Rio de Dinhero

way to get to Florianopolis from Uruguay was sold out so it was stay in Montevideo for five more days, visit the over priced beach resorts or wing it. Obviously I decided to wing it and thus booked a ticket to Rio Branco in Uruguay (not the easiest boarder crossing). Just booking this ticket enlightened me to how much I relied on Jane, Tim or Feargal (when he is not drunk) for their superior Spanish skills, people engage in conversation with me and I just look at whichever one of the three was closest to me, normally Jane. It must be said though that Jane was better at looking like she could speak/understand Spanish than her actual Spanish, when in the middle of the conversation saying ‘si’ and nodding enthusiastically to everything however after the answer was given asking what they said I would get a laugh then an “I’m not sure”.

It was when I was on the bus to Rio Branco that I felt this urge that I should have made more of the goodbyes with the three mentioned above I think at the time I didn’t quite realise the full gravity of this goodbye as myself Tim and Feargal have said a few goodbyes before whilst one of us goes off earlier than the others so it seemed like I would see them again but in reality I wont. Jane is going south through Argentina then round the world to where I have been, Tim is doing much of the same route as me but may have delusions of grandeur regarding his ambitions with the money he has so he may be a month behind me and Feargal is becoming so poor I feel prostitution is the only hope for the boy but with his next stop being Sydney Kings Cross is surely in his sights. Already I am missing the camaraderie and banter that goes with travelling with the same people for so long. Jane’s influence on me was quite calming with her smile bringing me much relief from what ever I was stressing about, Feargal tried to install some culture into me and Tim made me laugh. Now as I sit in a bus station in a very small Brazilian town drinking a Skol beer I know these people would not be able to help me as they are about as good with Portuguese as I am with Spanish. People that say Spanish and Portuguese are similar are either on crack or as dumb as they come because it is extremely different. I was extremely tempted to change my plans something I told myself I would never do but if it was any other country I would have but I could not miss Rio and I would have had to say goodbye at some other time. I believe I would have regretted either choice stay with Jane and I would always wish I went to Rio, go to Rio I will always wish I went south. One thing that does feel extremely strange is having my laptop all to myself, over the last few months it became more a time share option rather than my own item.

After fretting that the bus I was on had already gone past Rio Branco I came to a decision that I no longer cared, I would adapt and go with it, of course I have the money too but it wouldn’t have been ideal especially as now for the first time in over three months I have a time line to work to.

Once I arrived in Rio Branco four hours over my estimated time I again faced the language barrier or communication wall and I mean this wall is twenty foot tall surrounded by barbed wire and topped with the glass shards stuck in the mortar, I cant get over this thing but with a cheeky smile and happy attitude I somehow get a taxi who then takes me across the boarder and takes me to this hidden away immigration building that no normal human being could ever been able to discover where again the taxi driver helped me to get my passport stamped with a Brazilian entry tag unfortunately I don’t have my Uruguayan exit stamp but according to my passport I am still in Paraguay anyway probably on their most wanted list along with Jane!

The smoothness didn’t continue with again their being no buses to Florianopolis but luckily they had a bus that night to Porte Allegra, I just had to sit for five hours in probably the most boring bus station ever created by man.

Once I got to Porte Allegra I was awoken by the bus driver, dribble hanging from my lip and with necklace of saliva all over my top, I then proceeded to another bus station where I picked up the next available bus to Florianopolis which again took longer than the guide books guide and guess where I ended up…..another bus station. So far throughout South America kids and babies have been amazing on buses hearing no peep from them but soon as I got to Brazil its kids crying on all the buses.

I was not overly impressed by Fpolis it was pretty in a Thailand come Laos kind of way with surfing but I had the travelling blues so I was not in the mood to do much apart from walk around and laze on the beach. I would much prefer to get to Rio where the party would begin. The route to Rio was quite spectacular the way was paved with muddy rivers and thick jungle and slowly I have started to like this country. It’s always a shame when you are travelling on a bus and the scenery is amazing because you can’t take photos.

Rio is one of the best cities in the world instantly recognisable with Christo Rendentor looking down upon the city and Pao de Aszucar (Sugar Loaf Mountain) looming in the background and once I arrived via the eighteen hour bus ride my spirits were lifted by these sights.

I was thrown in the deep end having organised a place to stay via couch surfing I was thrust upon Ipenema beach with all of Rosanna’s friends where I tried to compete with the famous Brazilian vanity, where board shorts are the rage in Australia less is more on the beach in Brazil so women sport bikinis seemingly made from dental floss and the men wear white Speedos so to accentuate their tan. From the beach we ventured to the party where again like in Argentina the cogs start to move late at night, the club was impressive although we had to queue for thirty minutes but in any other country this would be a hassle in Rio this was a party itself with vendors selling beer along the line and the music from the club being pumped out onto the line much like the Will Ferrell film ‘One night at the Roxbury’.

Fun factoid: Rio De Janerio means river of January, when first discovered they thought they were on a river not the Atlantic Ocean and it was in Jan.

After getting in around sunrise we still had plans as it is the start of Carnival season in Rio, the actual carnival is always one week before lent but the Brazilians cannot just have one day of partying so they have a month leading up to the big day where there are street parties ‘pre carnival’ so we took leave and again entered the party spirit where thousands of people lined the streets and sang and danced to samba music. We moved from street to street where we ended up in Lapa district where one hundred people were gathered around the flying orchestra, in the middle were the musicians with trombones, trumpets and drums and with the music we would run around them or lie on the floor or jump in the air depending on the beat. The running around was the best part as you could see people losing their sandals in the mêlée probably never to be found again. If you have never partied in Rio with locals then I’m sorry but you have never partied, this place is immense.

The Favelas are much a part of Rio as Christo and as I look at the settlements usually located on hilltops it has a strange beauty about it with the buildings built from red brick with only a handful rendered and with most having holes in walls as doors/windows and some not having the full four walls. One of my highlights is an artist in the favelas who twenty years ago decided to start tiling one of the staircases, now people send tiles from all over the world to support this piece of art which has also appeared in the film ‘The Hulk’ and the music video ‘Beautiful’ by Snoop Dogg.

I have found that I am addicted to Acai (a-si-e) which is a dark purple grape like fruit that grows in the Amazon where they freeze it and make it into an ice cold moose come slush puppy but better. I cannot get enough of the stuff and when the heat has been hitting 42+ it is a welcome treat. On every street corner there are local juice bars that sell these drinks along with many other strange drinks that are all really tasty, im finding that I am eating less but drinking more.

The warmth I was shown by all the locals that I met through my couch surfing experience is now the bench mark that every other country must aspire to.












The Brazilian adventure didn’t start off too smoothly as the most convenient