Pete's Blog 

Going to Miami

Tonight after 2 and a bit months in Latin America. But this isnt the last of the habalo Espanol as we will be in Mexico near the 18th of July and plan to travel there for a few weeks before going to Canada via Noo Yoik.

Rio has been great for weather and beaches, and our two day trip to Paraty was lovely. I really wish we could have been there longer as it was so nice.

Miami for the weekend will hopefully offer some more sun and plenty of opportunity to laugh at posers.

Paraty

Arrived in Paraty late last night and it lovely in exactly the way Salvador wasn't: quite, tranquil and no hassles on the streets from hawkers every 30 seconds. A semi-antidote to the depression of the last few days. Penalties again!!!
Spent the afternoon on a scooner cruising around the islands. Weather not quite as good as Rio but still very nice. Looking forward to getting back to an English speaking country on Wednesday when we fly to Miami, have had quite enough habalo Espanol / falla Portuguese after 2 and bit months.

Still in Rio...

Soaking up the sun on Ipanema beach most days until the football starts. Will probably stay here whilst its still on but have a trip to Parati, 4 hours down the coast on Sunday, Monday and back on Tuesday.
Miami is the next stop (latest 5th if England make it to the final), a couple of weeks earlier than planned, so should be there for my 30th birthday, before heading to Mexico around the 18/19th July.

Maracana mayhem in Rio

Arrived in Rio on Moday night to nice warm evenings and sunshine during thhe day. Makes a change from the random rain showers that were stiffling plans during the day and making us both a bit lazy. Went up Corcovado yesterday (Jesus statue) and Sugarloaf mountain (cable car where James Bond fights Jaws in the film Moonraker, so Im told!). Last night we went to the legendary Maracana stadium to see Flamengo play Vitoria in a Copa Brazil semi-final. Flamengo won 2-0 but it could have been 3-2 with 2 goals ruled offside, a saved penalty (Dave Becks knows about those!) and several goalpost rattling efforts just slightly off the mark. The crowd were as or more bonkers than Boca but there were twice as many (about 50,000) of them. A great night out and a late one too, kick off wasnt until nearly 10pm. Beach today then of to the Lord Jim pub to watch England v Switzerland. England Expects...

Hungover and depressed but off to Rio

Woke up totally gutted from France stealing the match from England in injury time. That was truely a cock up of monumental proportions. Made me glad I was thousands of miles away from home as its easier to forget about here.

Have had a week now in Salvador and its time to hit Rio. Flying tonight on VASP.

Tuesdays in Salvador rock

Last night was a big one. Pelourinho rocks on Tuesdays with an nighttime street party with samba bands, drums and loads of dodgy characters filling the streets and drinking to the small hours. Bumped into Jay from Birmingham who we met on train on the way to Salar De Uyuni in Bolivia and proceeded to get quite hammered in the carnival atmosphere.

Thought about going to the beach today, as the weather has improved, but its a bit of a hike and we are both a bit hungover. Looking forward to getting to Ipanema so we can just fall out of our beds onto the sand.
Going to a Candomble (Local religious musical) ceremony tonight and will go and check out some Capoeira (Traditional Martial Art / Dance) tomorrow.

Salvador and the quest for football

Just arrived in Salvador last night after flying via Sao Paulo and its raining - bugger! a lot! Still have a bit of a head cold which is making me feel a bit shitty, but looking forward to tonight as Tuesday night is party night here apparently. Hope the rain stops otherwise the Candle ceremony with the dancing and drumming is going is be a bit of a wash out.
After getting used to speaking abit of Spanish for the last month and a half I am now back to square one of knowing bugger all of the local language. A "pork and cheese" phrasebook has been purchased although I keep lapsing back into Spanish which doesnt go down too well with some Brazilians as they would rather speak English to non Portuguese speakers.
Have got find somewhere that will show Englands Euro 2004 opener against France next Sunday. Kick off is 3.30pm local time I think, and the hunt for sateille TV is on...

Iguacu Falls

After a 3 hour delay we finally reached Iguacu where the weather is decidely better than in the south (21 degress or so now rather than 12). The Iguacu Falls national park (Argentinian side) is definitely a natural wonder of the world. Higher than Niagra, wider than Victoria and more awesome than both says the LP and who would disagree. I would rate this up with Macchu Picchu and the Salar De Unuyi in the awesomeness stakes, it is a 'must do' in Argentina for sure. A good 70 pictures where rattled off on a top day out. The only thing to be where of is the tourist trap boat ride under the falls themselves - as I have now found out this is a sure fire way to a head cold - doh!
In the evening we went out for a Parradilla Completa which is your own personal grill with just about ever animal imaginable bbq'ed on it.
On Sunday we crossed over to the Brazil side of the falls and waved goodbye to Kate and Matt who then flew to London via Sao Paulo.

Farewell Buenos Aires

After 2 very cool weeks we finally flew to Iguacu Falls on Thursday last week. Finally being the operative word as Aerolineas Argentineas are the most disorganised excuse for an airline I have ever flown with!!! Anyway ranting aside, Buenos Aires was superb and more so with the company of Matt and Kate from London. After recovering from the Massive hangover Attack we did a very cool Sunday market stroll around La Boca and San Telmo - these colourful and vibrant districts put London markets to shame, big time!
We also managed to squeeze in some shopping in Palermo, the Latin American art museum, a city tour, a Tango show and loads more top food before we left. Definitely a highlight of South America despite the fact it is nearly winter. Some warmer weather is now needed.

Bolivia & Peru Pictures

A selection of my Bolivia pictures are here including the excellent Salar De Uyuni trip.

The Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu selection is here.

On these two trips I took over 250 pictures so it has been hard narrowing them down to just a few. I hope these are the best but they may be a few good ones that are still on CD...

Those of you who have viewed several of my photo Albums may notice the re-occurrence of my faithful Chang Beer T-shirt from Thailand.