Beaches, caprinhas and stunning scenery on the Brazilian coast

We arrived to some mixed weather in Rio de Janierio but were keen to make the most of our time here. We stayed near Copacabana Beach in the Leme area, close to a favela (slums) which occupy most steep areas in the city. Our hostel (Lisetonga) was really good – with a buffet breakfast every morning, cheap drinks, a good common area to meet people and friendly staff. We could get caiprinhas (Brazilian cocktails made with cacacha white rum, sugar, lime and ice) for NZ$2 each which was awesome!

The Argentinian making another round of tasty caiprinhas at our hostel

The end result

The pet parrot that could wolf whistle at our hostel in Rio

The beaches of Rio are the main hangout areas for most of the locals here. We had expected the beaches to be dirty but it was nice to find clean white sandy beaches. There has been a big push to clean up the city before the Football World Cup next year which seems to be working. There are different sections along the beaches for different types of people; one section for families, one for gay people, one for young and sexy people (that was us), and one for people playing sport on the beach. Futevolley is a popular beach sport for the locals and it is a very skilful sport, as they play volleyball without using hands!  We found ourselves stopping to watch the locals play this game on quite a few occasions. The beaches are lined with stalls selling souvenirs, coconut water and acai smoothies. Acai is a berry from Brazil which is a superfood and apparently really good for you. We found a place where we could get a 400ml acai smoothie for NZ$1.50 so we enjoyed quite a few of these while we were here! One thing I found interesting was all of the gym setups dotted along the beachfronts of Copacabana & Ipanema, the perfect place to do a workout with a view. No wonder the locals are all fit here! I think these would be a hit around the beaches in NZ for sure! We headed to the beach most days where it was nice just to relax, soak up some rays and watch all the interesting people pass by..

Another nice Rio beach overlooking Sugarloaf Mountain

Locals playing a competitive game of Futevolley

Having a workout with the locals at the Flintstones gym between Copacabana & Ipanema

Gym set-up along Copacabana beach - such a good idea!

Big cup of Acai from our local in the favela

All the girls wear g-strings at the beach in Rio

The city of Rio is built in amongst quite a few mountains and we managed to get up two of the more famous ones during our stay. One day we visited Christ the Redeemer which is an imposing figure that you can see from most areas of Rio. Unfortunately the weather packed it in as we were going up on the tram. Luckily we managed to get a few photos of the Christ before the clouds and rain came over but didn’t see much of the view. We made up for this when the weather improved by heading up Sugarloaf Mountain, where we got some awesome views along the coastline and back towards the city.

The impressive Christ the Redeemer statue high up above Rio

View from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain

There are quite a few favelas (shanty towns) in Rio and it is weird that they are all located on prime real estate with really good sea views. We went on a walking tour through South America’s biggest favela (Rocinha). The houses in the favela weren't in the best condition but people seemed happy enough living here. Our guide Roberto explained how it was quite safe to visit this favela even though drug lords run the area. Apparently tourists are the biggest group of customers for the cocaine sold here so the drug lords make sure that nothing bad happens to them when they are visiting. As we walked down through the steep streets we were even offered cocaine by three dealers who must have been around 14 years old – quite sad really.

Awesome view from the favelas

Little boy we saw in the favela doing some work in his havi's

Haylee with our guide Roberto after our walk through the favela

The famous & colourful Lapa steps

There are so many things to do in Rio that we could easily have stayed longer but after 5 days here we headed down to the Island of Ilha Grande which is renowned for its awesome beaches & scenery. It was raining steadily for the first two days here so we decided to stay an extra day to make the most of it. We soon found a little gem outside our hostel with a man selling churros from a stall on wheels. These are freshly made fried donut sticks filled with caramel and became our staple dessert on the island. When the sun finally came out we set off early on a massive trek through the bush to the other side of the island to see the famous Lopez Mendez beach, rated as one of the world’s best. There were some really good views during the walk and the beach was stunning as we had expected. It was nice to chill here for the afternoon before making the hike back to Abrao where we were staying.

Visitor coming into our hostel grounds in Abrao

On a mission to get a coconut

Fresh coconut water

Stunning views on our walk to Lopez Mendez

Haylee on the white squeaky sand of Lopez Mendez

Our last shot of Lopez Mendez before our 2 hour walk back to Abrao

From Ilha Grande we were able to get a transfer to the colonial town of Paraty for a good price. We had a day to look around cool old school town before catching our first long haul bus ride to Florianopolis the following day. The bus was really comfortable with wide reclining seats and leg rests and we were able to get a good night’s sleep before getting to our destination in the morning. Florianopolis is an island with a big city and plenty of good surf beaches. We stayed on the east coast of the island near the coast and our hostel had a really good view over the massive lagoon on the island (Lagoa). We were able to check out two of them (Praia Mole & Joaquina) on the day we arrived while the weather was nice. They both had nice left breaks off rocks and Praia Mole has even hosted world class surf competitions in the past. I was planning on getting out for a surf while we were here but unfortunately the weather was average for the rest of our stay. We checked out the small fishing village of Barra de Lagoa which sits at the mouth of the river that connects Lagoa to the ocean. This beach was a bit more sheltered and apparently has perfect surf when there is a decent swell. 

View of Paraty on our 1 day stop-over there

Praia Mole

Locals out for a surf at Joaquina beach

Sunset over the Lagoa close to our hostel

Fishing boats sitting in the rivermouth of Barra de Lagoa

The nice surf beach of Barra de Lagoa

While the weather was bad we decided to check out the main city of Florianopolis where there was a bustling market going on. The island is famous for its seafood and there was one whole section of the market filled with good looking fresh seafood. We enjoyed one of the local specialties for lunch and it didn’t disappoint!

Local specialty of prawns for lunch in Florianopolis

Florianopolis was well worth the visit but I imagine it would have been a lot better with some decent weather. After some last minute Haviana shopping it was time to move on from Brazil. We only managed to explore a tiny portion of the world’s 5^th largest country and there is so much more to see here. We will have to get back one day to see the rest..

From here we leave the coast for a while and travel down to Argentina via the famous Iguazu Falls so stay tuned..

Last stop - Paris

Paris was our final destination of our 3 month trip around Europe. We stayed in the quiet suburb of Montrouge – to the south of Paris. This proved to be an ideal location, located on the last metro stop of the line running north to south through the city. It was nice to be back in an apartment where we could cook our own food – a luxury we didn’t get through Turkey & Greece. We each got a 10-pass on the metro at a reduced price and allowed us one return trip into the city for each of the 5 days we were there.

Our street in Montrouge

Our first stop was the famous Notre Dame which is on an island in the middle of the Seine River. It was a nice looking building made famous by the 1830 novel about a hunchback. It would have been rude not to get a couple of hunchback photos here..

Getting the hunchback on at Notre Dame

Just across the Seine from the Notre Dame is the also famous Lourve Museum where we stopped to have a look at the glass pyramids. The line here was so, so long – with tourist after tourist lining up mainly just to see the Mona Lisa. We had better things to spend the next few hours doing so kept on walking. We went to the lesser know Musee d’ Orsay which is actually the number 1 rated attraction in Paris. It is built inside an old train station which has been restored very nicely! It has the best display of impressionist paintings in the world and even though we aren’t huge fans of impressionist paintings it was well worth a visit. It houses some famous art by Monet, Cezanne & Van Gogh to name a few. One other good thing is the information for beginners explaining what each type of art is about. We would have been a bit lost without it!

Haylee outside the Lourve

The impressive Musee d' Orsay building

Cool sculpture made of different types of rock inside the museum

Just down the road from here was the Jardin Toulieres, a huge garden where many Parisians probably spend their lunch hours soaking up the sun – a nice place to chill out and get away from the city life. Paris is quite a clean green city with a garden or park around most corners and trees everywhere. Definitely beats the concrete squares and graffiti found in most other major European cities.

On a separate day we visited the Montmatre area which has a lot of trendy cafes and another famous building (the Sacre Couer) up on the hill there. The Sacre Couer itself is a cool looking building which looks fake even up close. The view of the city from the Sacre Couer is awesome as well. The Moulin Rouge is just down the hill so made sure we saw this before heading off. They still use the original building where they do raunchy shows with topless women – this dates back to 1889. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to watch the performance. We stopped in for lunch at a park which has a big mural with ‘I love you’ in every language. So many people stopped in to find their language and take a photo. By the end of our baguettes we even managed to find the Maori version.

The unreal looking Sacre Couer building

The Maori version of 'I love you' on a massive mural in the city of love

On our last full day in Paris we went to see the Eiffel Tower. We started the day by catching the metro to the Arc de Triomph which is a massive arch monument in the middle of a roundabout. From here it was a good walk down to the Eiffel, and from this direction we got the best views of the tower across the River Seine. We enjoyed a big picnic in the park in front of the Tower and soaked up a few rays. After letting our food settle (and waiting for security to open the tower after a bomb scare) we started our climb up the Eiffel. We got to the first viewing platform and the views over London were awesome, and they only got better the higher we got! By the very top there was a clear view along the River Seine and out to Montmatre. We could see many of the places we had visited in the past few days from a different perspective which was cool. Our advice – it is well worth it to go up the Eiffel if you are in Paris!Paris is a really nice city and we enjoyed our visit here. There are so many spots to enjoy a view here – the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Couer or just about any bridge on the River Seine. The trendy cafes and tall old school buildings add a lot of character to the city. The best thing that sets it apart from other cities in Europe has to be the trees and green parks around – so many places where you can go chill out or have a game of touch/backyard cricket etc.

The massive Arc du Triomph

A picnic with a view!

View from up the Eiffel

This was a good place to end our 3 month European Tour and from here we go to London and then onto Rio de Janiero in Brazil for our last two months of travelling. We are both looking forward to more beaches, caprinhas and things being cheaper in South America.

The sunny islands of Greece

We had a huge day of travelling to get from Turkey to the Greek Islands, catching a bus from Dalyan to Ortaca, then bussing from Ortaca to Mugla, and from there to the port town of Bodrum. Bus costs were starting to add up around Turkey and after a hectic schedule we were looking forward to relaxing on the Greek Islands! After a short ferry we arrived at Kos and I was relieved to say the least when I got a nice new (un-smudged) stamp on my water damage passport! We had officially made it Greece!

Celebrating our arrival in Greece with a local brew

After checking out Kos for a few hours we boarded our ferry to Santorini at 10pm, expecting to arrive there in the early hours of the morning. We awoke to the news that the ferry had technical problems and was unable to dock in the small port of Santorini, we were on course for Athens. Instead of a 5 hour ferry it was going to be a total of 35 hours before we arrived back in Santorini! This caused a massive commotion among the passengers, many who only had limited time in Santorini and some who had flights booked for the following day. There was arguing and shouting and we felt a bit sorry for the reception lady who was getting abused constantly. Luckily we were quite flexible and could organise to extend our stay at the islands. It was nice to be upgraded to a cabin and get a free breakfast and lunch. This was turning into a Greek Island cruise! We even were paid for our lost night’s accommodation in Santorini. Thanks Blue Star Ferries!

Enjoying our upgrade to a cabin aboard the Blue Star Ferry

After another nice sleep in our cabin we arrived in Santorini at 10am. We were staying near the coast in Perissa which was not as touristy as the famous Oia or Fira. There was a nice black pebble beach that we swam at most days and prices were generally cheaper here which was ideal. We found a good food joint close by where we could get Gyros (Greek wrap with chicken, salad, tzatziki and chips) for €2 or massive Greek salads for €4 – this place became our lunch stop for the next few days. On our first night we caught a bus to the main town of Fira to check out the views and see the sunset. The highlight was finding this amazing spot to watch the sunset behind one of the famous blue-domed churches..

The tasty Greek Gyros..

Our local in Santorini - Perissa Beach

View from Fira

View from Fira at sunset

We had been told the best way to get around was on a quad bike so picked up one through our hostel for €20. We were able to check out the entire length of the island in one day, swimming and snorkelling along the way. We started at the eastern point of the island and checked out the lighthouse and red beach (due to the cliffs of scoria in behind). We made the most of our bike and stopped in at two more remote beaches which were well worth it! After stopping in at Perissa for lunch we went to Oia for the afternoon and sunset. This town has more of the blue-domed churches and is a bit classier than Fira. Some of the resorts here were amazing and would set you back a fair bit to stay in! As it got later, hoards of people started arriving for the famous Oia sunset. We had found a good place to watch the sun go down but decided to go somewhere quieter when a busload of Koreans on a tour turned up and ruined the moment. Everyone applauded when the sun went down which we had never seen before.

Red beach - Santorini

Another blue domed church

Town of Oia

Looking back over Oia

Haylee and the blue domes

From Santorini we decided to do a 1 night excursion to the nearby Folegandros which is a bit more remote. Camping was the only affordable option for us on this island which is renowned for luxury resorts, and we paid €10 each to stay in a cabin which was pretty good. We got up early and managed to explore a lot of the island in a day. We visited five nice beaches (and managed to swim at four of them) and checked out the main town of Chora. It was a big day for us after catching the 6pm ferry back to Santorini, but well worth it!

View of Oia from the ferry

Our cabin on Folegandros

Livadi Beach - spot the nudist..

Some more of the sunning Folegandos coastline

Small beach on Folegandros

Angali, one of the main beaches on Folegandros

Awesome blue water

View out to sea from the main town of Chora

 It was back to Perissa for our last night on Santorini and back to the local beach for our last day. We were well and truly enjoying the island lifestyle by now and could easily have stayed longer here in Santorini. We had our ferry back to Athens later that night and got another free transfer to the port by our hostel – which is a must if you are staying in Perissa!

Luckily there were no hitches with our ferry back to Athens and we arrived on time early the next morning. We were glad we only had one full day in Athens as it didn’t interest us too much. We were planning on seeing the Acropolis but couldn’t manage it as it was too hot and we were too tired after our 10 hour ferry. To be honest we had seen our fair share of ruins by now anyway. After a good kip in the afternoon our highlight of Athens was a nice meal out before our flight to Paris in the morning.