Beaches

yep, getting in all the quality sunbathing time i can before i head off for Quito. Lovely day on the beach although was adopted by some random dog, who took great exception whenever i looked away and barked....loudly. Rather ruined the peace and tranquilty somewhat. In the end had to move to another beach....the traumas of being here! Was planning on going on a little bus ride tomorrow to another little surf town with more beaches but quite honestly cant be bothered. Has been quite tiring being here so far and its nice to not do too much! jees, listen to me!

Happy Birthday Dad and Becs

says it all really. lots of birthday love being sent your way

portugese colonialism

Yep, have moved to a little village called Paraty, which is unesco preserved for the quality of its portuguese colonial architecture. All very nice but what is even better is that there are amazing resturants, v cheap havianana flip flops for sale and lots of lovely boutiques. Knew i was going to love it here! Plus amazing beaches to discover tommorrow now the sun is properly out. All together now....hurray!

more boats and beaches

Fun day today. Long hike over mountain (well, bump, but hard enough) then failed to find (what looked on other people's photos) a spectacular waterfall! some quality time on lovely beach then hooked up with group for a bit of a boat trip round more of the island. All accompanied by some gorgeous dog who adopted us and wouldn't go away. Particularly cute swimming in the sea with us. He took a particular liking to Doug and wherever Doug swam, he would follow! Vic - had that macque thing for lunch - v nice!

best beach in brazil

Yep, visited the best beach in Brazil today (not sure who determines these things, but could be a nice job for me when i finish....will have lots of beach based experience!) and whilst it was absolutely gorgeous (wide, powdery sandy beach, clear blue ocean with fish all backed by lush jungle) the fact that it is so famous meant it was also v busy. not so much the peaceful idyll but certainly nothing to complain about! Also had a nice little boat trip there and back so all in all v sucessful day. Particularly because cafe molhado (or something) turned out to be full on banquet for brekkie and not coffee, as i had erroneously translated it as! Did Grandma proud and smuggled out hastily made ham and cheese roll and fruit for lunch (guess what made up brekkie) thus making our barginous room even more barginous!

Oooh, and had a massive 13hours sleep last night so am feeling full of beans tonight. Still keeping of the caiprinhas though....dont think my body can take any more acid for a while!

And honoured I am influencing your food choices vic, will definately keep my eyes peeled for it!

Brazilian paradise

am now feeling like a proper traveller as have made my first journey of this trip. Yep, have finally left Rio and am now residing on a lovely little island which, according to a man on the boat over, is the 2nd nicest in Brazil and has Brazil's best beach. The sun has also been making a significant appearance and so Caroline is happy again!

Had quite a fun dayt yesterday pottering around and made it onto the beach in Rio in my bikini for a good couple of hours before the wind picked up and left me a shivering wreck reminiscent of british holiday makers in Skegness determined to stay on the beach! Also went back up Sugar Loaf as some of my mates were doing the whole watch sun set over Rio thing, and whilst positively humming of stilton, was actually really lovely. Then had an amazing night out in some big street party which goes on each Friday in some dodgy part of Rio. Lovely introduction as look out of taxi window to see a couple of women wearing not much more than underwear. So there's me thinking that the Brazilians are quite exhibitionists when it comes to weekend wear, when its pointed out to me that they were not only prostitutes but transexual ones at that. So i may have done a lot of travelling but am still horribly naive.

So then basically spent evening drinking pints of ridiculously cheap caiparinhas (or however you spell it) eating meat on a stick and dancing in the streets before being lured into a rather fun club based on the fact that they were playing the twist! I tried to make everyone get to a samba club but by 4am resigned myself to the fact that I had no chance and went home!

So anyway, as I said, am now on Ilha Grande with 3 people who i met in the Rio Hostal. Had a bit of a trauma as walked for quite a long way on the beach, with v heavy packs, to get to our chosen hostel before deciding that it was quite rubbish and we didn't want to stay there! Cue mad outburst from the strange women running it who seemed to think that as we had looked at the room we were obliged to stay at least one night! Also caused a bit of a split in the group as not everyone wanted to go back, but back we went and am so glad we did. Have settled ourselves into a gorgeous pousada (B&B) with a pool where we have our own rooms, air con, fridge, towels and EVERYTHING for only 2pounds more. Definately worth it. So am loving it here. Feels a bit touristy, but its out of season so its ok, and it has a really laid back vibe which is lovely. And even nicer, there are no cars and the village is really small, which is a lovely change from Rio.

Ooh, rather boring blog today, sorry, will try for more amusing anecdotes tommorrow. only had 3 hours sleep last night and it is getting to me now!

oops

Have just realised that despite the title of my last blog there was v little mention of firecrackers! It was becuase the kids in the favelas use them to signal when police are coming or when the drugs have arrived, and then at the footie there were lots. And after the bank holdup in Costa Rica when i thought the guns were firecrackers, i'm not really a big fan!

Bit of a firecracker theme today

Oooh so much to write today and this keyboard is too stiff to write as quickly as i want so fogive me if i scream. Had v busy day yesterday as got myself onto a Favela ('slums' of Brazil) tour and ended up finding it amazing. Friends from the hostal here had told me it wasn't voyeristic (which had initially put me off going) so booked myself on and ended up learning loads about the Favelas. I guess I had thought that they would be full of foul water, evil gun toting drug barons and general misery and despair. And whilst its fair to say I wouldn't want to live there, it was nowhere near as bad as I had imagined. Bit scary driving through Rocinho (the biggest in Rio with about 60,000 inhabitants!) and having these young boys (14, 150 being pointed out who were in the drugs gangs and were on watch duty (with hidden machine guns) and rather amusing watching the policeman watching tv on a set bought for him by the drug baron. Altogether a really cool afternoon

Then came the much anticipated footie match (turned out to be the cup final!) and it was every bit as amazing as we had expected. All had to leave at 6.30 and so thought the internet must have got it wrong with a ko of 9.45pm! But no. When we finally got there at 8pm the stadium was already really full with loads of people going crazy. And there was us, this big group of rather white, overawed foreigners all following in a little line behind the lucky girl who got to make sure we all stayed together! It was brilliant as we were right where all the brazilians sit (had thought we might be in the expensive bit) and whilst i didn't want to think about what might happen if there was a problem (think probable Hilsborough) the atmosphere was amazing. For the next 3 hours (kick off was eventually at 10!) there was non-stop singing, shouting, flag waving, flares, fireworks and washing powder throwing, not to mention the constant men with beer/food/shirts etc. Just so cool. rather randomly though, once the match started, everyone really calmed down. Obviously needed all their concentration to spur the team on to victory!

Unfortunately it was a rather dull game with 0-0 and as the other team had won in the first leg (we decided there were a number of ways to improve the game and are thinking ofsunmitting our ideas to the Brazilian FA - getting rid of2 leg cup finals is the first recommendation!) we ended up losing. But despite this the crowd still roared with approval and the fun started again! All very different. What also struck me was just how fun police there were (about 6 and all on the pitch, behind a 15ft metal fence away fromthe fans) and how many people were allowed onto the pitch. 30secs before kickoff you couldn~t make out the team for everyone else and then the minute half time blew, a million journalists were on the pitch interviewing the players! Crazy

So after all that excitement had a gentle day exploring the artistic neighbourhood of Santa Teresa which mostly consisted of me riding a tram quite a lot and then eating in a restaurant which didn't seem to like non-couples as only 4 items on the menu weren~t for 2 people and 2 of those were soldout!!! As a final aside am having much fun ordering food here as the words are v different to spanish and i dont have a dictionary. Every meal is an adventure;.

But phew, said i had a lot to write!

Absolutely fabulous darling

Somehow last night, given the huge array of terribly glamorous nights out in Rio, we managed to end up in some rather odd gay club just down the road from the hotel which looked just like someone had taken a victorian semi, painted over the flock wall paper in white, put mirrors on the living room walls and opened for business. And to make it even more strange, it was managed by Grace Jones (or as near as dammit) and populated by a rather strange array of characters including a mad old70yr old who was desperate to paint the portrait of our friend Doug (a rather beautiful but scarily straight guy!) Never have I been anywhere quite so terrible and I hope to God I never do in the future....but somehow still managed to stay out till 4

Night of the big footie match tonight.....v excited!

Its raining - grrr

Am currently trapped in my hostel cause its raining outside and am worried that if i step outsid i might melt! I am considering braving it though as the shops are calling.....shoes for 7 pounds, what a bargin! Just have to find some room in my backpack....who needs a fleece anyway, surely i can keep myself warm with a glow of pleasure when i look at said new shoes. Rather worryingly, met 3 english people yesterday who have been travelling for a bit and they said Argentina was ridiculously cheap and Buenos Aries had amazing clothes, so need to save some money!

As mentioned braved the communal area of my hostel last night and met some English people and ended up going to this English pub across the road (they have been away for 4 months and were craving a curry) so that was rather interesting! Curry was (unsurprisingly) not good!

shoes

turns out that the shoes aren't 7 but 7 a week for 4 weeks! A rather crafty way of displaying the price! So the remaining space in my rucksack is safe for a few more days yet....also managed to resist buying clothes, primarily on account of they are all v small here and i have such pathetic portugese that i am not even going to attempt to ask for different sizes!

aerial views a go go

So am loving Rio and am feeling right at home already. Slight minor hiccup with first hostal as there was precisely me and a wierd brazilian girl staying there so not much chance of making some friends. But have moved to a slightly livelier one now and it is looking much more promising.....plus they are organising a trip to watch a game of footie on wednesday so am v pleased at that. Should be a bit of an experience!

Anyway, as the title of this blog suggests, have been doing a lot of looking down on rio - both from the big christ statue and sugar loaf mountain. Have been really lucky as the weather has been lovely and clear (raining now so am sulking but thats a different story!) so have had some amazing views over rio. This is going to sound v stupid, but hadnt realised just how much it was surrounded by water and surrounded hills. Also saw a lovely layer of smog today over city but we shant dwell on that! Have also been having some exciting bus rides to get to all these places and somehow have managed to naviagate the public transport system with relative ease. Also rather randomly feel like i in the film city of god whenever i go through the turnstile on the bus as the scene where i started watching the film was 2 boys on the bus!

Not really sure what i´m going to do with my 2 weeks here as dont really feel like travelling v long distances.....and most of brazil is a very long way away from anywhere else! so might just stay in rio for most of my time with a little side trip to this island thats meant to be gorgeous

And as a final aside...the guidebook is right when they say that the brazilians can understand spanish but you wont be able to understand the response! Am having some wonderfully entertaining conversations with neither party really having a clue! Am looking forward to being in Ecuador and being understood.....I feel very lost being so completely unable to talk

welcome to rio

well after the journey from hell, finally arrived in Rio last night 8 hours after we were meant to! All started well with a lovely BA plane but then the problems started when we tried to touch down in sao paulo. Unfotunately there was fog with 300m visibility so we couldnt land and after initially thinking we were going to divert to rio (hurrah) we ended up in a small airport about 10mins away from sao paulo. Had a delay while we waited for some ground staff, and then when we were finally cleared to leave from this little place, the plane behind us couln~t start an engine so we were stuck! Anyway, eventually made it to sao paulo (with the advantage that now it was light we had a great view over the city - its huge!) and just as we thought we were going to leave, the captain comes on to say that a catering van has hit the plane and whilst he and the brazilian enginer say its fine, it has to be agreed by an engineer in england. Now, he thought it would only take 20mins, but 5 hours later we were still waiting with little trips into sao paulo airport for some snacks! turns out there only appears to be one engineer who can say yes and he was at home (presumably with a killer hangover which was preventing him looking at some digital photos!!)

So then we were all herded off the plane and transfered to a local brazilian plane which was flying from an airport miles and miles away! but brazilian airports are an experience in themselves and am quite glad i have experienced one before i fly to quito so i know what to expect! But despite the huge delays, it was quite an experience and when we finally landed in rio, everyone (from our flight at least) cheered! Plus we got an amazing flight over rio seeing christ and sugar loaf and everything

So am now in rio, settled in a nice little hostal in ipanaema. Not really sure how long i am going to stay here, but it could be quite a while, its got a lovely feeling with all these little bars and resturants on street corners and feels a bit like greenwich in new york or paris or somewhere like that. Went out to a couple of really cute bars last night (with my first proper brazilian made caiprinha.....my brain cells may never recover!) and then tried to get into this club which turned out to be one of the more popular ones in rio and after queing for half an hour, we gave up! Felt like being a pleb trying to get into chinawhites or somewhere!

Anyway, really tired today so going to take it easy....apparently there is a market on somewhere and then i am off to the beach for some serious r & r!

Not long to go now

So, one day to go and it all feels a bit strange, probably cause the parents aren't here to send me off as they usually do.....hoping the realisation that I am actually going away for 6 months will kick in soon....but more urgently am hoping that the realisation that i dont need 6 pairs of shoes and a million t shirts will kick in soon, or i could be needing 2 rucksacks. When am i going to learn to pack lightly.

More excitingly, had spontaneous trip to bravissimo yesterday and found lots of bikinis that actually fit! So bought 2! Why is my life so predictable....go into town to take back excess pair of shoes (unsurprising i know) and end up with 2 bikinis.....for going to countries where i am only going to spend about 2 weeks on the beach!

Ah well....wouldn't be me if i wasn't a complete waster of money

Congrats Becs

She deserves a whole posting to herself for being fab and getting a great new job!

Isle of Wight

So this weekend I did something I always swore I wouldn't do again after the hell that was Glastonbury in the torrential rain in 1998 (I think) and went to a festival.....and rather surprisingly actually enjoyed it! Think this was almost certainly due to the fact that the sun shone brilliantly for the whole time we were there and so we did more than a little sunbathing....but still, had a great time whatever the reason. Did manage to see quite a bit of a live music tho with Faithless and Goldie Lookin Chain being the hits of the weekend (GLC being a particular surprise, particularly as I didn't even realise who GLC were on the programme until they came on!). So v succesful weekend....and a shower has never felt as good as it did on monday back in civilisation!

Now back in nottingham after a whistlestop tour of some friends in London before a quick trip to manchester then back to london on friday for my flight.......eek! really need to organise myself....its coming round so quickly! But i have at least just bought some new cds so my ipod can be refreshed! Am now proud owner of "ultimate dirty dancing" and v happy about it too!

A decision has been reached!

So, thought I had better start writing again now my incessant pondering over how to spend the next 6 months is finally over (thanks so much to all my lovely friends who i bored to tears with my neverending "should i do this? should i go there? should i settle down, get a job and a dog?" type dilemas. I know you all just wanted to shout at me to "shut up and be grateful you dont have to go to work every day you lazy bum" and I'm sorry i carefully ignored pretty much every one of your words of wisdom- but go on....you always knew i was going to!!)

Anyway, after a rather swift u turn last wednesday (to the relief of my mum) i decided not to go the "try to fit every continent in" route and gave up on africa (but all potential boyfs will now be asked the deciding "do you want to take a sabbatical in the next 5-7 years to travel around central africa for 3 months" before being allowed into the wonderful world of caroline). So now, on the 17th June I am winging my way to rio for a fun packed 2 weeks in Brazil (becs....hope you have the mother of all schedules for me with plenty of necklace / flip flop buying time) before I fly off to kill myself in Ecuador. There i am planning on volunteering for 3 months in a shelter for abused women whilst also going to spanish school for the first month (god dammit, i will become fluent in spanish) in Quito (with its eternal spring time climate, to quote a certain guidebook). After that I am then planning on taking myself off to Bolivia and then to some combination of chile and argentina before ending up in Buenos Aires in time to fly home for x-mas, hopefully having spent a couple of weeks there learning tango (have decided this is to be my dancing and dialects -for want of a better word begining with d to describe learning a language - trip. I WILL come back fully able to converse in spanish whilst salsa-ing perfectly)

So, much as i spent my final few days before i went off to central america panicing buying everything in the travel shops, so i have spent the last few days bankrupting myself, convinced i have nothing of use despite having lived out of a rucksack only recently......god knows why i thought 2inch gold heels would be useful.....but they are pretty! Anyway, have also bought out Nottingham's supply of DEET and spent a fortune on malaria tablets and am now all kitted up (big thanks to Katie for patiently answering all my "will i need a wooly hat....will i need lightweight cardie" type questions with immense patience yesterday). Now just have the fun of the Isle of Wight festival this weekend to look forward to and then i am all set to go......hurrah.....another adventure here i come!