Heading south

First day on new truck was a short one, a chance to chat and start to get to know the new group of people I am travelling with. End of a short day for day 1 and we are camped across the road from a beach. Very hot and humid, so first requirement after setting up camp is a swim in the sea to try and cool down. Throw myself in to find that the water is hotter than most of the showers we have found in South America so far! Soon find out the reason as well: decide to try and swim to deeper water to see if it is colder there. After a few hundred metres find that I can still stand up - the water hasn´t got any deeper since the 1st 10 metres or so from the beach. Apparently you can walk all the way to an island that must be over 1/2 km offshore.

Had another nice Birthday surprise when our driver Dan appears with a Birthday cake and a bottle of bubbly whilst we sitting chatting by the truck before going out. Can already report that it looks like the new group of passengers are just as sociable as the previous ones. Evening one is spent in the town of Paraty at a nice (if pricy) Italian restaurant. Stroll back to camp at around midnight, open the champagne and then sit of for another two and a half hours drinking, talking and enjoying Fran´s music. The majority of the group made it right the way through and there were still ten of us sitting drinking at 01:30.

Day 2 is a wonderful relaxing day. Starts noisily when a dog is barking. Sounds very close and indeed it us - unzip the fly sheet of the tent to find the dog laying against the front of my tent. Dragoman have hired a schooner to take passengers from all four trucks out onto the sea.

Plenty of time to chat, drink, and sunbathe, interspersed by numerous stops and the chance to swim. Spot some turtles at our first stop, but they are too quick for Naomi, Abi and myself to catch.

Did manage to see one closer to the boat on the way out of the bay though. Stop off at several other bays so spend a lot of time jumping off and then climbing back onboard. Didn´t do this quite as much as the Drago crew who seem to be having a day long competition to find out who can do the most ridiculous dive/jump. The way some of them hit the water was painful to watch at times.

Another night out in town on Friday and several drinks from the street vendors around one of the squares in town. Good mix of Caipirinhas, caipivodkas, and caipifrutas get drunk and back to camp well after 2am again.

Not sure I can keep up this pace of life for long!

Carnaval in Rio, part 3

On to the last remaining little bit of time in Rio and the pre-trip meetings for the next leg of the trip. 1st priority was breakfast and was amazed to be down in the restaurant for 9am. Second priority was to get rid of the nail polish the girls had so carefully applied yesterday evening. Fortunately Jeanna had let slip that they had some nail varnish remover in their room, so managed to get cleaned up by mid-morning. Met the 12 passengers and 2 new drivers for the trip right down south to Ushauia. Five of us were on the trip down into Rio, and had already had email contact with a few of the others. Meant there were very few new names to learn, so showed off at the end of the 30 minute meeting by going around the circle and naming everyone.

Rest of daytime was a chance to chill, have final meals with previous group, and say goodbye to some who were heading home (it was great getting to know you Carol and Shirley).

Headed back down to Ipanema with Jeanna and her room-mate Clare for a final night out. Beer by the beach, then a very nice Italian meal (eventually - once the girls remembered where the restaurant was). Had a surprise when midnight came: Jeanna had remembered that it is now my Birthday, and had told the waiter. He arrived with a bowl of chocolate brownie, ice cream, and sauce, with a lit sparkler in the top. Wow! Thank you! Unfortunately don´t have a photo but hopefully I can get one from Jeanna or Clare. Another long period of time spent chatting & drinking in the hotel lobby follows (maybe they should set up a room where people can socialize - can be tricky if you´re sharing a room with someone who is already in bed when you get back after a night out) and then off to bed before lots more goodbyes and the start of new trips. Have to say goodbye to Sue, Pink Dave, Erik & Kristina from our pre-Rio times. Make sure I down to the lobby in time to also say goodbye to Jeanna, Clare, and Becky who head north over the reverse route of what I have just done. Will miss them all - hope the new group are as much fun.

Carnaval in Rio, part 2

OK, on we go with Rio entries. Tuesday is the big day of the Scala Gay Ball, one of the highlights of Carnaval. Promise is that we will be astounded at the costumes being worn (or not worn). Before that a bit more shopping is required to gather some accesories for my costume. This done, six of us head down to Ipanema to buy tickets. Ends up that 3 of us go to the beach and the other 3 go to buy tickets. Spent some time out in the water whilst Starna and Sue sunbathe (they were too worried by the height of the breaking waves to do more than paddle). Had great fun riding the 2 metre waves and body surfing back in to the beach. A couple of drinks and then we sit around and wait for the others to come back. We had expected them long before this. Turns out Scala is a lot further from we were than they thought. Means we miss the planned sunset cruise, but this gives us the bonus of more time to prepare for the ball. Colin, Dave, and me definetly need as much time as possible to make ourselves look beautiful. Gradually all of us get ready whilst downing a generous qty of cider and beer to boost our courage, and lower our embarassment levels. Quick visit from Becky shows just h0w little some of the people will be wearing tonight. Then meet up in reception and see what other people have done to dress/undress themselves. Think as a group we can take on the best of them.

Get taxis down to Ipanema. Amazing number of people, press and tv there to watch/cover the event. Long red carpet and raised platform entrance to walk down. Make the most of it by really hamming up the approach. Meet up with Becky, Naomi, Jeanna, Abi, Corrina and pose for photos as a group and with some of the other ´sights´. Once we finally head inside, have lost most of the group I got ready with, so spend the night with the girls. Amazing inside - never seen so much bare flesh in one place. Took lots of photos of the people I was with whilst just taking in all the rest that was going on. Think Jeanna got more photos of the people around us (never seen so many bare boobs on one digital camera!). Finally retired back to the hotel at somewhere around 3 o´clock and just spent the next couple of hours on a high chatting about the evening.

If you ever get the chance to go to the Gay Ball during Carnaval, and you´re not easily offended, then do it.

Carnaval in Rio, part 1

Absolutely amazing. Says it all - the spectacle, the noise, the people. All wonderful and lots more people to meet (several Dragoman trucks all converge on one hotel in Rio for the week. Some people leave for home or other trips, and others join).
Week started quietly with a couple of nights heading out to Lapa Arches for drink, food, and live music. 1st night was with the group I have been travelling with for the last few weeks and turned out to be an early (for Rio) night. 2nd night gave the chance to meet a few new people, firstly for a meal near our hotel and then for drinking/dancing in front of the arches. Mostly Brits again - one girl from London, 3 from Cornwall, an Aussie, and a couple from Suffolk. Made the mistake of ordering caipirosska at Lapa and watched the barman pour it: over half a cup of vodka, topped with lime juice and sugar. Then made the equally crazy mistake of finishing off Naomi´s drink not long before we headed back to the hotel in the small hours of the morning.

In between the sessions at Lapa, we had a tour to Corcovado and Christ the Redeemer, followed by Sugar Loaf Mountain. Spectacular views of Rio and all around.

Saturday afternoon was a trip to the Maracana stadium and a football match between Vasco and Fluminense. Quite amazing game. First half was not too good - football was not of a particularly good quality except for one player on the Fluminense team who had a lot of skill and used it. 2-1 to Fluminense at half-time. Second half started off with Fluminense getting a third goal and the home crowd getting impatient. Vasco pulled one back but then a spectacular 4th goal put Fluminense two goals ahead again. It was around this point that our guide said she would like to leave the match a little bit early to make it easier for everyone to meet up outside. Reluctantly agreed but just as we got to the back of the stand, Vasco pulled a goal back. Turned to Colin ´I´m not going, are you?´´No´. So we let Lisa and some of the others leave, turned around and sat back down. Just as well. Atmosphere was electric by now and 3 minutes the end Vasco were awarded a (very dodgy) penalty to equalise. Think that justified the decision to stay and we still managed to find Lisa outside with no problem.

Recovery from Saturday night at Lapa was a trip down to Copacabana to look for the body beautiful. Unfortunately he/she wasn´t there but thousands of the body not-so-beautiful were. Spent a bit time in the ocean, a bit of time soaking up the sun, and the rest shopping in a market behind the beach. By this time, our pre-Rio group have decided that we are going to go to the Gay Ball on Tuesday. Dave and me followed this up by letting the girls choose our outfits (as long as speedos are not involved). Took some time to stop Starna from buying stuff for herself and concentrate on something for me. Have to accept some of the blame - found her a lovely little top that would match a pair of Brazil shorts she already had.

Sunday evening was the Sambadrome parade. First chance to really dress up in Rio and we took the chance. Loads of photos to follow below once I upload them. Two of the ladies on the Dragoman trips paid to take part with the 1st samba school. One mile of concrete where the samba schools compete between enormous stands. Spectacle is amazing. Each school probably has thousands of dancers in really elaborate costumes, and a dozen or so amazingly designed and decorated floats. Takes over an hour for each school to pass, so this was the latest night yet: gone 05:30 when we leave. Most of the 100 or more people in our group stay right through to the end. Get Metro back to our hotel but Becky and me get invited to rooftop pool party by someone off one of the other overland trucks in town. Would have been nice, but by now it is 6am, we are totally exhausted, and our only thought is breakfast followed by sleep.

Manage to get up at lunchtime on Monday and take myself into the city centre for some sightseeing. First sight is good - get off the Metro to find lots more floats being prepared for night 2 of the Sambadrome. Walk all round these and get some photos, then city centre tour.

Have to say that the metropolitan cathedral is possibly the ugliest building I have seen in the country so far, but there are also some beautiful sights. Back to hotel to meet up for dinner and (unplanned) early night. Would have liked to have gone out again but no-one else was up for it. All saving their energy for Tuesday which could be the highlight of the week.

Ouro Preto

Just reached the end of (and survived) Rio Carnaval. Now need to do some updates from a week ago and hope the old brain cells haven´t been lubricated with too much alcohol to remember.

Spent a couple of days in an old town (Ouro Preto) built on the back of the gold mining industry. Buildings are all old colonial in style and the number of really beautiful churches is amazing. Also went on a tour of a local gold mine, after getting very drunk playing drinking games. Think we got competitive with another overland truck group that rolled into the same camp site as us. They were on an 18-35 trip but we just couldn´t get them to socialize (except for one girl from Malaysia). They all disappeared off to bed quite early. Not sure all the rum we drank was a good plan though - was feeling a little rough when we had to get on the truck to go to the mine. At least two of us rolled out of bed and straight onto the truck and a few others didn´t make it at all. Spent the second day in town walking around exploring with Erik & Kristina. Visited loads of churches and a couple of museums dedicated to the work of a famous sculptor Aleijandrinho. Finished the afternoon with a trip around the old mining school which nows houses a museum of mineralogy, natural history, and mining. Had our final group meal on this section of the trip whilst we were there.

Darryl, the truck co-driver, took up the challenge of drinking a small bowl of chili water: photo shows the assembled paparazzi waiting for him to choke it back up. To his credit he managed it well and earned the R$200 bet. Said goodbye to a few people when we reached Rio.

But now we have loads of new faces around, even if only for the time Carnaval is on. About 7 or 8 Dragoman trucks are in town and over 100 people. Next update will be on Carnaval, so be prepared for some spectacular and scary photos of what went on before,during, and after the Scala Gay Ball.