Santa Teresa, Rio
We had a really fantastic last few days in Rio. Loved the city, and massively encourage anyone to visit. We both had people tell us so many horror stories about safety (the worst includes a tale of tourist murders...cheers for that) and can honestly say at no point did we feel threatened, intimidated or in any way unsafe. We were both really relaxed, pottered about all over the city by subway and bus, walked for miles and generally embraced it all. Yes, there's little English spoken, and I wonder how that'll work when the World Cup and Olympics take centre stage, but learning a little Brazilian Portuguese was part of the fun.
Our last few days were busy - we got up early every day in an attempt to see the Christ the Redeemer statue only to be foiled by clouds and the like, so opted instead for meandering walks around the lovely Santa Teresa area (pic above), parks, beaches and the Botanic Gardens.
In true Carioca spirit, those final days in Rio also featured a lot of caiprinhas and generally having fun with our new friends from the hostel (side note: Stand Fast hostel highly recommended, good staff, rooms, extras). Great night out at a club including samba dancing, hostel hook ups (not me I hasten to add, but obviously I was first with the gossip the next day), and leftover pizza at 4am. Waking up the next day to the sounds of someone drilling into concrete outside our door was not well received.
We're a little knackered now - Rio has sapped us of our energy, we crammed so much in. I'm writing this from our hostel in Iguassu. We flew here today (internal flight with Gol airlines, most confusing boarding procedure ever), met an English guy at the airport and shared a taxi to the hostel. We hit the ground running, visiting the Brazilian side of the falls as soon as we dumped our bags. They were breathtaking - photos below. I feel like I've been spewing out the hyperbole about the sights we've seen but I promise it's merited!
Everything had been going so smoothly up until today, so I guess it was about time we hit a few bumps. The airport was stressful, but fine as soon as we were actually on the flight. Unfortunately in our rush to pay the taxi, sort out our bags etc, I seemed to have lost the little bag I keep my cards and major banknotes in (these are usually hidden in my bra - little tip from a Rio local which has served me well), and a frantic search came up fruitless. I paused both cards within about ten minutes of realising...then found everything partly hidden under a blanket on the top bunk bed a few minutes later. Unfortunately one card can't be reactivated without a new one being sent to the UK and then onwards to South America, so I'm solely reliant on the STA Cashcard over the FairFX one, which has better rates. Oh well!
Our next incident came when I asked Jules to double check we were definitely flying to Salta, Argentina from the Brazilian airport, rather than the one across the border. She hadn't realised there were two (and I hadn't bothered to mention, which I feel awful about), and lo and behold, we fly from the Argentinian one. Cue an evening negotiating hostel cancellation here, booking a new one on the other side, and figuring out what to do with the Braziliian Reals Jules had just withdrawn.
Tomorrow we cross the border to Argentina, and Saturday on to Salta. Looking forward to some time to catch our breath there. I'm aiming to consume nothing but steak and wine for the entire duration.
Iguassu Falls, Brazilan side (apologies for phone-quality photo)
