After a few days in Floripa, a week in Rio, a handful of days in Paraty, and 9 hours in Sampa, now it is time to say goodbye to Brazil (and South America). Each place left special memories.
In Florianopolis I spent my birthday with mom, aunt and uncle.
Rio is one of the most amazing cities in the world. Beautiful setting with forest and beaches, lots of cultural activities, and laid back people (some could argue, too laid back) that like to dance samba. Picture this: on Superbowl Sunday, a Kiwi and an Argie, went to an Irish Pub in Ipanema to watch American Football's biggest game, while sipping a caipira made with Scandinavian vodka. Can't ask for more from a city. Staying in the old and still not too gentrified neighborhood of Santa Teresa was a big contributor to our wonderful experience. I need to thank my cousin Teresa, who by now is half Brazilian, for this and many other tips.
Paraty was beautiful in a different way: colonial town in a bay with green sea water and white sand beaches.
As for Sao Paulo, well, we were there for only 9 hours, arriving at 5AM after a bad night sleep on the bus, on a mostly rainy day. It is a huge city. Picture shows Simon in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral, also huge. So after a brief walk through the old part of town, the Asian section, and the famous Avenida Paulista, we spent time indoors in the MASP (SP's Museum of Art) and the metro. Our flight to Africa departed at 6PM. Exhausted, slept most of it.
But when I look back and try to choose the most lasting memory of Brazil, I come back to Wednesday, our last day in Paraty. Simon and I rented a pair of bikes and rode to the hills in search of a couple of "cachoeiras", Brazilian for waterfalls. First we climbed a steep paved road to the "Tobogao", a waterfall where people, Simon included, slid down a rock. I was not courageous enough to do it. Then we went to another waterfall called "Pedra Blanca". The road to it was just as steep as the first one, but unpaved. Hard work. The mountain bikes where great, but our legs couldn't deal with every climb, and so we had to get off and push the bikes several times. It was all worth it, at the end we reached a waterfall with fresh cool water. So excited I was of getting into the cold water and getting rid of my biking sweat that I kicked a rock under the water and ended up with scratches and a swollen ankle. Not a big deal. However, on the way back into town, we had another accident. Our camera was assassinated by a flying biker that fell off the bike onto the camera in her pocket. My hardworked suntan is now spoiled by a few scratches on my leg and a swollen square-shaped (coincidentally, the size of a camera) black-and-blue on my left leg. If you worry about me limping, wait until you see the camera, I never knew I could smash something like that. No pictures no more...
Well, now we are in an airport waiting for our flight to Nairobi, let's hope for fewer scratches and less swollen body parts in Africa's part of the tour. We have been on the move since we left Paraty on Wednesday night, so we are really looking forward to a bed tonight. Mooreland Hotel is where we have a reservation, and that's the only thing I can think about right now. All else is fine.
Mercedes
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