2 weeks of 2015 Xmas break!!
Brazil and Argentina or rather I should say whole South America is one continent which I always wanted to visit, atleast once in lifetime but was always unsure about.These places always felt too far and full of lot of scary stories. But when few friends visited the continent in last few years and mostly said good things about the countries, it only made me more and more enticed about the continent. Plus this year's travels to Mexico and Cuba proved supporting too!
So here I planned 2 weeks in Brazil & Argentina on Xmas time and to confess, had to really convince hard my chick friend to join me on the travels! Also not to forget, thanks to Trailfinders - my travel agency which made our experience truly amazing, with all our bespoke tours and customized itinerary for two of us.
We started our South American adventure with flying direct from London to Rio De Janeiro (which means River of January) in Brazil. Brazil is the only Portuguese speaking country in the whole of South America and rest all countries have Spanish as first language. Early morning 12 hours flight from London was not easy but our excitement pushed away all our tiredness!
Although here came a blow when we landed late evening in Rio when our tour advisor advised, we have 8am pick up for our city tour.....ha! 12 hours journey, no sleep for 2 nights (too much pre-holiday partying
) , long immigration queues at the Rio airport and now getting up at 6am again....damn!
Anyway all we did on our day 1 in Rio is check-in our hotel on Copacabana beach and straight go to bed to get 4-5 hours sleep. Next day our tour guide took us to Sugar loaf mountain (https://en.wikipedia.org/
Brazil and Argentina or rather I should say whole South America is one continent which I always wanted to visit, atleast once in lifetime but was always unsure about.These places always felt too far and full of lot of scary stories. But when few friends visited the continent in last few years and mostly said good things about the countries, it only made me more and more enticed about the continent. Plus this year's travels to Mexico and Cuba proved supporting too!
So here I planned 2 weeks in Brazil & Argentina on Xmas time and to confess, had to really convince hard my chick friend to join me on the travels! Also not to forget, thanks to Trailfinders - my travel agency which made our experience truly amazing, with all our bespoke tours and customized itinerary for two of us.
We started our South American adventure with flying direct from London to Rio De Janeiro (which means River of January) in Brazil. Brazil is the only Portuguese speaking country in the whole of South America and rest all countries have Spanish as first language. Early morning 12 hours flight from London was not easy but our excitement pushed away all our tiredness!
Although here came a blow when we landed late evening in Rio when our tour advisor advised, we have 8am pick up for our city tour.....ha! 12 hours journey, no sleep for 2 nights (too much pre-holiday partying
Anyway all we did on our day 1 in Rio is check-in our hotel on Copacabana beach and straight go to bed to get 4-5 hours sleep. Next day our tour guide took us to Sugar loaf mountain (https://en.wikipedia.org/
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| Sugar loaf mountain |
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| San Sebastian Church |
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| Copacabana beach view from our hotel rooftop |
Amazon Rain-forest:
Next day was an early morning 3hours 50minutes flight to Manaus to spend 3 days in Amazon rain-forest. Now this is my most favorite part of the whole holiday (Sumi will say completely opposite though!). To get to our ecological resort/park, we had a pre-booked taxi drive from airport for 20 min and then half an hour boat ride as no road connections for reaching the eco park. 3 days stay in amazon rain-forest was totally awesome, the whole feel-factor of staying with the nature can't be described in words. We did visits to native village to see local's lives, spotted alligators, birds, monkeys, turtles, fishes and various type of wild life in their natural habitat. I did a jungle trek one of the mornings and saw so many rare species of plants and trees which have so many medicinal properties. One of the evenings, we did meeting of the waters trip where rivers Solimoes and Negro meet. Both rivers have different colours, density, temperature and speed. Where Negro is black, Solimoes is brown coloured and both rivers flow together for 6 kms before finally merging and making Amazon river with one colour. You can see the aerial view of these 2 rivers with a discrete line of divide even during flight take off and landing at Manaus airport! (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/
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| My sweetie pie! |
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| Meeting of waters click! |
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| Path in eco park to get to our room! |
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| Our Ecological Park in Amazon! |
3 days whizzed past so quickly that I felt we needed few more days there :( we met lots of other lovely tourists staying at the resort who were travelling from all over the world but my favorite were Lucas and Philipe from Sao Paulo, totally awesome 15 & 12 year kids who taught us how to make bonfire with whatever stuff we have available in jungle while out on a stroll with them one of the evenings! 2 thing that we badly missed in Amazon is spotting water lilies (as this year has been apparently a drought year with water levels too low) and swimming with the dolphins.
Rio De Janeiro:
After 3 days in Amazon forest, we were back in Rio to spend another 3 days. In these 3 days, we visited Corcovado mountain to see statue of Christ Redeemer, one of the seven wonders of the world (https://en.wikipedia.org/
When you are in Rio, you have to visit Copacabana Palace hotel for a drink atleast. It is the most beautiful hotel on Copacabana beach and thankfully for us, our next door neighbor hotel. So we decided to do Christmas dinner on 25th in their Asian restaurant. If you are not a hotel guest and fancy dining in the hotel, then you definitely have to make an early reservation. Also, since Brazil and Argentina are both Catholic countries, all restaurants closed down on 24th afternoon so we had to do a takeaway for our 24th evening dinner!
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| Live music in pubs in Rio! |
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| Samba Show in Rio |
Iguazu Falls:
Now it was time to board our flight to Iguazu falls. We landed on Brazilian side of the falls late evening. There are 2 airports in Iguazu - one on Brazil side where only domestic flights within Brazil can be taken and the other one on Argentina side - which has options for both domestic and international flights. Falls are distantly visible when the flights land!
Also, people living in Iguazu mostly speak both Portuguese and Spanish as they cross borders pretty much for work or shopping everyday. Neighboring country, Paraguay, is a tax free shopping heaven for Brazilians and very easy to get to through crossing border controls.
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| Brazil side view of Iguazu falls! |
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| Aerial view of falls from the chopper |
We had a full day tour booked to see first Argentinian side of the falls (roughly 5 hours trip including an hour driving both sides n border controls) and then Brazilian side (approx. 3 hours). Our tour guide picked us at 8am to ensure we get on the first train in Iguazu National Park on the Argentinian side to avoid heavy tourist influx and traffic on the border controls - must say a very wise decision as we saw massive queues for trains and at the border controls on way back to Brazil side.
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| Devil's throat from Argentina side |
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| Another shot of Devil's throat |
There are 2 different timezones on each side of the falls depending on which country you are in as Argentinian side is 1hour behind Brazil time.
Argentina side has 80% of the Falls and to get to see Devil's throat, you have to take 15 minutes train once you enter the national park and 1.5kms walking trail one side. Also ensure you carry sunscreen, mosquito repellents, rain-jacket and wear comfy shoes as it rains on-off around falls and the walking trail could get very slippery.
Apart from that there is another walking trail of roughly 3kms to see bit lower side of the falls. Each side of falls has it own charm and mesmerising factor. You cannot do boat trips on this side of the falls as this is the peak of the falls but kayaking, boat rides, chopper rides are all available on Brazil side. Apart from this, if are lucky, you can spot some wild life in the national park like deer, rare species of birds etc. People have even spotted jaguars but obviously we didn't see any!
Once we finished Argentina side, it was time to go see Brazil side of the falls where there are sightseeing decks installed to walk through the falls n stand in middle of the falls seeing them falling from such great heights. Must say every side of falls is different and completely stand out from each other and you have to see both sides of the falls in Brazil and Argentina.
Since we had a private tour booked, we didn't have to wait in long queues of buses that run in Brazil side of the national park to take you to the falls. Private taxis can drive through the park but have to manage speed limit of 30kms/hour throughout your stay in the park and officials track it through a device they give to the driver to keep it in the car. Any violations to speed limit is a punishable offence and apparently government is very strict about it!
If you have time, I would definitely advise taking 2 hours boat ride which takes you at the foot of the falls but since we were super tired with too many flights/early morning schedules and didn't have much time left at hand, we chose to take chopper ride over the falls. Chopper ride is only 10 minutes but is definitely worth it as the pilot takes you super close to the falls to have a full on aerial view.
The falls are spectacular and kept us mesmerised throughout the experience. We have yet to visit Niagara Falls but a few American tourists vouched for Iguazu falls scoring over Niagara in every aspect.
Once we finished our day tour, it was time to relax in the evening and again pack our suitcases to take yet another flight next day to Buenos Aires for which we had to drive to Argentinean side of the airport.
Buenos Aires:
Flight from Iguazu to Buenos Aires is 2 hours and there are 2 airports in Buenos Aires - domestic airport from where our hotel in the city centre was 20 minutes taxi ride and international airport is on the outskirts of the city which takes roughly an hour drive.
Important note about Argentinean pesos, it is a closed currency .i.e. You cannot buy it before hand while travelling to the country. So advisable currency to carry for exchange is USD, Brazilian Reals, Euros (even INR and Japanese Yen can be exchanged). There is an official exchange rate but you can never get that rate while exchanging currencies. Local banks do not exchange currency for foreigners n neither do most of the hotel desks. Some 4/5 star hotels exchange currencies but only for the guests staying at their hotels. There are some shops or local brokers on the Florida street that can exchange currency but you have to be very careful as high chances of getting fraud notes. So that leaves you with only one option to exchange via a small kiosk/official desk called Metropolls in Galleria Pacifico mall and the queues are massive. We spent 2 hours one day to get the local currency. Huge thanks to our new friend, Jeffery who agreed to let us jump the queue and stand with him otherwise we could have easily spent another 2 more hours in the queue.
Locals expect that with new President Mauricio Macri government regime, hopefully this system will improve and there will be more liberalisation on the local currency. Argentina is known for its good quality wines produced in Mendoza and Cordoba regions. Food is great in both Argentina and Brazil if you are a non vegetarian but for vegetarians like us it could mean a never ending struggle. We had limited options throughout our travel, all we ate is pizza-pastas, fries, breads, rice and boiled veggies which still didn't come any cheaper!
Argentinians who are born and brought up in Buenos Aires call themselves ‘Portenos’. The city is known for its European -style architecture and is located on western shore of estuary of Rio de la Plata. The name Buenes Aires means "Good winds" or "Fair Winds" in Spanish! Portenos or residents of Buenos Aires have a popular saying ‘God is everywhere, but He only holds office hours in Buenos Aires’– this explains the economic significance of this great metropolitan city that simply overshadows the rest of Argentina. This saying confirms the tradition of imperial politics to which Argentina is heir, all lines of power lead to the court, a conception within which the geographic and symbolic decentralisation of financial and political administration is unheard of.
On our city tour and various walks around the city, we visited lots of famous spots like their Pink Parliament house (where their President only come to work through helicopter but do not live in the building), cathedral Metropolitan where Pope Francis stayed during his visit to Buenos Aires, square where all demonstrations happen, famous San Martin's park (our road across park/area from the hotel); SanTelmo area known for its flea markets and local nightlife/hippie area ; Caminito street which is known for its colorful houses (the reason why houses are colorful is because people who lived here were poor and they used to pick whatever leftover paints from the port area and used it for painting their houses); La Boca area which has gotten its name after Boca football stadium owned by Boca Juniors, one of Argentina's most famous football club and lastly Recoleta cemetery which is not like any usual cemeteries you would have seen.Every grave is like a mausoleum in itself and the most famous/visited mausoleum is of famous lady Evita. Evita or Eva Perón was the most influential lady in the history of South America. She is much loved by the Argentinians as she used her position as the first lady of Argentina to fight for women's suffrage and improving the lives of the poor (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/
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| Boca stadium |
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| Caminito street |
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| Recoleta cemetery |
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| Alfajor cookie |
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| Mate is served in these cups |
One of the days, our dear friend Adriana took us for a drive around San Telmo & Palermo areas again and we had a lunch in a boutique Argentinian restaurant in Palermo Hollywood area. Palermo area is now divided in 3 parts depending on the riches/society classes - Palermo Soho, Palermo Hollywood and just Palermo.
If you are in Argentina, you definitely have to watch Tango show as Argentina is tango music's birthplace. We went to see tango show with 3 course dinner in place called Esquina Carlos Gardel which in itself is a very ancient beautiful building.
Another thing not to be missed in Argentina is trying their local sweet called Alfajores which is like a caramel and chocolate cookie and ‘Dulce de leche’ which is a creamy caramel sauce made from sweetened simmering milk. You can have Dulce de leche with ice creams, cookies, cakes etc. Argentinians also love their Mate, a caffeine infused beverage which is commonly drunk in Argentina. It is also the national drink in others South American countries like Uruguay and Paraguay and very common at the south of Brazil. The right pronunciation of the word mate by English-speakers could be guided by the following examples. The m is pronounced as in "mountain". The a is pronounced as in "bat". The t and e are pronounced as in "technical". It is an infusion based on an herb called Yerba Mate. Usually it is taken with hot water. This water is carried on a tea kettle, pava in spanish, or in a thermo bottle.
If you are in Argentina, you definitely have to watch Tango show as Argentina is tango music's birthplace. We went to see tango show with 3 course dinner in place called Esquina Carlos Gardel which in itself is a very ancient beautiful building.
Another thing not to be missed in Argentina is trying their local sweet called Alfajores which is like a caramel and chocolate cookie and ‘Dulce de leche’ which is a creamy caramel sauce made from sweetened simmering milk. You can have Dulce de leche with ice creams, cookies, cakes etc. Argentinians also love their Mate, a caffeine infused beverage which is commonly drunk in Argentina. It is also the national drink in others South American countries like Uruguay and Paraguay and very common at the south of Brazil. The right pronunciation of the word mate by English-speakers could be guided by the following examples. The m is pronounced as in "mountain". The a is pronounced as in "bat". The t and e are pronounced as in "technical". It is an infusion based on an herb called Yerba Mate. Usually it is taken with hot water. This water is carried on a tea kettle, pava in spanish, or in a thermo bottle.
There are lots of fancy restaurants on Puerto Madero area which is a new part of the city and definitely worth walking around and having a meal one of the days even though the food is very pricey.
There are few Indian restaurants around Recoleta and Santa Fe avenue like Bengal, Delhi Mahal, Delhi Masala but I would totally recommend Delhi Mahal on Cordoba Avenue as the food was really good.We did half day trip to places called San Isidro and Tigre, just an hour drive outside the main city. Tigre is known for these small islands that have been created over the years as a part of sedimentation process with the sand , mud, clay and other things that the rivers bring with the flow. These are type of floating islands and a small house can be bought in USD150k. Good part of living on these islands is there are a local school on one of the island, ferries to take kids to schools, and moving boats which can deliver whatever you need for household items. Mostly people have their summer houses on these islands.
For our New Year eve, we had a great Gala dinner with the ‘Roaring Twenties’ theme at Sheraton Hotel and must say we had a great time dancing with the locals! My ball dance partner was a 10 year old boy but hey, I am not complaining because he was a great partner....hahaha.
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| Tango Show in Argentina |
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| Grad decor in Sheraton for New year Eve |
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| Our beautiful new year eve venue |
I can go on writing so much about all the places we went/heard about but going to stop here and give you wikipedia links, just in case you are still intrigued to know about all these beautiful places.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/
I am really hoping now that this year I can revisit the continent and see Peru, Ecuador and Galapagos islands. More I visit Latin and South America, my love for these countries only increase!
Final note: wish I was a guy because the girls in both Brazil and Argentina are so beautiful. Guys are good looking too but the girls are class apart....hmmm....
This was truly a fabulous holiday with beautiful memories to cherish!
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| Beautiful Rio - one of my fav pic! |
