the walk we saw waterfalls , beautiful woodland and great lakes which sparkled in the sun. I’m not romanticising it honestly was that serene.

Another night bus and we were back in Santiago for a final day of wandering and laying in one of the many parks. While Paul slept (which he seems to do a lot of, mostly with his mouth open), I watched couples kiss and canoodle as they do all over Latin America and I am not talking 20 something’s either these couples were 40’s - 50’, it put English men to shame!

So only 8 days in Chile but we packed a lot in and I definitely want to come back and sail to Patagonia to see the glaciers and go north to look into the vast desert. Probably my favourite destination so far!

x

There is literally so much to put in this blog for the past two weeks, that to detail it all would run into pages. Needless to say we had an amazing time in Peru travelling from glacial plateaus at 4000 feet to the depths of the Amazon jungle.

We started in the smog chocked city of Lima spending a few days with some Canadians in a ‘nice’ part of town before moving to a smart hotel, meeting our team and starting our 9 day tour. On our 4th day in Lima a city that is both vast and claustrophobic we took a flight to Cusco, the centre of the Inca world. From Cusco we took an hour bus ride to meet the Orient Express train that would take us to the town of Aqua Caliente which serves as the tourist base for Machu Picchu. At 3am the next morning a small group of us decided that we would climb to Machu Picchu rather than take the organised bus, it was a seriously hard walk but a very gratifying experience making us appreciate the Inca’s strength and the endurance of the tourist doing the three day Inca trail trek.

At 6am the gates opened and we entered through thick mist which slowly evaporated throughout the morning exposing Machu Picchu to us a revelations at a time, it was utterly mystifying. It was without a doubt the most spectacular sight I have ever seen and when I think back it seems surreal that I was even there. I could have stayed and stared at Machu Picchu all day but we had to return to Cusco for a city tour and a visit to the Inca museum. Our guide at Machu Picchu and information found at the museum still left gaps in our knowledge, as the legacy of the Incas and Machu Picchu has been lost to history - This includes Machu Picchus real name, the reason it was built and its subsequent abandonment. One fact that stood out for me was that 75% of the burials found at Machu Picchu contained female remains a suggestion that it could have been harem, with men there only for labour.

The next day we were back at the airport and after an hours flight towards Bolivia we took a 2 hour bus journey followed by a 2 hour boat ride to the heart of the Amazon, eventually reaching our destination an awarding winning eco lodge. The lodge was beautiful with luxury cabins, amazing food and a large bar. We had come from Cuzco at an altitude of 3,600 feet where we had been breathless simply walking up stairs to the jungle where we fought with 90-100% humidity and scorching heat, our bodies were really being put to the test.

So sweating profusely we explored the Amazon by night and day and it was everything that you can imagine - noisy, crawling, singing, wet, colourful, busy and dense. We were surrounded by creepy crawlies, woken by howler monkeys, saw exotic birds, fed piranas, took photos of river turtles, searched for caymen and hugged trees. Veggie green peace was in her element!

We were very sad to return to Lima and say goodbye to our group especially Urs aka Lee a Swiss guy in his 50’s who made me laugh until I couldn’t breath and that was just at his accent. The final day was then left to kill time and eat some more of the gorgeous Peruvian food, my favourite being a dish called Cerviche which is raw fish soaked in lemon juice.

The next destination for us now is Chile and Paul and I are already booked to spend the day at the Concha y Toro vine yard, its about time we had some decent wine and lots of it.

It’s been two months since we left the UK and throughout that time Paul and I have obviously learnt a lot about each other-often things that we hadn’t realised about ourselves. Within the first two weeks I counted twenty one times when Paul either fell, tripped or hit his head. Paul claims to have never been this clumsy before but then in the past he didn’t have anyone counting! Then there’s me who cant seem to open a packet of anything without spilling the contents all over the floor and has the weakest travellers stomach, which revolts at everything I put in it.

As well as picking up on the things above we have an ongoing count which involves other peoples attractions to us - not very mature I know but I was in the lead on this. In Belize I had received proposals of marriage and in Miami a man had stopped me in the street and asked me where he could find another woman as beautiful as me - naturally I passed on my mums details. But then whilst on the flight to Ecuador and while I was stretching my legs Paul gained a few points of his own when the man sitting next to us tried to hold his hand. Naturally Paul declined the mans advances, even when he tried to pay him twenty dollars for the pleasure. On my returned the man was still but eventually broke by trying to nustle and stroke Pauls arm. We both asked him to stop (me through chocked laughter) and then 5 minutes later, as we landed and the man lent over and handed me his business card? Perhaps he thought I was Pauls pimp, who knows?

The incidences didn’t stop with the journey to Ecuador and during our first day in Quito we were caught with the ketchup trick (whereby someone throws sauce all over your back and whilst pretending to rub it off mugs you) luckily we were not foolish and were prepared for this. Then a few hours later a man stopped me in the street and asked me to buy a book , when I declined he told me to ‘die bitch die‘, I went back to the hostel to tell Paul what had happened to find out he had witnessed a situation far worse, having just seen a shooting.

Despite the above we really like Ecuador, it’s a stunning country and we have seen and taken part in lots of activities including having been to the most amazing volcano market town called Otavolo which started at five in the morning and was full of colours, smells and women taking there newly purchased cows, pigs and guinea pigs home. We took the devils nose train which goes through a loop of volcanoes and is an amazing feet of engineering. We visited the Equator line, which was actually was a bit of a disappointment and travelled to Banos and Cuenca where we went mountain biking through a waterfall valley, sat in hot volcanic baths, hiked mountains, abseiled waterfalls (this made me sick with fear) and tried some of the best street food of the whole trip. Paul even had Ecuador’s speciality for dinner one night - fried Guinea Pig (he didn’t enjoy it). The one thing we didn’t do is take the two hour flight to the Galapagos Islands. We’re simply not that well off!

Instead we spent our money on the great night life - Ecuador is full of festivals and we met and made loads of friends and celebrated Halloween American style in an Irish bar with about 30 people from our hostel (the hostel which supplied free rum and coke on tap) and had a really funny time. Still I am very ready to leave this lucious green country behind and get to Peru for the Inca Trail, departing this freezing cold altitude for some warmer climates!
x

Hi all we have just left Costa Rica after volunteering with turtles on the Atlantic coast at a project called La Tortuga Feliz - The Happy Turtle. In return for the incredibly low sum of $15 a day we got accommodation, 3 huge meals and the chance to help turtles avoid poachers.

We spent the first night in San Jose trapped in a hostel by a storm and circumspect surroundings and then headed to Bataan where we met the projects organiser and other volunteers. To get to the isolated beach where the project was located we went through the jungle by boat, the water ways teeming with cayman, howler monkeys and sloths - it was an amazing journey. The place itself was very beautiful, both the food and the accommodation were excellent and if you ever got hungry you could help yourself to passion fruit, coconut, papayas and papas growing on the trees.

We had arrived late in the season so had missed the opportunity to see giant turtles laying their eggs which are then effectively snatched mid birth by volunteers and moved to a hatchery to safeguard against poachers, flies, dogs and ants - the mums go into a scary trance and don’t notice this is happening! It was a shame as apparently the biologist called the off patrols early causing 5 turtles and their eggs to be snatched whilst we were there! There was still lots to do though, mainly working in the hatchery and releasing baby turtles whenever they popped out of the sand. Once the turtles hatched there was stopping them, we had to check the nests every ten minutes but often in between 50 to a 100 turtles would come scurrying up and surprise you. We had to measure the first 15 while they wiggled in your hand and then release them into the sea. This was easier said then done as they often hatched in the dark and the rain and walked round in circles instead of heading for the ocean. For me watching the nests was a busy experience however Rae had just 1 turtle during all her shifts the whole time we were there!

Rae did get a chance to see lots of turtles though because after 60 days of the nests hatching they had to be dug up -this was called an exhaumation. The exhaumations were carried out to check if there are any more turtles alive under the sand and to clean out the nests. We found lots of turtles stuck in the sand but more often than not this was a grim task, firstly the smell was so terrible it made you gag uncontrollably and then there were the nasty surprises. Rae had a nest which was full maggots and eaten baby turtles which were in bits and pieces. By the end of it she had filled two buckets to the top with maggots. That was the first and last exhaumation she did!

When not in the hatchery we did maintenance work, this always seemed to involve sand, for example we would be asked to make a big pile of sand, then move sand big pile of sand, then make a new bigger pile of sand and so on- you really got sick of sand! When not working we swam, played volleyball and ran on the beach, (well Rae ran, I walked) this plus our healthy diet left us feeling very fit and craving crappy foods.

After 12 days we left the project and had one day in which to see Costa Rica so we went Volcano Arenal- the most active volcano in the country and took a night tour. The volcano was stunning even from a distance and I wanted to get closer but I think Rae was happy to keep back. After taking lots of pictures the tour guide took us to a natural hot spring which sounds very romantic in theory but we were dropped of in a car park where we had to change in front of everyone at the roadside. The walk down to a river was difficult but when we got to the river and laid in the hot spring under the mood light everything was forgotten.

Sadly we leave Costa Rica tomorrow but we are very excited about Equadar especially visiting the equator and take the necessary cheesy photo!

Paul & Rae x