Eyes Looking at Me

This free internet at the hostel is a bit agressive.

Basically there are 5 computers here. The 2 out front in the office are for 30 minute sign up's. The 2 by the bar and the film room are for whatever time you like. You just have to wait for it to free up.......which could take quite a while.

I'm sitting at one of the ones at the bar, and there is this one girl that was standing by both computers just staring at me and the other girl using the computer. She now has taken a chair and is eating a bag of chips staring at both of us.

How uncomfortable.

I can' t think.

I usually just go up to the people using the computers and ask how long they will be and then ask them to waive me over before they leave.

I can't blog with this stalker staring at me.

Helicopter Tour over Iguassu Falls

What a great 10 minutes! Cost was $70 USD, but well worth it.

About 10 of us went on this....4 to a helicopter.

View was amazing.

This was a bit different that when I took a helicopter tour over Niagra Falls years ago. That was my first time, and I was very lucky to be sitting in the front with the pilot.

This ride had me sitting in the middle in the back.

The pilot was a bit crazy and made a few wild turns.

We bought one of the DVD's that we'll burn copies of.

I even managed to take a short video on my new digital that I absolutely love!

Everyone loves my new camera.

Casio rocks.

Cabaret Shows and Ping Pong Games

Last night a couple of the Dragoman groups went out for dinner and a cabaret show recommended by the crew. Cost was 54 Reias and included a huge buffet dinner and the show. The buffet had everything you could imagine. Fish. Sushi. Pasta dishes. Salads. Meat varities. Desserts. Loads of it.

All the Dragoman crew came as well and proceeded to get totally drunk.

The cabaret show itself was interesting. Singing. Dancing. A few almost naked girl samba dancers. Fire dancers. Name of the club was Rafian.

http://www.rafainchurrascaria.com.br/

After the show......around 11:30 pm..........we all headed back to party by the pool.

Most of the folks ended up in the pool with their clothes.....either by choice or just thrown in.

I was pretty lucky and didn't get thrown in. I actually turned into 'Trevor'........all 4 pockets were full of wallets and cameras of Steve, Richard and Michelle.

Around 3 am after numerous caprihina drinks.....the local Brazilian drink, I find myself playing table ping pong with Steve.

All I can say was that it was pretty funny!

Found While Camping

I am happy to report that I have found all my missing items.

I rearranged my tent and backpack and found all sorts of things.

It might rain tonight, so I had to look for rain gear, and what do I find???? A whole zippered area with stuff I thought I lost.

Happy now as I don't have to go into town tomorrow to buy what I lost.

I think I might go anyways and book a massage.

I really like camping.

Side note on massages:

I had one on the beach in Parati. 24 Reias for 60 minutes. That's $12.00 USD. Great deal. My massage was over after 40 minutes after she tried to ask me what other areas of my body needed work and what kind of pressure I wanted applied. I had absolutely no idea what she was saying in Portuguese.......so I kept nodding that everything was fine. She ended up charging me 15 Reias..........$6.00 USD and would not take a tip. I think she felt bad.

I only figured out what she was saying after I commented to the bartender as she had tried to get him over to translate, but he was busy and didn't bother coming over to help her.

No problem..........there are many massage places by the sea.

Grocery Shopping Gone Wild

I volunteered to go grocery shopping with Aimar (one of our drivers).

We went with 2 others from another truck.

We had to take a cab from the campsite and then had 45 minutes before he came back to pick us up.

Luckily I had written down a shopping list of what we needed for the next 2 days.

One of the items was 14 loafs of bread.

We've been eating alot of bread.

Group Three Dinner

That was last night. Dauk & I.

Our breakfast plans didn't go as planned, due to us being on the road and also not being able to find pancake mix in this country.

Lunch was sandwiches..........cheese, tomato & cucumbers..........or tuna.

Dinner was beef stir fry on rice. Watermelon as dessert.

I mostly cut up the veggies.

Far too many cooks in the kitchen.

Foz do Iguacu

I'm sitting at the pool bar of our new campsite at their internet station, listening to great tunes and having a beer.

I don't know why I drink beer on vacations.

This place doubles as a Hostel, so it's full of all kinds of people. Overlander trucks and backpackers.

We are off bright and early tomorrow for our day at the falls.........Argentina side.

Brazil side is day after. I might take a helicopter ride if I have the chance.

These falls are described as Niagra on Viagra.

Preparing to get wet.

Lost While Camping

These stuff sacks are great, and so are all the pockets on the packs..............

BUT...........where is my conditioner and hair gel to help my hair not be frizzy?

LOST!

I was so excited to take a shower tonight at our new campsite, until I noticed that I lost my hair supplies.The only thing I was a bit concerned about.

Oh well.........life can get a bit rough on the road. I'll just continue wearing my hat or bandana.

I'm adapting well to camping.

Check back with me in a few weeks.

Highway Camping

We were supposed to be at some other spot, but ended up on a Ukrainian's front lawn.

In front of the highway.

I LOVED it.

I finally got to sleep.

Only in Brazil.

Steve a.k.a Slimer Dude

Is my new friend.

A very funny guy.

• He is not going home until his toothpaste runs out.

I'll have to fill in his other sayings once I remember them all.

There are quite a few.

On The Road Again

We leave tomorrow.....I think that would be Sunday. I actually had to look this up.

It's very hard to remember the day of the week it is....let alone date.

We will be enroute to the Falls, so we will be "bush camping". No amenities.

I'm scared.

Weather in Parati

It's hot.

I just checked the weather forecast. In the 30's.

What does one do when camping in such heat?

I have no idea.

Go fishing?
Nope.......far too hot.

Go boating?
Nope.......unless in the shade.

Go to the beach?
Yes........although one needs some shaded area at some points in the day.

I go the internet spot that has air-conditioning in it.

I'm tired......both from the heat and camping (which means no sleep).

I would go nap in my tent, but it's in direct sunlight.

They tell me I could die in 3 minutes if I try to go sleep in there during the day.

I'll have to find a covered beach bar and just hang out.

Life is so hard.

Camping and Sleeping

The two do not go together.

There should be a noise control by-law on sleeping grounds.

The loud tents should be told to shut up by a certain time or face the penalty of cleaning up the washrooms/showers.

This would definitely shut them up at a reasonable time.

Italian Cooking by the Irish & Scottish

I've got to say........Michelle & Richard sure did a fine job last night cooking for all of us!

They made pasta with tomato sauce and chicken. Yummy.

It took them about 2 hours to make the meal with what cooking gear we had, but they did a great job and managed to feed all 14 of us a-okay.

Everyone was very hungry by 9:30 pm when the meal was served.

It was fun just sitting around and criticking them as they prepared our meal.

After dinner, a few of us walked into town for a drink or two.

I left Steve making his way down the menu on sampling all the cocktail drinks.

Richard was feeling it this morning.

Camping is so much fun so far.

Know It All's

I've discovered through my travels, that most people that like to travel, sure like to talk about their travels.

On and on and on.............

They usually think they know more than anyone else about travelling.

Even when they have a guide, that surely knows more than them at that moment.

These people sure like to think they know it all.

I hope I'm not like that now or ever.

This blog does not count.

The Crew

They work hard and they party hard!

Jumping off the boat into the water was a big party for them this afternoon.

Alot of laughter and pain for some of the boys!

Dave told us last night that the crew makes $14.00 USD a day working for Dragoman.

They obviously do this for the travel and fun of it.

Paradise in Brazil

Today we all went for a boat cruise. Left at 10 am and finished up around 4 pm.

Amazing views. Amazing weather. Amazing food. Amazing people.

A great day in Paradise!

Who We Are

Dave Hat is our driver. He has been working for Dragoman for 2 years. Always wears a hat...thus the name. Dave is British.

Aimar is co-driver/mechanic. He's been live with Dragoman for 1 month. Just finished training in England for 3 months. Aimar is from Spain.

Sexy Cameron. Dragoman Overland TRUCK. Never call her a 'bus'. She hates this verbal abuse.

Trevor. Secret safe. Never tell people about Trevor or call him by what he really is.

Passengers:

• Mark. British. Early 40's. Chartered Accountant. Loves to gossip and knows everything about everyone. The man to go to. Especially if you want the scoop about other people on other trips.


• Steve. British. Early 30's. IT guy. Very funny. He just wrote a book. Murder mystery. Waiting to get published. He might be making this all up. I'll find out the truth when I stop laughing at what he says.


• Nick. British. Mid 20's. Lawyer. Just got here. Suffering from dehydration right now. He needs to unwind. I think it has something to do with being a lawyer. Wait a few days.


• Richard. Scottish. Mid 20's. Lawyer. Alot of fun. He's been to India so I will have to get some tips from him.


• Dauk. Canadian. Late 30's. Works at Grand & Toy. Chinese.


• Lloyd. Australian. Late 60's. Travelled everywhere. Just finished an expedition in Antartica.


• Chantal & Clemont. Quebecers. Late 50's. Retired teachers. Worked in Africa and Morocco just before retiring.


• Michelle. Irish. Mid 20's. Very shy. Going back to school after her travels.


• Lynne. British. Late 30's. IT gal. Malyasian.


• Sharon. American. Might be the 70 year old on our trip. I haven't really spent much time with her.........even though she was my roommate in Rio for the one night that she got in.

And then of course.....ME!

Camp Duties

We are all assigned tasks for this trip.

Chantel & I will be on inside truck tidy up. This means sweeping up the floor and tidying the place up.

There are other team members assigned to cleaning up the fridges and taking care of the recycle and garbage bags. We also have folks that take care of security (closing windows, locking up truck doors), luggage (taking out the backpacks from the locked area) , food bins (taking them out each meal) and a few other chores.

We are also assigned food teams. Groups of 2 that will be responsible for the breakfast, lunch and dinner for the day.

Today Michelle and Richard have the first run at this. An easy day as we had lunch provided for us on our boat cruise that I just got off of. Breakfast was cereal or toast with jams. Dinner will be pasta with chicken.

I'm going to sign up with Dauk...a Canadian from Vancouver. Chinese guy...works for Grand & Toy. I figured we can make something Canadian and be the envy of everyone. Only problem is that we don't know what Canadian food is. Dauk is Chinese. I'm Italian.

We decided to do pancakes (if we can find the mix)......with banana's or some other fruit. I suggested strawberries and whipped cream. We could do the Canadian flag on the pancake. Dauk laughed as he doesn't think we will find stawberries in this country that doesn't blow our budget allocated. Lunch will be pita pocket sandwiches of somekind....not sure what yet....will have to see what the grocery story has...tuna? Ham & cheese with tomatoes...that sort of thing. Dinner will be a stir fry that Dauk says he knows how to make.

I think the stir fry should have the brazilian colors in it.

I'm the "idea" person.

24 Hours Camping

I'm still here....in Paraty!

We left Rio yesterday- Thursday- around 10 am. It took us about 5 hours with a few stops on the way.

This campsite reminds me of the only times I have been camping in Holland.....Lowlands Festival.

It is FULL of overland trucks. Dragoman. Tucan Travel. Budget Expedition. Kimuka. Bukima. Most of these are from England, but some also from New Zealand.

I was so surprized this type of travel is so popular.

All the trucks have names....Bernie, Gus, Swampy, Papa 5 to name just a few.

These trucks are surrounded by at least 10 to 12 tents each and you hear all sorts of music around you.

WOW I'm thinking. I'm going to like this thing they call camping.

The facilities at this site are at least 10 cement sinks to hand wash your clothing, showers and toilets. There is also a little store you can buy water from....although you are only about a 10 minute walk to another mini-market or the town of Paraty across the bridge.

It was extremely hot when we got here.........very sunny and at least 30 celcius.

I'm glad to say that I paid attention to the "How to put up a tent" demonstration, and managed to put up my own tent all by myself. Yipee!!

Hard labour when it is so hot out and you have to wear clothing.

It was totally unbearable in there that late in the day....around 6 pm....that I'm thinking this is going to be a really rough night.

Good thing the group had voted to go into town our first night and have a very nice dinner.

And off we went........

"Paraty’s whole existence was based on shipping gold mined from further inland Brazil . Walking those streets is like entering a time capsule. The huge cobblestones were ballast from the ships coming to load up gold. Slaves also pounded them into place, at least the ones who were not mining.Today, horse-drawn carts are still the only vehicles allowed on those cobblestones in the historic district. The colonial buildings and streets are very much intact.

Today the visitors still come from far away but for the beauty and serenity of the Costa Verde. Hundreds of beaches and islands draw those looking for one of the world’s best ocean destinations.The Atlantic Rain Forest drapes Paraty’s shoulders. "

Our restaurant was a fancy one and we all had our camping gear on, but so what. There are all sorts of people in this very funky place. The restaurant was a bit expensive, but we all splurged last night so we could also listen to live Brazilian music. The bill also relected a 7 Reias charge for each person for this entertainment. Well worth it!

We got back to camp around 11ish, and everyone made their way to the tents as they were very tired.

I thought I was tired also, until all the insane music and loud people kept me up all night.

Does ANYONE sleep when they camp?

Why don't earplugs really really work?

Why didn't I buy a sleeping sack when I was buying gear for the cold and not thinking about heat?

I should of just joined in the party instead of having these questions race through my mind as I laid there listening to everyone having fun around me.

I did love the morning sounds when the camp was quite.

I believe that would be at 4:45 to 5:15 am.

I like camping at that quiet time.

Good Bye Rio

Tonight is my last night in this crazy city.

What a great spot to:

• Tan
• Eat
• Try to speak Brazilian Portuguese
• Party
• Hang out and people watch
• Carnaval

Rio has great beaches, alot of different clubs/restaurants, great food and the PEOPLE are amazing!

I really like it here and can say it's truly a very fun and interesting spot in the world to be in.

Only thing is that I will NEVER EVER wear a bikini thong EVER....even though I might look better than some of the women I saw on the beach.

Validation that some behinds are bigger than yours is a very nice to not really see...but know.

The Three P's

My next leg of the trip starts tomorrow morning at 9:45 am.

Today we got a quick itinerary planner.

Patagonia, Penguins and Pantanal.

23 nights........with only 4 nights in a hotel (Buenos Aires). The rest is all camping (with facilities) and bush camping (no facilites).

I'll be seeing Parati, Foz do Iguacu (both borders), San Ignacio, Carlos Pelligrini, Buenos Aires, Puerto Madryn and Ushuaia.

Our Dragoman crew are.....Dave the Hat (because he wears a hat all the time) and Aimar (but you can call his Borat as he looks like him). Our trucks name is sexy Cameron. Our safes name is Trevor.

This tour was a very popular one with 24 people signing up, so we are getting 2 trucks and will run into the other group along the way in some spots.

I'll have a separate entry on the other 11 people on my truck once we get to know each other a bit more. It looks like an interesting group. No 18 year olds this trip!

I'm pretty sure we won't be runnig into any transvestites on this tour.................

Gong Show

Last night that is. The Gay Ball at La Scala. 80 Reias to get in.

That's $40.00 USD and worth every penny!

What a gong show.

We headed out around midnight and the party was just getting started.

The street was lined with a long red carpet. Lights everywhere. News crews and camera's everywhere. Loads of people behind barricades along the red carpet so they could see people as they walked by everywhere.

The closest I've ever been to a red carpet was 'The Eddie's' in Calgary. A much much smaller event and so tame to what we experienced last night.

We managed to get a standing spot right by the news folks so we could see everyone as they walked in or got interviewed.

I have NEVER seen so many different costumes and body parts all in one place EVER!

Shiny shiny costumes. Feathers. Rinestones. Fishnets. Super platform shoes. Botex faces. Fake body parts. I could go on and on.

All these were MEN. Transvestites and gay men.

3,000 of them all in one club.

Our jaws were dropping....and they didn't stop until this morning when we were still talking about it.

We only stood outside for about 1 hour to see the 'guys' walk in, thinking that we had seen it all at that point.

WRONG!

Inside the club was unbelievable. You didn't know where to look. Too much going on all at once with live Samba music playing.

The Go-Go boys were fantastic. Poster boys for the body beautifuls.

We ended up talking to one transvestite who is a major singer here in Brazil. She filled us in on all the folks walking by. She seemed to know everyone....and people were waiting on her hand and foot.

The night ended around fourish due to it being a major sauna in there.

I sure hope all the pictures I took with the disposal come out.

No one will believe what I saw unless you see the pictures.

What a night!

Only in Rio.

The Brazilian

No.......not wax, but WEATHER!

It is very very hot here.

Average temperature is around 35 Celcius.

At 6 pm it was still 28 Celcius.

Hot.

Crazy Josh from Calgary

Yup.........I met one Calgarian so far.

I noticed this drunk young guy....dressed all in yellow for the Sambadrome the other night.

Yellow underwear with the Brazil name on the elastic (and not boxers by the way).

A yellow soccer jersey for Brazil, and a yellow hat.

Crazy and loud.

I thought he was from England, as he matched the profile of a young guy from England that drinks.

Nope.

Turns out he is living just behind the Back Alley in Calgary.

I was so embarassed that a CALGARIAN never mind CANADIAN would be acting like this.

I had to go find out the truth.

He moved to Calgary almost 2 years ago.

He really belongs to Winnipeg.

Carnaval vs Stampede

This place reminds me of Stampede in many ways!

1. Noone really works during the party event.
2. You have all sorts of people in town.
3. Things get much more expensive.
4. People like to drink.
5. People like to drink alot.

Big difference is that this city has about 7 million people and people come from all over the world for this big party in Rio.

Another difference is that you need to speak Portuguese to get what you really want.

Pointing to things and smiling/nodding can also help.

Favela Tour

This morning at 9 AM some of us headed over in a jeep that seats 8 people each, to one of the largest favela's in Rio (160,000 people).

I watched a program on favela's not too long ago, and the one they reported on overlooked an American School, as well as a rich area in Rio. This might be the same favela I went to.

Our tour leader 'Carlos' lives in the favela and he advised us the following:

• 70% of favela's are in the North. 30% in the South, where there are alot more opportunities, yet still more expensive to live there. Why is it that most cities always have that the South is more 'affluent'????


• The people that live in favela's do not pay tax.


• Favela's are cities within cities......this one having 2 banks, community leaders etc.,


• The closer you live to amenities.....such as roads that are serviced by buses, the more you pay in rent.


• The average rental price per month is 250 R (125. oo USD)


• There are many business' in the favela's. They like to spend their money in the community.


• Crime is low...they don't rob from each other.


• This favela has set up a system where each section has church helpers that show up at people's homes when they are sick to make sure they take their medicine. The community tries very hard to stop any potential health epidemics.


• People that live in favela's don't trust the police......very corrupt in their eyes.

I found it quite interesting walking around this favela.

• It didn't smell even though there was garbage in most places.


• The view from some of the roads up top were amazing.


• Walking down the hill to the other roads and yet in alleyways of peoples homes was really different.

I saw a much different view of what was portrayed on TV.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Favela

Sambadrome Competition

On Sunday headed to the beach for the day and then got ready for Sambadrome.

This event is what the Carnaval is all about, so just imagine how crazy this city gets after planning for a full year!

Each year before Carnival, the Samba schools compete for a place to perform at the Sambadrome during Carnival. The top 14 schools are selected and 7 perform each night over the two nights of the competition. On entering the kilometre long steet each school has an hour to perform their hearts out to impress the judges.

Each school can have up to 3,000 members and the school is judged on the song, costumes, choreography etc., Once the school has finished the cleaners come in to do a quick clean up then the next school starts.

The colors and atmosphere in the Sambadrome were unreal!! Each school had over 10 floats each....usually one float and then about 300 dancers....broken up in 3 different groups of costumes...then another float another 300 dancers etc., What we could not believe was that most of them throw away their costumes after the parade! Every year is a new theme/costume. This is very serious business for them.

We left our hotel around 6:30 pm to get there via metro. We had a group leader and the groups were up to 15 people each. There are so many people on the street and the metro, that pick pockets are everywhere...so we had to be very careful.

The actual competition starts at 9 pm. We lasted until 5 am after the 6th school went by. ... the metro would be even more crazy after the last school entry so better head back.

Our group drank, danced and acted silly with our costumes or ones that someone would find along the stands to wear. I'm hoping my pictures will be a great memory of this awesome event.

This is why I woke up at noon today and am still a bit sleepy...but thought I should catch up my blog as there are too many things happening to remember them all!

It's CARNAVAL!

Shopping for Summer Clothes

It's very hot here. Over 30 Celcius.

I need to go shopping for summer clothes.

I didn't pack the right clothes for this portion of the trip.

I'll figure out packing situation later.

Twist My Arm # 2

Yes....I did go to the soccer game.

How could I pass up an opportunity to go to the Macarana Stadium in Brazil to see a game that the Brazilians are so mad about. I had to do it.

Cost was 55 Reais ($27.50 USD) for game ticket and metro return....with a guide so we wouldn't get lost.

The match was Fluminense and Vasco. No idea who these teams are....but I know everyone was cheering for Vasco.

The stadium was huge and had tons (and I mean tons) of security.

There was a bit of confusion when we first got there....Alice, Moira and I got separated from the guys and ended up on the lower level (which is a priced a bit lower as the view is best from the second level, and we had actually paid for second level).

No discussion with any of the staff would get us to the right seats, so we watched the first half from this lower level. The party was really on the second level with tons of insane fans yelling and screaming during the whole first half. They even had a full samba band continually banging on the drums the WHOLE time!

We needed to get to that section no matter what!

So...........during half time we looked for some different staff members and found one lady that actually spoke some english, so she did everything that she could to get us to the second level.

This involved talking to numerous people and then being personally ESCORTED by one of the supervisors all around the stadium via these secret elevators and doors to the second level.

We felt like ROCKSTARS!

Once we got to the second level, our task was to get to section A and found our group. Not very easy with all the fans standing up and flags moving around. The place was so full of energy and so LOUD!!! We loved it!

We found our group and then watched the rest of the game...cheering and yelling like the others.

What I found interesting was that:

1. When a goal happens, the guys rip off their t-shirts and wave them around singing and jumping all over the place. They are obviously super happy and boy do most of them have great bodies! I'm not sure I would ever what to see this in Canada. Majority great bodies???? Don't think so.

2. Samba drums are played non-stop for the whole game. This can be very loud, but it gets everyone dancing. I personally enjoy this. Especially when you don't really understand the game. You have something else to do. You also don't need any mascots.

3. Security madness...which I now understand, due to a few fights that broke out. I guess England gets even more crazy for fights, so I was told this was a pretty tame game for fan madness.

The final score was a tie at 4 goals each.

I'm so glad I went.

Corcovado & Pao de Azucar (Sugar Loaf Mountain)

Saturday was a very beautiful day so the tours to both these spots were outstanding!

Corcovado has that huge statue of Christ with his arms outstretched overlooking Rio. He doesn't look that big from any of the beaches....but he sure is big when you get to him!

Sugar Loaf Mountain is reached by 2 cable cars and once you get there the views are amazing. Great photo opportunities of the city. You can also do this by helicopter....but I passed on that expense and just snapped pictures on my new digital from the walking spots on the mountain.

I like having a digital camera!

Twist My Arm

Okay, I can get talked into alot of stuff....so on Friday night I did make my way with the others to the Red & Black Ball. Cost was 80 Reias. $40 USD to get into the Rio Scala.

The night started out with us drinking in our room.

My roommate is Moira, who just got off a 7 week trip. She is ending her travel here in Rio with Carnaval and going back to England. Mid 30's, separated from a Canadian boy.

She had a bit of a tough time on her trip, as most were 18 year olds and it had a bit too much drama for her.

Moira was so happy to meet me and my new friends....Alice, Mark & John. John is another fellow from England. Early 40's and he has been travelling for ages and ages. Sold his food business. We think he has a bit of cash to his name.

After drinking up everything in our mini bar fridge and finishing off a bottle of white wine Alice & I purchased, we headed over to Lapa in a taxi to see the street party.

We sat at a table outside and had a few drinks watching the madness. Loud Samba music and all kinds of costumes were all around us!!! Super fun!!

Around midnight, we made our way to this area called Leblon to get to this "cheesy disco"...which our tour rep had described a fun thing to do (via taxi....and boy can John negotiate prices!) It was very expensive to get in, but we thought why not? We were all dressed up in red and black to fit in ...so let the party start!

The place was huge and had a very large stage with live performers. There must of been over 25 people playing all sorts of instruments. Mostly drums. All samba music.

Wow! Not what we were expecting......but we all agreed samba music beats YMCA tunes anyday, so we hit the dance floor.

The dance floor was very busy with all kinds of interesting people. Most not wearing alot of clothing. We saw.......body art painting as clothing. Tassles as clothing. Transvestites with we have no idea what you call it clothing. You name it.

We didn' t really dance other than move a bit on the dance floor and stare at all the crazyness around us.

We can't dance anyways.

Loud Loud Loud

This internet spot is crazy loud with all these little boys playing their computer names.

I've got to go for a drink!

My Next Five Days

Today- Friday Feb 16th........our debrief. I can do the optional Red & Black Ball. This is where you have to wear read and black. I'm going to pass on that. I will be going to Lapa...the next district by where I am to see the live street shows/music.

The children's Samba Parade is also this evening ....well actually midnight to 6 am...this is when all the parades are. I saw a few of them walking around today after practise. They are sooooooo cute with their teeny tiny costumes and all painted up on their faces!

Saturday... Sugarloaf Mountain and Corcobado (The Statue of Christ) tour...aprx 4/5 hours. I can do an optional tour in the afternoon of seeing a live Soccer match at the Maracana Stadium. Not sure if I will be doing this at this point. I might.

Sunday......The Sambadrome!!!! I guess it takes 3 hours to get there. We are in sector 13 and it's going to be a crazy fun time. This is one of the Samba Parades. A very serious competition where they get judged for the dancing, costumes and music. It continues other nights as well. Tickets to get into these events are extremely expensive. Especially this night.

Monday.....free day and night.....with optional tours of the Jungle near here (jeeps).

Tuesday..........Organized tour to one of the Favelas (shantytowns). A large number of the population live in these. I actually saw a program on 60 minutes or one of those shows on Favelas in Rio. They are run by drug lords and are very dangerous. The 'slums' of Brazil. This is one country where the rich are very rich and the poor are very very poor. The average salary here of someone that works is 250 Reais a month. That's $125.00 USD. Most people get into the life of crime due to necessity.

Later that night we are on a sunset boat crusie around the harbour for about 2 to 3 hours.

One of the big balls in Rio is also on Tuesday night...............the Gay Ball.........not to be missed. It's highly recommended by everyone and I think most of the tour will be going. It's one of those optional tours. I think it's going to cost around $5o USD.......AND ...you have to dress up! I can just pretend it's Halloween in Calgary!

Wednesday is the end of this tour and I will have a pre-departure meeting for my next leg of this trip.

The whole city is shutting down for the next 5 days.

We've already been pre-warned to take out money from ATM's now or exchange money quickly as the Banks are closed until next Wednesday and the ATM's are not serviced during this time.

Everyone is going to be partying!

I love this city!!

I LOVE the Beach!

Today I spent part of the day at the Flamengo beach across the street from our Hotel.

It's not as an exciting beach as the other 2 I visited, but it's close by and does not need a cab or bus to get to. I like walking to places when I'm on vacation. It's easier and much more fun as you get the 'real' experience of the environment by walking.

I found the apostrophe on this keyboard! Yippee!!! I must ask for computer #2 in the future, it works better for me.

Chair rental is only 2 Reais ($1.00 USD) and the sun umbrella was 4 Reais. I thought a very good price. I'm sure I would be paying a lot more at the where to be seen at beaches.

This beach was full of alot of locals. I basically sat in the shade and people watched.

The kids wear similar bathing suits to their parents. Little boys in speedos and the little girls in tiny bikini's. Luckily the mothers don't make the little girls wear the thong yet. The mothers do and it can be a very scary look let me tell you!

You see most males playing around with a soccer ball on the beach. Not a game, but just kicking it around.

Everyone else just sun worships. They love their tanning here. The darker the better.

You can also buy all sorts of food and drinks on the beach as well as clothing and gadgets. I even saw a few people selling shrimp on a stick. They carry them over ice, yet the sun is shining down on their trays. I don't imagine these are good for you.

Everyone around here continues to speak Portuguese to me.

The only words I know:

Obrigado (Thank you)
Nao (No)
Sim (Yes)
Quanto (How much?)

I overuse the Obrigado word and I'm nodding and smiling alot!

Carnaval In Brazil

It,s going to be wild!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Carnival

The tour starts tomorrow night and I found out via the front desk that there are 93 people plus 15 crew from Dragoman.

You can see the hotels and restaurants decorating their lobbies up already.

We have our debriefing around 5 pm on Friday night and get all the scoop as too what we will be doing and when. I can,t wait!

I met another person...Mark....British guy....Chartered Accountant....who is touring with Dragoman for 4 sections. He finishes up in Peru in June.

Fun guy.

We are all going out for drinks once I finish up blogging.

I,m going to help both Alice and Mark in setting up their own blog.

This beats sending emails.

Broken Keys

As I was getting ready tonight to meet up with Alice and Mark, my key broke in the door to get out of my hotel room.

My room is one of those that locks from the inside and you just leave the key hanging in there. To get out, you simply unlock the door.

Too bad the key split in the middle and broke while I was trying to do this.

I,m thinking....no problemo....just call the front desk.

No chance of that happening. The phone did not dial out on 0. I even tried calling different room numbers. No luck.

Panic set in.

I banged on the door to see if anyone walking down the hall would hear me.

Nope.

I then open my window and look to the next building to see if I can catch someones attention.

Nope.

I do finally see someone from the kitchen area and I yell out ....help....ayuda......

He looks at me and has no clue what I am saying. I then start waving him over (I,m in room 103...floor on top of main floor). I start mimicking broken key and door. How I did that I do not know, but he got the message. He starts laughing and then I hear him talking to someone else.

One of the hotel guys come to my door and then seeing the problem I have, he goes to the outside area and asks me to throw him the key. At this point I know that they do not believe me and that they think I just can,t open the door. Dumb Canadian tourist.

Glad to say that once they saw the broken key the laughter stopped.

I was saved about 20 minutes after my initial trying to get of the room.

Everyone that works front desk and the kitchen now knows me.

I have also now learned how to use the phone. Dial 9. You either use the * or # beforehand. I still don,t understand that part.

Pronunciation is so important when trying to speak another language.

The Portuguese word for help is Ajuda.

Body Beautifuls on Ipanema Beach

Wow! Wow! Wow! Loads of men and all very beautiful.

ALL wearing speedos.

ALL Gay.

Thousands of them.

The last time I saw this was in Ibiza Spain, and that was only hundreds of them at that time.

They must of multiplied since then.

Upside Down Watches

Never look at a small watch without your glasses on in the middle of the night.

Did you know that 20 to 3 in the middle of the night on an upside watch looks like 10 to 9 in the morning?

I learned that while I was putting on my clothes in the dark to go for breakfast.

No wonder it was really dark out and very very quiet.

I now know to turn on the light ....OR...better yet, put on my glasses before I check the time!

Am I over excited or what?

Me in Rio on Valentines Day

Bear with me........these computers are in Portugese and are very complicated.

The hotel I am staying at offers internet for $10 USD an hour........ eeks! Good thing they think I am "Bella" ......so they recommended this place around the corner that only charges $1.50 USD per hour.

I like being cute. It pays off sometimes.

I still can,t believe I,m in Rio............WOW! It always sounded like a cool place to be going to. I,m going to Rio. I am in Rio. Cool! This also is true of Miami. I,ve never been to Miami........other than the crazy busy airport today....but I imagine it to be a very cool place to go. I,m going to Miami. I am in Miami. Wow. How can you tell that I am sleep deprived???

My morning of Feb 13th started off kind of crazy. The taxi was supposed to come pick me up for 5 AM so I could make my flight time of 7:30 am. It takes awhile to go through US customs at the Calgary airport. At 5:10 AM I am wondering where my cab was. So what that it was snowing. I tried calling the cab company and while I am on hold, the cab shows up. All he spoke about was how his wife almost was killed the other day with their 23 month old on the Deerfoot. ,I am going to take Barlow,. No problem I say. I certainly understand. He drove all the way to the airport at 40 kms. He is a worse driver than I imagine I would be driving in the snow.

I flew American Airlines. We left one hour late. 4 hour flight to Dallas. Almost a 3 hour flight to Miami and then a 8.5 hour flight to Rio. Huge planes my last two flights....totally full. I,ve calculated that Rio is 5 hours ahead of Calgary time.

I payed $31 USD for a cab ride to my Hotel from the airport. It was a white pre-paid airconditioned cab. There are signs all over the airport to be careful on which cabs you take. They are color coded. Yellow ones are metered. Crazy place. Warnings everyone. Traffic was insane and it took almost 30 minutes to get to the hotel. Very ugly ride as this is one of the slummy areas of Rio. Yucky. Not impressed.

Most people that I,ve met so far think I am from here, so they start speaking Portuguese to me....very fast. I have no idea what they are saying. Whoever said Portuguese and Spanish are very similar are wrong....especially when spoken very fast. These people sound like my friend Gorete when she speaks Portuguese, and I,ve never understood her. I respond to them in Spanish, Italian, English and the two words of Portuguese I know.

As I,ve said before...being cute does payoff at times.

The exchange rate is 2 Brazilian Reals for $1 USD........easy to calculate. You have to think fast sometimes so people don,t rip you off. I have no idea where the apostrophe is on this keyboard and the computer is set for only one hour, so things might get a bit messy. I will have to edit later once I figure it out.

My hotel is in the Flamengo area. Hotel Paysandu. Nice place. Close to the Copacabana beach area.

By the time I got to the Hotel I was so tired. No sleep. I had to take a 3 hour nap. Time differences and flying for so long can sure screw up your system. You might be able to tell this by this entry.

While I was waiting for my room I saw a girl sitting in the waiting area, so I just asked her if she was with Dragoman. Turns out she is on the Rio Carnival tour and then off on another tour (not like mine). Late 20,s, teacher and just hanging out for a few months. She is meeting up with her boyfriend in Equador late April. Alice is from England, just got in today from Australia (visiting family). We decided to hang out together, so we tried to walk over to Copacabana beach later this afternoon. Wrong thing to do......the roads are fast and some places don,t have pedestrian walkways.........so we ended up taking a bus.... 2 Reals (1 USD) each.

Very nice spot......loads of restaurants, hotels and the beach area is set up for lots of volleyball and soccer games. Some even had soccer schools going on. They love their soccer here (just in case you didn,t know this about Brazilians).

Wow..I just noticed this internet place is full of young boys playing games on the computers. They must be playing against each other. There are about 12 of them. Interesting. Does this happen at home? No idea. I don,t even know where the internet places are in Calgary. Doesn,t everyone just have a computer at home?

I hope that kid standing behind me is not reading my blog entry and he really is helping his friend with the car he is driving on the computer screen. If they look at mine....I,ll look at theres.

I,m sooooooooo tired. It,s only 8:45 pm, but I think it,s time for bed.

Can you believe that I will be partying at Carnival and that most events start at midnight?

I need to get my cute sleep so I can keep up!

Heather my Travel Agent Rocks!

What would I ever do without my Travel Agent Heather?

Maybe have a savings account?

As a Financial Adviser, we always talk to our clients about their centre of influences........people they trust & kind of listen to...........family, friends and professionals in their lives...such as accountants, lawyers, bankers. Never do we mention Travel Agents.

Mine is a huge influence in my life.

She sends me to places I may never think of going.

One such place was Columbia. Yup. I was there. I also convinced 3 other people to go with me. It was an inexpensive vacation. Heather recommended it. We all had a great time.

I also made it to Cambodia and Vietnam. I really wanted to go to India. Heather recommended those 2 awesome countries and I LOVED my very first organized Gap Adventure!

I am now going on a Dragoman adventure. It involves camping. For those that love the outdoors.

http://www.dragoman.com/destinations/tripdetails.php?cat=wsr

Heather has recommended it.

What can I say, other than Heather ROCKS and I have no savings account!

Oh........Heather if you are reading this.......I still want to go to India one day!

Me and Camping

Camping is an outdoor recreational activity involving the spending of one or more nights in a tent, primitive structure, a travel trailer or recreational vehicle at a campsite with the purpose of getting away from civilization and enjoying nature.

Camping describes a whole range of activities, from survivalist campers who set off with little more than their boots to those who arrive in large recreational vehicles equipped with their own electricity, heat, and patio furniture.

I've only ever camped at Lowlands in the Netherlands.

This is a yearly weekend MUSICAL FESTIVAL where you dance, dance and dance and really don't bother to sleep much over the 3 days. It also involves over 60,000 people and a lot of food stands, drink stands etc., A very FUN place to be at. I love that kind of camping.

I will soon be embarking on a 6.5 week trip in South America, where 80% of it will be camping.

Yes..........I had to buy my very first sleeping bag ever!!!!! I can't believe I have no camping gear to my name. I have everything else....but nothing that bears the MEC logo. Unbelievable.

I have to thank a lot of my friends that are helping me along the way with all their recommendations on what to bring and what not to bring.

Gorete just spent the morning with me on my first trial run at packing up my new backpack.

The coconut foaming bath bottle did not make the cut.

It was a small travel size bottle........but still no go.

Help.