Brazil: Brotas-Rio de Janeiro

~22nd February 2019~

It had to be an early departure for the day since we were further to Brotas than what was on the plan. It’s nearly 800km drive from Campo Grande to Brotas, it’s the longest drive we ever done on the trip so far since I’ve joined in Santiago. We arrived rather late and I was on the cook group for the night’s dinner and breakfast the next morning.

Once we’ve decided on the accommodation option, we started the preparation and cooking process for the night. Stir fry vegetables with chicken on the side and white rice was easy enough to prepare but somehow the vegetables are less than what we thought we had bought. In my mind I was wondering whether there were vegetables pulling an MIA on us. It was a light dinner then bed.

~23rd February 2019~

The whitewater rafting was booked for around 9am so a nice late start to the day even though breakfast is at 8am. I was up early as usual as the summer body clock sets in and follows the sun cycle. Breakfast was an assortment of fruits and the usual cereals, coffee and tea with bread and spreads. We were ready and waiting in the reception nice and early to pay for the rafting.

Once we were gathered with other groups on the bus to the river, the guide (Captain Bill) described the grades for the river and what we were going to do once we get to the location. I was hoping for the river to be of a higher grade than mostly 2s, some 3s and one 4. I have no control of the river so might as well enjoy it and that, I can control.

We went through a short practical instructional session before going into the river. Our group had to be in two groups since there were 11 of us and I was in a raft led by Sardine (a nickname), a very competent guide who was helping another guide to learn the river’s feature. The ride was better than I expected it to be and we were given some time to swim along a part of the river, which was refreshing for the hot weather we’ve been having.

It was lunch time by the time we finished and I passed on having lunch in town. I went back to the pousada and ended up having a quality chat time with Martina while the sky changed from sunny to cloudy drizzle to sunny. I decided to swim for a bit while there’s a pool for me to use and swam a couple of dozens length before I felt tired and short of breath. Swimming definitely a way to go for keeping the joints moving with minimal impact and I was beginning to love it, the feel of the body gliding through water and the breathing challenge alongside it.

After an active day and a refreshing shower, I sat down with the guys gathered under a tree chatting away about life. I felt at ease with the conversations that we were having and really enjoyed it, it felt like normality to me. As the evening turned dark, both Carmen and Amber arrived almost as late as we did the night before. For us, it was dinner and after that, a few people decided to go to a samba class in town. I passed on the night out simply because I was tired and I wasn’t sure about going for a night out with the group. Guess that’s something that I had to figure out and work on consciously now that I was aware it.

~24th-25th February 2019~

One more long drive day and that’s it, we’re going to be close to Rio once we reached Paraty. It was a pleasant drive after the last long drive we had to Brotas and we arrived in good time too, enough time for us to wander into town to have dinner and shop at the Havaiana store.

Leo’s Clan is a funky hostel with character, decorated with Beatles memorabilia and has music instruments for their guests to play. Kent obviously is the gifted one and I could only play a bit of guitar, and it was fun to just have fun with the instruments since it’s something different from what we’re used to on the trip.

We had a boat trip planned for a full day with unlimited caipirinhas that turned out to be an amazing day out. This was where I found that I could swim well enough in the sea without any floatation devices like the noodle. We played catch, snorkelled, drank (I have no account of how many I had) caipirinhas, swam and had lunch in a cute little beach.

By the time we were back in town, a few people were in a very merry state to say the least. I was ready to shower and have a wander around town. We were told that there were a samba class in town square where the church is in the evening. I was keen to go and check it out, hope to learn a few more moves to add to my repertoire…not that I have many of them. Barbecue dinner was served once I was back from town with Dee and Lisa, and after that I was ready for the samba class.

It was a fun night out in the open space of the town square, listening to live music and watching the pros dancing. I later managed to catch the eyes of one of the dancers with the shaker and a tambourine, and she came over to get us involved in the dance and instruments. I learnt a couple of things about myself that night, one is that I can dance better than I thought and two, I love samba in the open air live music kinda scene. Ended the night with a high and felt ready for some street parties in Rio.

~26th-27th February 2019~

It only took a couple of hours drive to get to the dock for the ferry over to Ilha Grande. The parking situation for the truck was both amusing and frustrating at the same time. It’s just like there were too many cooks in the kitchen. Once the truck was parked, we walked over to the dock to wait for our boat to the island.

It was raining when we arrived, so we walked in the rain all the way to the hostel and then being told that the rooms will only be ready in an hour or two because there were no power. After dropping our bags, we went back to the town centre and had lunch. It was nice to be on an island again, almost like coming full circle to one of the places I started in Central America, Belize-Caye Caulker.

With the weather being what it was, napping seemed like a good idea and it was. Dinner was chocolate filled churro from a street cart, crisps, water and quality time chatting in the breakfast area. Sleep came easily that night.

I decided not to sign up for any trips for free day on the island so that I could just do whatever came to mind. It was breakfast, walked to town to have coffee with Martina then went to check out one of the many trails on the island.

The hike or walk on the trail was supposed to be just two kilometres but I somehow ended up walking 13km all the way to Saco do Céu taking a detour to the Cachoeira da Faiticeira waterfall, in flip flop (use shoes next time!). It was the waterfall that lured me into walking the distance and after freshening up at the waterfall, I was intrigued by what lies on the other side of the mountain.

There wasn’t any taxi boat out of Saco do Céu and the ones that I found, they wanted to charge me around 150 Brazilian Reals. I continued walking back until I came across a taxi boat driver who was nice enough to take me to one of the beach where I could wait for the regular scheduled taxi back to Abraão town and it cost me the normal price of 25 Reals. The beach was where I bumped into Dee, Nicky, Sarah and the rest of the group who went on the boat trip.

The dinner was the last get-together for the group and it was a good one too, both the food and the company. The rain came and gone while we were in the restaurant and was just drizzling when we were ready to head back. That night, I was thinking how quickly five months had gone past with me crossing path with so many places and people along the way. I felt fortunate and blessed.

~28th February – 2nd March 2019~

Rio de Janeiro, final destination for most of us. The drive from the dock back from Ilha Grande was short and sweet. On the way, we were reminded to pack everything and be ready for a quick drop off. Since this was our last journey on the truck, we had to go through the nets, fridge and every nook and cranny. The truck had been home for the last two months and it’s been great to have a place to store things instead of carrying everything on my back. I would definitely do overlanding again, maybe on my own or with another person.

It was early when we reached Argentina Hotel and they allowed us to check in early. I had to remind myself that it’s just for a night and I would be moving to another hotel in Centro, Windsor Asturia, for another night before flying back to Philadelphia. We decided to go out to lunch together to a nice little brewery place, Brou, and after that Dee, Lisa, Martina and I went to Copacabana beach for a bit of a look around. We had a tad of fun while we were there, the photos tell it better.

I knew I had limited time in Rio and would like to make the best out of it. I managed to go to two Bloco parties (street carnival parties) and had tons of fun dancing with the crowd. I saw what everyone meant by Rio Carnaval being one of the best and biggest in the world, and decided that I would be back next year to fully enjoy it.

It was time to leave and there were a bit of bitter sweet feeling about it and I thought to myself, I’ll be back. This journey thus far is just the tip of the iceberg, there are a lot more to explore in the continent and I’m looking forward to the next few months, when I will be planning my return. As for now…a series of flights to get back to Philadelphia.