Day 1: As I mentioned, I managed to get a cracking deal on a flight from Florianopolis to Rio. I was looking at about 24 hours on a bus to get there but after some research, managed to find a flight that got me there in 1 hour instead. Even more good news - the flight was actually cheaper than the bus! No brainer you could say.
I said goodbye to Junior, Maria and the rest of the staff in Floripa and then boarded my flight early afternoon. It´s safe to say I was pretty excited - Rio de Janeiro is a city that I´d always wanted to visit and I couldn´t wait to get there.
The flight was nice and smooth and offered some cool views over the city as we prepared to land. Once down, I got a taxi into the city and this offered some even more incredible views as I made my way in. I got my first glimpse of Christo (Christ the Redeemer) - the famous statue that overlooks the city and is one of the seven wonders of the world. Just driving in, it looks amazing and only increased my excitement at arriving into the city.
Luke, Matt and Dan had given me a hostel tip from their time in Rio so I decided to go ahead and book it prior to leaving Florianopolis. This was despite some trepidation on my part because the hostel, Lisetonga, is actually situated inside a Favela - one of Rio´s famous shanty towns, which are notorious for large amounts of crime. They assured me that this one had been pacified though and was perfectly safe. My main worry would apparently be a huge hill that leads up the Favela towards the hostel.
They weren´t kidding!!! The hill is huge and not really ideal when you have a heavy backpack on you (which is starting to feel like lugging a dead body around). By the time I had reached Lisetonga to check in, I was basically pouring sweat over the forms I had to fill in. There I met Holly (Wales), who worked at the hostel and reassured me that that was a commmon occurence. I don´t think I´ll be the last either - a brutal hill. It seemed worth it though because the hostel looked really nice.
Once I´d checked in, been shown around and met the nice hostel owner - Liz (Mexico), it was pretty late afternoon and I didn´t really fancy venturing out at that stage. Luckily, they had England´s final Euro group game on so I was quite content watching that (surprise, surprise). I also met a nice Danish couple - Casper and Lisa.
That evening, I decided to chill at the hostel and got a Pizza from a place further up the Favela. Having not been out into Rio yet for some exploration, I didn´t think it would be the best idea to start at night and potentially get myself lost. Whilst I was very excited to be there, I also felt quite cautious because of the reputation the city has and the large levels of crime that still exist throughout it. Better to get stuck into it the following day when I could start to get my bearings properly.
Day 2: I booked onto a Favela tour after having it recommended by Holly. It wasn´t of the one the hostel was situated in but a different one in a small neighbourhood called Ipanema. It was also run by another of the hostel staff, Daniel (Australia), who actually lived inside the Favela.
Obviously, I´d never been to Rio before but having seen films, images and spoken to others who have, I could tell that the Favelas represented a significant, famous part of the city. Generally, they run up the front of the mountains that surround Rio and they look pretty amazing (from what I had seen on the taxi ride in). You might wonder what the appeal is with visiting a shanty town but they are also apparently amazing to explore and of course, give a real feel for what life is like for the vast majority of Rio´s population. There are hundreds of Favelas scattered across the city and the majority of them haven´t been pacified and still experience the huge levels of crime that has become synonymous with the city. Thankfully, the one we were heading to in Ipanema had been pacified, although this didn´t completely relax us about going there.
Favela tours are one of the main tourist ´things to do´in Rio and consequently, a number of different companies offer them. However, after speaking to a few other travellers and to Holly, I was told that these company tours have a feel of being like visiting the zoo, with tourists reluctant to get too close to the residents or interact with them. Needless to say, this wasn´t really what I wanted and I much preffered the idea of visiting with someone who actually lives in one. I met Daniel that morning as well as the 2 other guys who were on the tour - Adam and Jordan (both Canada). We then went and caught the bus to Ipanema.
After getting some initial information from Daniel on the way, we were pretty amazed to find a brand new lift had been recently installed at the foot of the Favela - Not really what you expect when visiting what´s supposed to be a shanty town! Daniel told us that the government had recently put this into operation and, while the residents were grateful for the convenience, they also felt that the money could have been distributed to other ares of the Favela. After walking around for a while, we could see what they meant.
Once we got inside, the look of the Favela was pretty much as I´d expected. The residents are obviously quite poor and don´t have much in terms of housing, space and possessions. We all felt perfectly safe once we started walking around though and the residents seemed genuinely quite content and happy for us to be there. No sooner had we got inside before Daniel got chatting to a group of lads he knew who lived there, who then proceeded to put on an impressive dance montage for us all. Unfortunately, our Portuguese still isn´t up to much so interaction was limited but we knew enough to say thank you and let them know we appreciated the performance.
Daniel then tooks us to his own house in the Favela, so we could get an idea of how they look inside and what sort of space the families have to operate with. The answer: not much! His place was absolutely tiny - basically just 2 small rooms and a bathroom. It´s certainly not a place that I could live but Daniel seemed really happy there and clearly enjoyed living in the Favela too. He has lived in Rio for almost a year now and actually chose to live there, unlike many of the other residents. It´s fair to say he´s getting a true Brazilian experience by doing so and at quite an inflated price too - 200 quid a month! It may not sound like much but I can assure you, for the amount of room he had, it is.
Following that, we went to explore some more of the Favela and appreciate the impressive works of graffiti that decorate parts of the inside. Looking around and listening to Daniel, it was hard not to be impressed by the place because it´s been built 100% by the residents and they have done a really good job. The other Favelas in Rio, which haven´t been pacified, are still home to major drug dealing and crime levels apparently and this one was no different until the police went in and removed all the drugs and weapons a few years ago. You wouldn´t have known it from walking around though - it was actually quite pleasant. I´m sure the same can´t be said of the others though, which the police are trying to pacify one-by-one. A long process I suspect.
As we explored further, we got the impression that some of the residents perhaps weren´t as poor as we had initially imaged - most of the houses have Sky TV installed!!! Again, not something we expected. As we got higher up, we were also able to get some incredible views over the city - an aspect of Favela life that they are definately fortunate with. Jordan then bought a nice piece of art from one of the locals before Daniel took us right to the top for some even better views. Rio looks stunning from a high viewpoint.
The tour finished with a quick kick-about with some of the local kids - an activity the three of us weren´t going to pass up. Their samba skills were naturally quite impressive. We then stopped for lunch at a cafe inside the Favela, paid for with the money we had paid Daniel for the tour. Another advantage of touring with him is that we knew the money would be going back into the Favela, something I doubt is the case with the big company tours. At this point we said how grateful we were to him for showing around and also how pleased we had taken that option. It was a quality tour, where we got to fully interact with the residents (language barriers aside) and had no feeling of it being like visiting a zoo. An authentic Rio experience on my first full day there.
That afternoon and evening, I took a walk along Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. Once I had navigated the hill from Lisetonga, Copacobana was really close, making the hostel location ideal as far as I was concerned. It´s one of the most famous beaches on earth so I was keen to see what it was like by night.
There was loads going on - Volleyball games (played by men wearing shockingly small trunks it has to be said), Football Games, Football-Volleyball games and numerous street performers and Dancers all the way along the beach. It was enjoyable to just walking along and watching everything that was going on. Doing this, you can also get a feel for why the Brazilian footy team is consistently so good because the quality of football on the beach, particularly when combined with the Volleyball courts, was really impressive. The skills on offer from some of the girls on the beach were just as good and it was fantastic to watch. Lots going on at Copacobana beach by night.
Day 3: After breakfast, I embarked on a long walk towards another of Rio´s famous neighbourhoods - Lapa. It was quite a trek to get there (about 2 hours) but it was well worth the walk because I got some great views of Sugarloaf mountain on my right-hand side. Like the mountain that accomodates Christo, Sugarloaf is another famous spot in Rio and I intended to pay it a visit on another day. This wasn´t a city that I wanted to rush.
A huge conference called ´Rio + 20´was taking place throughout the city for a couple of weeks, which meant lots of crowds scattered around. I had to navigate a couple on my way to reaching the small neighbourhood of Lapa. It was a good walk though, allowing me to explore a nice park and it´s monuments as well as some other impressive statues. Like Buenos Aires, Rio also has it´s national flag up all over the place and this adds to the scenery of the city just the same as it did in BA.
Once in Lapa, I caught sight of the famous archways that divide the neighbourhood. They look a big grubby now it has to be said but I could imagine how impressive they had once looked since they are quite big and imposing.
Just around the corner from there, I found Lapa steps, which are probably the main appeal of this particular neighbourhood. This is a huge staircase, that was taken over by a Chilean artist called Jorge Selaron in 1990. He started renovating the steps with new tiles as a tribute to the brazilian people and they have become a focal point of the area ever since.
It´s pretty cool to be honest. I walked to the top and got some good photos of the whole staircase, which was also used by Snoop Dogg in his 2003 video for ´Beautiful´. The tiles that form the steps are ever changing, because the artist constantly replaces them with ones he buys or others that are donated by visitors. This is all explained in a short passage from the artist, which can be read at the foot of the staircase. His reason for doing it is apparently based on a problem from his past but the passage doesn´t elaborate on that. He finishes by saying he will continue to keep changing it´s image until he dies. I hope he doesn´t remove the brazilian flag that overlooks the main staircase though because this is definately the best part.
An enjoyable day exploring Lapa and the steps in particular were impressive and well worth a visit. I didn´t fancy a 2 hour walk back to Copacabana though so caught one of the unofficial buses that transport people about town. A pretty chilled late afternoon and evening following that.
Day 4: Adam had caught a flight back to Canada the following evening so Jordan joined me for the day for some more sightseeing. This time, I wanted to check out Santa Theresa and Centro.
We caught the bus up to Santa Theresa - an old neighbourhood siuated at one of Rio´s highest points. It´s a pretty nice little place, with cobbled streets and some interesting old buildings. It also offered some good views over the city and of Christo in the distance. Also near the viewpoint were some tiny Monkeys after some food. Luckily, Jordan had brought some bread rolls with him so we fed them for a bit and watched them all scrap over them. Gotta love the Monkeys!
Lapa is pretty close to Centro so we popped in there next so I could show Jordan the archways and the steps. We then took the short walk into Centro, where a huge photography exhibition was taking place in the middle of town. This was great actually - high quality photos of famous places across the world so we took our time looking through them.
Following that, we walked around Centro for a couple of hours and got some lunch there. Like Lapa, it´s a pretty nice area full of impressive buildings, statues and monuments so it was enjoyable just walking around and exploring.
Once back at the hostel, we met another traveller called Eva (Germany) and got chatting to her. We then decided that the 3 of us would head to Lapa´s famous street party that evening and consequently, all headed out to get some supplies in for pre-party drinks. Having drunk so many since being in Brazil, we got the ingredients for some home-made Caipirinhas, which actually turned out pretty good. It was basically guess-work in terms of working out the quantities of Cachaca, Lime and Sugar since none of us had made them before. Luckily though, they turned out pretty well and after a few hours drinking, we were pretty pissed before even leaving the hostel.
We then headed into Lapa and were joined by Scott and Sophie (Manchester), Thiago (Brazil) and Ivan (Norway), all from our hostel. The Burnley lads had told me good things about Lapa street party so hopefully we were in for a good night.
There were thousands of people around Lapa but unfortunately, there wasn´t as much going on in the street as I had imagined (apart from a couple of fights). There wasn´t any music outside, so it basically just had the feel of lots of people waiting to get into all the bars. It was ok, (the Caipirinhas were cheap) but not really what I expected. After a while, we all headed into this hip-hop bar that Thiago knew but it wasn´t that good so myself, Jordan and Eva left not long after. We then hung around the street some more getting pissed and trying out a couple more bars. Again, not great unfortunately but we had a good laugh on the Caipirinhas nonetheless. They are very addictive so I´m looking forward to making some more when I´m back home.
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Monday, 9 July 2012
Florianopolis
Day 1: An interesting night bus journey to get us from Foz do Iguazu to Florianopolis. When we all initially got on the bus, we had to sit in our designated seats, which meant me sitting next to this old Brazilian guy. No problem there apart from the fact that he kept speaking Portuguese to me and, not knowing any, I couldn´t offer any kind of response. Just when I´d picked up some basic Spanish lines, now in Brazil it´s Portuguese!
Anyway, once we set off, I started looking back down the bus to see if there were any double seats available so I could have some extra room to get some sleep (no problem with the old guy, honest). It turned out there were some seats near the back so I got up and moved myself and my stuff back there. However, once I´d sat down, I caught sight of another Brazilian guy, who was looking down the bus directly at me and doing nothing except smiling. I thought it was pretty weird so decided to try and ignore him.
He kept staring and smiling at me for some time and my ignoring technique wasn´t really working. Then, he got up himself and moved to the double seats directly across from where I was now sitting! Again, he sat down, didn´t say a word, turned his head and was smiling directly at me as I tried to ignore him. When he wouldn´t stop, eventually I had to say something (in English of course) and asked him what he wanted. He clearly didn´t speak English but thankfully turned away sensing I was getting a bit annoyed.
But then, he started staring at me again and smiling more than ever (I´m pretty sure this guy is gay at this point). I´d had enough though and started shouting at him, telling him to stop staring and look the other way until he got the message. Thankfully, this time he did and stopped staring. I think he must have thought I was looking at him when searching for a seat and wanted him to come to the back of the bus with me - so dodgy. It didn´t exactly help me with getting to sleep either, knowing there might be a guy looking at me as I did!
Fortunately, more people got on the bus later meaning I had to return to my original seat. This guy however, ended up getting pretty cosy with another guy on the very back seat as the journey progressed. The word uncomfortable doesn´t even come close to describing this turn of events. Maybe this is what goes on on Brazilian nightbuses. Quite a strange start to my time in Brazil to say the least!
Anyway, moving on.
We arrived into Florianopolis early afternoon following another brutal 18 hour trip - they are starting to take their toll on me, even without gay Brazilians staring at me throughout the night. Myself and the lads jumped into a taxi and headed for an area on the other side of the island. The girls had made arrangements to stay with some friends of Elsa´s family, who lived in Florianopolis. We made plans to meet up with them the next day.
Not much time to do anything once we had arrived at the hostel. We made the second Euro game of the day so sat and watched that after meeting the nice locals that were running the hostel - Junior, Maria, Conrad and Babs.
That evening, the 4 of us had a nice meal cooked up by the hostel chef, Mario, and treated ourselves to a few too many Caipirinhas - Maria had quite a talent for making them. I also told all the lads about my experience on the bus, which they obviously found hilarious.
Day 2: A nice day in Florianopolis so after breakfast, the 4 of us headed down the hill to the nearest beach for the day. It had been a couple of weeks since enjoying some beach time for me so I was keen to catch some rays and relax for the day. The beach was really nice and we had good weather throughout the day to go with it.
We met up with the girls that evening and shared some of Maria´s now famous Caipirinhas with them. Leaving them to their drinking, I met another English guy called Chris at the hostel and got chatting to him for the rest of the evening.
Day 3: Us 4, Chris and a girl called Briley (US) booked onto a tour of the south of the island. Junior arranged it for us and it was actually his dad who took us out in this american-style schoolbus, which was pretty cool.
The tour took us to 4 of the best beaches on the south of the island but it wasn´t helped by the weather deteriorating as the day went on. No rain thankfully but it got quite cold and wasn´t exactly the sort of weather you would want to sit on a beach in. The beach hopping was all pretty rushed too because he wanted to squeeze in as many as he could, which meant we couldn´t really spend much time sun-bathing (before the sun disappeared) before having to move on. I decided then that beach-hopping tours aren´t really my thing because you end up spending more time getting to them than you do actually there. Oh well - nice to see some more of Florianopolis at least.
The tour finished with a visit to a good vantage point, giving nice views over the island, before ending with a stop at the biggest lake on Florianopolis. This was pretty nice and we were glad we had checked it out.
That evening, after yet more Caipirinhas at the hostel, we headed out with the girls, Chris and the staff to a bar along the main strip of the island. This was cool and had a decent live band playing. We hung around for a few hours before heading back.
Day 4: The lads had more of a hangover than me so I left them in bed that morning and headed back down to our local beach after breakfast. I spent the morning there before taking a walk to the area we had visited the previous night so I could see what was going on by day. It was pretty quiet but there´s a nice lagoon, which I took a walk around and spent the afternoon strolling around town.
Our final evening in Florianopolis and the final one of us together as a 6 so we headed into the main part of the island for a nice Mexican meal. The trip was almost over for the lads and they were heading back to Sao Paulo the following day to spend a few days before getting their flight home. Myself, Nikki and Elsa were all heading to Rio de Janeiro after managing to sort a couple of cheap flights from Floripa (as the locals call it). Mine was the following day.
We had a really nice evening and a good laugh for our last one all together. The 6 of us had become really good mates over the past couple of weeks and it was sad that we were all parting ways. Apart from some guys in New Zealand, this was probably the longest I had stayed with the same group and we had all become quite close. We all just about managed to hold back the tears as the lads headed off to the bus station after dinner though. Hopefully, the 6 of us will all meet up again when back in the UK.
That was me finished with Florianopolis after an enjoyable few days. A really nice island and well worth checking out. My next destination was one I´d been excited about before the trip even began.....................Rio de Janeiro - The City of God.
Bring it on!!!
Anyway, once we set off, I started looking back down the bus to see if there were any double seats available so I could have some extra room to get some sleep (no problem with the old guy, honest). It turned out there were some seats near the back so I got up and moved myself and my stuff back there. However, once I´d sat down, I caught sight of another Brazilian guy, who was looking down the bus directly at me and doing nothing except smiling. I thought it was pretty weird so decided to try and ignore him.
He kept staring and smiling at me for some time and my ignoring technique wasn´t really working. Then, he got up himself and moved to the double seats directly across from where I was now sitting! Again, he sat down, didn´t say a word, turned his head and was smiling directly at me as I tried to ignore him. When he wouldn´t stop, eventually I had to say something (in English of course) and asked him what he wanted. He clearly didn´t speak English but thankfully turned away sensing I was getting a bit annoyed.
But then, he started staring at me again and smiling more than ever (I´m pretty sure this guy is gay at this point). I´d had enough though and started shouting at him, telling him to stop staring and look the other way until he got the message. Thankfully, this time he did and stopped staring. I think he must have thought I was looking at him when searching for a seat and wanted him to come to the back of the bus with me - so dodgy. It didn´t exactly help me with getting to sleep either, knowing there might be a guy looking at me as I did!
Fortunately, more people got on the bus later meaning I had to return to my original seat. This guy however, ended up getting pretty cosy with another guy on the very back seat as the journey progressed. The word uncomfortable doesn´t even come close to describing this turn of events. Maybe this is what goes on on Brazilian nightbuses. Quite a strange start to my time in Brazil to say the least!
Anyway, moving on.
We arrived into Florianopolis early afternoon following another brutal 18 hour trip - they are starting to take their toll on me, even without gay Brazilians staring at me throughout the night. Myself and the lads jumped into a taxi and headed for an area on the other side of the island. The girls had made arrangements to stay with some friends of Elsa´s family, who lived in Florianopolis. We made plans to meet up with them the next day.
Not much time to do anything once we had arrived at the hostel. We made the second Euro game of the day so sat and watched that after meeting the nice locals that were running the hostel - Junior, Maria, Conrad and Babs.
That evening, the 4 of us had a nice meal cooked up by the hostel chef, Mario, and treated ourselves to a few too many Caipirinhas - Maria had quite a talent for making them. I also told all the lads about my experience on the bus, which they obviously found hilarious.
Day 2: A nice day in Florianopolis so after breakfast, the 4 of us headed down the hill to the nearest beach for the day. It had been a couple of weeks since enjoying some beach time for me so I was keen to catch some rays and relax for the day. The beach was really nice and we had good weather throughout the day to go with it.
We met up with the girls that evening and shared some of Maria´s now famous Caipirinhas with them. Leaving them to their drinking, I met another English guy called Chris at the hostel and got chatting to him for the rest of the evening.
Day 3: Us 4, Chris and a girl called Briley (US) booked onto a tour of the south of the island. Junior arranged it for us and it was actually his dad who took us out in this american-style schoolbus, which was pretty cool.
The tour took us to 4 of the best beaches on the south of the island but it wasn´t helped by the weather deteriorating as the day went on. No rain thankfully but it got quite cold and wasn´t exactly the sort of weather you would want to sit on a beach in. The beach hopping was all pretty rushed too because he wanted to squeeze in as many as he could, which meant we couldn´t really spend much time sun-bathing (before the sun disappeared) before having to move on. I decided then that beach-hopping tours aren´t really my thing because you end up spending more time getting to them than you do actually there. Oh well - nice to see some more of Florianopolis at least.
The tour finished with a visit to a good vantage point, giving nice views over the island, before ending with a stop at the biggest lake on Florianopolis. This was pretty nice and we were glad we had checked it out.
That evening, after yet more Caipirinhas at the hostel, we headed out with the girls, Chris and the staff to a bar along the main strip of the island. This was cool and had a decent live band playing. We hung around for a few hours before heading back.
Day 4: The lads had more of a hangover than me so I left them in bed that morning and headed back down to our local beach after breakfast. I spent the morning there before taking a walk to the area we had visited the previous night so I could see what was going on by day. It was pretty quiet but there´s a nice lagoon, which I took a walk around and spent the afternoon strolling around town.
Our final evening in Florianopolis and the final one of us together as a 6 so we headed into the main part of the island for a nice Mexican meal. The trip was almost over for the lads and they were heading back to Sao Paulo the following day to spend a few days before getting their flight home. Myself, Nikki and Elsa were all heading to Rio de Janeiro after managing to sort a couple of cheap flights from Floripa (as the locals call it). Mine was the following day.
We had a really nice evening and a good laugh for our last one all together. The 6 of us had become really good mates over the past couple of weeks and it was sad that we were all parting ways. Apart from some guys in New Zealand, this was probably the longest I had stayed with the same group and we had all become quite close. We all just about managed to hold back the tears as the lads headed off to the bus station after dinner though. Hopefully, the 6 of us will all meet up again when back in the UK.
That was me finished with Florianopolis after an enjoyable few days. A really nice island and well worth checking out. My next destination was one I´d been excited about before the trip even began.....................Rio de Janeiro - The City of God.
Bring it on!!!
Puerto Iguazu (Iguazu Falls)
Day 1: A nice long overnight bus for me and the lads, which ended up taking about 16 hours and got us into the small town of Puerto Iguazu mid-afternoon. It had been a while since I´d had to do an over-nighter (not since Asia in fact) but there will be plenty more to come. South America is massive!
We got checked into our hostel and immediately went for a walk around town and to get some food. Nothing much going on in Puerto since it´s really just a stop-over place for tourists who are visiting the falls. Our plan was to head off to check out the Argentinian side of the falls the following morning. They cross over the border, meaning you can visit them on the Brazilian side as well.
After getting some dinner, we made our way back to the hostel and found a message from Elsa and Nikki, who we had left back in Buenos Aires. Evidently, they missed us greatly because they had decided to shave a couple of days off their remaing time there and get a bus down to Puerto that night and to meet us the following afternoon. Guess they just couldn´t live without us!
Following that news, we decided to delay our falls trip by a day to give them time to join us so we could go as a group. That evening, myself, Luke and Matt took full advantage of the lie-in we would now have by heading into town for a few drinks. It also gave me a chance to have my first taste of a Caipirinha - a Brazilian drink that is served in most places throughout South America apparently. Very nice it was too and quite addictive. Something told me it would be my last on this continent, especially since we would be crossing the border into Brazil in a few days time.
Day 2: An unexpected free day while we waited for the girls to arrive so we just hung around the hostel (nothing else to do in Puerto). Luckily for us, it happened to be the first day of Euro 2012 so we were all more than happy being in front of that for the afternoon. Elsa and Nikki arrived mid-afternoon and we were therefore all reunited.
That evening, after getting some dinner with the girls I decided to stay in in preparation for our early start to visit the falls the following morning. The rest of them headed out into town again though so I said I would wake them all up the following morning.
Day 3: To be continued.................All I will say for now is that we didn´t make it to Iguazu Falls.
Day 4: After arranging as a group that we would finally go to the falls today, we woke to more bad luck as it was absolutely hammering down. None of us really fancied spending the day at the falls in the rain because we didn´t want to rush it and didn´t think we would enjoy it either. Another day in front of the Euros for us. Beginning to think we would never make it to Iguazu.
That evening, Elsa and Luke kindly cooked us all a nice curry at the hostel. Following that, a chilled evening with a few drinks and games of cards. Fingers crossed we would get to go to Iguazu tomorrow.
Day 5: No rain this time and we were all up bright and early to catch the local bus over to the falls. For those that don´t know, Iguazu Falls are some of the biggest waterfalls anywhere in the world and are supposedly quite a spectacular sight to behold. Having spoken to numerous people who have travelled South America and been, this was one of the things I´d been most looking forward to visiting on the continent.
We arrived mid-morning and were quite surprised at the look of the Falls entrance. Considering we were visiting a set of natural waterfalls, we could have been forgiven for thinking we had been dropped off at a theme park instead with the way it looks! Pretty strange but there you go.
Once inside, we decided to do a couple of walking trails first, having been advised to do so by some others back at the hostel. The main part of the falls is known as ´Garganta Del Diablo (The Devils Throat)´ and we were told to leave this until last as it´s supposedly the most impressive part.
After walking for a while, we got our first sight of Iguazu Falls - WOW!!!! Absolutely incredible and the sight far exceeded my expectations. The falls stretch for several kilometres and are an amazing sight. We did an upper and lower walking trail, which allowed us to get right up close to the falls, where we could fully appreciate how loud and powerful they are. Luckily for us, it was a really nice day too, which only added to the scenery. It´s safe to say the 6 of us were pretty blown away.
After spending some time walking both trails around and over the falls (and getting plenty of good photos), we made our way to catch the train that would take us to ´The Devil´s Throat´, all wondering how much better it could get to be honest. We were all pretty amazed at what we had already seen.
The answer was: MUCH!!! This part is spectacular and we could see why it is best saved until last. It´s basically the part of the falls where several of them come together and drive into a huge canyon with enormous force. The falls here are so strong that there was loads of spray coming up over all the tourists and it´s even difficult to hear each other with the noise they generate. An unbelievable sight and well up there with the best from my trip so far. In terms of natural attractions, it´s certainly one of the best. A fantastic day and once again, nature at it´s best!
We left the park mid-afternoon amd made it back to the hostel in time to catch the second half of the England vs France match. It didn´t seem as though we had missed much.
Day 6: Finding it hard to believe we had spent 5 nights in Puerto Iguazu (it´s normally 2 nights at the most for visitors to the falls), we caught a bus to take us across the border into Brazil. Only a couple of places visited in Argentina for me unfortunately but I´m on limited time and had to get moving. I really enjoyed it though and would definately like to return one day - probably when it´s warmer and Patagonia is more accessible.
The 6 of us crossed over into Brazil mid-afternoon, where we were dropped off just over the border and had to wait for another bus. This took ages and we were worried we might miss the bus we had planned to get later that evening - not a pleasant thought considering how many days we had already spent here.
Finally, we got picked up and taken into the town on the Brazilian side of the falls - Foz do Iguazu. This is a much bigger town than Puerto, meaning it took us a while and a couple of bus journeys (and lots of struggling with Elsa´s extra case) to reach the bus station. Once there, we booked another overnight bus to a destination I hadn´t initially planned to visit but had only heard good things about - Florianopolis. It had been quite cold in Buenos Aires and at times in Puerto Iguazu so fingers crossed for some sunshine there. Need to top up the tan!
We got checked into our hostel and immediately went for a walk around town and to get some food. Nothing much going on in Puerto since it´s really just a stop-over place for tourists who are visiting the falls. Our plan was to head off to check out the Argentinian side of the falls the following morning. They cross over the border, meaning you can visit them on the Brazilian side as well.
After getting some dinner, we made our way back to the hostel and found a message from Elsa and Nikki, who we had left back in Buenos Aires. Evidently, they missed us greatly because they had decided to shave a couple of days off their remaing time there and get a bus down to Puerto that night and to meet us the following afternoon. Guess they just couldn´t live without us!
Following that news, we decided to delay our falls trip by a day to give them time to join us so we could go as a group. That evening, myself, Luke and Matt took full advantage of the lie-in we would now have by heading into town for a few drinks. It also gave me a chance to have my first taste of a Caipirinha - a Brazilian drink that is served in most places throughout South America apparently. Very nice it was too and quite addictive. Something told me it would be my last on this continent, especially since we would be crossing the border into Brazil in a few days time.
Day 2: An unexpected free day while we waited for the girls to arrive so we just hung around the hostel (nothing else to do in Puerto). Luckily for us, it happened to be the first day of Euro 2012 so we were all more than happy being in front of that for the afternoon. Elsa and Nikki arrived mid-afternoon and we were therefore all reunited.
That evening, after getting some dinner with the girls I decided to stay in in preparation for our early start to visit the falls the following morning. The rest of them headed out into town again though so I said I would wake them all up the following morning.
Day 3: To be continued.................All I will say for now is that we didn´t make it to Iguazu Falls.
Day 4: After arranging as a group that we would finally go to the falls today, we woke to more bad luck as it was absolutely hammering down. None of us really fancied spending the day at the falls in the rain because we didn´t want to rush it and didn´t think we would enjoy it either. Another day in front of the Euros for us. Beginning to think we would never make it to Iguazu.
That evening, Elsa and Luke kindly cooked us all a nice curry at the hostel. Following that, a chilled evening with a few drinks and games of cards. Fingers crossed we would get to go to Iguazu tomorrow.
Day 5: No rain this time and we were all up bright and early to catch the local bus over to the falls. For those that don´t know, Iguazu Falls are some of the biggest waterfalls anywhere in the world and are supposedly quite a spectacular sight to behold. Having spoken to numerous people who have travelled South America and been, this was one of the things I´d been most looking forward to visiting on the continent.
We arrived mid-morning and were quite surprised at the look of the Falls entrance. Considering we were visiting a set of natural waterfalls, we could have been forgiven for thinking we had been dropped off at a theme park instead with the way it looks! Pretty strange but there you go.
Once inside, we decided to do a couple of walking trails first, having been advised to do so by some others back at the hostel. The main part of the falls is known as ´Garganta Del Diablo (The Devils Throat)´ and we were told to leave this until last as it´s supposedly the most impressive part.
After walking for a while, we got our first sight of Iguazu Falls - WOW!!!! Absolutely incredible and the sight far exceeded my expectations. The falls stretch for several kilometres and are an amazing sight. We did an upper and lower walking trail, which allowed us to get right up close to the falls, where we could fully appreciate how loud and powerful they are. Luckily for us, it was a really nice day too, which only added to the scenery. It´s safe to say the 6 of us were pretty blown away.
After spending some time walking both trails around and over the falls (and getting plenty of good photos), we made our way to catch the train that would take us to ´The Devil´s Throat´, all wondering how much better it could get to be honest. We were all pretty amazed at what we had already seen.
The answer was: MUCH!!! This part is spectacular and we could see why it is best saved until last. It´s basically the part of the falls where several of them come together and drive into a huge canyon with enormous force. The falls here are so strong that there was loads of spray coming up over all the tourists and it´s even difficult to hear each other with the noise they generate. An unbelievable sight and well up there with the best from my trip so far. In terms of natural attractions, it´s certainly one of the best. A fantastic day and once again, nature at it´s best!
We left the park mid-afternoon amd made it back to the hostel in time to catch the second half of the England vs France match. It didn´t seem as though we had missed much.
Day 6: Finding it hard to believe we had spent 5 nights in Puerto Iguazu (it´s normally 2 nights at the most for visitors to the falls), we caught a bus to take us across the border into Brazil. Only a couple of places visited in Argentina for me unfortunately but I´m on limited time and had to get moving. I really enjoyed it though and would definately like to return one day - probably when it´s warmer and Patagonia is more accessible.
The 6 of us crossed over into Brazil mid-afternoon, where we were dropped off just over the border and had to wait for another bus. This took ages and we were worried we might miss the bus we had planned to get later that evening - not a pleasant thought considering how many days we had already spent here.
Finally, we got picked up and taken into the town on the Brazilian side of the falls - Foz do Iguazu. This is a much bigger town than Puerto, meaning it took us a while and a couple of bus journeys (and lots of struggling with Elsa´s extra case) to reach the bus station. Once there, we booked another overnight bus to a destination I hadn´t initially planned to visit but had only heard good things about - Florianopolis. It had been quite cold in Buenos Aires and at times in Puerto Iguazu so fingers crossed for some sunshine there. Need to top up the tan!
Saturday, 7 July 2012
Buenos Aires
Day 1: A pretty gruelling flight over to South America, which involved 2 hours to get to Auckland, a 2 hour wait there and then the final 12 hours to take us into Buenos Aires, Argentina. I took a shuttle bus into the city centre and checked into my hostel early evening Argentine time. Feeling pretty shattered it has to be said.
After checking in, I met the 3 other lads who were in my room - Luke, Dan & Matt (Barn Oldswick, Near Burnley) and it was nice to meet some English speakers after coming in from the airport. English is not as widely spoken in South America so I´m told and that was certainly the case getting my transfer into town. Hopefully I´ll pick some Spanish up over the coming weeks.
I got chatting to the lads straight away and got on really well with them. They were having some pre-drinks before heading into the city for the night so I joined them for a couple in the room before we headed down to the hostel bar for more Beers and some games of pool. The hostel was called Milhouse and I´d had it recommended by numerous previous visitors to the city. After hanging out at the bar area for a while, I could see why as it had a really nice feel to the place.
After sharing a few drinks, I left the guys to it as the journey caught up with me and I had to hit the sack. Nice to make some friends immediately arfter arriving though.
Day 2: I woke up about 8am, the same time the lads were coming in from their night out! By the sounds of it, they had been taking full advantage of Buenos Aires famed nightlife. I went down and joined them all for breakfast before needing to go back to bed to try and sleep off the journey some more. I was feeling pretty wiped.
I slept through until about 3pm and woke with a bit more energy for the rest of the day. It was just as well because within a couple of hours, I was on my way to watch Boca Juniors, one of Buenos Aires main 2 football teams.
I had signed up in the hostel upon arrival the previous evening and the price included the ticket and transfer to and from the game. After putting my name down, I´d asked at reception about the price because it seemed quite high to go and watch the match. The response from the hostel staff was that I was welcome to try and go myself for cheaper but would run the risk of missing out on a ticket or being sold a fake one, which is apparently quite common for Boca games. I decided not to take the risk and so somewhat grudgingly paid the amount they wanted, safe in the knowledge that I would at least be guaranteed to get into the game. Time would tell if it was the correct decision.
On the bus to the game. I got chatting to another English lad called Colin, who I had met briefly at the bar the previous evening. We parked up with still around 3 hours until kick off and then made our way through the neighbourhood of La Boca towards the Stadium, which is known as ´La Bombonera´. We were also told to watch our pockets because this particular part of town is supposedly the one most known for its pickpockets.
We then made our way into this make-shift bar near the ground, where I got chatting to another English lad called Griff. After having a couple of beers, our hostel guide introduced myself, Griff and a couple of others to a local lady who we would need to follow into the ground. She then gave us member cards to use for entry, with photos of local Argentines printed on them. Needless to say, I looked nothing like the guy on my card and the whole thing seemed pretty dodgy but we decided to do as she said and followed her into the ground.
Thankfully, it worked and after going through 2 sets of turnstiles and being searched, we were inside La Bombonera (but not before giving the local girl back the member cards, presumably so she could give them back to the actual owners). It then dawned on me why the price had been so high because if this is the way they get you into games when buying through a legitimate source, I can´t imagine how you go about buying them yourself. I was further reasured I had made the right decision by Griff, who had spent the previous 3 days trying to sort his own tickets out before giving up and paying the inflated hostel price. Undoubtedly more money but at least we were in and I was very excited to be about to watch some live football again. It had been a while!
The match was very one-sided and Boca ran out 3-0 winners with a club legend, Juan Roman Riquelme, running the show. He set up all three of the goals, prompting the crowd to sing his name rather than the goalscorer after every one. He may be into his mid-thirtees now but in the Argentine league at least, he´s still got it. He manages to do it without seeming to break sweat as well.
As nice as it was to be watching some football again, it was just as good to be in amongst the crazy Boca fans. Argentinian football fans are known for being pretty nuts and having spent 2 hours in amongst them, I can testify to it. It was fantastic though and the fans created such a brilliant atmosphere throughout the stadium. Obviously, all the songs were in Spanish so myself and Griff had no idea what they were singing. It didn´t matter to the locals though, particularly the guy next to me who grabbed my arm and insisted that we jump up and down and wave our arms with them. We were happy to oblige and had a really good time at the game. Being a football crazy nation, this was a true Argentine experience and I loved every minute.
Day 3: Luke, Dan and Matt headed off early morning as they had booked to spend a few days with a friend over in Uruguay. They would be returning to Buenos Aires later on in the week though so I would catch up with them again then. For me, it was time to explore some of the city.
The hostel was pretty centrally located so I did some sightseeing along Av Florida, which is the main street that divides the city centre. First off, I went to check out Obelisco - a tall column that sits in the centre of town and is a major symbol of Buenos Aires. I then took a walk down to the pink Presidential Palace - Casa Rosada, which includes the famous balcony where Evita used to speak to the crowds during the 1940s. A nice building.
From there, I took a walk to the other end of town for a look at the green-domed Palacio del Congreso, which was modelled on Washington DC´s Capitol building. This is a really nice building, complete with some great pieces of architecture. In front of the Palace is the pigeon-filled Plaza del Congresos, which contains some impressive granite steps that symbolize the Andes. This whole area is a pretty nice spot and it was cool hanging around there for a while and getting some good photos.
From here, I just wondered around the city some more, checking out the array of nice buildings, statues and monuments that are scattered around. I also liked the fact that they have the Argentinian flag on display all over the place as it definately adds to the scenery.
Early impressions of Buenos Aires were good. Very pleasing on the eye and I hadn´t even made it out to the other neighbourhoods yet.
After I returned from a day of sightseeing, I met my new dorm mates - Nikki & Elsa (Manchester), who had just flown in from Chile. I spent the evening chatting with them.
Day 4: I booked onto a walking tour through the hostel, which would take us into the neighbourhood of La Boca for the day. Obviously, I´d seen it briefly when attending the Boca Juniors game but was keen to see it during the day as there´s supposedly lots to explore.
We met our guide, Florencia, before boarding the bus bound for La Boca. The first stop was at the stadium again but this time, for a proper tour. We made our way inside and instantly came across a statue of Diego Maradona - both Boca´s and Argentina´s most famous player and pretty much a legend across the country. Being english, my opinion of him is slighlty different to the locals but it´s hard to deny how good he was and why he´s such a big deal throughout Argentina.
As the stadium tour continued, we walked through an impressive corridor that contained photos of every player ever to play for Boca and also 2 more statues of other club legends - Martin Palermo and Juan Roman Riquelme, who I had seen running the show a couple of nights previously. These 2 players and Maradona are undoubtedly the most worshipped by the club´s supporters.
We then moved on to a wall containing decades worth of Boca shirts before heading out into the stands for a look at the stadium itself. Thankfully, we were in a different stand to that I´d been in for the match and it was good to get to view it from a different position. It´s not the biggest of stadiums but the design definately helps with generating a strong, intimidating atmosphere. The game showed me how good that could be.
The tour finished in the Trophy room, which was packed with huge Trophies and images of other previous Boca players, including Carlos Tevez and Gabriel Batistuta. Being a football fanatic myself, it´s safe to say I enjoyed this tour.
We then had lunch in La Boca before moving on to the main attraction of this working class neighbourhood - Caminito Street. This is a short walk lined with different coloured corrugated-metal buildings and it´s pretty cool to look at. Also on display were numerous works of art and lots of Tango performances were taking place outside of the bars and restaurants as well. A nice place to spend the afternoon and a good end to the walking tour. La Boca may be one of the poorer parts of Buenos Aires but it´s a nice place to visit nonetheless.
That evening, myself, Nikki & Elsa were joined in our room by another English guy called Dave. We got chatting to him straight away and he instantly got involved with some cards and drinking games we had going on. We all ended up getting quite boozy but never made it out into the city. We had a good laugh just hanging out though.
Day 5: Another walking tour booked through the hostel and this time, Elsa and Nikki decided to come too. The destination for this one was Recoleta, one of Buenos Aires plushest neighbourhoods.
Florencia was our guide again as we took the local bus into Recoleta. The first stop was a huge Metallic flower, which sits in the middle of a public park. It´s pretty nice and we got some good photos. Florencia told us that it apparently used to open up when the sun rises and then close again when it sets but after the machinery broke a few years back. they haven´t got around to fixing it yet. Florencia seemed to think they never will so it´s probably just as well that it broke when it was open rather than closed. I don´t think it would look quite as good otherwise.
We then walked around Recoleta some more, checking out more of the Statues and Monuments that are scattered around - there seems to be loads across Buenos Aires. We then stopped for lunch prior to the main attraction of the tour.
This attraction is Recoleta´s Cemetery - Cementario de la Recoleta, which is famous for housing generations of Argentina´s elite, including Evita herself. It´s amazing and I´ve never seen anything like it. Hundreds and hundreds of huge Statues, marble patterns and Tombstones that form a maze, which it´s easy to get lost in. Some of the graves are unbelievably extravagant so we were expecting Evita´s to top them all, only to find that hers is one of the more subtle ones. We needed Florencia to direct us to it or I don´t think we would have found it. The Cemetery was well worth a visit and is a definate must-see for any visitors to the city.
Day 6: A pretty relaxed day. Dave and I headed into the small neighbourhood of San Telmo for the day as it was just a short walk from the hostel. It's a pretty nice little area that was cool to walk around for a few hours. Cobbled streets in every direction and some nice buildings to see.
Following that, we went to explore some more of the central sights, which he had yet to visit but I'd seen a few days earlier. Nothing much else to report other than this really.
Day 7: Luke, Matt and Dan returned from their few days in Uruguay and it was just in time for us to sample some more Argentine footy action. This time, it was the national side and a chance to see the greatest player in the world (and possibly of all time) - Lionel Messi. The match: Argentina vs Ecuador in a World Cup Qualifier.
After my experience with the Boca game, we decided to play things safe again and book our tickets and transport through the hostel. Undoubtedly, this made it more expensive than if we had tried to sort them out ourselves but we didn't want to take the risk of missing out.
The bus set off mid-afternoon (some 5 hours before kick off) and we headed towards the stadium that is home to Buenos Aires other team, River Plate. As we set off, with Florencia as our guide once more, we were then basically forced by the locals to get face-painted up in support of the Argies. All being English, we showed some initial resistance before crumbling and getting involved with everyone else. I maintained that my face-paint was just in support of Messi rather than the team though - we literally could not wait to see him in action.
On the way, we made a short stop at a local park where we were able to get a few beers in and people could buy fake replica shirts if they wanted (a step too far for me). We then arrived near the stadium, made the short walk there before getting searched TWICE and having our tickets checked TWICE before they would let us in the stadium. No need for other fans' member cards to get in this time though thankfully and to be fair, having experienced how crazy the Argentine fans were at the Boca game, I could understand why the stewards were being so thorough. Matt even got breathalised before they would let him through the turnstiles!
Once we had finally made it through, we found a good place to stand (still terracing in our part of the stadium - good news) and took in the quality and size of the stadium. It's massive and definately comparable with the top stadiums in England. River were relegated a couple of seasons back and I can only imagine how out of place this stadium looks in the Argentine second division. Despite the increased size though, it would have to go some to top the atmosphere I experienced at the Boca game. Here's hoping.
The match itself was brilliant and Argentina were on top form as they easily dispatched Ecuador 4-0. Luckily for us, Messi was in inspired form too and completely ran the show from the first minute. Having only seen him on TV before, we wondered how good he actually is in the flesh but within a few minutes of kick-off, we could see how much better he is than everyone else on the pitch. Some of his skills and dribbles were different class and Ecuador couldn't handle him from start to finish. He was pretty much just toying with them at times, prompting numerous ''OLE''s from the crowd. A great atmosphere inside but definately not as loud as the Boca game.
Even more fortunately for us, he also got on the score-sheet as he combined with Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain to make it 3-0 with a fantastic goal. The same trio linked up for other 3 goals as well, which were scored by Aguero, Higuain and Angel Di Maria (all quality players in their own right too). Argentina and Messi were irresistible throughout and we all felt pretty lucky to be there to see them put on a show. Without hesitation, we also joined in with the locals in chanting the main man's name too because he is that damn good - ''MESSI, MESSI, MESSI''. The other attackers, Gago and particularly Mascherano were also quality throughout and Ecuador had no answer. Their best player was probably Antonio Valencia but even he was pretty quiet as they didn't really get a kick.
To be honest, I've seen some amazing sights and places throughout the trip but being able to see possibly the greatest player of all time, scoring and playing so well, in his home country, puts this experience up there with them for me. He's always been someone I've wanted to see play since he burst on the scene some years back so to be able to appreciate his talents alongside his countrymen made this another unforgettable experience. Definately something else to tick off the list and we all felt quite privileged to have been there to see it. Lionel Messi - I salute you!
Following the game, we were kept inside the stadium for quite a while, while the Ecuador fans made their way out of the stadium first. This seems to be pretty standard practice in Argentina because the same thing happened at the Boca game.
Once we were out, we caught our bus back into town before having a few beers back at the hostel. Another great day in Buenos Aires.
Day 8: Dave departed early that morning as he had to get to Rio to catch a flight home. A really nice guy and we had had good fun hanging out with him in BA. Hopefully, I'll meet up with him for a beer when I'm back home also.
That left 6 of us, who headed into San Telmo for the day to check out it's huge local market. Whilst most of us were content with just browsing and having a look, Elsa couldn't resist and bought herself loads of crap to add to her collection (I'm not being horrible. By her own admission, she buys loads of crap). In fact, she's bought so much of it that she's now carting around a huge backpack and an even bigger suitcase full of stuff. Not exactly ''travelling light'' like the rest of us. Haha.
After walking the market for a couple of hours, we got some food in San Telmo before making our way back towards the hostel.
That evening, the 6 of us headed to one of Buenos Aires other famous neighbourhoods - Palermo. The hostel staff had recommended a nice Steak Restaurant for us to try and, being in Argentina, we couldn't really leave without sampling one. Along with Football and Wine, Steaks are obviously one of the things the country is most famous for.
The Steak was so nice - one of the best I've had. The deal the restaurant had meant that we needed to finish three huge chunks each within an hour, in order to get 40% off the bill. With the exception of Nikki, we all just managed it (it was a challenge) and got our discount. Eating lots of nice meat to save money doesn't sound like a bad deal to me - I'm a backpacker after all!
Following the meal, we spent the rest of the evening in Palermo having some drinks in some of the nice local bars. This was our last night together in Buenos Aires and was definately a nice way to round it off.
Day 9: Nothing much done except pottering around the city and waiting for our bus that evening. I really enjoyed my time in Buenos Aires (despite it being quite cold) and it was nice to spend enough time there to really feel as though I saw it properly. Throughout the 8 days, I managed to visit all the main city neighbourhoods, sample some of it's famous nightlife, try some quality Argentinian Steak and go to two football games. Not bad for just over a week's worth of travelling.
That evening, myself, Luke, Matt and Dan said goodbye to Nikki and Elsa as we headed off to visit one of the main natural attractions in South America - Iguazu Falls. I'd heard good things so was looking forward to it.
After checking in, I met the 3 other lads who were in my room - Luke, Dan & Matt (Barn Oldswick, Near Burnley) and it was nice to meet some English speakers after coming in from the airport. English is not as widely spoken in South America so I´m told and that was certainly the case getting my transfer into town. Hopefully I´ll pick some Spanish up over the coming weeks.
I got chatting to the lads straight away and got on really well with them. They were having some pre-drinks before heading into the city for the night so I joined them for a couple in the room before we headed down to the hostel bar for more Beers and some games of pool. The hostel was called Milhouse and I´d had it recommended by numerous previous visitors to the city. After hanging out at the bar area for a while, I could see why as it had a really nice feel to the place.
After sharing a few drinks, I left the guys to it as the journey caught up with me and I had to hit the sack. Nice to make some friends immediately arfter arriving though.
Day 2: I woke up about 8am, the same time the lads were coming in from their night out! By the sounds of it, they had been taking full advantage of Buenos Aires famed nightlife. I went down and joined them all for breakfast before needing to go back to bed to try and sleep off the journey some more. I was feeling pretty wiped.
I slept through until about 3pm and woke with a bit more energy for the rest of the day. It was just as well because within a couple of hours, I was on my way to watch Boca Juniors, one of Buenos Aires main 2 football teams.
I had signed up in the hostel upon arrival the previous evening and the price included the ticket and transfer to and from the game. After putting my name down, I´d asked at reception about the price because it seemed quite high to go and watch the match. The response from the hostel staff was that I was welcome to try and go myself for cheaper but would run the risk of missing out on a ticket or being sold a fake one, which is apparently quite common for Boca games. I decided not to take the risk and so somewhat grudgingly paid the amount they wanted, safe in the knowledge that I would at least be guaranteed to get into the game. Time would tell if it was the correct decision.
On the bus to the game. I got chatting to another English lad called Colin, who I had met briefly at the bar the previous evening. We parked up with still around 3 hours until kick off and then made our way through the neighbourhood of La Boca towards the Stadium, which is known as ´La Bombonera´. We were also told to watch our pockets because this particular part of town is supposedly the one most known for its pickpockets.
We then made our way into this make-shift bar near the ground, where I got chatting to another English lad called Griff. After having a couple of beers, our hostel guide introduced myself, Griff and a couple of others to a local lady who we would need to follow into the ground. She then gave us member cards to use for entry, with photos of local Argentines printed on them. Needless to say, I looked nothing like the guy on my card and the whole thing seemed pretty dodgy but we decided to do as she said and followed her into the ground.
Thankfully, it worked and after going through 2 sets of turnstiles and being searched, we were inside La Bombonera (but not before giving the local girl back the member cards, presumably so she could give them back to the actual owners). It then dawned on me why the price had been so high because if this is the way they get you into games when buying through a legitimate source, I can´t imagine how you go about buying them yourself. I was further reasured I had made the right decision by Griff, who had spent the previous 3 days trying to sort his own tickets out before giving up and paying the inflated hostel price. Undoubtedly more money but at least we were in and I was very excited to be about to watch some live football again. It had been a while!
The match was very one-sided and Boca ran out 3-0 winners with a club legend, Juan Roman Riquelme, running the show. He set up all three of the goals, prompting the crowd to sing his name rather than the goalscorer after every one. He may be into his mid-thirtees now but in the Argentine league at least, he´s still got it. He manages to do it without seeming to break sweat as well.
As nice as it was to be watching some football again, it was just as good to be in amongst the crazy Boca fans. Argentinian football fans are known for being pretty nuts and having spent 2 hours in amongst them, I can testify to it. It was fantastic though and the fans created such a brilliant atmosphere throughout the stadium. Obviously, all the songs were in Spanish so myself and Griff had no idea what they were singing. It didn´t matter to the locals though, particularly the guy next to me who grabbed my arm and insisted that we jump up and down and wave our arms with them. We were happy to oblige and had a really good time at the game. Being a football crazy nation, this was a true Argentine experience and I loved every minute.
Day 3: Luke, Dan and Matt headed off early morning as they had booked to spend a few days with a friend over in Uruguay. They would be returning to Buenos Aires later on in the week though so I would catch up with them again then. For me, it was time to explore some of the city.
The hostel was pretty centrally located so I did some sightseeing along Av Florida, which is the main street that divides the city centre. First off, I went to check out Obelisco - a tall column that sits in the centre of town and is a major symbol of Buenos Aires. I then took a walk down to the pink Presidential Palace - Casa Rosada, which includes the famous balcony where Evita used to speak to the crowds during the 1940s. A nice building.
From there, I took a walk to the other end of town for a look at the green-domed Palacio del Congreso, which was modelled on Washington DC´s Capitol building. This is a really nice building, complete with some great pieces of architecture. In front of the Palace is the pigeon-filled Plaza del Congresos, which contains some impressive granite steps that symbolize the Andes. This whole area is a pretty nice spot and it was cool hanging around there for a while and getting some good photos.
From here, I just wondered around the city some more, checking out the array of nice buildings, statues and monuments that are scattered around. I also liked the fact that they have the Argentinian flag on display all over the place as it definately adds to the scenery.
Early impressions of Buenos Aires were good. Very pleasing on the eye and I hadn´t even made it out to the other neighbourhoods yet.
After I returned from a day of sightseeing, I met my new dorm mates - Nikki & Elsa (Manchester), who had just flown in from Chile. I spent the evening chatting with them.
Day 4: I booked onto a walking tour through the hostel, which would take us into the neighbourhood of La Boca for the day. Obviously, I´d seen it briefly when attending the Boca Juniors game but was keen to see it during the day as there´s supposedly lots to explore.
We met our guide, Florencia, before boarding the bus bound for La Boca. The first stop was at the stadium again but this time, for a proper tour. We made our way inside and instantly came across a statue of Diego Maradona - both Boca´s and Argentina´s most famous player and pretty much a legend across the country. Being english, my opinion of him is slighlty different to the locals but it´s hard to deny how good he was and why he´s such a big deal throughout Argentina.
As the stadium tour continued, we walked through an impressive corridor that contained photos of every player ever to play for Boca and also 2 more statues of other club legends - Martin Palermo and Juan Roman Riquelme, who I had seen running the show a couple of nights previously. These 2 players and Maradona are undoubtedly the most worshipped by the club´s supporters.
We then moved on to a wall containing decades worth of Boca shirts before heading out into the stands for a look at the stadium itself. Thankfully, we were in a different stand to that I´d been in for the match and it was good to get to view it from a different position. It´s not the biggest of stadiums but the design definately helps with generating a strong, intimidating atmosphere. The game showed me how good that could be.
The tour finished in the Trophy room, which was packed with huge Trophies and images of other previous Boca players, including Carlos Tevez and Gabriel Batistuta. Being a football fanatic myself, it´s safe to say I enjoyed this tour.
We then had lunch in La Boca before moving on to the main attraction of this working class neighbourhood - Caminito Street. This is a short walk lined with different coloured corrugated-metal buildings and it´s pretty cool to look at. Also on display were numerous works of art and lots of Tango performances were taking place outside of the bars and restaurants as well. A nice place to spend the afternoon and a good end to the walking tour. La Boca may be one of the poorer parts of Buenos Aires but it´s a nice place to visit nonetheless.
That evening, myself, Nikki & Elsa were joined in our room by another English guy called Dave. We got chatting to him straight away and he instantly got involved with some cards and drinking games we had going on. We all ended up getting quite boozy but never made it out into the city. We had a good laugh just hanging out though.
Day 5: Another walking tour booked through the hostel and this time, Elsa and Nikki decided to come too. The destination for this one was Recoleta, one of Buenos Aires plushest neighbourhoods.
Florencia was our guide again as we took the local bus into Recoleta. The first stop was a huge Metallic flower, which sits in the middle of a public park. It´s pretty nice and we got some good photos. Florencia told us that it apparently used to open up when the sun rises and then close again when it sets but after the machinery broke a few years back. they haven´t got around to fixing it yet. Florencia seemed to think they never will so it´s probably just as well that it broke when it was open rather than closed. I don´t think it would look quite as good otherwise.
We then walked around Recoleta some more, checking out more of the Statues and Monuments that are scattered around - there seems to be loads across Buenos Aires. We then stopped for lunch prior to the main attraction of the tour.
This attraction is Recoleta´s Cemetery - Cementario de la Recoleta, which is famous for housing generations of Argentina´s elite, including Evita herself. It´s amazing and I´ve never seen anything like it. Hundreds and hundreds of huge Statues, marble patterns and Tombstones that form a maze, which it´s easy to get lost in. Some of the graves are unbelievably extravagant so we were expecting Evita´s to top them all, only to find that hers is one of the more subtle ones. We needed Florencia to direct us to it or I don´t think we would have found it. The Cemetery was well worth a visit and is a definate must-see for any visitors to the city.
Day 6: A pretty relaxed day. Dave and I headed into the small neighbourhood of San Telmo for the day as it was just a short walk from the hostel. It's a pretty nice little area that was cool to walk around for a few hours. Cobbled streets in every direction and some nice buildings to see.
Following that, we went to explore some more of the central sights, which he had yet to visit but I'd seen a few days earlier. Nothing much else to report other than this really.
Day 7: Luke, Matt and Dan returned from their few days in Uruguay and it was just in time for us to sample some more Argentine footy action. This time, it was the national side and a chance to see the greatest player in the world (and possibly of all time) - Lionel Messi. The match: Argentina vs Ecuador in a World Cup Qualifier.
After my experience with the Boca game, we decided to play things safe again and book our tickets and transport through the hostel. Undoubtedly, this made it more expensive than if we had tried to sort them out ourselves but we didn't want to take the risk of missing out.
The bus set off mid-afternoon (some 5 hours before kick off) and we headed towards the stadium that is home to Buenos Aires other team, River Plate. As we set off, with Florencia as our guide once more, we were then basically forced by the locals to get face-painted up in support of the Argies. All being English, we showed some initial resistance before crumbling and getting involved with everyone else. I maintained that my face-paint was just in support of Messi rather than the team though - we literally could not wait to see him in action.
On the way, we made a short stop at a local park where we were able to get a few beers in and people could buy fake replica shirts if they wanted (a step too far for me). We then arrived near the stadium, made the short walk there before getting searched TWICE and having our tickets checked TWICE before they would let us in the stadium. No need for other fans' member cards to get in this time though thankfully and to be fair, having experienced how crazy the Argentine fans were at the Boca game, I could understand why the stewards were being so thorough. Matt even got breathalised before they would let him through the turnstiles!
Once we had finally made it through, we found a good place to stand (still terracing in our part of the stadium - good news) and took in the quality and size of the stadium. It's massive and definately comparable with the top stadiums in England. River were relegated a couple of seasons back and I can only imagine how out of place this stadium looks in the Argentine second division. Despite the increased size though, it would have to go some to top the atmosphere I experienced at the Boca game. Here's hoping.
The match itself was brilliant and Argentina were on top form as they easily dispatched Ecuador 4-0. Luckily for us, Messi was in inspired form too and completely ran the show from the first minute. Having only seen him on TV before, we wondered how good he actually is in the flesh but within a few minutes of kick-off, we could see how much better he is than everyone else on the pitch. Some of his skills and dribbles were different class and Ecuador couldn't handle him from start to finish. He was pretty much just toying with them at times, prompting numerous ''OLE''s from the crowd. A great atmosphere inside but definately not as loud as the Boca game.
Even more fortunately for us, he also got on the score-sheet as he combined with Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain to make it 3-0 with a fantastic goal. The same trio linked up for other 3 goals as well, which were scored by Aguero, Higuain and Angel Di Maria (all quality players in their own right too). Argentina and Messi were irresistible throughout and we all felt pretty lucky to be there to see them put on a show. Without hesitation, we also joined in with the locals in chanting the main man's name too because he is that damn good - ''MESSI, MESSI, MESSI''. The other attackers, Gago and particularly Mascherano were also quality throughout and Ecuador had no answer. Their best player was probably Antonio Valencia but even he was pretty quiet as they didn't really get a kick.
To be honest, I've seen some amazing sights and places throughout the trip but being able to see possibly the greatest player of all time, scoring and playing so well, in his home country, puts this experience up there with them for me. He's always been someone I've wanted to see play since he burst on the scene some years back so to be able to appreciate his talents alongside his countrymen made this another unforgettable experience. Definately something else to tick off the list and we all felt quite privileged to have been there to see it. Lionel Messi - I salute you!
Following the game, we were kept inside the stadium for quite a while, while the Ecuador fans made their way out of the stadium first. This seems to be pretty standard practice in Argentina because the same thing happened at the Boca game.
Once we were out, we caught our bus back into town before having a few beers back at the hostel. Another great day in Buenos Aires.
Day 8: Dave departed early that morning as he had to get to Rio to catch a flight home. A really nice guy and we had had good fun hanging out with him in BA. Hopefully, I'll meet up with him for a beer when I'm back home also.
That left 6 of us, who headed into San Telmo for the day to check out it's huge local market. Whilst most of us were content with just browsing and having a look, Elsa couldn't resist and bought herself loads of crap to add to her collection (I'm not being horrible. By her own admission, she buys loads of crap). In fact, she's bought so much of it that she's now carting around a huge backpack and an even bigger suitcase full of stuff. Not exactly ''travelling light'' like the rest of us. Haha.
After walking the market for a couple of hours, we got some food in San Telmo before making our way back towards the hostel.
That evening, the 6 of us headed to one of Buenos Aires other famous neighbourhoods - Palermo. The hostel staff had recommended a nice Steak Restaurant for us to try and, being in Argentina, we couldn't really leave without sampling one. Along with Football and Wine, Steaks are obviously one of the things the country is most famous for.
The Steak was so nice - one of the best I've had. The deal the restaurant had meant that we needed to finish three huge chunks each within an hour, in order to get 40% off the bill. With the exception of Nikki, we all just managed it (it was a challenge) and got our discount. Eating lots of nice meat to save money doesn't sound like a bad deal to me - I'm a backpacker after all!
Following the meal, we spent the rest of the evening in Palermo having some drinks in some of the nice local bars. This was our last night together in Buenos Aires and was definately a nice way to round it off.
Day 9: Nothing much done except pottering around the city and waiting for our bus that evening. I really enjoyed my time in Buenos Aires (despite it being quite cold) and it was nice to spend enough time there to really feel as though I saw it properly. Throughout the 8 days, I managed to visit all the main city neighbourhoods, sample some of it's famous nightlife, try some quality Argentinian Steak and go to two football games. Not bad for just over a week's worth of travelling.
That evening, myself, Luke, Matt and Dan said goodbye to Nikki and Elsa as we headed off to visit one of the main natural attractions in South America - Iguazu Falls. I'd heard good things so was looking forward to it.
Friday, 22 June 2012
Sydney (Part 2)
Day 1: Early morning flight to get me from Nadi back to Sydney. I wasn´t able to get a direct flight from Fiji to anywhere in South America so that´s why I ended up having to go back to Oz for a day. Being a huge fan of the place (especially Sydney) I wasn´t too disappointed. I can think of worse places to spend the day.
I got back into Sydney around lunchtime and my plan was to head to Manly Beach for the afternoon, having done pretty much everything else the last time I was here. However, there wasn´t as much of the day left as I would have liked and it wasn´t really beach weather, so I decided to just hang around the city.
Unsurprisingly, I headed down to the Harbour once more for another look at the Bridge and the Opera House. I´m not sure when my next visit to Australia will be so I thought I´d go check it out again as it´s so pleasing on the eye. The rest of the afternoon was spent just wondering around the city really.
That evening, having booked into the same hostel I´d stayed in previously, I bumped into Rick (US) who was luckily still working there. After catching up with him for a bit, I then also had the fortune of running into David, the guy I had met in Taupo. We caught up also and compared our New Zealand experiences since we had parted ways. It´s amazing how often you can bump into people you have met along the way.
A pretty quiet night from there on as I had to be up very early for my flight over to Buenos Aires. 6 months travelling complete and it was time for the final part of my trip. Hopefully, I´d saved the best until last.
South America........Here I come!!!
I got back into Sydney around lunchtime and my plan was to head to Manly Beach for the afternoon, having done pretty much everything else the last time I was here. However, there wasn´t as much of the day left as I would have liked and it wasn´t really beach weather, so I decided to just hang around the city.
Unsurprisingly, I headed down to the Harbour once more for another look at the Bridge and the Opera House. I´m not sure when my next visit to Australia will be so I thought I´d go check it out again as it´s so pleasing on the eye. The rest of the afternoon was spent just wondering around the city really.
That evening, having booked into the same hostel I´d stayed in previously, I bumped into Rick (US) who was luckily still working there. After catching up with him for a bit, I then also had the fortune of running into David, the guy I had met in Taupo. We caught up also and compared our New Zealand experiences since we had parted ways. It´s amazing how often you can bump into people you have met along the way.
A pretty quiet night from there on as I had to be up very early for my flight over to Buenos Aires. 6 months travelling complete and it was time for the final part of my trip. Hopefully, I´d saved the best until last.
South America........Here I come!!!
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
South Sea Island
Day 1: Our afternoon Ferry transfer took us to South Sea Island, which is one of the closest to the mainland. Whilst on the boat, we ran into Niko - a German guy we had met on Nacula. Also on-board was Tamir, who had decided to tag along with myself and Kathrin.
We arrived late afternoon and I´m pretty sure everyone´s first thought was: ´´This is more like it´´. South Sea is a beautiful island, which was more what I´d been expecting from Fiji. It´s absolutely tiny - you can walk from one side to the other in about 30 seconds and there wasn´t a Fly in sight. Before we had even checked in, I think we were disappointed we weren´t going to have more than one night here.
After checking in and meeting the really friendly locals (this has been consistent throughout Fiji to be fair), we had a few hours to relax before dinner. Unlike Naviti, we had nothing to worry about on this front either as we were served our best meal in the country to date.
That evening, we settled down with the locals for several cups of Fiji´s national drink - Kava. It´s a non-alcoholic drink that is made using the roots of Pepper plants and it´s supposedly very good for you. Whilst it is non-alcoholic, the locals did tell us that drinking enough of it could leave us feeling a bit pissed. However, they assured us that no hangover would result. We shall see.
Before accepting the drink, we individually had to clap our hands once and say ´´BULA´´ before downing it in one and finishing the routine with 3 more claps. In keeping with Fijian traditional, that sequence had to be repeated for every drink consumed.
There was quite a group of us drinking (about 12 in total) and we had an enjoyable evening hanging out with the locals and sharing out bowl after bowl of Kava. By the end. I´d had about 15 cups of the stuff and I quite liked it. It´s pretty enjoyable once you get used to the initial strong peppery taste. No drunkeness either - I wondered how I would feel in the morning though!
Day 2: No Hangover, a nice breakfast and then unfortunately, it was already time for us to leave South Sea Island. Just a short visit but the locals had been unbelievably welcoming and had made our stay really enjoyable. The island is amazing too and will definately be on the agenda for longer should I ever return to Fiji.
The reason for our prompt departure was because myself and Kathrin had booked onto a day Sailing trip around the Mamanuca Islands.
The boat picked us up from South Sea and we were instantly welcomed on before being treated to all the food and drink we wanted. The boat staff were excellent - really friendly and honestly couldn´t do enough for us. Four of them even had their own little band as well and sang us along as we headed for our first stop of the day.
This stop was one I´d been looking forward to ever since touching down in Fiji - the island that was used in the Tom Hanks film ´´Castaway´´. Before we had even made our way over to it, I could tell it was going to be the nicest one yet and I could instantly see why they had chosen it. So nice.
We got the boat transfer over to the island and were then free to explore as much as we wanted. Being a big fan of the film, I could instantly recognise areas that were used for particular scenes. There was even a massive ´´HELP ME´´ sign that had been made out of Coconuts on the beach. A nice touch
After a while spent exploring, we went out for some more Snorkelling in the clearest water I´ve ever seen. Whilst the quality of Snorkelling wasn´t as good as off Naviti, the water clarity is just staggering off Castaway Island. Connect that with the warm temperature of the water there and it´s pretty much paradise. This was my favourite island without a doubt.
Once we had spent a while there, it was back on the boat for the journey to our next stop - a local Fijian Village. Once we had arrived on the island, we had to select a group leader, who represented us in meeting the local tribe and experiencing a traditional Kava ceremony with them. Following this, we had a chance to walk through the Village, which was pretty cool.
It was then back on the boat for an incredible lunch before more of a tour around the Mamanuca Islands. It was a stunning day too so we got to see them in all their glory. More of the crew´s singing added to the journey as well.
All-in-all, a throughly enjoyable day and probably my favourite one in the whole week in Fiji. The boat and crew were fantastic and we visited some awesome sites, with Castaway Island being the highlight.
Once the trip had finished, we were transferred back to the mainland and back to Nadi for the night. Kathrin was staying somewhere different to me so we said goodbye after having a really fun week together. A really nice girl and yet another to add to the list of friendly German people that I´ve met.
As for Fiji itself, with the exception of Naviti Island, I´ve only got good things to say about the place. The other islands are paradise personified, the waters are crystal clear and the locals are probably the nicest and most welcoming I´ve come across of the whole trip. I probably mixed with them more here than everywhere else and it definately had a positive impact on the experience for me. It always makes a difference when they seem genuinely happy to have you there.
I would highly recommend Fiji and it´s somewhere I´d definately like to come back to one day to explore more of the islands. I won´t be returning to Naviti though!
One more night in Nadi before a flight back to Sydney the following morning. From there, it´s onto South America.
We arrived late afternoon and I´m pretty sure everyone´s first thought was: ´´This is more like it´´. South Sea is a beautiful island, which was more what I´d been expecting from Fiji. It´s absolutely tiny - you can walk from one side to the other in about 30 seconds and there wasn´t a Fly in sight. Before we had even checked in, I think we were disappointed we weren´t going to have more than one night here.
After checking in and meeting the really friendly locals (this has been consistent throughout Fiji to be fair), we had a few hours to relax before dinner. Unlike Naviti, we had nothing to worry about on this front either as we were served our best meal in the country to date.
That evening, we settled down with the locals for several cups of Fiji´s national drink - Kava. It´s a non-alcoholic drink that is made using the roots of Pepper plants and it´s supposedly very good for you. Whilst it is non-alcoholic, the locals did tell us that drinking enough of it could leave us feeling a bit pissed. However, they assured us that no hangover would result. We shall see.
Before accepting the drink, we individually had to clap our hands once and say ´´BULA´´ before downing it in one and finishing the routine with 3 more claps. In keeping with Fijian traditional, that sequence had to be repeated for every drink consumed.
There was quite a group of us drinking (about 12 in total) and we had an enjoyable evening hanging out with the locals and sharing out bowl after bowl of Kava. By the end. I´d had about 15 cups of the stuff and I quite liked it. It´s pretty enjoyable once you get used to the initial strong peppery taste. No drunkeness either - I wondered how I would feel in the morning though!
Day 2: No Hangover, a nice breakfast and then unfortunately, it was already time for us to leave South Sea Island. Just a short visit but the locals had been unbelievably welcoming and had made our stay really enjoyable. The island is amazing too and will definately be on the agenda for longer should I ever return to Fiji.
The reason for our prompt departure was because myself and Kathrin had booked onto a day Sailing trip around the Mamanuca Islands.
The boat picked us up from South Sea and we were instantly welcomed on before being treated to all the food and drink we wanted. The boat staff were excellent - really friendly and honestly couldn´t do enough for us. Four of them even had their own little band as well and sang us along as we headed for our first stop of the day.
This stop was one I´d been looking forward to ever since touching down in Fiji - the island that was used in the Tom Hanks film ´´Castaway´´. Before we had even made our way over to it, I could tell it was going to be the nicest one yet and I could instantly see why they had chosen it. So nice.
We got the boat transfer over to the island and were then free to explore as much as we wanted. Being a big fan of the film, I could instantly recognise areas that were used for particular scenes. There was even a massive ´´HELP ME´´ sign that had been made out of Coconuts on the beach. A nice touch
After a while spent exploring, we went out for some more Snorkelling in the clearest water I´ve ever seen. Whilst the quality of Snorkelling wasn´t as good as off Naviti, the water clarity is just staggering off Castaway Island. Connect that with the warm temperature of the water there and it´s pretty much paradise. This was my favourite island without a doubt.
Once we had spent a while there, it was back on the boat for the journey to our next stop - a local Fijian Village. Once we had arrived on the island, we had to select a group leader, who represented us in meeting the local tribe and experiencing a traditional Kava ceremony with them. Following this, we had a chance to walk through the Village, which was pretty cool.
It was then back on the boat for an incredible lunch before more of a tour around the Mamanuca Islands. It was a stunning day too so we got to see them in all their glory. More of the crew´s singing added to the journey as well.
All-in-all, a throughly enjoyable day and probably my favourite one in the whole week in Fiji. The boat and crew were fantastic and we visited some awesome sites, with Castaway Island being the highlight.
Once the trip had finished, we were transferred back to the mainland and back to Nadi for the night. Kathrin was staying somewhere different to me so we said goodbye after having a really fun week together. A really nice girl and yet another to add to the list of friendly German people that I´ve met.
As for Fiji itself, with the exception of Naviti Island, I´ve only got good things to say about the place. The other islands are paradise personified, the waters are crystal clear and the locals are probably the nicest and most welcoming I´ve come across of the whole trip. I probably mixed with them more here than everywhere else and it definately had a positive impact on the experience for me. It always makes a difference when they seem genuinely happy to have you there.
I would highly recommend Fiji and it´s somewhere I´d definately like to come back to one day to explore more of the islands. I won´t be returning to Naviti though!
One more night in Nadi before a flight back to Sydney the following morning. From there, it´s onto South America.
Naviti Island
Day 1: Early afternoon, we caught the Ferry for the short trip south to Naviti Island. Tom and Kjetil (I´m still trying to perfect it) were staying on the same island but were in different accomodation to myself and Kathrin.
We were transferred over to White Sandy Beach, which would be our home for the next couple of days. First impressions were not good - Flies EVERYWHERE and huge Hornets circling our room. We immediately switched to another and hoped things would improve.
After sorting this, I took a walk right along the beach only to realise that the Fly problem wasn´t limited to our accommodation. Seriously, it was so bad that I couldn´t even walk without constantly waving my hands around my head to try and get rid of them. Not nice.
The rest of the afternoon was ours to chill so I spent most of it reading in one of the lodge Hammocks, since the Flies were less prominent there.
In the evening, things got even worse as we sat down for dinner. The food served was pretty terrible, so much so that one guy saw fit to stand up in front of the whole restaurant and ask who else thought it was unacceptable. Whilst it wasn´t the best, there wasn´t really any need for him to be so rude and therefore, he didn´t gain much support from everyone else before sheepishly sitting back down. It did the job of creating a pretty awkward atmosphere for the rest of the meal though.
Wanting to escape that, myself, Kathrin and a couple of others from our lodge made our way down the beach to the one the Norwegian lads were staying in. We had taken a look earlier and it was far nicer than our place and thankfully, the staff didn´t mind us hanging around the bar area with everyone else.
Whilst there, we got involved with even more Fijian dancing as we all got up and were taught the ´Bula´dance. It was a bit of a crash course and therefore made for some horrific attempts (I think mine looked more like a Haka) but it was a great laugh trying to follow the pros. This was followed by some Conga dancing all through the bar with plenty of random dance moves to go with it. Needless to say, a much better atmosphere in the room than we had left at our lodge.
Also there were Faye and Gavin - the British couple I had met not long after landing in Nadi. I caught up with them and heard their own Naviti Island horror stories, which included being kept up both nights by Rats in their room. Unsurprisingly, their impressions of the island weren´t good either and they were looking forward to leaving the following morning. Can´t say I was too excited to have one more day there to be honest. Anyway, it was good to spend a couple of hours with them having a few drinks and a good laugh. Gavin is from Norn Iron (Northern Ireland), which meant the more Beers he drank, the harder he was to understand. Pretty funny.
Day 2: Thankfully, we had a Rat-free night in our dorm and were up early for ´breakfast´. I´ve written it like this because it comprised: some stale Cake, disgusting Mango (how they managed to screw up Mango, I do not know) and these pink circles, which I honestly couldn´t tell whether they were Meat or another form of Cake. I had barely any because none of it was nice. Maybe that guy had a point the night before.
Afterwards, myself, Kathrin and a german couple boarded the longboat for another Snorkelling trip. Our boat guides were Tom and Philip - 2 pretty cool guys that worked at the lodge.
The Snorkelling was fantastic - even better than what we had done at the Blue lagoon region. Loads to see and lovely warm water to swim in. The site had hundreds of different varieties of Fish and Corals, comparable to the dives I have done in Thailand and Borneo. We had 2 Snorkelling sessions and they were both quality. At least it wasn´t a complete waste of time visting Naviti Island.
The rest of the day was spent catching some rays (when the Flies permitted) and generally just relaxing. New Zealand in particular had been pretty full on for me so I was enjoying some down time and sunshine. The Norwegians departed that afternoon too so we said goodbye to them as well.
That evening, we settled down for dinner not knowing what to expect. Our meals so far had been fairly shocking but there was a rumour going around that the place had a new chef. All being completely starving, we really hoped so. I´m not exaggerating when I tell you it was a tense atmosphere in the room as we waited for our food.
Thankfully, the rumours were true and they had a new Chef who served us a delicious meal and pudding, which didn´t stay on our plates for long! We felt better for the staff as well, who had clearly been struggling on without a chef for a few days and were equally relieved at everyone´s satisfaction and the obvious change in atmosphere. Like I said, I don´t think they deserved the outburst that had happened the previous evening so all of us were quick to sing their praises this time around. They were really nice.
With the atmosphere altered, we spent the evening at our own lodge this time. Surprise, Surprise - more Dancing and Games were on the agenda, including the Bula Dance we had been taught the previous evening. We certainly weren´t experts but that prior knowledge helped to prevent us looking too stupid. Everyone had an enjoyable night partying with the locals.
Afterwards, myself, Kathrin, Tamir (Isreal) and a couple of other English girls settled down for a few drinking games before we all gathered round the beach fire for some Guitar playing and Singing, courtesy of Tom.
Day 3: Just the morning left on Naviti Island before heading to our final Island in Fiji. Breakfast was good so we enjoyed that before myself and Kathrin took a walk over to the opposite side of the island to see what was going on. It was pretty nice but unfortunately, the Fly problem was just as bad there, which made relaxing sunbathing quite difficult.
After returning to the lodge, we had a chance to see a man the locals called ´Gecko Man´ - so named because of his Lizard-like ability to climb up and down tree-trunks. In fairness, he was pretty amazing at it and we all got some cool videos of him climbing up, throwing us down some Coconuts before sliding head-first back down the trunk. An unusual skill but impressive nonetheless.
Following that, we had another game of Volleyball with the locals, which was especially funny because of Martina´s frequent screams whenever the ball went anywhere near her. Good fun but no Washing Line incidents unfortunately.
Whilst it did get better, my overall impressions of Naviti Island weren´t good unfortunately and I would definately deter visitors to Fiji from going there. I think we just got unlucky with this one though because Nacula had been really nice and I´d only heard good things about all the others too. The luck of the draw I guess.
Fingers crossed for our final island, which is one of the smallest in all of the island groups - South Sea Island.
We were transferred over to White Sandy Beach, which would be our home for the next couple of days. First impressions were not good - Flies EVERYWHERE and huge Hornets circling our room. We immediately switched to another and hoped things would improve.
After sorting this, I took a walk right along the beach only to realise that the Fly problem wasn´t limited to our accommodation. Seriously, it was so bad that I couldn´t even walk without constantly waving my hands around my head to try and get rid of them. Not nice.
The rest of the afternoon was ours to chill so I spent most of it reading in one of the lodge Hammocks, since the Flies were less prominent there.
In the evening, things got even worse as we sat down for dinner. The food served was pretty terrible, so much so that one guy saw fit to stand up in front of the whole restaurant and ask who else thought it was unacceptable. Whilst it wasn´t the best, there wasn´t really any need for him to be so rude and therefore, he didn´t gain much support from everyone else before sheepishly sitting back down. It did the job of creating a pretty awkward atmosphere for the rest of the meal though.
Wanting to escape that, myself, Kathrin and a couple of others from our lodge made our way down the beach to the one the Norwegian lads were staying in. We had taken a look earlier and it was far nicer than our place and thankfully, the staff didn´t mind us hanging around the bar area with everyone else.
Whilst there, we got involved with even more Fijian dancing as we all got up and were taught the ´Bula´dance. It was a bit of a crash course and therefore made for some horrific attempts (I think mine looked more like a Haka) but it was a great laugh trying to follow the pros. This was followed by some Conga dancing all through the bar with plenty of random dance moves to go with it. Needless to say, a much better atmosphere in the room than we had left at our lodge.
Also there were Faye and Gavin - the British couple I had met not long after landing in Nadi. I caught up with them and heard their own Naviti Island horror stories, which included being kept up both nights by Rats in their room. Unsurprisingly, their impressions of the island weren´t good either and they were looking forward to leaving the following morning. Can´t say I was too excited to have one more day there to be honest. Anyway, it was good to spend a couple of hours with them having a few drinks and a good laugh. Gavin is from Norn Iron (Northern Ireland), which meant the more Beers he drank, the harder he was to understand. Pretty funny.
Day 2: Thankfully, we had a Rat-free night in our dorm and were up early for ´breakfast´. I´ve written it like this because it comprised: some stale Cake, disgusting Mango (how they managed to screw up Mango, I do not know) and these pink circles, which I honestly couldn´t tell whether they were Meat or another form of Cake. I had barely any because none of it was nice. Maybe that guy had a point the night before.
Afterwards, myself, Kathrin and a german couple boarded the longboat for another Snorkelling trip. Our boat guides were Tom and Philip - 2 pretty cool guys that worked at the lodge.
The Snorkelling was fantastic - even better than what we had done at the Blue lagoon region. Loads to see and lovely warm water to swim in. The site had hundreds of different varieties of Fish and Corals, comparable to the dives I have done in Thailand and Borneo. We had 2 Snorkelling sessions and they were both quality. At least it wasn´t a complete waste of time visting Naviti Island.
The rest of the day was spent catching some rays (when the Flies permitted) and generally just relaxing. New Zealand in particular had been pretty full on for me so I was enjoying some down time and sunshine. The Norwegians departed that afternoon too so we said goodbye to them as well.
That evening, we settled down for dinner not knowing what to expect. Our meals so far had been fairly shocking but there was a rumour going around that the place had a new chef. All being completely starving, we really hoped so. I´m not exaggerating when I tell you it was a tense atmosphere in the room as we waited for our food.
Thankfully, the rumours were true and they had a new Chef who served us a delicious meal and pudding, which didn´t stay on our plates for long! We felt better for the staff as well, who had clearly been struggling on without a chef for a few days and were equally relieved at everyone´s satisfaction and the obvious change in atmosphere. Like I said, I don´t think they deserved the outburst that had happened the previous evening so all of us were quick to sing their praises this time around. They were really nice.
With the atmosphere altered, we spent the evening at our own lodge this time. Surprise, Surprise - more Dancing and Games were on the agenda, including the Bula Dance we had been taught the previous evening. We certainly weren´t experts but that prior knowledge helped to prevent us looking too stupid. Everyone had an enjoyable night partying with the locals.
Afterwards, myself, Kathrin, Tamir (Isreal) and a couple of other English girls settled down for a few drinking games before we all gathered round the beach fire for some Guitar playing and Singing, courtesy of Tom.
Day 3: Just the morning left on Naviti Island before heading to our final Island in Fiji. Breakfast was good so we enjoyed that before myself and Kathrin took a walk over to the opposite side of the island to see what was going on. It was pretty nice but unfortunately, the Fly problem was just as bad there, which made relaxing sunbathing quite difficult.
After returning to the lodge, we had a chance to see a man the locals called ´Gecko Man´ - so named because of his Lizard-like ability to climb up and down tree-trunks. In fairness, he was pretty amazing at it and we all got some cool videos of him climbing up, throwing us down some Coconuts before sliding head-first back down the trunk. An unusual skill but impressive nonetheless.
Following that, we had another game of Volleyball with the locals, which was especially funny because of Martina´s frequent screams whenever the ball went anywhere near her. Good fun but no Washing Line incidents unfortunately.
Whilst it did get better, my overall impressions of Naviti Island weren´t good unfortunately and I would definately deter visitors to Fiji from going there. I think we just got unlucky with this one though because Nacula had been really nice and I´d only heard good things about all the others too. The luck of the draw I guess.
Fingers crossed for our final island, which is one of the smallest in all of the island groups - South Sea Island.
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