Rio Reveillon 2011

The best things in life are free!


So I'll start with a big tip for women (you'll thank me later): If you have frizzy/curly hair that needs constant blow drying/ironing, either get your hair permanently straightened before you come to Brazil, or be mentally prepared to face your true self within 10 minutes of going out :) I did the latter!


So our apartment was a great VRBO find (Thanks Kamala), just minutes from the Ipanema and Copacabana beaches. We reached and unpacked on the 30th night, had a good nights' sleep and headed out to the beach on the 31st morning. The water was beautiful, a bit rough for my taste and I got thrown around a bit. I took the hint and spent the rest of the afternoon chilling in our OzTrail tent. 


New Years in Rio was FANTASTIC. 

Millions of people gather around the Copacabana Beach to watch the heavenly display of fireworks. Traditionally people are dressed in white to welcome luck and prosperity in the following year, and buy and sacrifice lillies to the Goddess of the Sea who grants them 3 wishes. We walked down our apartment towards Posto 6, and found a spot that was relatively less crowded. Nowhere have I seen so many people on the streets late at night, with alcohol in their system, yet so peaceful and full of positive energy!

About 20 min to midnight we settled down with our Caipirinhas, by far the best and the cheapest one from the beach. We also had our bottle of champagne to pop later. The crowd only gets bigger so make sure you are close enough to the water if you want to experience the fireworks in its full glory in the background of roaring waves of the sea. As the atmosphere builds up, the music begins playing: several barges loaded with colorful fireworks go off at the same time and the effect is...simply breathtaking...25 minutes of the best firework display of my life ends with the whole sky lighting up in red, yellow and green specs...the best NYE party so far..and it was free!

Of Forest Hikes and Fishing Trips

The next morning, we had our usual heavy breakfast, packed some cereal bars, fruits, and loads of water for the forest hike. Tip: Wear full sleeves and long pants to avoid getting scratched by trees and bushes and eaten up by mosquitoes. We started at about 9 am. It was an enjoyable 2 hr walk, where we got a feel for the rainforest. On the right is the natural swimming pool (Piscina: don't ask why its called that!), leading into the forest.

Into the rainforest. Photo credit: Rahul

Trees whose barks are burnt to produce incense.

 

Our guide walked us, a group of 10 or so people, with a local, who gave interesting explanations of the natural flora.  For instance we came across parasitic trees, various types of coloured mushrooms and hollow trees that when hit produce such a loud noise that they are used by people who have lost their way.

After this not so intense trail, we made our way back for lunch. A trip to see Brazilian monkeys awaited us in the afternoon, followed by a fishing trip. 

The fishing trip was fun, I got a little bored waiting around, so I mostly took captured Rahul, Kamala and Kannu catching (or attempting to catch) fish. Kamala caught her first one then 

Our guide was a pro, he caught about 7-8 Piranhas in the 1 hr that we were there! We didn't want the fish, so we let them all go...No wonder the fish (in the left) looks so pissed off!

The sunset was spectacular...crystal clear waters, reflecting the pure serene beauty of the sky. 

The day ended with a thrilling adventure trip to see the cayman. It was a hit and miss the previous night, when we attempted to approach them. This time, fingers crossed, we ventured out in full sleeved shirts and long pants to escape the bugs. The best part of this trip was the little canoe which would move side-to-side even if you sneeze. There was drop dead silence, with the occasional mosquito kills and eerie night insect sounds. I loved the suspense, when finally our local guide caught a lady cayman. She was a beauty! I think she pretended to be dead, she was so still. We stroked her and several times, then sensed she would like to go back home. We saw her teeth in full glory and after about 5 minutes of learning about all her body parts (our guide insisted upon teaching us), we let her go. We headed back home satisfied at coming up so close with a Cayman.

Tomorrow, we sail to Manaus, then catch a flight to Rio...Goodbye Amazon!

Meeting of the Rivers

"Hi, I'm Rio Negro". "Hello Negro, I'm Rio Solimoes" Nice to meet you!


After breakfast next morning, adequately caffeinated for the day, we headed out to the region of Amazonas. The journey took us over 4 hours one way (which we were quite unhappy about)!

Some of us caught up on our sleep as we were still a bit jet-lagged, while some of us captured photographs. Our rather annoyingly slow boat took us via Manaus, over the river Negro. On the way, we saw beautiful colored blocks of house, neatly stacked on top of each other. Also, a spectacular view was the dense dark clouds approaching (pretty scary at first), and within minutes the horizon is dark. Something I had never seen before...

We finally reach mid-way where the two rivers meet. The darker river is Rio Negro, and the lighter one is Rio Solimoes (Amazon River). Notice the two rivers meeting, but never really mixing? This is apparently due to the differences in pH, temperature, density and velocity). Amazing, isn't it?


After taking quick snapshots of each other with the meeting of rivers in the backdrop, we reached our destination. 


We reached a small village where we had lunch provided by the lodge. Lunch was good, we met some local kids that had sloths with them. You could touch them for a small price. We cuddled a bit with these funny little animals and got on our way.


To our disappointment, we were told that yet another 4 hour return journey to the lodge awaits us. Our first question was: can't we get into a faster boat? Answer: No. So we head back on the same slow boat, this time all of us slept. 


Tip: If you buy a pre-planned package for Amazon, make sure you know before-hand how your time is going to be spent. If I had to do this all over again, I would not allocate more than 2 days to visit Amazon. You can cover the jungle hike (half day) cayman spotting (night), fishing(evening) and meeting of the rivers(another half a day) without rushing. On the other hand, if you are looking for a lazy, relaxing tour, this is just for you!


Tired, more of the journey, than from the journey, we retired to our hammocks, with our drinks, got eaten up alive by mosquitoes, the remaining parts of us returned to have our dinners and played some Uno in our rooms, until 2 am.  

Manaus to Amazon Eco Park Lodge

Rain rain go away, come again another day...no wait... after 10 days...

We woke up planning to stroll around Manaus after the in-house breakfast. The coffee was really really really AMAZING... wait, did I make that clear enough? It was the best coffee in the world...truly made my day! After greedily gulping down 3 (non-American sized) cups of this delicious coffee, for fear that this may be the only best coffee we'd find, we were about to step out while the rain started pouring...When I say pouring, I mean pouring! The cooks kindly led us to the covered terrace of the hotel and we spent about 30 mins just watching the rain wash over the city... The warm fragrance of the soil, and the gradually building humidity made me strangely nostalgic and so much at home!

Our van arrived to pick us up, and I enjoyed the ride by playing a renewed version of hide-and-seek with Kannu (where the hider must give up his location to the seeker).

We reached at the port and loaded ourselves and our bags (we had packed enough to ensure that if all communication between Brazil and the world were to end, we could comfortably settle down here :) ) onto the speed boat. 

We were welcomed at the lodge with our first tropical drink and led to our rooms. Our cabin was a cute one bedroom, tastefully decorated and a nice patio to enjoy our drinks later (or so we thought...).

Our days had been pre-planned in our package, so we tagged along with our friendly guide-Eduardo, who spoke great English and took us to meet with the locals and watch their dance.

It was quite interesting to see the amusement in their eyes. They grabbed Rahul and Kamala to dance with them. 

We bought some souvenirs and walked around the jungle (close to waters, as that was safest) for a bit before retiring back to our cabins. A shower was a must, as we were soaking wet from the humidity. Tip: wear loose clothes, shorts and trekking/tennis shoes, heaps of insect repellent and copious amounts of sunscreen before heading out.

We chilled (I say chilled figuratively speaking, it was still hot and sultry) in the hammocks (not adventurous enough for us) for a while before heading for dinner. Our day ended with a delicious buffet that had plenty of vegetarian food (okra soup was the drink of the day) and tropical fruits for me and various cakes and puddings for my sweet-toothed friends.

Rio to Manaus

The flight from Rio to Manaus was approximately 4 hours, and was rather uneventful for me ( I am well known for sleeping through a tornado). My friends on the other hand decided to make the orange juice served in flight more interesting by adding vodka. I woke up to 3 really happy faces, a sleeping child and half a bottle of vodka, to find out we had landed in Manaus.


We had booked our Amazon leg of the trip with Amazon Eco Park Lodge, whose friendly agent was ready to meet us at the airport to transfer us to our over night accommodation in Manaus. The next day, we were to be transferred to the Amazon Eco Park Lodge via van and boat. 


Our hotel rooms in Manaus were comfortable and clean and we crashed at about 2 am after exchanging invaluable gossip, haldiram's chilli chatak lachha (a popular indian snack) and a couple of drinks. 

Rio-here we come!

Preparations 

So, its the end of yet another great year 2010... I say 'great' because of the brand new addition to our family-Neo!

We decided to mark it with an international travel...so let's see, where should we spend the New Years? Some warm place was at the top of my list, as I was already tired of the freezing cold winter in North Carolina. After not much of debate, we decided on Brazil. Rio de Janeiro would be our New Years destination! Got our visas - not much of a hassle there. A tip: give yourself at least a month or more to assimilate all visa documents, send it by post (depending on where you live, you might be asked to appear for a personal interview or send docs by post). You will also be required to book your flight and hotel prior to visa application- I know, how silly is that! But I guess that means you will definitely get your visa ;)

We were allowed two check-ins per person - what more can a girl ask for, right? We were scheduled on TAM airlines (RDU ---> JFK ---> Sao Paulo ---> Rio de Janeiro). The only hiccup in the flight was the unavailability of vegetarian food :(. Alas, I had to make do with the rice from the chicken and rice platter. Tip: Request vegetarian food at least a day before you fly! 

Our friends from California were waiting for us to join us for the rest of the trip. We were thrilled to meet them at their hotel to freshen up. We had a 5 hr wait in Rio, after which we were scheduled to fly to Manaus.  

12/26/2010: Half-Day 1: Rio Downtown, four and a half  hungry Indians and the hunt for greens!

Our first destination, few blocks away by walk was the Metropolitan Cathedral. It has an interesting conical architecture and is worth a visit. Inside the stained glass walls gave an amazing effect on that sunny day! 

The beautiful inside of the Metropolitan Cathedral. Courtesy: Rahul

So, did I mention that Brazilians are hard core meat eaters? And unfortunately three of us were vegetarians! Also, good luck trying to explain in Engliguese (what else would you call the half Portuguese, half English we were speaking!!) that we don't want meat. 

Turns out, our options were cheese pizza and fries!! Hey, no one is complaining (yet). Our first beer in Rio was 'Brahma', that tasted more like water, nevertheless was refreshing in the heat and humidity.

After learning that 'pepper' is 'pimenta', not always served on the table with salt, 'water' is 'agua', 'no' is 'nao' and  'yes' is 'sim', we headed out to explore the downtown. Our aim was to take the little red train to Santa Teresa (about a 30 minute ride to-and-fro) which gives a spectacular view of the downtown (Rio Centro), some favelas and Corcovado. The cost for the trip was 60 cents/person. Cool right? Its a great way to get a quick birds-eye feel of the downtown and mingling with the friendly locals.

After half  a day well spent in Centro, we headed back to the hotel, picked our belongings and headed to the airport.

Destination 2: Manaus...