One of the last activities we did in Rio was a favela tour- favelas are similar to slums but with much more structure and are more like a neighborhood than a nuisance. There are about 2 million inhabitants in favelas in Brazil in total, this particular favela (Rocinha) had about 30,000. The police had just started a `pacification-process´- flushing out all the drugs and guns etc.- in this favela, and similar operations were being carried in others, in preparation for the Olympics.
There are tiny little alleys for streets, winding between (and sometimes under) the houses packed closely together, with all electricity lines and pipework on the outside of buildings, so there is a constant jumble of wires overhead. Apparently all the locals have free internet, electricity and cable tv by breaking open the locked access boxes and wiring them up directly to avoid the metre- officials do not prevent the tampering from fear of local drug lords [At one point a man walked past who, we were later told, worked for the drug lords, and was used by them to punish domestic violence in the favela- by scalping!] People can rent the `houses´- more like rooms- which costs close to if not all of an average monthly wage, so most build their own. In the favelas, if somebody finds an area of open space it is theirs to build on. Obviously with so many people crowded, space isn´t available, so roof space can be sold instead, and building goes upwards, with four or five houses on top of eachother. With no real foundations or structural support it´s very easy in mudslides for houses to collapse- we saw one eerily empty gap among the houses with the hep or rubble left there. Rubbish is also strewn about; in theory it is collected every three days by the government but salaries are paid by standing order and nobody checks if collectors do their jobs, so in most cases, it is just left. Sewage systems run under the alleys, but with mudslides, heavy rain and all the rubbish clogging, there were parts which flowed across the street.
After a few more days of sun, sand and samba, we took another 24 hour bus to see the famed Iguazu Falls. It´s possible to see the Falls from both Brazil and Argentina- and hotly disputed which one is better- but we crossed the border into Argentina and first saw then heard the water at `Garganta del Diablo´- The Devil´s Throat. The sheer sound and scale was absolutely breathtaking- especially with the water vapour rising into the air- so despite all the photos looking like generic downloads from google images, it really was awe-inspiring. We walked round all the other waterfalls too and later took a boat underneath one, getting soaked and chafing all the way back to the bus. Next stop was Florianopolis, or technically the Isla Santa Catarina,.further south back in Brazil. Lovely beaches and atmosphere, dearly remembered by all who have been there and for good reason! We were there for International Women´s Day and celebrated with a self-navigated kayaking excursion to the lagoon (felt the endorphins almost immediately!) followed by Notting Hill and then a half-price-for-women all-you-can-eat curry for the equivalent of about two pounds. Heaven.
Following the advice of some friends we made in Rio, we decided to make a little detour into Uruguay for a few days. The bus arrived at the border between Brazil and Uruguay at 7 am, and it was quite surreal to be sitting in the middle of an avenue with Brazil on one side, with signs and shop names in Portuguese, and then Uruguay and spanish on the other! It was here that we had our first experience of `Maté', a herbal tea drunk from a special gourd through a silver spoon called a bombilla, and shared among a group, all drinking from the same cup. We felt privileged to share in the custom with one local and two fellow travellers from Spain (who luckily did most of the talking). We walked the 2km across the border to our next bus stop and the border control for the all-important passport stamp, walking along the side of the road with cars, lorries and horses and carts driving past, it felt very strange to be suddenly in a different country with a different langauge and a noticeably different landscape- lots of flat green fields. We spent a few days in Punta del Diablo, climbing boulders along the beaches and sand boarding (a friend at our hostel decided to teach us; we weren´t exactly quick learners, it was exhausting, there was sand in our teeth for days afterwards, but most importantly it was so much fun!) We watched both the sunrises and also the moon rise out of the sea- initially blood-red and triangular, poking up out of the waves, then slowly growing and fading in colour. The stars were beyond belief- never seen such clarity or brightness before or since- and we could even see the Milky Way.
We headed next to a town called Cabo Polonio; a town with sand roads flanked on both sides by untouched beaches, and supposedly with no electricity. It was really beautiful with lots of little painted houses and lighthouse, and at night the candlelight emitted a bewitching glow from all the windows. Elle and I met a man whose godfather ran a radio station and we were invited to be interviewed, and so we made our international radio debut in Uruguay! (Ok..Cabo Polonio...with about 40 listeners...we said about two words in spanish since we tried to be polite and make an effort...we got told we ''could have done better''....) Later that night we danced around a bonfire on the beach with three musicians singing and playing guitars/wooden blocks, under the stars with the sound of the waves providing a background ostinato...
Very sad to leave Uruguay, we caught the bus to Montevideo and then the overnight ferry to Buenos Aires, arriving on Paddy´s Day and completely unprepared for the excitement waiting for us!
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