Brazil - March 2002

Thanks to an invitation from ThosBlackhart to accompany him and his wife, Karen on a trip to Brazil to visit Karen's relatives and introduce them to Emily, I was able to travel with them to Brazil and to see some amazing scenery and enjoy a week in an almost idyllic place beside the Atlantic Ocean.

Being a Brit, one tends to think of the Atlantic as cold and uninviting but on the north east coast of Brazil the ocean is warm and the sands often too hot to walk on. I am jumping the gun here - first came the week in Foz d'Ignassu, down in the south west where Brazil meets with Paraguay and Argentina.

We flew from New York to Sao Paolo on March 1. The wait at Sao Paolo airport for the connecting flight was alleviated by delicious fruit juice drinks - Pineapple & Mint - Strawberry and Camomile - and other delights. I think this is where the Juice Bandit was born.

Obtaining Brazilian currency seemed to be quite a problem. Either the machines did not take VISA cards or they were out of action.

Arriving in Foz during the afternoon of March 2 we were met by one of Karen's many relatives and taken to our hotel, the Lanville Palace. This was conveniently situated close to where Karen's grandmother lives. The hotel had a nice pool - essential in that climate. The airconditioning did not work in our rooms that first night but we got ourselves moved to rooms with working units the next day - it was either that or change hotels since we were all rapidly turning into grease spots.

We were welcomed with open arms by a large quantity of relatives - luckily for me a number of them spoke German so I was able to communicate. My efforts to learn enough Brazilian Portuguese were clearly a failure - I could meet and greet and say a few necessary polite words but conversation was beyond me. The food was interesting - a great deal of pastry and bread-based items, not always made with wheat flour. Manioc and tapioca are used for flour and instead of potatoes. Rice and beans is, of course the staple accompaniment to meat which seems often to be roasted on a spit and heavily salted and spiced. Not a lot of vegetables but perhaps the nutrients they supply are provided by the variety of fruits.

I will let the pictures of our expeditions to the waterfalls speak for themselves ....

There are the inevitable flowers, fungi, lichens and other wildlife and you can amuse yourself with the haircut scenes

The second week spent at the Pousada Cabana in Jericoacoara was equally memorable

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