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Serena AbbottSerena Abbott
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traveled in 21 countries Read more
  • Serena and Josh's Travels
    Day 308

    Cape Town

    July 31, 2023 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Highlights:
    - Boulder's beach was beautiful and we saw so many penguins!
    - Kayaking in the sea with views of table mountain and encountering seals, dolphins, and penguins
    - Hiring a tandem bike and cycling along the coast on a beautiful sunny afternoon
    - Bo Kaap walking tour was really interesting and a colourful area to walk around
    - Visiting the aquarium which had some great exhibits, and more penguins
    - A day hopping on and off the wine tram visiting different vineyards and having plenty of tastings!
    - Visiting the district six museum and learning about the forced removal and history of that part of Cape Town
    - Going to see Barbie at the cinema when it was raining!
    - Starting our overland truck tour with a drive to lions head mountain - it was terrible weather when we arrived but it cleared up a bit so we could hike up in the end
    - A day driving around the cape, where we stopped at various places including Cape Point - the weather want fantastic but a great day anyway!

    Lowlights:
    - Serena's luggage didn't make it onto the plane, but luckily arrived two days later and got reimbursed £120 in clothes and toiletries!
    - Our Robben Island tour was cancelled due to bad weather for the ferry, and we couldn't rebook as it was sold out the rest of the days we were in Cape Town

    Food and drinks:
    - Fish and chips by the waterfront were delicious
    - Dinner and live music at Pigalle restaurant was a great experience
    - Dinner and drumming experience at Gold Restaurant, which had a tasting menu of food from different places in Africa
    - Afternoon tea at a fancy hotel was incredible - lots of savoury bites, scones, mini cakes, then a cake trolley! We also had unlimited tea with a huge selection so we tried 3 different ones each
    - Lunch at Seven Colours Eatery - traditional South African so good that we went twice
    - Dinner and traditional South African music at Marco's African place - we tried ostrich, crocodile, kudu and springbok    Read more

  • Serena and Josh's Travels
    11
    Day 272

    Rio de Janeiro (Ipanema)

    June 25, 2023 in Brazil ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Highlights:
    - Chilling on Ipanema beach which was our favourite, and swimming in the refreshing sea
    - Heading back to Lapa for more drinks at our friend's hostel and a final night out, this time at a huge samba club which was incredible
    - Renting bikes and cycling the coastal path
    - Walking around the huge botanical gardens which were stunning, and seeing marmosets and capuchin monkeys, as well as other beautiful birds and toucans
    - Watching the football at the maracana stadium - a great match and atmosphere, and Josh enjoyed buying beers from his seat!
    - Spending our last morning at Ipanema beach in the sunshine and sea, reflecting on our adventures

    Lowlights:
    - Saying goodbye to our friend who we had travelled with since Ilha Grande
    - Leaving Central and South America behind

    Food and drinks:
    - More cheap meals, caipirinhas, acai and brigadeiros!
    - We had some yummy late night snacks after our night out including a coxhina (shredded chicken meat, covered in dough, moulded into a shape resembling a teardrop, battered and fried)
    - We ate at the restaurant where 'The Girl From Ipanema' was written a couple of times, which had really tasty food with massive portions!    Read more

  • Serena and Josh's Travels
    21
    Day 269

    Rio de Janeiro (Copacabana & Sugar Loaf)

    June 22, 2023 in Brazil ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Highlights:
    - Our second hotel was on the street next to Copacabana beach and had a lovely rooftop where we saw the sunrise and chilled in the evenings
    - Walking down the beach on a Sunday when the road was closed to cars
    - Walking around Park Lage which was a beautiful tropical park with paths and a lake, with views of Christ the Redeemer and monkeys playing around
    - Shopping and eating in the fancy Lebron neighbourhood
    - Seeing Christ the Redeemer up close (our third wonder of the world!) and seeing the views from the top on our first sunny day was incredible
    - Spending time relaxing on Copacabana beach
    - Finally being able to catch a gorgeous sunset from the rock between Copacabana and Ipanema, and watching the surfers in the water too
    - Seeing the sunset and views from Sugar Loaf which was absolutely stunning

    Lowlights:
    - Christ the Redeemer was so popular we could barely move! It was the first sunny day for about 5 days so that might be why

    Food and drinks:
    - Tried an Açai which is like a soft sorbet made from açai fruit and served with fruit and granola
    - We found a cheap sushi chain with really good food so ate at various locations for lunches
    - We had our first (and not last) brigadeiro, which is a Brazilian chocolate truffle    Read more

  • Serena and Josh's Travels
    1
    Day 265

    Rio de Janeiro (City)

    June 18, 2023 in Brazil ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Highlights:
    - Free walking tour of the centre where we learnt about Rio and Brazil
    - The Selaron Steps, which is a set of stairs that an artist tiled over many years, were really cool, even if very busy with people!
    - A spontaneous night out with a friend and people from his hostel to the samba bar Beco do Rato (Serena was wearing jeans and a Galapagos souvenir t-shirt!) - the live music was incredible and it felt like proper Rio de Janeiro

    Lowlights:
    - The area felt a little dodgy and there were quite a few homeless people around
    - The weather wasn't amazing, with a lot of the days being cloudy and a bit cold

    Food and drinks:
    - Hotel breakfast was insanely good again, this one even had waffles!
    - We had a regular place for dinner on the corner of the street which was a local place with cheap and tasty traditional food
    - Serena tried Feijoada, which is a black bean and pork stew and it was delicious
    - Josh enjoyed a very popular soft drink in Brazil called Guarana (the drink is made from fruit from the Guarana plant)
    - Caipirinhas at our friend's hostel were incredibly cheap!    Read more

  • Serena and Josh's Travels
    1
    Day 261

    Ilha Grande

    June 14, 2023 in Brazil ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Highlights:
    - We slept really well on the night bus again (so much so we were the last ones on and the bus driver had to shake Serena awake who in turn woke Josh)
    - We managed to get the first speed boat to the island and check in straight away at 8:30am
    - Caipirinhas on the beach
    - Reuniting with our friend and going for dinner and drinks, then out with a couple more people we met
    - Chilling on various beaches that were in walking distance
    - Hiking across the island through jungle and seeing marmosets, and stopping at beaches and swimming - it felt like paradise!

    Lowlights:
    - A hungover day which we could have done without!
    - We both felt quite run down, I think as it was the first time we were relaxing for a while and we had in the back of our minds it was coming to the end of the trip

    Food and drinks:
    - The start of the caipirinhas! Brazil's cocktail which is made of cachaca, limes, sugar and ice - delicious
    - Lots of cheap meals which were mostly meat/fish with rice, chips and beans
    - The free breakfasts at the places we stayed were amazing    Read more

  • Serena and Josh's Travels
    Day 254

    Pantanal

    June 7, 2023 in Brazil ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Highlights:
    - On the drive to the pantanal we saw macaws, capybaras and emus which was a great start!
    - We were on the guided activities with a really nice couple from Germany
    - Seeing a caiman up close on the night boat tour which was cool
    - Seeing a baby anaconda on the road as we were heading to the horse riding which was crazy to see
    - Horse riding was more fun than expected, and we rode for an hour and a half through fields, deep water and woods - we saw caiman and lots of birds too
    - Boat ride on the river was relaxing although we only saw some monkeys and a few birds - the best part was the sunset on the way back, and the full moon in the lilac sky
    - The walking safari was fun, and we saw caiman, an armadillo, peccaries (wild pigs that we heard in the Amazon but didn't see!), coatis and monkeys
    - A capybara visited the lodge every so often and was completely unbothered by us being there!
    - Kayaking down the river was fun and we saw a tree iguana as well as some monkeys, and again enjoyed a beautiful sunset
    - Floating down the river with two pool noodles, and forgetting about the caiman, piranha and anacondas that were likely swimming with us!
    - Our guide at the second place was very interesting, and passionate about his job. He called himself 'jaguarman'!
    - Walking around the grounds of the farm where we were staying was really nice, and we had a great view of a pair of blue macaws, and saw a deer and a snake too, as well as bone remains from a horse that a jaguar had eaten!
    - We went on a night walk at 4am - we didn't spot any jaguars but we did see a crab-eating fox which was cool, and we saw a beautiful sunrise
    - There were so many toucans and macaws in the trees at the place we were staying, we enjoyed just watching them hop and fly about
    - We finally both caught a piranha when we went fishing!

    Lowlights:
    - A crazy long journey which included an overnight bus and a transfer and travelling for almost 24 hours
    - The dorm we arrived at was tiny and full with everyone's stuff on the floor, and the bathroom door didn't lock. Thankfully we were able to move to the dorm next door which was empty and stayed empty for the whole time we were there!
    - A lot of mosquitos - we got bitten quite a bit
    - We didn't see many animals on the jeep safari or walk at the second place we stayed, and no luck seeing a jaguar!
    - We had to take back to back night buses via Sao Paulo to get to our next place, which was pretty exhausting

    Food and drinks:
    - We had buffet breakfast, lunch at dinner at both places we stayed at which was really nice
    - A highlight at breakfast was toastie makers, which we discovered were a thing at all Brazilian hotels!    Read more

  • Serena and Josh's Travels
    Day 248

    Iguazu falls (Brazil)

    June 1, 2023 in Brazil ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Highlights:
    - The views from the Brazilian side were unbelievable
    - We saw an acari (small toucan) on the trail

    Lowlights:
    - We got dropped at the Brazilian border to go through customs (which took 2 minutes) and had to wait an hour for the next bus to take us all the way to the falls!Read more

  • Serena and Josh's Travels
    Day 247

    Iguazu falls (Argentina)

    May 31, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Highlights:
    - The boat trip on the river was really fun, and we went under the falls a little bit and got fully soaked!
    -.Seeing the 'Devils Throat' part of the falls which was an astonishing amount of water falling down, and the windy weather on the first day meant it sprayed onto us on the viewing platform which made it an immersive experience! The second day we went back and it was gorgeous weather
    - We walked along the quieter macuco trail which was a nice change from the busyness of the high trail
    - The lower trail had fantastic views and was where we could see the rainbow in the falls perfectly

    Lowlights:
    - We left the national park slightly early to try and get money out at Western Union, but it had ran out of cash by the time we got there (luckily we had some US dollars so we exchanged them at an unofficial exchange place that was actually a shoe shop)

    Food and drinks:
    - We ate some extremely inauthentic mexican food, but the place had sombreros and 3 for 1 cocktails so we were happy!
    - Dulce de leche ice cream - we need to source this back home
    - We went to a mate place where we learnt the proper way to make it and drink it, and Josh did a great job of giving it a go himself (we both weren't big fans of the drink though!)    Read more

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