My new nemesis

Santa Marta

After 3 days of ducking in and out of Santa Marta we finally stumbled across 2 really nice streets full of really good cafes, bars and restaurants - they are Calle 19 and Cra 3. There are no cars, nice leafy squares and tables and chairs out in the street. We had a great dinner at El Santo - yes Argentinian but we needed meat. Just letting you know in case you are ever wandering around Santa Marta trying to find a good spot to eat...we wish we'd found this little area sooner.

Finally, the Caribbean!

Straight after the trek we zoomed to Park Tayrona, specifically El Cabo, for some downtime. Getting there involved a 2 hour walk through jungle which would ordinarily be lovely but it was hot, even early in the day and the paths were deep in mud. This time we were carrying all our gear so by the end we were exhausted and relieved to find...paradise.

El Cabo - Park Tayrona

Really, this place ticked all my boxes for the idyllic beach - lots of little rock fringed, sheltered bays, deep, clear, warm water, jungle down to the sand and a nice flat spot to sunbake. What I didn't realise is that when jungle meets sand so to do all the jungle ants...so my hot tip is before you leave Santa Marta buy yourself a pet lizard and when you find the perfect spot on the perfect beach - unleash it.

Perfect spot on perfect beach

Sadly the camping facilities here are POOR. The staff are rude and the food is terrible. Luckily we got one of the 16 hammocks in the cabana over the rocks, which is a pretty special place to stay - I kept pinching myself because I'm sure one day the little cabana will be turned into a luxury resort and you'll no longer be able to wake up at sunrise, swinging in the sea breeze and listening to the waves crashing below.

Breakfast friend

View from the Cabana

Sunrise from my hammock

Aaron's Travel Bite #3

Itchy.....

We found the Ciudad Perdida!

Highlight of the trip so far...a challenging trek to the Lost City through jungle, across rivers, up and down some ridiculously steep hills - battling insects and mud and tropical thunderstorms along the way. In fact, if it wasn't for the most aggressive mosquitoes on earth, this trek would be a 10/10. We had almost perfect weather, top guides, a great group and really good food. Perhaps we were lucky but either way this will be one of my favourite memories from SA. Not sure the pictures do it justice...you certainly can't smell my 5 day old clothes or see my bites but its obviously beautiful.

The jungle

The river crossings 

Where we slept

Where they slept (the Kogi)

Found (the Lost City)

Aaron's Travel Bite #2

Racially biased slip slop slap in Rio....

See you in 5 days, maybe

Well the 3 last years spent acclimatising to the cold in the UK has not prepared me for Colombia; to be specific, Santa Marta. We arrived here yesterday and it is boiling and humid and we have just signed up for a 5 day trek to Ciudad Perdida, so if this is the last blog, then I have died. Hopefully I can send some pictures when we return, in the meantime I am going to ponder why people here are wearing jeans, mental!

Brazil over and out

Sadly Brazil is over. After 200 hours on buses and probably double that on beaches, we are off to Colombia. Brazil has been a really good experience - we are in one piece, with all our belongings plus lots of really nice memories and some great photos. Highlights exist all over the coast - beautiful beaches, friendly people, yummy food, perfect weather for winter. Lowlights include the noise, the rubbish, the infrastructure and the very obvious divide between the haves and the have nots.

I won't pretend to have anything other than a very superficial view but I think Brazil will be one of the leading global powers in the near future. Its currency is strong, it has lots of natural resources, education is improving and primary industry is already huge. No rail network, much to everyone's disappointment :-)

The epic Sao Paulo

Hope you are all well and that we have enough wifi in Colombia to stay in contact.

World's Best Beach as voted by The World

If you are wondering whether we are ever going to leave the coast of Brazil, the answer is yes, tomorrow. This is the last and according to The World, the Best Beach we'll visit before our flight out of Sao Paulo on Wednesday. We are on Ilha Grande, an island 2 hours south of Rio. We've really enjoyed a couple of days here but I can't help but wonder why development hasn't ruined what is still a virtually untouched and very beautiful place. You can see the mainland and yet it's not overwhelmed with people and there is only one small town amongst all the kilometres of nature. I'm puzzled, but very happy, this little gem exists. Will stop thinking about it now.

Lopez Mendes - Worlds BB

The jetty and the ferry

The nature

Aaron's Travel Bite #1

Some people cant get past the tiny turnstile on Brazilian buses.

so they save a seat for them at the front.

Rio on a perfect day

Went to see Cristo Redentor, everyone's favourite redeemer, today.

The big guy

To be honest it was the views and the amazing blue sky that did it for me.

Sugar Loaf to Ipanema

Ipanema from down below...

Havaiana happiness

Love the Havaiana shops here, spent ages choosing Havai's to send to family in Australia. Sadly, happiness ended at the Post Office.

Havai Heaven

Sad to leave - Trancoso

My favourite place in Brasil gets a wee tribute. Great beaches, a lovely grassy square, lined by colourful shops and restaurants where you can sit outside at night under big trees lit by lanterns and still see the stars. Visit before it gets too popular.

Nice restaurant, even nicer at night.

Shops - they only open at night!

The beach, a bit of seaweed but otherwise perfect.

The church, ideas anyone :)

Breakfast in Brasil

We've been staying in pousadas in Brazil (guesthouses). Breakfast is included and its always amazing and HUGE. Its essentially a continental breakfast, plus a hot breakfast plus cake. Self control is being tested, although I think its brownies at 8am that get me out of bed.

Breakfast in Trancoso

Speedy Catch Up

We've been in Brasil for nearly 6 weeks and it took 3 days of bad weather and excellent wifi in Trancoso to kick start this blog. This first post will be wordy, because there's a lot to catch up on....but I promise those following will be much shorter.

We arrived in Buenos Aires at the end of June - freezing - left immediately on an overnight bus to Iguazu Falls. Overnight buses have come to rival mosquitoes as my least favourite part of this trip. Currently mosquitoes are winning but one more broken toilet, vomiting kid or stolen bag and I'll be changing my blog's name to Buses and Coconuts. Lots of negative ions in the air make people at Iguazu Falls happy. So happy they forget the 20 hours spent on a grimy bus to get here and the resulting cankles and they just thoroughly enjoy the hugely impressive falls. Equally brilliant from the viewpoints in Argentina (up close) and Brasil (from afar).

Iguazu from the Brazilian side

Next stop, the Pantanal. Lots of wildlife, mostly birds and caiman (friendly crocodiles), but we managed to spot jaguars, an anteater, river otters, monkeys, deer and even a toucan. We fished for and caught some piranhas, we rode horses (which I think amounted to animal cruelty) but if I woke up and didn't know where I was, I would say Australia - very similar landscape, vegetation etc so after Iguazu set the bar so high, we weren't blown away. NB no negative ions.

Bird getting out of there

Piranha!

After the Pantanal we headed for the coast. We overnight bused it for 52 hours, cankles became elephantitis and finally we reached Sao Luis. SL is a nice colonial town but really for us it was the gateway to Lencois National Park. Dunes here are filled with freshwater lakes from March to September and I've wanted to visit ever since I saw Ernie Dingo on The Great Outdoors splashing around in this surreal spot. Brilliant.

One of 100 Lencois photos

We travelled down the coast from Barreirinhas to Praia de Pipa. Pipa is now what Byron Bay was 20 years ago. I really liked it here, we swam with dolphins, walked a lot and for the first time in a long time, sunbaked.

Praia de Pipa - Dolphin Bay

After Pipa we stopped in Jacuma, Olinda, Maragogi, Salvador, Itacare and now we are in Trancoso. As we've headed south we've noticed things become more organised, more developed, more expensive, perhaps less friendly and there are definitely more tourists. Up until now we've had brilliant weather and we've spent lots of time on the beach, Aaron practises yoga whilst I sip down as many coconuts as the daily budget allows for. Against my previous statements to the contrary I now own/wear a semi-Brazilian bikini (there is a range of coverage here) and soon I won't be the whitest person on the beach.

Salvador - where are all the people?

Salvador - here they are.

Trancoso is the most beautiful spot we've been to so far and the first place where I've thought 'I could live here'.

If I don't come back...