South America: Beach Bums, Amazon Floats, and Everything In Between
In and around South America
We have arrived! Let the Brazil/South America adventure begin!
Our tentative plan for the trip is to start in Sao Paulo, learn Portugese, travel south to Iguazu Falls/Argentina/Uruguay area, then northwest to the Pantanal (South America´s largest concentration of wildlife), then through Bolivia, to Peru to see Machu Picchu, the north to the Amazon and jungle, then float the Amazon, to the mouth, then travel south alternating between the forests and sights of the interior and the beautiful coastal beaches. Finally arrive back in Sao Paulo, fly back to the U.S., and move to Arcata, California. I feel like I am in the process of knocking out half a year of my life in one fell swoop, but I´m excited!!!
Also, I think it`s a load of crap that you have to be a member to make comments, so I created a comment making account. The email address is:
iknowjema@hotmail.com and the password is:
iknowjema
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler Jema
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1
Madness (and Serenity)
So we arrived yesterday morning and finally got to our hostel at noon. I´ve never really experienced jet lag before, but holy cr... Continue reading »
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2
Point, Grunt, Laugh, Smile... whatever it takes!
Although I don´t believe in travelling in foreign countries with expensive things like video cameras, sometimes I really wish we had o... Continue reading »
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3
Onde é fica a toalete?
So finally we are learning Portuguese! It´s so nice to be able to somewhat communicate with people instead of just defaulting to Spani... Continue reading »
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4
A Hundred Year Old House
We never have time for internet! Seriously. We go to school from 9-11, eat lunch from 11-12, and we have only an hou... Continue reading »
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5
I think my legs just fell off.
I think we walked a jazillion miles today. Probably more like six miles, but we were on our feet the entire day. Don´t get me wrong; I´... Continue reading »
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6
24-Hour Tornado
Get ready for the longest journal of your life. Or close to it...
Wednesday morning marked day seven for us, which a... Continue reading »
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7
Brazil 2, Australia 0 !!!
Today was our last day in São Paulo (sad!). We were supposed to leave this morning, but last night... Well, actually, I shou... Continue reading »
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8
My World Got Flip-Turned Upside Down
Today, we arrived in Curitiba about 1/2 an hour earlier than we expected to, which is a bad thing. Why? Because we planned to use the b... Continue reading »
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9
Just a Small Town Girl
We *finally* got into the countryside today, which I have been dying to do. Growing up I used to think the excitement and en... Continue reading »
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10
I`m the Second Craziest Person I Know
I think I am not actually supposed to write this blog, because this is the third time I`ve tried. The first time, I wrote for an hour befor... Continue reading »
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11
You Might Be A Redneck If...
We spent three wonderful days in Puerto Iguazu on the Argentenian side of Iguazu Falls on the river that doubles as the Brazil/Argentinian border.&... Continue reading »
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12
Bonito really is Muito Bonito
When we left Puerto Iguazu in Argentina, we ended up missing our long distance bus from the Brazilian side by about ten minutes. But, it ende... Continue reading »
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13
Rice, Beans, and Farofa.
Oh... the Pantanal. We have just returned!
Preface: they Patanal is widely known and oft visited, as it is the ecological ho... Continue reading »
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14
Filthy Creepy-Crawlies
We arrived in Corumba last night with a recommendation from our Pantanal guide in hand. He said they´re always waiting at the bus station, so... Continue reading »
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15
Brings New Meaning to "Brain-Fried"
Happy 4th of July! Days like today really make me wish I could have my cake and eat it, too. I would love to be in the U.S. right now,... Continue reading »
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16
Push, shove, grab, jostle... whatever it takes!
I feel like we`ve been to hell and back, but as they say here, "Vale la pena." Literally, "the pain has value" or in English, "it`s worth it.... Continue reading »
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17
Other-Worlds and Pinche Thieves!
The Salar de Uyuni (Salt Flats) tour we went on was absolutely incredible. The first day was my favorite, as we raced through the actual sala... Continue reading »
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18
Record Setting
After a long, overnight bus ride on rough dirt roads on an overcroweded bus, we finally arrived in La Paz. All told, by the time we leave thi... Continue reading »
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19
Don`t Drink the Water!
So, we arrived in San Borja hot, sticky, dirty, tired, grouchy, sore, cranky, and of course more than ready to get on yet another 1950`s bus and go... Continue reading »
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20
The constant culture shock is really starting to wear on us.
Our flight to Guayarmerin on the Brazil/Bolivian border was much less eventful than expected (thank god). Other than taking off late (surpris... Continue reading »
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21
I´ll Die with My Eyes Squeezed Shut
I realized, as our taxi raced up on a semi hauling logs going ten miles an hour for the third time, that if I don´t die of natural causes... Continue reading »
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22
"Like Sardines" is an Understatement
Preface: I´m rather sick of blogging, so prepare yourselves for some low-quailty recounting:
Right before we left Porto Velho, the boat... Continue reading »
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23
Ants in Your Pants!
So, the Onze de Maio (the boat we picked up in Manaus to carry us the 1000 miles down the Amazon to the Atlantic Ocean) was definitely sub-par comp... Continue reading »
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24
The Race is On!
On the very off chance that you didn´t already know, I´m crazy, and it takes someone equally crazy to keep up with me.
After the mad dash to... Continue reading »
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25
On being a woman...
It came to me on the Salvador to Rio de Janiero, 30 hour, $108 bus ride, that many of you men out there are unpractised and, in fact, entirely unaw... Continue reading »
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26
Just Another Day in Paradise!
Our arrival in Lencois, just like our arrivals everywhere, came after some very long bus trips. Finding a place to stay turned out to be more... Continue reading »
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27
Heaven on Earth
Probably the best decision we made so far on this trip was to skip Rio de Janiero, opting for some extra time on Ihla Grande, a deserted trop... Continue reading »
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28
Full Circle
Our last night-bus in Brazil was the relatively short but very very very windy (wind as in corkscrew, not wind as in blow) road along the coast bac... Continue reading »
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29
Advice for the Novice Traveller
Throughout our weeks in Brazil, Patch and I took to collecting tid bits of advice that we will apply to future travels and, of course, use to help... Continue reading »
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