Wonders of South America

Although we are going to be back in Lima next week we said bye to most of our relatives as may not get a chance to see them all anyhow. This morning we headed to Lima airport and at 1:30 pm we were on board LAN 2425 flight to Buenos Aires.

The flight was just under 4 hours but due to the difference in time we arrived in Ezeiza airport 7:00 pm local time. After clearing immigration and getting more stamps on the passport we were on our way to "La Recoleta" were our hotel is located.

It took us some 45 minutes to get there but we were welcomed with a nice "asado" smell that lurked into our noses as though we could taste it in our mouths.

After quickly checking in and setting up the WIFI and with rumbling stomachs we rushed to the adjacent street seeded with restaurants. Waitresses were waiting outside the restaurants harassing (aka convincing) people to take on their menu.

Our choice went for chicken and pasta, tomorrow we will go for asado and why not some Tango show......Time to have a rest nowRead more

Another loooong but exciting day. Unfortunately Yovanna ended up at the hospital.......

We started with a 7 am breakky and at 8 am our tour guide "Manu" came to pick us up. He had told us to start this early to avoid the crowds, apparently there were lots of tourist in Rio these days.

Without time to waste we headed for Corcovado Mountain and the incredible Christ the Redeemer. Along the way we cruised along the "Lagoa Rodrigo Freitas" before starting to climb to Corcovado. Manu took us to the car park from where we bought our tickets and then we jumped in one of the Vans that took us to the base of the statue (these are the only vehicles authorised from the car park onward).

We accessed the statue via escalators and then our cameras did not stop. A bit difficult to get a good photo with all the people already there however Manu managed to get us some good pics. We also had really good photos of Sugar loaf mountain or Pâo de Açucar, which was covered in mist....

On the way down we past by "Barrio de Santa Teresa" and its colourful colonial houses before stopping at the Samba Mecca, the famous "Sambodromo". Here we visited the little museum where for 2 reais we we hired hats and some good shots (7 Reais for a whole custom hired). Manu also explain about Carnival and how people pay upto 7,000 Reais ($2,000) for a box set in the best location of the graderies...... insane.

Our next stop was the "Escadaria Selaron" a long stair covered in tiles and that was the master piece of a Chilean artist Jorge Selaron and dedicated to an African-Brazilian girl from Rio from whom he fell in love and thought by him to be pregnant. Unfortunately she married a German businessman and left for Europe, this girl is depicted in all his paints. Selaron killed himself two years ago but his legacy is still there. There are tiles donate from all over the planet including an Aussie one with Kangaroos.

Leaving the stairs we passed by the Lapa Archs before visiting the strange Metropolitan Cathedral with its pyramidal shape. From here we walked to a pharmacy to get something for Yovanna that was struggling to walk and then we went to "Confeitaria Colombo" a restaurant established by two Portuguese brothers in 1894.

Back in the car we passed by Flamengo and Botafogo beaches before arriving to Pão de Açucar. Yovanna was really bad so we left her at the base of the cable car. So Manu, myself and Ximena travelled to the top of the mountain and admired the 360 degrees views of Rio.

Back in Terra firme we stopped at a nearby hospital to get Yovanna checked. As it turned out she had been stung by a wasp while in Iguazu and the insect had left the stinger under the skin of her leg. Stinger removed she was still in pain so we went back to the hotel. We missed Ipanema and Leblon, we hoped she gets better tomorrow....Read more