Travel Journal: Brazil.
Returning to the Brazilian altitude after a week in the “mountains” was honestly quite liberating. We could breathe better and our headaches were gone. I gotta say our time spent in Brazil was quite short since we only had a night in Iguaçu and three in Rio. Being tourist af (because why not) we hit most of the main sights but my only regret was not visiting the favelas in Rio - definitely putting that on my list for my next visit!
Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil
After an 8-hour flight via Lima, we finally arrived at Foz do Iguaçu airport (yeah, an airport named after the waterfall!) The “town” did not have much to explore, most people go there purely for the falls. We checked-in to Hotel Colonial Iguaçu (around S$80 per night) had a quick buffet dinner and crashed pretty early because we had a long day ahead of us, plus the wifi was pretty bad at the hotel :p The one good thing about the hotel was its proximity to the national park, it only took us 4 minutes by car.
Since the summer peak stretches into April, the whole world was there when we reached the park entrance but thankfully the queue was moving fast (Brazilian efficiency!) Iguaçu aka Iguazu Falls is the world's largest waterfall system, voted as one of the new wonders of the world and straddled across Brazil and Argentina. We were lucky enough to see it in person from the Brazilian side. Of course, we had to follow the Cataratas trail which took us about 40 minutes but at the end of the trail we were rewarded by unreal sprayage and a rainbow! It was definitely not a safe place for an expensive camera though because by the time we were leaving the walkway everything was soaked.
We figured since it would take hours before we dried, why not sign up for a boat tour that would take us right under the falls? Best decision made and it was a really spontaneous one! I had to wrap my DSLR in a flimsy plastic bag while still trying to snap a few shots while the water was just hitting our faces. Silly but that's me.
We spent a total of around 5 hours at the park and left around 3pm to grab our luggage before catching our flight to Rio. I think Iguaçu would be a one-day affair, there isn't really any need to stay a night if your flight times are appropriate.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Oh, Rio! I think the city is always going to be misunderstood as being “unsafe” for tourists but all you really need is to be smart and wary of your surroundings. We arrived at night and headed straight for our Airbnb which was two blocks from Ipanema beach. Such convenience, right?!
Since we were in a group of four, we thought a car hire would be feasible especially when we were not really fluent enough (or at all) in Brazilian Portuguese to get around. If you're more of the adventurous type, you can opt for the subway or bus. Our driver spoke English and was very friendly but we had him for only a day so it was rush-rush-rush.
Quick tip! Most Brazilians do not speak English so it would be good to keep a translation app handy in your phone. When we were getting our SIM card at the mall, Google translate saved our lives (albeit with much difficulty!) Oh yes, they have proper malls in Rio! Most of the damage done was from shopping Melissa's and Havaianas's 🙊
Food was also not a problem for us in Rio. Many places served organic and vegan options, there were also plenty of açaí bowls/smoothies to go around. We especially love this juice chain, Big Nectar, where we had our daily fruit fix. We did indulge a little on our last night where we had a meat buffet at a churrascaria called Carretão and suffered from a long food coma.
1. Ipanema & Copacabana
These are two of the more well-known neigborhoods of Rio and the beaches are also very nice places to sip on Caipirinhas and ponder life. However, it would be wise to leave all valuables back at the hotel/apartment because beach-goers are easy targets for theft. I remember we didn't bring much to the beach but in retrospect I should have left my DSLR at the Airbnb because I would have been a possible victim of theft/assault.
The peddlers and stall owners renting the umbrellas and chairs are very friendly but do negotiate the prices, sometimes they offer combos that come with cocktails. The uncle that approached us while we settled down with our beach towel made really nice Caipirinhas and spoke some English so we had a nice conversation with him. I added him on Facebook and he's still enjoying his life back in Rio!
2. Escadaria Selarón
Some of you must have seen the red steps on Instagram or travel vlogs, I'd say it's pretty darn famous. Fun fact: the artist who created these stairs was actually Chilean. I gotta say, the location of the escadaria was at one of the most random places - it was located in one of the grittiest districts in Rio, but some call it bohemian? It was funny to see how the locals living around the area continued their daily grind without giving two hoots while tourists like us were snapping and posing away. You can see in the photo below I was enjoying myself, in a very minimalistic outfit. Ha!
3. Santos Dumont Airport
A 10-minute drive away from the Selarón stairs was Santos Dumont Airport. Since our driver realized we wanted to go off the beaten track, he drove us to the airport premise and we found ourselves next to the runway. We weren't even sure if we were legally allowed to be there because I kept seeing “Cuidado” signs but I managed to take a few photos - one with Sugarloaf Mountain in the background.
4. Corcovado & Cristo Redentor
How can one come to Brazil, Rio for the matter, and not hike up the Corcovado and see the Cristo Redentor? Again, this place was tourist af so keep a lookout for pickpockets. But really, that was not my main concern - I was more worried about having photobombers in my photos with the statue. Fortunately we found a good angle where our photos would be unpolluted.
Rio through my iPhone ↴
Big Nectar - our daily morning stop for açaí smoothie.
Having a our sugar and caffeine fix at The Bakers in Copacabana.
Caipirinhas on the white sand beach along Ipanema.
Looking back at our South American trip, I think we could've extended our leave and done more in Argentina and Chile... but I guess we'll be saving that for another vacation! I hope I can do that with Daniel, maybe visit Easter Island.
In a few weeks, we will be departing for Paris then Havana and that means more content is coming! For those who are waiting for my Iceland travel guide, fret not because I am currently working on it and it should be out in a couple weeks.
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