Ecuador to Brazil in 85 days: 2013

For the last stretch of our trip we decided to take the easy route and we booked a van transfer service to take us from Paraty to Ihla Grande and then Ihla Grande to Rio de Janeiro.

From Paraty we drove 2 hours to the small town of Angra dos Reis to catch a boat over to Ihla Grande. The sky was still overcast so we were crossing our fingers the next day it would clear up! Once on the island we checked into our hostel, El Misti, which was a block away from the beach and main shops. The main town on Ihla Grande is Abraão which is basically only two streets long! It's a really lovely town though with a gorgeous white sand beach, boardwalk and view of other smaller islands across the water. After a quick grocery shop we made dinner, chatted with our new roommates and made plans for the evening. Our hostel offered a free caipirinha at check in, Brazils national drink. You can't turn down a free drink - but we wish we had! Caipirinha's are very strong, they are just ice, limes, sugar and cashaça (sugar cane alcohol) mixed together in a large glass. Very similar to a tequila shot you are forced to drink slowly through a straw! Afterwards we had a few drinks on the beach and then went to a party at another hostel.

The next morning we awoke to bright sunshine and blue skies. Yay! We set off early on a hike to Lopez Mendez, the famous beach on Ihla Grande. The hike was extremely hot but was well worth it. Before we got to the main beach we came across four smaller beaches that we stopped to take a dip in. The water was refreshingly cool. When we got to Lopez Mendez 2 hours later we were both amazed by what we saw - an amazing white sand beach fringed by palm trees straight out of the pages of a travel magazine. The sand was so fine it squeaked beneath your toes when you walked on it. There were quite a few people surfing which was fun to watch. We spent the afternoon playing in the surf and soaking up some sun.

The next morning we walked a short loop trail near the town that took us to some nice beaches and to an elaborate archway aqueduct. We didn't check the sign closest before we started a side trail to a waterfall and what we thought would be 20 minutes was actually a three hour round trip. Thankfully the view along the way from a ridge up on the island was definitely worth it! That afternoon when we got back we went shopping for a while and had the lovely surprise of running into our friend Hannah who we didn't know would be on the island! For dinner we went with her to a really nice buffet and then called it an early night.

Our ferry the next day left at noon so we spent our last morning soaking up the sun on a beach close to our hostel but away from the boats. There is nothing more relaxing than floating in the ocean looking up at a blue sky! We were both very sad to leave, but very excited to get to Rio de Janeiro!

-Lisa

December 13th
We didn't get much of a glimpse of Rio de Janeiro as we drove into the city from Ihla Grande due to the thunderstorm that rolled in and let loose just as we stepped out of the van outside of our hostel! We were soaked walking to the front door. Our hostel, the Mango Tree, is conveniently located a block away from Ipanema beach. We unpacked our bags in our rooms, made a quick dinner and then headed out to meet our friends Marcela and Ana who we met in Bolivia. We ended up catching the city bus in the wrong direction of the loop so instead of a half hour ride it took about an hour, but they were still at the restaurant waiting for us! We had a drink and some pizza and a nice visit with them and some of their friends. It was so nice to have local people to show us around so we could see some of the un-touristy places as well. On the way home we caught the bus the right way this time so only had a short ride back.

December 14th
This morning we caught the metro to the downtown center of Rio with three other girls sharing our room with us. We got caught in another rainstorm but luckily it didn't last long.From the center we walked through the Lapa arches to the Lapa steps. They are a staircase that is an project of an artisit that is covered in different tiles collected from all over the world. We found three Canadian tiles. They were really neat to look at so we took our time climbing up them and taking pictures. At the top we walked a few streets over to the Santa Theresa neighborhood and had lunch in a nice little restaurant on a hill overlooking the city. After lunch we visited an art shop where we both bought a painting (Court bought 3!) to bring home. To get back to the subway we walked down a very windy road through the Gloria neighborhood and saw some cute little monkeys playing in the trees lining the sidewalk. Back in Ipanema we got a quick starbucks and did some shopping around our hotel before getting groceries for making dinner. After dinner we caught a cab back downtown to the Lapa neighborhood where we met Ana and Marcela again, this time at a popular club that their company had rented out for a staff Christmas party. We had so much fun dancing with them to the Brazilian Funk music! Afterwards we met up with our three roommates again to explore the Lapa Street Party. It is a huge street party with three or four blocks blocked off that happens every Friday and Saturday. There was an authentic Samba drumming group we listened to for a long time as well as some other local bands that were just as good! Everywhere you look there was more people and more drinks! Also lots of street vendors selling every type of food imaginable. It was a very fun night and by the end of the night we were pretty tired!

December 15th
This morning we walked along Ipanema beach and to Copacabana beach (they are on adjacent bays). The stories about the Brazilian bathing suits (or lack of...) are definitely true! We also explored the main street of Copacabana a bit which has some nice shops. From here we caught a bus to a huge shopping mall for a quick trip to satisfy some of our shopping needs since we no longer have to haul our backpacks around! We had to be back for a tour at 2 so we left the mall with time to have a delicious sushi lunch close to our hostel first. At 2 we got picked up for our favela tour. Favela's are not quite as bad as slums, which is what we were sort of picturing when we decided we wanted to go see one, but they are lower income housing. It's a saying that Rio is the only city where the poor live higher up on the mountains than the rich the land here is unstable and therefore undesirable to live on! On our tour we went into two different favela's and walked around, a very large one and a smaller one to see the contrast. It was a really neat experience to see. Back at our hostel we made a quick dinner once again. After dinner we caught a cab back to Lapa with our roommates. Rio is such a beautiful city at night, especially with all of the Christmas lights up. There is a large saltwater lake located behind Ipanema that has a three story Christmas tree in the middle of it that changes colors. Once in Lapa we had a quick drink at an outdoor restaurant and then headed into Rio Scenarium. If anyone is going to Rio we really recommend you check out Rio Scenarium. It is the coolest bar/club/restaurant I've ever been to! The building is a really old house with three floors and the decor inside is all really old and interesting historic pieces - everything from colonial clothing to a horse drawn carriage to a 10m tall man and woman doll set! The top floor has a restaurant (with excellent brownies and ice cream), the second floor is seating and a separate dance club, then the first floor has a stage with a live band and dance floor. We had a great night dancing away!

December 16th
This morning we checked out the "hippie market" that comes to the main square in Ipanema every Sunday. There was a lot of artwork and crafts to browse but we didn't end up buying anything. The weather appeared as if it was going to stay clear so we jumped on a bus to head to the Sugar Loaf cable cars. From on top of Sugar Loaf we had a wonderful 360-degree view of Rio, which looks much larger once you are looking down on it! Thankfully the sun stayed out so we were able to see lots and get some really cool pictures. Sightseeing took up most of the afternoon and when we got back to the hostel we just had for a quick nap and then off to our Churassco dinner. Churassco means barbeque in spanish. We should have not eaten all day to be prepared for it! Their was a wonderful buffet with everything imaginable you could want to eat, as well as appetizers brought to our table and a very large jug of sangria. Then the waiters came around with their large skewers of different kinds of meat. At your place setting there is a small card with a green side for "yes please I'll take some of that" and a red side for "I'm much too full"! It was a delicious meal and we were absolutely stuffed afterwards! But we had to hurry back to get ready for the Favela Funk Party we bought tickets to. We got picked up in a van from our hostel with some of our new friends and drove to one of the larger favela's where there was a concert inside a large warehouse. Brazilian Funk music is a very different style from what we have in North America. It's very abrupt and therefore hard to dance to but it was a really fun night regardless!

December 17th
We got up at 7 this morning and headed down to Ipanema beach for our surf lesson. Our instructor only spoke portuguese it turned out, which made it a bit more difficult but we managed just fine! We had one practice run in the sand of how to spring up onto your board and then headed straight to the water. Both of us caught lots of waves and had a great time. We were sad we couldn't have brought a camera with us so were glad when there was an opportunity to buy pictures afterwards! After a quick breakfast we caught a bus to go see Christ the Redeemer - or big Jesus as we liked to call him. The weather held out again and there were stunning views from the top of the mountain. The statue of Jesus is huge! It was really neat to actually be at such a famous landmark of the city. We made our way back to Ipanema slowly and spent the afternoon on the beach playing in the waves and relaxing in the sun. That night we met up with our friend Hannah again to say goodbye for the last time sadly as she will be going back to England.

December 18th
For our last day in Rio, and sadly in South America we got up early and went to the beach for a few hours before we had to start packing. Once we got back to the hostel to start our packing however we had a change of plans and made a snap decision to go hang gliding. Instead of spending all afternoon packing our bags we did it in only 45 minutes! It was a great decision because hang gliding over Rio was one of the coolest things ever and definitely the perfect way to end an amazing trip. We drove through Ipanema and Leblon to Sao Conrado beach then drove the very windy mountain up Pedro Bonito. At the top is a sloping platform. Court got harnessed up first and after a practice run (not attached to the glider) and a hang test to make sure all straps were secure she was running off the edge of the platform into the bright blue sky. I waited a half hour afterwards to start my flight. The flight lasted about 15 minutes for both of us and was almost a surreal experience of flying gently through the air, looking at the most beautiful rainforest and beaches imaginable. During the flight we could see both Sugar Loaf and Christ the Redeemer in the distance. After the exhilaration of the flight was over and we had bought our pictures we had to hustle it back to our hostel so we had time to get to our flight. An hour taxi ride later and we were at the airport, and our amazing trip was very sadly at an end.