Reflections in Rio

Well firstly, sorry to my 4 readers about being offline for a while...I looked back at my last post which was while I was still in Buenos Aires which was weeks ago!

We ended up staying 3 weeks in BA in total and changed our flights twice so we could stay longer. It was worth it. We met the most awesome bunch of people and just got into a groove of living the life of los portenos! The main thing that happened to me there was that I made 2 beautiful new friends - Santiago and Maxi who I think have changed me forever. In fact, the thought of living without them is completely depressing and something I dont even want to think about. Santi taught me a lot about Argentina, about the psyche of the people and why they are the way they are. We were good for each other in that we provoked a lot of thoughts in each other which maybe we hadnt thought about in some time...sounds a bit heavy and intense? Damn straight it was! And although there was no action or romance between the two of us, when we had to say goodbye I cried all the to Iguassu Falls which was 2 hours away...we are forming such intense friendships with some of our fellow travellers that sometimes I dont want to meet anyone else so I dont have to say goodbye to them!!!

So after visiting Iguassu Falls or as I like to call them "A shitload of water", we arrived in Rio de Janiero! Woohoo! It was by far the most magnificent city I have been to and the richest in culture, music and overall vibe. We stayed in Ipanema for a few days being touristic scum, tanning on the beach, drinking fresh coconuts and generally enjoying the safety of this rich neighborhood. We did a lot of sight seeing and some of the things we did were so awe inspiring I cant even put it into words. Most of them made me scream "I have dreamed of this moment!!!" they were that good...

Once we found our feet in Rio we moved to Santa Teresa, a more local and poor barrio of the city. Santa Teresa is also right next to Lapa which was a wicked little neighborhood, full of great food, drinks, music, hotties and the Friday night street party. We got to experience one of the cities best samba clubs as well as just taking in the street culture which in itself was awesome...despite everything I have heard about travelling in Rio and Brazil and ho dangerous it is, I found the Cariocas to be such beautiful, friendly and open people ever!!! They are always smiling and laughing and enjoying life, embracing new people and getting the most out of life!

We are now enjoying the last few days of sunshine and beaches on Ilhe Grande, a gorgeous island 2 hours from Rio before we go to Sao Paulo so we can fly to Lima Peru!

This is where the real South America will really reveal itself...