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HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Firstly, I apologise profusely for the lack of email contact in the last month. I know, due to dull British skies, you must yearn for our exotic tales. Maybe they help you get through the day, or feel closer to the sun.
It has been hectic here. A month of madness. A month of mistakes.
Mistake numero uno: We paid an extortionate for the privilege to be in Rio for NYE. 60 pounds apiece for a 6 bed dorm for 5 of our 11 nights. Getting here therefore, was a priority right from the get go in August. Yet, we foiled ourselves. We were still in La Paz, Bolivia (I urge you to look at a map to see the gravity of this mistake) on Dec 12th. In fact, we had only just arrived back from the jungle that day. Jungle: amazing. We croc spotted, saw the world´s largest rodents and swam with Pink River Dolphins. The reason for the lateness of our jungle trip? I had contracted Salmonella and another parasite. We attempted to leave for Sucre on an overnight boat the evening we got back from the jungle and were furious to find all the buses were going to Santa Cruz and none were for Sucre. Hence another night in La Paz. A city that stank of wee. BOO. Why the stress? Well, it´s a 15hr journey to Sucre, then a 30hr journey across the north of Paraguay to Asuncion. Then, a 6 hr journey to the borders of Brazil and Argentina where we wanted to spend 2 luxury nights in a hotel in Iguazu Falls (one we´ve been excited about since start of trip) Then, a 24hr bus to Rio. Cutting it fine! 13th Dec rolls in, we get night bus to Sucre. The road, aka rocks, was crazy... so bumpy sleeping people were hitting their heads on windows and luggage was falling off racks. No toilet on board. The toilet stops were actually ´in nature´ and Mat, ashen faced on re-telling me this, saw a woman actually wee on the wheel of our bus in an attempt to avoid stepping in everyone else´s pee! A child actually let loose on the floor of the bus. It stank. AND, for our trouble we discover, on arrival, we cannot get a bus to Asuncion. Despite the fact the main road runs from Sucre there. We need to be in Santa Cruz. 15hrs back the other way. ARGH. And, our friendly hostel owner informs us, that the 30hr journey can take 50hrs because of the rainy season. In the face of such dire straits we opted to fly. We still had to go to Santa Cruz to do this and it cost us a cool 90 pounds each compared to the 30 pound bus we were going to take. But, we did indeed make it to all our destinations on time in the end, so it was worth it.
Mistake 2: Left it too late to book fancy Iguazu hotel and when we tried it was full. Ended up in a 10 bed dorm. Super romantic snoring of others as a soundtrack. Still, it was 37 degrees there in the night and our hostel had a pool and hanging chairs so we made the best of it!
Mistake 3: Having a haircut in Bolivia. Due to premature grey (Mat´s fault surely?) I decided to have my hair cut and dyed in Bolivia. Initially I was blabbing the virtues of this bargain, 14 pounds for cut, all over colour and having ends of my hair bleached and dyed blue. However, My fringe was very wonky and within 8 days the top 10 inches of my hair turned orange. I have had to re dye it myself, and despite the packet saying chocolate brown, my hair is now actually close to black with a hint of purpley red. Bloody Castings has let me down!! Mat is calling me Morticia. I am not happy.
Mistake 4: Getting sunburnt today, so that I have perfect panda eyes from my ridiculously oversized sunglasses. Going out tomorrow to burn my whole face so that I dont embarrass my beautiful NYE dress that I treated myself too. A white dress as that´s what you have to wear here to fit in with the 2 MILLION people that are meant to hit Copacabana tonight to see David Guetta for free. Hope I can avoid ruining it, but probably not with Mat, Mr Clumsy, around!
Mistake 5: Attempting to speak Spanish to locals in Brazil in the misguided belief it is similar to Spanish... It does not endear you! Can understand nada here.
Mistake 6: Booking in for Christmas dinner at our hostel, believing it would be amazing and then being served Turkey with rice and potato salad. They do not even know gravy exists here.
Mistake 7: Mat has dropped my brand spanking new camera twice. The lens must have a crack on it because it is showing up on all the photos, so we need to scan our insurance docs in the new year to make sure I can replace my baby.
All this said, we are having an amazing time. Christmas was strange, we missed everyone and the British buzz about it but we have experienced so many wonderful things.
In Iguazu we saw a rainbow beneath our feet! Simply unreal, the spray is so dramatic it makes the rainbow form in it, arching from one side of the cliff to the other, with birds jutting up through it.
We went to the Jardin Botanico, here in Rio, and were entertained by wild monkeys who were snapping things off trees and throwing them at us while we all snapped away. One caught me by surprise with a shower of water from a palm. Cheeky little things were so attention seeking getting closer and closer for a good look.
We sat at the beach until 1am last night, in good company, with our summer clothes on... just because we could.
Met Anneka, a friend from uni who has lived here for 4 years, and now have an escort for the madness of NYE on the beach. Talked endlessly about differences between British life and here and loved her saying she wouldn´t settle here because she misses the ´sophistication´ of the British. Bear that in mind when you look around the streets after midnight on NYE!!! I do actually agree though, social mobility doesn´t exist here. The darkest skinned people have the lowest paid jobs and fill the favelas.
Also, the ice cream is ace. Nom nom nom.
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