South America
- Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe, Independent travel, Photography, South America, Travel Blog, Wildlife
Biding Our Time
“Wasting my time, resting my mind And I’ll never pine For the sad days and the bad days When we was working from nine to five” Lyrics from “Biding My Time” by Pink Floyd We’re in a bit of what you might call a hiatus. It’s been a strange year, one way and another, with the whole of January at home to deal with a property matter, then our Brazil trip interrupted by the sad news of Michaela’s Dad’s death and our return to England for the funeral. Of course, we then reconvened our trip and enjoyed ten weeks of Brazil, the southern states of the USA and a little…
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Manaus: Industry, Elegant Buildings & The Meeting Of The Waters
“A couple of Englishmen strolling through Brazil, end-to-end, wonderful, friendly, even without speaking Portuguese always sought to enjoy everything in the city”. These words are, unaltered, the review of us placed on airbnb by one of our hosts in Brazil. It pleased us so much that we just wanted to reproduce it here. As if this whole thing didn’t feel strange enough already, we’re finally getting undressed and into bed when the cockerels start crowing to remind us that daylight is only a couple of hours away. Half past ten in the evening seems an odd time for a domestic flight to take to the air, particularly a 4-hour flight…
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Spiders, Snakes & Pink Dolphins: Four Days In The Amazon Jungle
Jim is telling us to be minimalistic in terms of what we take with us tonight, yet at the same time he’s giving us our strict instructions on the essentials which must form part of the minimalist pack: waterproof jacket, mosquito repellent, long trousers, decent walking shoes, sun lotion, waterproof cases for cameras and phones, and drinking water. And then there’s mosquito repellent and, if we still have room, some more mosquito repellent. This promises to be an interesting night. Once we’d made the decision to spend time in the Amazon jungle – which, to be honest, was one of our red lines when we had to redesign this Brazil…
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The Many Faces Of Recife
Brazil must surely be one of the best countries in the world for using the Uber taxi service, certainly the best we’ve encountered anywhere so far. Easy, reliable and cheap. We originally intended to hire a car to explore the Olinda/Recife area, but once you realise that a half hour Uber ride can cost as little as £2.60 there’s just no point taking on the driving yourself. But you know, once you get the hang of Brazil, it’s not altogether odd that Uber works well: this is a surprisingly well developed country in a technological sense. For a start, this is virtually a cashless society, everywhere expects payment by card,…
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The Crazy World Of Francisco Brennand
Picture an artist and sculptor being given a gigantic space in which to let his imagination run riot. Imagine if that space was a disused factory set in substantial grounds with endless opportunities for indoor and outdoor exhibition, and if that sculptor was given enough time to create over 2,000 items in an isolated world of fantasy. And finally, imagine if that guy had a mind full of wild ideas way beyond the norm. Welcome to Oficina Brennand and the life’s work of one Francisco Brennand. First, some context and history. The factory in question, with its many brick built industrial buildings and wide open grassy spaces in between, was originally…
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Climbing To Dedza: Pottery, Petroglyphs & Bad Tomatoes
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Shock News: Brazil Is Really Big
Saturday night in Puerto Iguazu is properly rocking, busier than every previous evening with queues outside several restaurants and music from numerous bars clashing mid street in a melee of bass lines and choruses which succeed only in drowning each other out. Bon Jovi, Men At Work and Gnarls Barkley merge into a disturbing melange which threatens to confuse and confound the ears. Whether it’s like this every Saturday, or whether it’s especially busy because it’s Easter, we’ll never know. Our last night in Argentina And so after our brief 5-day glimpse of Argentina, we head back across the bridge and cast one last look at the pale blue skies…
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Iguazu Wildlife
Our week or so on the Brazil-Argentina border may not have been our most spectacular ever in terms of spotting wildlife, but it had its moments – moments dominated by butterflies. Here’s some nature shots to wind up that part of this trip….
- Argentina, Brazil, Independent travel, Photography, South America, Travel Blog, Wildlife, World food
Across The Border: A Glimpse Of Argentina
I have always been fond of making the point that flora and fauna, and therefore consequently the cuisine which is invariably traditionally based on what is available locally, don’t know where international borders lie. In other words, just because mankind placed a dividing line in a certain place doesn’t mean that one cuisine stops and a different one begins the moment you cross the line. Or that because you’ve travelled five miles everything on your plate, and in the countryside, will have changed, just because some bloke some time decided that’s where the line is. I may however have to shift that opinion slightly having made the short, hassle free…
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Last Images Of Paraty
We have now moved on from Paraty and are now in the vicinity of one of the world’s most incredible natural sights, a true natural wonder of the world. But before we get on to that, here’s a few more images of beautiful Paraty which didn’t make it on to our earlier posts……
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High Climbs & High Tides: Last Days In Paraty
We’re not always altogether comfortable with organised group tours, and although both of the outings with Paraty Tours have been good, it’s time to go independent again after two successive days of being chaperoned by others. So Wednesday morning we head to the bus station and wait in the heat for the number 25 bus to Trindade which, by the time the driver reverses out of the stand, is ridiculously overloaded with far too many people and far too much baggage. The little bus really struggles on the mountain climbs, with the driver opting for first gear and a raging engine uphill, then inching slowly down the other side with…
