EC-Rider Travels

A very early start and a very sad farewell to Analida – honestly who has someone to stay for three weeks?! I can’t believe anyone has ever been kinder of more generous to their guest. She has made my stay so special, shown me so so much, introduced be to so many Brazilian things, taught me about their very different culture and ethos of life and this is before all the wining, dining and samba dancing… how will I ever repay her? One last photo of the Christ (you need to look carefully!) and I headed off for the airport.

It seemed very strange not having Analida at my side and doing all the talking. Very, very few people in Brazil speak English, indeed, speak anything but Portuguese and nothing is translated into any other language, with the exception of an occasional menu and luckily most signs in the airport!

I managed to get on the right plane and we had a bit of a bumpy two hour ride to Foz do Iguazu where I was taken to very nearby Sanma Hotel. Not a beauty but perfectly located about 3k from the airport and just 300 yards from the park. It is also literally next door to the most amazing bird park which I spent the afternoon visiting. Every possible South American bird you can imagine, admittedly in aviaries, but in the jungle so as good as it possibly could be for them. It is also a research centre, with an impressive record of saving species of birds from extinction. It was fun to see some of the beautiful birds, I had seen in the Amazon, up close and particularly the macaws, they are huge and oh so beautiful?

As I was ‘on the tourist trail’, I couldn’t resist a visit to the Marco Das Tres Frontiers – the point where Brasil (as the Brazilians spell it) meets Paraguay and Argentina. I was driven by sweet Lucas who spoke the most amazing English and was so interesting about the election this weekend and also the extraordinary investment and development around the Falls to encourage visitors to stay for more than a couple of nights. It is indeed a different world from what I had seen to date in Brazil, smart houses and mass of state-of-the-art tourist attractions – a Ferris wheel, the size of the Eye, a wax-works museum and a movie car museum apparently with the Bond cars and even Herbie!

Lucas dropped me off, promising to come and collect me after the ‘show’. It felt a bit strange doing something like this on my own, but with a caipirinha in hand I watched the sun go down over Paraguay to my right and Argentina in front of me. Sadly, it was a bit of a cloudy night so perhaps not as spectacular as it might have been, but still a pretty unique spot to visit and …. people watch. Oh my goodness the human race never ceases to amaze me and particularly their obsession with having their photo taken. There was a queue of about 100 to have their photo taken in front of the sign post which the local Brazilians have cleverly exploited, also snapping a picture and selling you key-rings, fridge magnets etc. And as for the fashion sense …..

It was then on to the ‘cultural show’ presenting the history (I think) of dance in the three countries. The first section was rather amazing with two ballet dancers doing I’m not quite sure what, but impressive. This was followed by every genre of dance from each country including a lovely lady dancing with a series of flower-pots and then wine bottles on her head! We saw tango, samba, flamenco and also the Bahian dance and at last Capoeira, which I had failed to see in Salvador. However, it all had to stop half way through so everyone could have their photo taken with the dancers, which added half an hour! It finished with some incredible Samba making me ever more determined return for Carnival one day…

As promised, Lucas was there to collect me and return me to the hotel for some delicious ceviche and bed – it has been a long day…..