Oldies On Tour

Today was to be a day of action at the Iguazu Falls and it was.

Leonardo collected us at 0900hrs and we were off.  Firstly a helicopter flight over the Fall’s; it was Christine’s first flight in one so a little apprehensive me thinks!! Wow, what a sight unravelled before our very eyes.  Yesterday we were bowled over at the sights as we walked along the path, but today, to be able to fully appreciate the enormous area these Falls cover was just something else: they are enormous. Fortunately, though there was some cloud cover, it was clear over the Fall’s so we had a good look with plenty of ‘photo time above them.   Though we were only in the air for 10 minutes and it went quickly, we got off the helicopter on a high.

Leonardo was waiting for us and we were off to our next stop, Argentina.  As I mentioned the Fall’s are in two countries: we

did Brazil yesterday and now heading, passports in hand, to the border crossing.  There was a long queue to get through the border control but being an official tour guide, he has special dispensation; we by passed the queue and went straight to a border control booth where we got our passports stamped and we were on our way. Another good reason to have an official guide with us.

45 minutes after leaving the Helipad we pulled into the

“Parque Nacional Iguazú” the Argentinian national park.  Our first adventure was going to be a “boat ride” experiencing the waterfalls from the base, but first a walk along the jungle path to the starting place. Here on the Argentinian side the park is 259 sq. miles whilst the Brazilian side of the park is only a mere 660 sq. miles, but most of the falls are in the Argentinian park. This park also has most of the wild animals in the vicinity, such as the Puma, The Jaguar, the Caymans and untold species of snakes, not all venomous but nobody in their right mind would want to take a closer look!!!

At the end of this path we arrived at the office where we checked in for the boats but before we got to the jetty we had

to get onto a truck. This brightly painted yellow truck with rows of bench seats on the back drove us through even more dense jungle, and about 20 minutes later we got off and then had to walk down millions of steps to the waters edge to get into our rib. Going down is always easy, but I wasn’t looking forward the coming back up; still we’ll deal with that issue later.

We had been warned when we first booked to expect to get wet so we left the hotel with our swimmers on, and a change of clothes in our bag for later. En-route we had stopped by a street

seller to buy two plastic pouches to keep our ‘phones dry in; they are transparent so we could still use the camera. The boating people supplied a waterproof container for those who had their bags with them. Because we had Leonardo, we left our bags with him; smart eh!!!

We donned our life jackets and settled into the rib;

fortunately it wasn’t too full so we each had a seat on the side. We’re off, full power, the bows lifted and we were haring head for leather towards the bottom of these gigantic waterfalls; and when you are at the bottom, they are gigantic!!!!

We hovered around for everyone to take pictures and then we went into the waterfall base. When they said we would get wet

they weren’t kidding, we had what seemed several tons of water dropped upon us from a great height. Whilst Christine was clicking away I was holding onto my glasses for dear life. Anyway the driver pulled away and immediately found another waterfall to drown us again and to make sure each side “enjoyed” the same went back the other way!!!! Wonderful experience we thought, glad we did it but then the driver suddenly changed direction and went back to the first place he tried to drown us, again he only managed to soak us, and if we weren’t wet before, we were this time, right through to the core.

We did look around the other folk in the rib, mainly youngsters and it dawned on us that perhaps, we should act our age, then

immediately dismissed the stupid idea!! We really enjoyed this part of our action day and felt sorry for those who put it on the “too hard to do pile”

Those steps now came into play, and as the youngsters and

Christine rushed up them, I took my time, though I noticed at the halfway point there was a Red Cross person, just in case!!! I arrived at the top albeit slower than the rest but they were still there waiting for the truck to take them away; the hare and the tortoise spring to mind.   By being at the back of the queue our truck was very empty so we had loads of room.

Leonardo was waiting for us but we did suggest we stopped for a bit, had a coffee and some Empanados before moving on.

We now had two options, the lower trail or the higher trail, both several Km’s, anyway he suggested the higher trail but only go so far and this is what we did.   We looked at the same falls as we did yesterday but from the opposite side, not too much difference, still a lot of water cascading down but well worth it.

Now was the time for the train ride. This train takes you

towards the devils throat, Argentinian side. At the end of the line Leonardo said it would take a further hour to walk to the Devils throat, this was our cue to stay on the train and go back, but better than that, this train carried on nearer the Park entrance.

The Brazil side is a natural park that cares for the environment and apart from the path to walk along to see the falls, that is basically it. The Argentinian side on the other hand is more of a classical theme park; yes they certainly care for the environment but they probably attract more visitors due to the other things going on.

When we got out of the complex, there was Leonardo waiting with the car at the entrance, what a good decision to have a private tour guide for the whole time we were here.

We arrived at the border crossing and again there was a long queue waiting to go through, but not for us, passports stamped again and on our way; no hold ups.

We arrived back at our hotel 7½ after we started, thoroughly knackered but really pumped up at our exciting action day.

Shower and a light dinner and no doubt we will sleep well tonight. Leonardo will collect us from the hotel tomorrow morning at 11.30 when we return over the border to catch a domestic flight to Buenos Aires.

After an un-godly start; would you believe it was still dark when we got up, I have only seen dark at night, not in the morning!!!! We arrived at the airport and naturally caused havoc; didn’t know where to go, couldn’t understand the lingo and this international airport were limited to English speakers, still it paid off when Christine used her charm and they sent us down the “need help” aisle.

Flight full but OK ‘till we landed, with a bump, and when I say a bump I mean a bump, I was surprised the tyres didn’t burst.

This airport reminded us of Murcia, small, all outside and only a few ‘planes. Anyway, luggage collected and our man, standing, waiting with our name on his card was there to meet us. As an aside, when we sorted our holiday, “Harry”, (our agent), booked us for in for a 3-night stop with sightseeing. Our Driver, “Leonardo”, who was at the airport informed us he was our driver from the time he collected us to the time he deposits back at the airport for our onward flight; wow!!

He dropped us at our hotel with an Italian name, and after we checked in, wandered across the road to a large shopping mall, as we needed some, but not too much, exercise and water.

After relaxing we went down to dinner in the Hotel to be confronted by an Italian version of a Churasscarias. What a fabulous evening we had. Apart from superb Pasta dishes permanently being brought to our table, the spread of Salads and the huge variety of cheeses, we were entertained by a duet singing Italian songs and a couple prancing around the room to the music. We went into the restaurant tired and looking for a quick get-away and actually stayed most of the evening.

We were met this morning by Leonardo and off we set to the falls. Firstly I am quite surprised how big the town of Iguassu is, it has a population of around 300,000 yet people really

only come here to see the falls.

The first European to record the existence of the falls was the Spanish Conquistador, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541. These waterfalls are the largest waterfalls system in the world. The

falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguassu and rises near the city of Curitiba, which is actually to the north East of Iguassu. For most of its course, the river flows through Brazil; however, most of the falls are on the Argentine side. Below its confluence with the San Antonio River, the Iguassu River forms the boundary between Argentina and Brazil.

To get to the falls, you enter the “Parque Naconal Do Iguacu” then drive a further 10 Km’s to get to the drop-off point. Now we followed the 1 Km man-made path to view the

various angles of all the different falls. Each view we stopped at was breathtaking and though there were many people we could still get to the fence to get clear views for pictures etc. Our guide, though not walking with us; he went ahead to meet us at the end of the walk, told us that as we progressed along the path our views would get more spectacular, and he was right. When we reached the end and walked along the walkway into the centre of basin, called the “devils throat” we were lost for words. Christine had done Niagara Falls but had to admit these were more spectacular and this was confirmed when I looked up the differences on Google.

Half way along we met a couple of Aussies who had a drone and they showed us even more spectacular views from their drone

mounted video camera; this has to be my next “must have” item!!!

After spending well over 1½ walking and enjoying the views with hundreds of Raccoons wandering around our feet, we headed for the lift to take us up to street level where Leonardo was waiting for us.

We were on a high and didn’t want to just go to the hotel so after talking over the various options available for an afternoon tour, we agreed to meet up again at 1400hrs and be taken to the Itaipu Hydroelectric Dam. This Dam is the Largest hydroelectric power plant in the world, Itaipu is the current world record holder in power generation and is considered one of the 7 wonders of modern engineering. Built on the Parana River, the seventh largest river in the world, between Brazil and Paraguay, it is 8 km wide, has a maximum height of 196 m, and a lake of 1350 km² and eventually becomes the River Plate and heads into the Atlantic; we were looking forward to our visit.

When we arrived we got aboard a double decker bus that circulated the site, rather on the same lines as a “hop-on hop-off” sightseeing bus in other cities though there were only 3

stops to do this!!   Still it is a site to behold and because it is “that” time of the year, the river was swollen and all 3-spill gates were open and the torrent of water was enormous, what a sight and well worth the visit.

After leaving we were knackered, yet again; it must be the heat as much as anything causing us to be pooped before the evening!!!

The hotel restaurant is closed tonight but they have an “Express Café” where we can get food. Last night we enjoyed a bottle of “Malbec Grand Reserva” and we ordered another bottle for tonight, superb to complete a superb day.

Tomorrow we visit the Argentinian side of the Iguassu falls

Oh dear, our last full day.  We have thoroughly enjoyed our few days here in Rio, great vibrant atmosphere though most probably a young people’s city, still we did what we came to do less the Carnival.  Perhaps we will come back for that some time.

After breakfast and a bit more packing and a serious downpour we were off for a swim on Copacabana beach.  There were still a fair few people on the beach, obviously the hardy ones like us!!!  Dropped our towels and in we went but we misjudged the surf.  There wasn’t that much, but boy what there was sent us packing, on more than one occasion. I managed to get beyond but Christine struggled to do that so I went back with the idea of helping her through when we both got caught and went spinning towards the shore.  When we stood up and sorted ourselves out, Christine realised she had lost her genuine “Bulgaria” very expensive sun glasses, she was pig sick: well she shouldn’t have worn them I say, her other comment was, they were tied on; a lot of good that did!!!
It was very invigorating! back to the hotel to change and out for coffee and some more Portuguese custard tarts.

Next a quick stop at an opticians for a new nose pad for my

glasses then back to hotel for a drink on the 19th floor, rather like a golf club, the 19th hole.

Lunch today was at a Churrascaria, the same one we went to with

our Rio Tour.. it was quite interesting, when we went last time they started bringing sort of cheese dough balls and other filling things before the meat started coming.  Today there was none of that, straight into the meats and certainly more beef than when we were with the tour.  Anyway we enjoyed stuffing ourselves with various cuts of beef, lamb, chicken and goodness knows what else; a long lingering lunch washed down with a nice bottle of Malbec.

We strolled back to hotel to finish packing as no time in the morning, our taxi is picking us up at 7.15am, do we have breakfast first, that is the question.

A slow start to the morning, breakfast as usual then some decisions to make, where should we go. Swimming off Copacabana sounded good but then Christi

ne suggested the Botanical Gardens; so the Botanical Gardens it is!

Before I go on, I’d like to mention a very nice local drink I am enjoying, made from cane sugar, a sort of rum with flavours; mine are honey and cinnamon, very nice. I enquired if it is

exported, “no” they said, “all drunk in Brazil”, I wonder why!!!!!

Back to today.   Our chosen mode of transport was to be the

local buses, and number 584 was the one. We caught it 2 blocks away from our hotel, and it took us to the entrance of the Botanical gardens. It was an interesting bus ride I have to say. As we entered we paid the driver the fare, 3.40 Reals each, (about 76 pence) and then we walked through a turnstile and all this as the driver was pulling away. Accelerate hard, brake hard, accelerate hard, brake hard and whilst doing that, he weaved through the traffic; now you might think we had a lunatic for a driver, but no, they were all at it, the start of a F1 race had nothing on these drivers. The only blessing was that the seats were padded, a little!!! Still after a very hairy ride we arrived in one piece.

These Botanical Gardens are a 350-acre site, founded in 1808 by King John 6^th of Portugal and in 1822 became open to

the Public. The park lies at the foot of the Corcovado Mountain, far below the right arm of the statue of Christ the Redeemer. Not being too interested in gardening I was a little apprehensive about this; walking in the heat looking at plants I had little or nothing in common with, didn’t exactly fill my boat, still it had to be done for Christine’s sake but I did insist on a cup of coffee before we started.

We paid our entry fee and in we went and I soon realised it wasn’t a garden centre type place at all; it was basically a controlled environment for all the species of trees and other

plants that are found in Brazil. These gardens contain more than 6,000 different species of tropical and subtropical plants and trees, including 900 varieties of palm trees. As we walked round we picked up on a few things in particular. The first was the pernambuco tree; apparently the wood from this tree is the best wood available to make high-class violin “bows”. In addition to this, the wood yields a deep purple-red dye, which was in high demand in 17^th century Europe. I also wanted to see the Brazil nut tree. Normally nuts grow individually such as hazelnuts and walnuts etc., but Brazil nuts grow in a husk, rather like a brown coconut, the sort one can see at a fairground in the UK. We found the “one” Brazil nut tree but none were visible to see, but it was a very tall tree; what a shame.

Before we set off I read about the 750-meter line of 134 palms,

align=”alignleft” width=”150″] Amazing to see so many palm trees[/caption]which form the “Avenue of Royal Palms” leading from the entrance into the gardens. These palms are all descended from a “single tree”, the Palma Mater, long since destroyed by lightning. If we were going to the Gardens this was on the must see list, and how spectacular this palm tree lined avenue was. These particular palms have no bark as we know it, they are just plain trunks with foliage at the top, oh, by the way, the top is 50 meters above the ground; fabulous. Because of their height, some of the avenue has large stainless steel mirrors angled so you can see the tops without bending backwards, I hasten to add; we “looked” up.

We were a little disappointed with the Orchid house, perhaps it

is the wrong time of the year but we were impressed with the giant water lilies though I did get a rocket from one of the stewards for standing on the grass to get a ‘photo!!!

Only about 40% of the park is cultivated, the rest being part

of the remaining Atlantic rain Forest and it rises up the slopes of Corcovado. The park is protected by the Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional and was designated as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 1992.

Whilst wandering through this park we came upon the smallest monkeys we have ever seen, “The Tufted Ear Marmoset’s” we think. There were a pair sharing a banana and a, presumably a mother, with the tiniest baby on her back. They were so tame, there was quite a crowd around them all taking ‘photos but they didn’t flinch.

As I said at the top, I wasn’t particularly enamored at the prospect of visiting these gardens but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it, thank you Christine for suggesting this visit.

Next we were advised to visit the “Parque Lage”. Parque Lage is a public park in the city of Rio, located close to the Botanical Gardens. The land was formerly the residence of the wealthy industrialist, “Enrique Lage” and his wife; the Italian opera singer “Gabriella Besanzoni” (1888 – 1962).

To get here we took another bus as Google maps told us it would take 36 minutes to walk, but as I have said before that doesn’t take the “heat” into account. Straight onto the bus, same fare, through the turnstile, hanging on for dear life until planted in a seat. 5 minutes later we were outside the park. This house was quite something, the courtyard in the middle of the building was a swimming pool, though it hadn’t

got a modern pumping system, the water was rather green. We had a good look around the outside then headed off for the bus back to our hotel feeling very happy with our day.

I looked on Google maps and it suggested the bus we arrived on actually went in one big circle so we crossed to the bus stop opposite. Our bus arrived and before we parted with the huge sum of 6.80 Reals, we checked with the driver if this was our bus; no he said and told us the bus number we wanted.   After an inordinate amount of time our bus arrived and we checked again, no said the driver we needed the 583, on the other side of the road. Oh well here we go again but this bus came along fairly quickly and after checking with the driver that it was OK, boarded. Because the traffic was getting heavy due to the time, he didn’t take off like a maniac so we got into our seats un-aided this time!

Google maps told us when to get off and 5 minutes later we “should” have been in our hotel, but were waylaid by activities going on in the local park. We went to investigate and watched numerous groups of 4’s playing cards and draughts. Draughts we knew but the card game baffled us, it seemed as if each table of 4 players were playing with 4 packs of cards; as our Portuguese is non-existent and very few people speak English, we decided not to ask.   As we were leaving the park

we were stopped dead in our tracks by a cordoned off area, firstly we thought it was a children’s play area but realised it was an adult play area, in fact it was full of various machines for people to do their work outs: no need to go to Virgin here in Rio, the equipment is in the park for free!!!!

Hotel next for a wash and brush up then out to an earlyish dinner, nothing exotic, we had all that with the cruise ship; plain and simple for the next few weeks and hopefully lose some of our un-wanted pounds.

Again another very successful day today, thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and will sleep well tonight; tomorrow is our last day in Rio.

 

Up and at ‘em this morning, early breakfast and waiting for our “all day tour” of Rio de Janeiro to begin. We did consider a ½ day tour as it basically covered much of what we wanted but with minimal stops, whereas the whole day did a little more, plus more time at vantage points and included lunch, all for an additional 50 Reals each: no contest.

We were down in reception at the appointed hour and we were picked up and marched to the tourist office, uh? We were told there would be a car or van to do this, oh dear we thought, have we picked a dud. Anyway at the office we met our tour guide, Julio, a fluent English speaker so things started to look up; he then marched us to our coach, a very modern, comfortable coach and off we set to collect a few more passengers.   Once all aboard he gave us a quick summary of the day’s events in Portuguese, English and Spanish, a very accomplished young man.

First stop, the Sugar Loaf Mountain, a two cable car trip. Being on the tour certainly paid dividends, he had the tickets and we were on our way, no queuing here. We arrived at the first stop and had 20 minutes to get acclimatised to the thinner air and look around; ha ha! There were 2 old cable cars on display; the first one was built in 1912 and carried 22

passengers and was used until 1972; so, this would have been the one I went up in when I was 5, back in 1949; it was very open and obviously a risk to health & safety; how my mother kept me sitting down, or more importantly, kept me in that car, I know not how! The second one was used from 1972 to 2008 and was featured in Moonraker (James Bond film). They continue with those introduced in 2008, which carries 65 passengers, and travels the distance in ½ the time.

Next up to the rarefied atmosphere at the top. Wow the views are stunning all round, the domestic airport, 2 of the 4 forts built by the Portuguese, Copacabana beach, a couple of marinas, most of Rio and much, much more. Having had a good long look round we grabbed a coffee and started the decent, arriving at the bottom we were picked up by our driver. When we booked we had to take pot luck with the weather; though warm we are surrounded by rain forest and we could have been unfortunate and suffered clouds etc., but no, we had a beautiful, extremely hot, clear sky; couldn’t have been better.

The sugar loaf mountain is one of the iconic sites in the world; it stands at the mouth of Guanabara Bay and rises 396 meters straight up from the Atlantic. The reason it is called the “Sugar Loaf Mountain”, apparently, is that it reminded folk back in the day, of the traditional shape of a concentrated, refined sugar loaf.   This became a World Heritage Site in 2012.

Next stop the Metropolitan Cathedral, a monumental modern building seating a congregation of 5,000; certainly not a conventional cathedral but apparently very well appreciated by the 6.5 million local population.

I think it’s time for a little background to Rio. The Portuguese rulers were the first ones to rule Rio as they landed on the soil of Guanabara Bay on the 1st January 1502. The bay forms the opening of a river, hence the name “Rio de Janeiro” which means “River of January”.

In 1555 the French sent a posse of 500 troops to get a piece of the action and a foothold was established by occupying the largest Island in Guanabara Bay. The Portuguese finally kicked them out in 1563 and to ensure there were no more trespassers they built a ring of forts around the bay, which were so well designed and sited, nothing could get past them from the sea.

In the earliest part of the 18^th century Gold and Diamond mining took place, which gave the area a big economical boost and at the same time drew in hundreds of European settlers, but this was short lived. Towards the end of the 18^th century the mines started to fall into disrepair and the towns economy drifted away. Everything is cyclical though, in 1808 Coffee was the thing to be in and the Rio Economy boomed again. Brazil got its independence from Portugal in 1815 and from that time Rio not only prospered but it laid the foundation of what the city has become today.

On our way our guide pointed out the Countries War Memorial dedicated to those who died fighting in the war. I thought Portugal was neutral during the war, and Brazil was Portuguese so assumed they were neutral as well, so at the first opportunity I was going to “collar” our man and find out more. It turns out Brazil sent 25,700 troops in 1943 to “help” the Americans in the Italian campaign; 943 were killed in action and many of their remains are in this memorial: you learn something every day!!!

Our next stop was the “Escadaria Selarón”, also known as the ‘Selaron Steps’. These are a flight of world-famous, decorated steps, and are the work of Chilean-born artist Jorge Selarón who took 15 years to complete the tiled decorations. He claimed it as “my tribute to the Brazilian people” Unfortunately due to depression he toped himself in 2013 though his spirit lives on, here in Rio.

Driving to the steps we passed the Carioca Aqueduct, which was built in 1723, during “colonial Brazil” to help solve the problem of water shortage in the city. If you didn’t know, you would have thought the Romans had been here! Today the

Aqueduct carries a light train or tram up to the upper district .

Next stop lunch, we were told we were having a bar-b-q at Copacabana, but before I go on I must mention that round the corner from our hotel is, what looks like a very nice Churasscarias, and we decided we would try it towards the end of the week; you know when we can do it justice. Anyway we got off the coach near the tour office and followed Julio down the road, round the corner and bless my soul we went into the Churasscarias we had been talking about. Well it was marvellous; the various meats just kept coming until we just couldn’t eat another thing. I know there is an Argentinian one in La Zenia but this was the real deal, here in Brazil. Over the years that we have done coach tours that include lunch, none have come anywhere near as high a standard as this lunch, well done “RioLine”

Waddling out of “Carretao Classic Grill” we headed for the coach and onto our next port of call, the Maracanã football

stadium, built for the 1950 inaugural FIFA world cup. Judging by what we were told, Brazil, with its very posh and big stadium was confident of winning that tournament, but at 1 all, in the last few seconds Uruguay scored the winning goal. This still rankles and I remember this still being talked about in Uruguay when we were there a few years ago!!!!!!!   Not being that interested in Football and having seen numerous stadiums around the world, we rested our stomachs and stopped on the coach.

Now we were on our way the Corcovado but stopped to see the 1 km avenue, lined with “permanent” concrete stands

where the Rio Carnival passes by and the floats, costumes etc., are judged.

We arrived at the base of the Corcovado Mountain and changed our mode of transport from a coach to a train. This train was inaugurated in 1884 and cuts through Tijuca’s National Park, a part of the so-called Atlantic Rain Forest, or what’s left of it!! The “Puffing Billy’s” were replaced with electric trains in 1910, but in 1979 the current, more modern and safer trains were imported from Switzerland.

This single tracked railway with passing places delivered us to the top with ease and now I thought, ‘Oh God’, I have millions of steps to climb and I cant think of an excuse not to go. But to my delight and great surprise they have installed lifts to the base; thank the lord, this saves climbing the 220 steps

that we were reliably informed were waiting.

We get out of the lift at the base; well below the base actually, but I think to myself, I can do the last few, but no. We spotted an escalator; wow how good is that? It was a two-stage escalator, but I’ll forgive them for that, then hey presto, we are walking around the base of this monster statute. To get a better angle of the statute there were mats supplied for people to lie on and take a picture; well done Christine for entering the spirit of it.

Christ the Redeemer’s construction started in 1922 and was completed in 1931, though the original idea was muted by a Vincentian priest, Pedro Maria Boss, in the mid 1850’s. The statute stands 38 meters tall on its plinth, and on top of mount Corcovado, that itself is 710 meters above sea level. This monument became one of the 7 new wonders of the world in 2007.

Joking aside, I would have been mad not to have climbed the steps had there not been a lift. I thought the views from Sugar Loaf were stunning, but these are even more stunning, though you cant see too much detail, you get a far better prospective of Rio de Janeiro and its surrounding water, islands and its sheer size.

Again the weather couldn’t have been better, yes there was a heat haze but nothing to what it could have been, surrounded in

clouds more often than not.

Back down on the railway, Christine was fascinated by large round yellow/greenish, presumably some sort of fruit, but not sure. That is her task to find out.

We were dropped off our coach a little after 1800hrs, just round the corner from our hotel so we popped into “our” local restaurant for a coffee and tea supported by those wonderful Portuguese custardy tarts, yummy yummy.

Back to our room, its getting past our bed time and we are thoroughly knackered after a fantastic day enjoying Rio.

Tomorrow: well we’ll see what tomorrow brings!