Rio to Rosario - Part 1

Well, a lot has happened since my last post in Rio. I managed to recover most of my photos so they have now gone up on facebook. I was tossing up between a trip down the Brazilian cost to Florianopolis or going to the Pantanal wetlands outside of Campo Grande. I decided that a wetlands trip would be the ticket (although more expensive) as I am keen for as much outdoor adventures as possible. So I got my ticket directly from the bus station using very basic Spanish (in a Portuagese speaking country!) which was about a 1.5 hour round trip on the local buses - bit of a mission. My departure from Stone of a Beach hostel in Rio was a bit rushed as I needed to back up the rest of my recovered photos and get money from the ATM so as not to incur a 5% charge on my credit card through the hostel. Funny story there - I got the money out and stuffed it into the front my my undies as I didn´t have my money belt. I got back to the hostel with only a few mintutes to complete packing and leave. I rushed upstairs to the dorm and popped into the toilet to take a number 1 as I was dying to go for ages. I rushed into the first toilet and ripped open my pants, only to see $400 fly straight into the toilet!!! I instinctively fished it out and bound it back up into a soggy ball! I had to apologise to reception for my money falling into a puddle outside in the rain...figured the truth could have lead to a rejection of payment!

Well, to the long distance bus station for the second time in two days and onto my first long bus ride to the Camp Grande. 22 hours went by pretty quickly, although simple lack of language meant I didn´t want to venture out of the bus too long at each stop because I couldn´t establish when it was leaving again! Arriving in Campo Grande was abit of a shock. It was considerably hotter and I wasn´t feeling that fresh from the bus ride. I was immediately swamped by people selling Pantanal tours but I went over the road to the youth hostel with Ecological Expeditions as I had heard of them before and they gave a free night at the hostel with each tour, which I decided to use as I was too tired to leave straight away! I spent the rest of the day by their pool reading and getting refreshed for my trip leaving the next day. I decided to do the lodge option because I met a few people in the hostel. The mini van trip from Camp Grande was around 4 hours, stopping a few times for food. It was so incredibly hot in the van with the windows open fully, like standing by the door of a fan-forced oven! It was around 37 degrees outside with no clouds or anything!

We arrived at the pickup point for the lodge and were met by a truck with seats on the back tray. We still had about 35 minutes along dirt roads into the Pantanal to get to the lodge. I met a few girls on the truck who were from London in good law firms and who will be working with some of my friends from New Zealand when they get back. We all arrived at the lodge and were shown around by our guide. It was pretty decent with a pool, outdoor hammock area and games room etc - not really roughing it! After our first day of activities, which included horse back riding and a river cruise with Piranha fishing, I decided to swap over to the camping option, which proved to be a lot more fun with a younger backpacker crowd and sleeping in hammocks and eating around large communal tables. The location of the camp was next to the river so much more wildlife going on too. I spent my nights at the camp and my days with the others from the lodge doing activities so a pretty decent balance really.

We had some great times on the trip and memorable moments. One classic one was with out guide piranha fishing. He didn´t speak much English and his descriptions of the wildlife resembled that from the Ricky Jervis comedy show Animals, such as 'a green parrot' followed by a 'slightly larger green red beak parrot' etc, it was funny as. When were were fishing for piranhas one guy Johanas finally caught a fish after having no luck the whole time, flinging it onto the bank and calling the guide over to de-hook it, huge smile on his face, only to watch in horror as the guide kicked it back into the water. We were pissing ourselves when the guide looked up and simply said 'catch a bigger one'!! Awesome

Well we got a bus back to campo grande, where we would transfer to another 15 hour bus ride to Foz de Iguacu, via Cascaval. 24 hours of travelling to get to the falls, but totally worth it. We arrived in Foz on a bitterly cold day, around 6 degrees, so quite a change for 36 the days before, so uncontrollable shivering for the first few hours which were partly controlled by a hot shower at the guesthouse. We got in our warm stuff and headed off to the Brazilian side of the Falls. On the bus the girls said 'the lonely planet says to bring wet weather gear' and looking around it seems that we were the only ones without. Being a cheep dude I didn´t but a $8 plastic poncho thing and just toughed it out in my t-shirt and light pullover, but the beanie was a lifesaver! Miserable weather but awesome view! We had an awesome night in Foz, at LaBella Pizza, with all you can eat pizza, chicken, buffet pasta and other goodies! It made up for a cold day in a shit hole of a town.

The next day was a stunner! We got up and started looking for the international bus over to Argentina. We didn´t have much luck so bargained with a taxi driver to get over for around double the price, which is pretty good given he just drove us through instead of getting off the bus and changing over etc, not to mention door to door service to our hostel - one of the downers travelling alone is not being able to justify a taxi, so it is good having company. We arrived at the Hostel Inn and checked in quickly before heading out to the falls. I had another money nightmare when I forgot my Visa so i couldn´t get money out at the falls, once again having to rely on my room mates for cash until the next day I could get into town and get cash out - i really should learn!

We had a great time at the falls with perfect weather and good sights to see. We manged to cover the entire park in the 6 hours which worked out really well because the girls changed their flights to BA to a day earlier and I got my bus ticket out of there to Rosario that same day too so all hunky dory.