Brazil

A trip to South America is not a real trip unless you visit the largest country. Brazil is 206 times the size of Switzerland and borders almost all countries on the continent (except Chile and Ecuador). So on January 22nd, we set off from the deep south of Argentina by plane to Rio.
We had never had such low expectations of Brazil before. We were simply looking forward to sun, beach, and sea.

For the first few days, we treated ourselves to a fancy hotel on the beach outside of Rio. The ideal image with the sun of Brazil in mind, our first day at the beach was literally rained out. It actually rained for the first two days. But since we had to stock up and exchange our summer clothes anyway, we took advantage of the rainy weather for shopping. The weather got better and we still had two days at the beach.

Then it was time to move again. With too much luggage - because we had done some shopping - we went to the center of Rio de Janeiro. Basil joined us in Rio. The thick clothes and camping equipment were already stored at the airport for the return flight to Switzerland, and with lighter luggage, we set out to explore Rio. We visited the Cristo Redentor, which is 30 meters high and overlooks the entire city of Rio from atop the Corcovado. The view from above was fantastic. The next day, we walked up to the middle station of the Sugarloaf Mountain and sweated profusely in this tropical climate. We took the cable car up to the Sugarloaf and from the top, you can see the entire city with the Copacabana and its surrounding green hills. Of course, we didn't miss the chance to take a dip in the Copacabana and enjoy a Caipirinha or two.

During our trip, we realized once again that we are not city people. So we soon headed to Ilha Grande. The island can be reached from Rio de Janeiro by bus and boat in about four hours. We spent almost a week on the island, swimming at beautiful beaches, walking through the jungle, and cooling off in the rain from time to time.

After Ilha Grande, we spent two nights in a hostel near Paraty, on a secluded beach. This allowed us to soak up wonderful hours of sunshine or simply relax in the hammock. We spent the last few days together with Basil in Paraty. A wonderful colonial town with its colorful houses and doors. You simply feel at ease in this place and want to stay forever. In addition, you can go on great excursions. One day, we went to Poco do Tarzan. We heard that it was a waterfall where you could slide down. So we allowed ourselves to have fun and slid down the rocks into the cool water. Basil even discovered a waterfall where you could enter a cave behind it. How cool is that! On the last day together, we wanted to admire the only tropical fjord. We took a taxi boat to the Saco da Mamangua fjord and walked up to Pao da Azucar. "It's beautiful," they told us. Haha, yes, it could be beautiful. If there wasn't a large raincloud that poured itself over us and we got thoroughly soaked. But what we could see from the top was already very beautiful. So we were completely soaked and it took over a week for our hiking shoes to dry.

We spent our last five days in Salvador. Salvador is the third largest city in Brazil and the first one you reach when coming from Africa. Therefore, this city has a strong African influence. We explored the beautiful old town with its colorful houses, enjoyed the architecture, the sun of Brazil, and the beautiful beaches.

So we say goodbye to Brazil after 3 ½ weeks and head to the last country in South America. Somehow, we really enjoyed our time here, which means not much traveling, a bit of relaxing, and letting all the impressions sink in.