It is actually more of a coincidence that we are visiting Porto Alegre at all. When we booked the flight, we just thought, “that must be a nice route, from Rio de Janeiro to Porto Alegre”, and so it is. As our return flight is not until Saturday after midnight, we have 2 full days after our arrival on Thursday evening… However, we don’t really know what to do in Porto Alegre. There’s not enough time left for bigger activities and Porto Alegre doesn’t really have more than a day visit to offer. But that’s fine by us, as we can wind down Brazil a little more quietly, stroll around the city a bit, store for a few souvenirs and go out for a good meal.

We spend the first day doing just that, but the souvenir shopping only works to a limited extent. We finally find the “Jambu Cachaca” in the city’s market hall, but otherwise the souvenir shopping is a little poor. Even for Havaianas, where there used to be a store on every corner, we have to go to a shopping center just outside the city center. But we make the best of it and with the huge river delta of the Rio Guiaba, which first flows into Lake Patos and then into the sea, Porto Alegre is a really good place to be and we take a leisurely stroll through parks, eat acai and drink a beer on the lakeside while we watch the Brazilians playing soccer, tennis and beach soccer on the lakeside promenade.

We even stumble across a cheap sailing trip by chance and spontaneously book it for our last afternoon. But before it starts, we want to try one last typical Brazilian “lunch buffet” and even find a vegan grill restaurant that offers this. And we are very lucky. There must be some kind of special on Saturday, and there’s all-you-can-eat from the grill for just under €10!!! A member of staff is constantly coming around with large barbecue skewers and tempting us to try another new creation. Saitan in barbecue, mustard and honey sauce, various vegan sausage creations and even the Brazilian version of parmigiana… We can hardly walk afterwards… but we have 15 hours of airplane food ahead of us ^^

The sailing tour is very friendly and personally organized by Luciano, who gives us a short briefing on the most important manoeuvres and repeatedly asks us to lend a hand. Unfortunately, we have almost no wind and so we just sail back and forth on the river a few times. Afterwards, we are even invited to Luciano’s restaurant for home-brewed beer and discuss different types of beer with him and with his wife about the fun they had at the Oktoberfest, which they both attended last year

A really nice and personal end to our Brazilian experience!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brazil is the land of sun, sea, beaches, blue skies and of course the rainforest… Of course we realize that this is not true and of course we know that sooner or later we will experience autumnal conditions on our journey south. In Florianopolis, we slowly started to experience this, but on our penultimate stop, we headed further south and a little inland. And suddenly we are in Praia Grande, standing with our rental car in front of 750m high cliffs on a plateau into which 14 different rivers have carved several canyons. And it can get cold here too, we prepare ourselves for nights with 10°C, but it doesn’t get that bad!

But it’s all a bit absurd, up to now we’ve known canyons more as deep gorges. Of course there are canyons here too, but you can see both the beginning and the end of the canyon – and in good weather even the sea in the background…

We spend the first night in Praia Grande at the foot of the plateau and as we arrive relatively late, we just get a few – useless – tips from the tourist center, visit a hidden and surprisingly impressive waterfall and chat a bit with a dance teacher who shares the hostel with us. In general, we have really entered the low season, there is almost nothing going on!

We set off early the next morning to drive to the top of the plateau. It takes around 1.5 hours, initially on winding, more or less paved roads, later it becomes a gravel road. First we visit the canyon “Itaimbezinho” and walk along the edge and see two more huge waterfalls and are even so lucky with the weather that we can at least get a good view of the plain in front of the canyon – the coast remains hidden from us 🙂

We visit the second canyon, “Fortaleza”, in the afternoon and hike along the edge for another 4 hours. And then we see how the canyon becomes flatter and flatter and walk through a few bushes and over a small trickle of a stream, the beginning of the canyon. Always in the knowledge that 500m further on, there are already hundreds of meters of steep drop.

Then the weather suddenly changes and we are surrounded by fog and decide to try the two shorter hikes to a viewpoint and a “floating stone” again the next morning. We walk the 3 km back along the road to the car, hoping perhaps to be able to hitch a ride. But at some point Tobi doesn’t feel like it anymore, leaves the rucksacks with Kerstin and jogs off to the car, only to be caught up 5 minutes later by a park ranger’s jeep, with a grinning Kerstin in the passenger seat…

We drive to our next hostel in Cambara do Sul, only about 30 minutes away. The next morning we don’t have much luck with the fog for the viewpoints, but the weather is ok at the “floating stone” and we can go for a short hike. The stone is not worth mentioning, but the path leads us barefoot through the water over the largest waterfall in the park and we wade through the river about 5-10 meters from the abyss (about 500m deep). A very fun experience! After Kerstin almost steps on a snake at the end of the path, the air is a little out and we walk back to the car in the rain, which has now caught up with us, and drive to our last stop and return destination, Porto Alegre…

PS: We search for the snake on the internet later, but don’t really find out whether it was one of the most poisonous snakes in South America or a completely harmless viper. They just look too similar….^^

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a 15-hour bus ride, we arrive relatively rested in Florianopolis and take an Uber straight to the hostel. Although we are still too early to check in, we pass the time until midday with a delicious breakfast and a little planning for the next few days. Florianopolis was highly recommended to us by Raphael – one of Tobi’s interns who lives here – and the island has a lot to offer! Lots of beaches, surfing, diving, secluded bays with hiking trails, a large lake in the middle for swimming, boating and hiking, and as if that wasn’t enough, an amazingly large dune landscape with a large dune right on the beach as a highlight.

This is also the start of our exploration, as our first hostel (more on this later) is located directly on an endlessly long beach called Praia Joaquina, which leads directly to the dune of the same name. We stroll along it in the current strong wind and sometimes have to be careful not to be blown directly into the water Once we arrive at the dune, the spectacle of wind and sand is of course even more extreme and we stand on the crest of the dune in waist-high sandstorms!!! As we don’t want to walk back, we first want to wait for the bus, but after 15 minutes of waiting we take an Uber. Unfortunately, it takes almost half an hour before we are picked up and we start to realize that it might be a bit difficult to get around here…

In the evening, we go to the “capital” of the island and prepare for a short hike to Lagoinha do Leste. We take an Uber there again as we just miss the bus. The hike takes us for around 3 hours through the jungle to a wonderful viewpoint over the lagoon, which is really worth it. We save the lagoon itself and head to the beach near the starting point of the hike for an hour to cool off! As we had to wait forever for the bus back, we decided on the way back that we would stay another few days and hire a car! We also found the hostel a little too boring and out of the way, so we moved to another hostel right next to a surfing beach. We then rent the car directly for the next four days and only return it in Porto Alegre – our last stop. This way we can use the car to explore the canyons between Florianopolis and Porto Alegre!

Having a car makes everything so much easier! The move to the hostel is done quickly – even if the new hostel is a bit of a shock, it’s already a hive of activity at breakfast time with dozens of U20 surfers… But it’s only two nights We then drive to the north of the island to explore the great beaches there and spend the whole Sunday on the beach, visit the village right by the lake and treat ourselves to an acai with muesli! The next morning is slightly rainy, but we head back to the lake anyway to start our hike along the shore. It rains again and again, but when we arrive at our destination – a small fishing village – it has stopped and we are almost alone! Beautiful! We then take the public boat back to the car. In the evening, we meet up with Raphael and his doctoral supervisor Paolo and are initiated into the secrets of Jambu – Cachaca – spoiler: your tongue goes numb

On the way back we unfortunately have a little mishap with the car, we drive into a puddle and the fender gets a bit battered and then hangs crooked… After a few attempts to fix it ourselves, we give up, but then find a nice mechanic who fixes it the next morning for €7(!!!)! And so we can continue our relaxed drive to the canyons…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the somewhat strenuous (night) bus journey, we arrive in Foz do Iguazu, the Brazilian starting point for the famous Iguazu Falls, around midday. After Niagara and Victoria, this is the last of the three large – and world-famous – waterfalls that we have not yet visited. As the bus ride was a bit tiring, we were actually looking forward to a relaxing afternoon in the city or in the hostel pool. But when the receptionist at the hostel congratulates us on having missed the last three days of constant rain, we decide to make the most of the sunny afternoon and take a quick trip to the Brazilian side of the waterfalls. Argentina and Brazil share the waterfalls, with the border running right through the middle of the river…

After a short bus ride, we stand before this surreal sight of – depending on the water level – between 150 and 350 waterfalls closely lined up and between 64m and 82m high, falling into the gorge. Elenor Roosevelt is said to have exclaimed “poor Niagara” at the sight, and that’s how we feel. We are almost glad that we are the last of the “big three” here, because somehow we get the feeling that we would otherwise have been disappointed by Niagara and Victoria. Niagara has more water on average and therefore seems a little more “powerful”, and Victoria is impressive because it is the largest continuous single waterfall in the world. But here you get the feeling that if Monet had been commissioned to paint a picture of water cascading down a gorge, he would have painted it something like this… Simply incredibly picturesque, beautiful and impressive….

So there is no question that we will cross the border into Argentina the next day to visit the Argentinian side – this is where most of the waterfalls are located and you can walk over them, whereas you get a panoramic view of the falls from the Brazilian side. After breakfast at the hostel, it suddenly starts raining cats and dogs, but as we are leaving the next day in the evening, we set off anyway.

We take an Uber to the Brazilian border in the pouring rain. Departure. A short wait for the bus across the river to the Argentinian border. Enter the country and continue by bus to the town of Porto Iguazu. Wait for the next bus to the national park – still in the pouring rain. Pay the entrance fee and wait for a break in the rain. We quickly run to the “train” – more like a little train – in the national park to the largest waterfall “Devil’s Throat”. It rains again during the train ride, but we pass the time with a short chat with a group of motorcyclists from New Zealand. As soon as we arrive, the rain stops and we walk on boardwalks across the huge expanse of water, which looks more like a lake, over which the river stretches just before the falls, and then stand directly above the thundering waterfall.

Although we can hardly tear ourselves away, there are still two short hikes waiting for us, which take us along the gorge over some of the larger and smaller waterfalls. Rarely with such a concentrated force as at the “Devil’s Gorge”, but simply beautiful and impressive. It is not for nothing that the waterfalls are one of the 7 “natural” wonders of the world…

We take the same – somewhat strenuous – route back across the border, but we haven’t had enough yet. The next morning we check out of the hostel, but as our bus doesn’t leave until the evening, we want to make a quick trip to Paraguay, which can also be reached via a bridge over another river. Again with the Uber to the border. Departure. This time a short walk across the “Bridge of Friendship”. Entering the country. And we are already in shopping heaven (or rather hell?). We are overwhelmed by cheap electronics, clothes, jewelry and weapons. We stroll about 1km through the stalls and shopping malls, but despite the tempting prices we persevere and end up having a coffee. Back the same procedure, and we have been to 3 countries within 24 hours and have added a few new stamps to our passports

Back from Paraguay, we still have some time and visit another wonder of the world somewhat unexpectedly. The Itaipu Dam, which is one of the largest and most efficient power generators in the world and belongs equally to Brazil and Paraguay. We take the tour bus across the restricted area between the two countries, cross the dam twice and learn something about the creation of this 196m high bulwark.

We are then driven back to the hostel and relax for a short hour before taking the night bus back to the coast, to Florianapolis to be precise. This time it’s 15 hours, but a continuous bus and again very comfortable seats…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The name Bonito (“pretty”, “beautiful” in English) actually says it all about the area we are heading to next. The area is mainly known for its pretty freshwater springs, which wind their way up through the limestone and flow into small streams. One of the main attractions is to float in the rivers armed with a snorkel and wetsuit and watch the fish spawn and feed. The area is also fully committed to ecotourism. All operators must be accredited and the price for a particular activity is then set by the local government and places can be booked through local tourist offices, all of which charge exactly the same price. Only the price of transportation from the accommodation to the activities (some of which are up to 45km away) is negotiable…

We spend 3 days in a hostel in the small town of Bonito, which unfortunately lacks any vibe. It’s nicely built and has its own travel agency, but unfortunately it’s completely off the beaten track and at the same time there’s just a bunch of boring weekenders from different parts of Brazil who prefer to keep to themselves. We only make the fleeting acquaintance of an Israeli, but that doesn’t last long either…

Well, as the hostel doesn’t have much to offer, we spend our time on two snorkeling tours, one lasting 4 hours and the other 1.5 hours, and a short hike into one of the local stalactite caves. Tobi would also like to go cave diving, but unfortunately the most interesting cave is closed until May due to excessive algae growth… However, we particularly enjoy observing the underwater world in this incredibly clear water and are annoyed that we haven’t bought a new underwater camera since Colombia :-/

After 3 days, however, we have had enough (and spent enough money, because the tours and especially the transportation are quite expensive), so we finally want to go to the Iguazu Falls. This turns out to be more difficult than expected, we have to use 3 buses, each taking 3-9 hours to reach our destination. The longest section from Dourados to Cascavel is particularly tiring, as we have booked a so-called “half sleeper” – something like Premium Economy on an airplane – but the bus doesn’t leave until midnight and, to make matters worse, is 1.5 hours late. So we’re already in a kind of trance when the bus finally arrives, we get on and fall asleep almost instantly. But it will be worth it…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having already made several trips to the jungle and the Amazon in recent years, we are all the more interested in the “Pantanal”, which is advertised in a very different way. It is neither jungle nor jungle, but marshland with mainly private farms that now attract ecotourists. There are also said to be a large number of jaguars here…

But the first question is, where to go in the Pantanal? The area known as the Pantanal is huge and stretches roughly halfway across the border between Bolivia and Brazil, whereas the Pantanal Motogrosso National Park of the same name is almost tiny. Although the north is said to be better for jaguars and generally a bit wilder, it is really off the beaten track for our route, tours are significantly more expensive, cheap flights are rare and we don’t really want to fly… That’s why we opt for the southern part of the area, which will allow us to travel on to our next destination, Bonito, easily later on!

But first we have to get to the starting point of our tour, Campo Grande (pronounced Grandschi), almost 1000km from Sao Paulo. To do this, we take a 15-hour overnight bus and treat ourselves to the “more expensive” sleeping option with XL seats, leg rests and more legroom It all works out pleasantly well, even if the seats don’t recline 180°, we sleep quite well, there are three half-hour stops to stretch our legs, eat something (but we’ve already made provisions with a to-go poke bowl) or change and get ready for bed. It’s all very pleasant, and we arrive in Campo Grande an hour early, rested and ready for a coffee, where a nice older gentleman – who is waiting for a few tourists – keeps us company, tells us a bit about the area and gives us tips for our onward journey!

After about 45 minutes, we are picked up by a driver from the tour and taken to the agency, where we are dropped off in a café to wait. Strengthened in this way, we pay the first half of the costs, freshen up a little and are then loaded into a van, in which we travel for the next 4 hours to our actual destination, the “Pantanal Jungle Lodge”. Here, too, we stop for a lunch snack and then spend the last 30 minutes driving into the marshland on the loading area of an off-road vehicle equipped with seats.

Despite the rainy season, you can see ponds and partially flooded roads everywhere, but of course climate change is also having an impact here and it has hardly rained “properly” in recent years, which is why everything is a little drier than we expected. But our lodge is right next to the Miranda River and that’s where you typically see the most animals. And we are not disappointed. In the lodge garden, a capybara (capybara) and dozens of birds are already waiting for us!

After checking in, we have a two-hour break to get to know our fellow travelers – two Englishwomen and a Frenchman – and then we set off on our first boat trip, which will continue into the night. Unfortunately, we don’t have any luck with jaguars, but we do catch sight of several toucans, parrots and macaws, a kingfisher, a family of capybaras and, in the dark, some caimans.

Of course, this makes us want more, but it also makes us hungry. And there is no shortage of food here, there is a full buffet three times a day, with several vegetarian and sometimes even vegan options. And during the meal, we learn more about our fellow travelers: the two Englishwomen have been traveling through South America for seven months and have been to several places in Peru and Colombia, which we have also explored in recent years. The Frenchman spent three months traveling through Brazil and is now spending another month in Bolivia. That always makes you want to go on a longer trip again…

The next few days continue like this: we go on a boat trip in the morning and see a group of otters and lots of birds. Unfortunately, we are still denied the jaguar, and it will stay that way… But our guide says he hasn’t seen one for a month Nevertheless, it’s great fun! Afterwards, we are supposed to float in the river with caimans and piranhas – but after we take our things back to the room, our guide is already gone because he didn’t want to wait that long… Of course we are a bit annoyed, but in the afternoon the mood improves again after he takes us on an additional (and free) evening boat tour. The others also go piranha fishing right by the lodge, which we refuse to do but are happy to watch – and we feed the piranhas and the two caimans cavorting around the shore (and are we supposed to swim in them???). )

The other activities are a kayak trip on the river and a hike through the marshland, connected to another range, but apart from dozens of macaws and parrots, we don’t see any other animals. We return here the next day for another horseback ride. The instruction is a little poor, and Kerstin catches a horse that is a little too lively, but survives the initial shock and it ends up being quite a fun experience…

And then it’s on to Bonito, the southernmost part of the Pantanal, where crystal-clear springs await us!!!

PS: the afternoon we leave, a French woman who arrived a day later goes on another boat trip and sees a jaguar lady with two cubs on the shore… bad luck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We weren’t sure the whole time whether we should visit Sao Paulo or just leave it before we set off for the protected “Pantanal” swamp area. However, we find a good night bus connection that allows us to spend at least one day rummaging through Sao Paulo and so we drive from Ilhabela to Sao Paulo first and spend a night in the middle of the nightlife district of Pinheiro. As our bus is unfortunately late – and it’s also Sunday – we don’t get to see much of it, have a quick Japanese meal and fall straight into bed.

The next day, however, we have a few hours to visit the artists’ quarter of Vila Madalena with the famous Batman Alley. And what can I say, even on the way there you constantly stumble across street art on small houses, garages or on the top of high-rise buildings, and with every step into the district there is more and more. Batman Alley owes its name to the many Batmans that were spray-painted here, but after a renovation a few months ago, only a few remain. Nevertheless, it is full of great motifs and the district itself is a bit reminiscent of San Francisco or Lisbon, criss-crossed by hilly streets and small cafés or galleries selling art everywhere. You could certainly spend a few hours here…

But we still want to stroll through the city center and visit the Japanese quarter. We spend the remaining hours here, get food for the night bus ride and round off the afternoon with a coffee and banana bread before boarding the night bus to the Pantanal… For the next 15 hours…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ilhabela is a popular weekend destination for people from Sao Paulo, so it’s no surprise that getting there is almost absurdly easy. We take the bus from Paraty to Sao Sebastiao, walk 10 minutes to the ferry port and get on the free ferry, which departs every 20-30 minutes. There we share a cab with a backpacker who was on the bus with us and wants to go to the same hostel as us – which is hardly surprising as the choice is very limited. In contrast to Ilha Grande near Rio, there are also cars on the island, which makes it much easier to get around and only slightly disturbs the idyll, as there is actually only one road along the west coast, the rest is wild jungle.

We stay here for two nights, but are a little disappointed with the tours and hikes on offer, so we decide to simply explore some of the beaches on our own. As our hostel is pretty much in the middle of the island and there are regular buses to the south and north, this is relatively easy. We mainly set our sights on Praia Jabaquara, as it is easy to reach by bus and a 1-1.5 hour hike and hopefully not too crowded. Unfortunately, this is not quite the case, as we catch the exact day when a cruise ship passes by the island and disperses the crowds by boat to the various beaches  

Nevertheless, the day will be a great experience. First, we take the bus north to the last stop and set off. We first walk through the last inhabited areas and then continue on dirt tracks. As it is sweltering hot and not a particularly beautiful walking route, we decide to heed the advice of our hostel and try to hitchhike. After a few failed attempts, a nice couple eventually stops for us and takes us to the beach, where we spend a few hours eating fresh coconuts and drinking cold beer – and when the cruise tourists are finally picked up again, the beach becomes pleasantly quiet. We actually want to call a cab for the way back, but we don’t have a network here and we would probably have waited forever. So we just walk off to a viewpoint on the road and then try our luck with hitchhiking again. But we don’t get that far. As soon as we reach the road at the first incline, a car pulls up next to us, opens the window and a couple roughly our age ask if we’d like a lift. That was easy… The two of them are super interested in us and our trip, it turns out that she is a travel influencer living on Ilhabela and her boyfriend has come from Sao Paulo for a weekend visit. And so we chat about various trips and are even invited for a sunset beer with her friends on another beach. A few beers, a batida de coco and a sunset on a beautiful, unknown beach later, we are even driven straight home to the hostel. It’s always great what great people we meet when we just let ourselves drift for a few hours

The next morning, we relax on the beach for a few more hours before heading back to the mainland and Sao Paulo!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the weather was already quite rainy in Rio and is expected to get worse over the next few days, we put our plan to travel to the car-free island of Ilha Grande on hold and head straight on to our next destination: Paraty. A small colonial town and starting point for exploring the bay in which Ilha Grande is located by boat.

The bus takes a little longer than planned, so we don’t arrive until late afternoon, but we find a very cute little hostel right on the small river through the town. From here we could hop on a small boat and take a tour of the bay, the captain happened to be at the hostel and explained the tour to us. As it sounds nice and is not too expensive, we book directly for the next day and then stroll a little through the “streets” – they are more like freely laid stones – in the small town.

The next morning we wait for the captain, as the tour was due to start at 10:30, but no one is in sight. After 15 minutes, we ask at reception and the young lady at the desk is flabbergasted because the tour has been canceled and she didn’t know about our booking (her colleague the day before must have messed something up…). As we had already paid and wanted to continue the next day, rescheduling or refunding our money was not really an option, so she quickly booked us another tour. However, by the time this is all communicated, it’s 11am and we still have to walk halfway across the city to the pier… and the tour starts at 11am (+10 minute buffer)… Well, we try it and “run” in flip-flops across the “streets” to the pier. When we arrive, we see that the boat has already left the pier. We walk on anyway and speak to a local. He whistles twice and one of the employees on the boat hops into a speedboat and picks us up from the pier… It was funny, but we could have saved ourselves the stress

The tour is then very relaxed, we chug by boat to various bays, lie on the beach, go snorkeling or slide down the boat slide into the clear water. We end the evening in a nice vegan restaurant and book the bus to the “alternative island” of Ilhabela off Sao Paulo for the next morning!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve wanted to go to Brazil for a long time, but now is finally the right time. We have time during the Brazilian low season, Brazil no longer has an authoritarian government and the flights are cheap. What more could you want? Unfortunately, we miss Carnival by a week, but as we will find out later, we would have had to plan at least 1 1/2 weeks for Carnival anyway to get into the right mood. We’ll probably put that off until our next trip to Brazil and start with the south of this huge country!

But first, of course, we have to go to Rio to visit Copacabana, the Christ the Redeemer statue and Sugar Loaf Mountain. We spend two days strolling along the city’s many beaches, sipping caipirinha and eating acai smoothies – a lilla fruit that we’ve already tried in Colombia, but as a smoothie it’s simply unbeatable. Despite a few rainy days, we also managed to get to the Sugar Loaf Mountain to watch a fantastic sunset and enjoy the night-time atmosphere over Rio – with almost no other tourists. They were probably all put off by the rain We also take a walking tour through the city center and learn a little about Brazil’s history (especially that the colors of the flag green, blue and yellow do not stand for rainforest, blue sky/water and gold/sunshine, but are simply due to the colors of Portuguese colonial rule

For the statue of Christ we wait for a sunny morning, which we catch on our third day in Rio and take a cab to the train stop on the mountain.
We don’t want to take the train because 1) it’s too expensive and 2) there are too many tourists, but there are also supposed to be vans that will take us to our destination much more cheaply and quickly!However, at the starting point of the train, we learn that it has been closed since the previous evening due to a security incident and it is currently unclear when it will reopen – the queue in front of the train terminal is already easily a hundred meters long… We treat ourselves to breakfast and wait a while, and then the ascent is actually reopened relatively quickly.We grab one of the first vans and are at the statue before the biggest crowds. Nevertheless, you can hardly avoid the crowds in front of the statue, but it is an impressive experience coupled with a great view over Rio!

In the afternoon we go to Copacabana again and let Rio end in the evening in the nightlife district Lapa with a Caipi for 2€!!!

The next day we continue by bus to Paraty, unfortunately we have to skip the beautiful island of Ilha Grande due to the heavy rain forecast