Agua de Coco, Sucos, Acai and Havaianas!!!!
(Santa Theresa)
After the grey and wet welcome of Rio de Janeiro and Manaus, we had a wonderful time in sunny Salvador da Bahia, Rio Grande del Norte and Fernando de Noronha until the rain caught up with us at the Brazilian side of the Foz do Iguacu again!
The definite highlight was the Northeast of Brazil with its soft sandy beaches and turquoise blue warm waters in Praia da Pipa, Genipabu and in the Archipelago Fernando de Noronha where the warm waters invited us to finally start surfing and diving!
Let´s start chronologically with our arrival in Sao Paulo on December 20, 2007. We were lucky to be able to stay at the Hilton Morumbi which is definitely one of the nicest city Hiltons and very close to the domestic airport from which we boarded our plane to Rio.
Encouraged by Lonely Planet, we took the Real bus (a low $6.50 fare per person compared to the $74 cab ride) from Rio´s domestic airport (great view of the Sugar Loaf during landing) along Copacabana and Ipanema beach to the Sheraton in Leblon which has three swimming pools and a little private sandy beach with views of Ipanema beach. While this hotel offers great tranquility we would recommend a hotel located close to Avenida Atlantica at the Copacabana or at least in Ipanema since this is where all the happenings are (Leblon is nice but too far if you have to rely on public transportation). Along Copacabana we enjoyed fresh Coconuts and Caipirinhas at the numerous little kiosks, awed at the creations of the sandcastle artists and witnessed a colorful Christmas Parade (Parada Illuminada) under the umbrellas of a little beach bar among really friendly Cariocas (Brasilians born in Rio). One block from the beach in Ipanema and Copacabana are lots of juice bars which prepare fresh tropical fruit juices on the spot and the culinary highlight was our Christmas dinner at Churrascaria Porcao (it is really hard to resist the succulent meat brought on skewers to your table). Since the Churrascarias offer a huge selection of salads, vegetarians don´t have to leave hungry either! You can tell, we really enjoyed Brazil´s culinary delights! Unfortunately all our Sugar Loaf and Corcovado pictures are grey but it was still impressive to stand under the huge Cristo statute! Our tip: don´t take the expensive and remotely situated Corcovado train but save time and avoid waiting in line by hiring a taxi to drive up Corcovado.
(Santa Theresa)After no sunshine and no samba in Rio (Christmas is a very quiet time in Rio - next time we will visit in January-February), we flew to Manaus, the only mega metropolis in the middle of the Amazonian jungle. We planned to get a real nature experience with the Lonely Planet recommended guide Max Maia who was very expensive and unfortunaley rather disappointing. His jungle lodge (Dolphin Lodge) is dark and extremely basic (cold water showers, single beds only, bad matresses, old mosquito nets and power only from 06:00 p.m. to midnight) and his jungle tour guide was not very motivated to show us a lot of wildlife. It is difficult nevertheless to spot wildlife in the Amazon so enjoy the plants and the birds.
Our tip: try to take a luxury boat cruise along the Rio Negro instead of staying in a basic, overpriced lodge. We also heard from fellow travelers that the Patanal has an abundance of wildlife (and is not as far from rio as the Amazon).
Our highlights of the Amazon: Crocodile spotting at night, survival training in the jungle, Piranha fishing, the colorful meeting of the brown and the black river just before they unite to form the Amazone river (Encontro das Aguas) and the river edge swimming pool at the Tropical Business hotel right next to the Rio Negro. 
Our New Year´s celebration in colorful Salvador da Bahia:
We can highly recommend the Guest House ¨Solar dos Deuses¨which is located in a pedestrian area in the middle of the Unesco world heritage Pelourinho with nice rooms, good breakfast, friendly service and windows to the beautiful square in front of the Convento Sao Francisco (the church with the richest gold trimmings in all of Salvador). While a little dangerous at night (we arrived in the middle of the night and did not feel very safe at first) the Pelourinho is very colorful during the day with music, Capoeira acrobatic performances and friendly people at every corner. Salvador´s New Year´s eve celebration at the Lighthouse of Barra beach at the Baia Todos os Santos was broadcasted all over the country since the most famous Brazilian singer Carlinhos Brown and the world renowned drummer band Olodum were on stage to call in the New Year. We felt pretty safe among all the Bahians in the crowd and enjoyed the proximity to the stage and the long fireworks show and caipirinha stands along the beach. Definitely a sparkling way to welcome 2008 - Feliz Ano Novo Amigos!
Rio Grande del Norte - our favorite state of Brazil: with all the beautiful beaches and sand dunes, it is really hard to choose to head North or South of Natal. We recommend to take time for both and we really would like to come back to Brazil and drive in a buggy from Natal along the coast all the way via Fortaleza to Jericoacoara!
This time we had only one day time for a short buggy ride through the 80m high sand dunes of Genipabu (North of Natal) but the beaches of Genipabu are worth a stay of 2-3 days - especially if you stay like us in the full-service Pousada Vila do Sol with direct saltwater lagoon access.
Luckily we took 4 days to head to Praia de Pipa, 90 km south of Natal (a 2 hour bus ride) with its peaceful, relaxed and warm atmosphere. Tony was so inspired by the cozy ambience of Praia do Amor and the high waves that he finally took surf lessons and really enjoyed the warm waters. On our last day we met a really nice family from Brasilia that took us to Baia do Cunhau, a beach full of river and salt water lagoons and tidal pools. There are so many beautiful beaches around Pipa that you can spend weeks here just exploring. The streets of little Pipa are lined with wonderful restaurants (try the Lobster Fettuccine at The Doors), bars and boutiques and the guesthouses are still affordable (we found the best deal with our centrally located Pousada de Pipa II B&B Guesthouse). If we did not have our tickets to Fernando de Noronha firmly booked, we probably would have stayed longer.
The National Geographic world famed Archipelago de Fernando de Noronha:
Sit on the left side of the plane to get the first overview of the 10km long main island with it Morro de Pico landmark rock!
We actually found an affordable Pousada (basic but good value for money and centrally located: Pousada Alamoa) and reasonably priced restaurants (after being warned to be ready to spend a fortune on this Brazilian Paradise Island).
Here are our FEN tips:
First of all don´t cut your stay too short - you need 5 days minimum to visit and snorkel along all of the fantastic beaches, take a boat ride and watch the spinner dolphins.
First of all don´t cut your stay too short - you need 5 days minimum to visit and snorkel along all of the fantastic beaches, take a boat ride and watch the spinner dolphins.
Secondly: get your PADI dive certificate before you arrive to enjoy the more interesting experienced diver sites (during our Scuba Diver course we did not get to see too much during our two 12 m dives but spent way too much for the course....)....
If you are not into diving, don´t worry, you will see plenty of fish and turtles just snorkeling. Take a guide to be able to snorkel with lots of turtles in Baia do Soeste, rent your own buggy and enjoy the ride to the natural tidal pools of Praia Atalaia (check the once a day opening hours of this protected nature reserve and come 2 hours early to park your buggy in line to be sure to be amongst the 100 persons per day which are allowed to snorkel in the crystal clear waters filled with beautiful aquatic life).
The 50m of steep stairs down to 5-star rated Praia do Sancho and the strenious hike back up are worth it (bring lots of water, a snack and your snorkel gear). Baia do Sancho has the most turquoise blue water of the island and lots of colorful fish and turtles to swim with.
Have a late delicious lunch at Meu Paraiso at Praia do Boldro and stay at the elevated bar until sunset for the best view.
Visit the deepest sand beach of Praia do Leao which turtles choose for nesting and experienced surfers don´t miss out on the high surf of Praia Cacimba de los dos Padres.
Only once a week the barco Trovao dois Mares offers a 5 hour boat tour along the beautiful northern coastline including tow dive snorkeling where you get pulled behind the boat at high speed holding onto a transparent board.
There is even nightlife in FEN at Bar do Cochorro (Maracatu traditional story telling dance performance followed by social dance).
As you can see, lots to see and do in Fernando de Noronha but flights are rare and booked out fast, and therefore we had to head back to Natal after 3 days. Next time we try to hitch a sailing cruise from the Mediterranean (we met Germans from the island of Mallorca who sailed all the way from Spain to FEN)! For our European friends: check out arte tv in July for the 20:15 h evening special series on Fernando de Noronha and you might see us on tv!
We ended our tour of Brazil at Foz do Iguacu at the border to Argentina and Paraguy and we are so glad we chose this way to enter Argentina. After having visited the Niagara Falls and The Victoria Falls the Cataratas of Iguazu were still missing in Bettina´s list of the biggest waterfalls of the world and they are really the most impressive. The Brazilian side of the falls is an absolute MUST since it gives you the Grand Overview and is beautiful even in the pooring rain. Crossing the border from Brazil to Argentina is easier than the other way around and it is great to have the grand overview before getting the ´hands-on-experience´of the Argentinian side. Our tip for any Cataratas de Iguazu visit: splurge and spend the money to stay a night in a room with view of the waterfalls at the Sheraton in the middle of the Argentinian National Park of Iguazu.
Now we are looking forward to our travels through Argentina, but we are already missing Agua de Coco, sucos and the pristine Brazilian beaches.......
Below is a cute video from our trip to the Monkey Forest in Bali in December which we thought you might enjoy
