Beautiful beaches, sandunes, red hot sunshine... its tough at the top!

As promised on my last post. it's beaches all the way. Impanema Beach in Rio was a lovely beach helped by the amount of beautiful Brazilian women wandering around wearing very skimpy bikinis. The only problem was due to the weather being a little overcast I only went to the beach a few times. A lot of my time spent in Impanema was slowly walking around taking in the surroundings and the views - as well as the lush women! I did manage to visit the famous christ statue one day which was well impressive. The views over Rio from the hill that the statue stands on were amazing. Luckily at first the weather was reasonably clear especially on the coast, so photos could be taken. Also managed to get some good photos of the statue before the clouds came in.
From Rio I took a 3 hour flight to the northern coastal city of Fortaleza. Not a bad city but the best part is the coastline and the hostel I was staying in, was right on the beach. I could almost fall out of bed and onto the beach. Here in the north the weather is a lot clearer and red hot. Spent a few days kicking around on the beach, mind you at the moment I can only stand a few hours on the beach as it's so hot.
From Fortaleza I headed again north to the beach resort of Jericoacoara which I have to say, was awesome. It's so isolated a 4 wheel drive truck come bus, meets the main bus to take you the final hour over the sandunes to the beach resort. I was in my element there as the scenery was amazing with mile after mile of beach surrounded by giant sandunes. It was great to go walking down the beach taking photographs. The whole area of Jericoacoara is a national park so you can imagine the views were spectacular. There were even some OK sunsets, which I took advantage of, by sitting having an ice cold beer on the beach until it was time to drag myself off to take some shots. Jericoaoara is famous for windsurfing as when you head out to sea or on top of the sandunes where it is exposed it's well windy. But, in the village and on the beach in front of the dunes there is a lovely breeze. Did not spend a lot of time on the beach as I got burned in Fortaleza. Yes, I would like to think I was too old, wise and experienced a traveller to get burned, but there I was walking around looking like the singing detective! I made do with spending time chilling, reading a book and maybe having a siesta in a hammock, oh how the days fly by!
One day I did manage get out of the hammock and go on a beach buggy tour for the day. They take you deeper into Jericoacoara National Park where there was some really good sandunes of different colours. We ended up at a lake spot in the middle of the dunes, like an oasis. A great spot to relax and have a beer and some very fresh fish. The one I picked was still swimming round when I chose it. With the food, drink and photos taken, a perfect day was had by all.
At the moment I am back in Fortaleza where, from here I will now head south overland back to Rio ready to fly back to Blighty, Christ!!!
I hope to send a couple more blogs - so stay tuned. Nothing left but to wish you all a Merry Crimbo and a Happy New Year... the bear

p.s. if this post has not made too much sense - I apologise, as two local girls have been all over me, distracting me and taking the piss out of my two finger typing - how dare they!!!

Argentina finished with a football feast!

Well I spent some time in Buenos Aires which I have to say was an excellent city. Good cafes and bars to sit in and watch the world go by and plenty of places to visit and hang around. Oh, and the weather was pretty good as well. I have to admit I did some serious drinking especially as the hostel I was staying in was a party place. Plenty of good people there as well, so there was always something going down every night. Could not believe it when watching footie on the TV the guy next to me was from Stoke, Bignal End. Talk about a small world. I was even more impressed when his mate told me he was a close relative of the great Dennis Smith, ex Stoke captain and one of the best players never to play for England. Let me tell you - beers were drunk and songs were sung!
At the hostel, like I said, every night something was going on. DJs, party nights, clubs, my god the whole time I was there I rarely got to bed before am. Did manage to make it to a local football game to watch Boca Juniors and what an experience that was! I thought us English lads liked our footie but Boca Juniors take it to another level. The whole stadium is going mental the whole game. It was an amazing sight when you look over to the opposite end and see the whole crowd chanting and dancing around and the noise is deafening. The opposition fans who were positioned above where we were also a little up for it, throwing tiles off the floor at us through the metal grills along with fire crackers and bottles of pop - nice! At one point they were banging something on the floor above us and I thought they were going to come down on top of us. All in all it was a great experience made better by the 4- nil win by the mighty Boca's.
I stayed a little longer in Buenos Aires than planned so I could also watch Argentina play Bolivia which I thought was a rare treat. This game was played at River Plate's stadium, which is the other main team in B.A. The stadium was a real big 'un and you even got a seat - unlike the Bocas game. Enjoyed watching the likes of Messi and Raquilmes playing. That Messi is some player and he was on fine form, some of the runs and turns he did took me back to my youth (HA - yeah right). Again the atmosphere was great but not quite as intense as the Bocas game.
In the end I managed to get myself away from Buenos Aires with my liver just about in tact. My next stop was Iguazu Falls which is right on the border of Argentina and Brazil. Managed to go to both side of the falls which is well worth while. The Argentinean side was my favourite as there is more to see and do. I have to say the falls are amazing probably the best waterfalls I have seen. There is said to be around 275 falls over a frontage of 2,470m and let me tell you there is a serious amount of water cascading over these falls. On the Argentinean side you can do a upper and lower walkway with excellent views. Including getting right over the top of one of the big boys which is an amazing sight. The size of them and amount of water joined with the deafening raw is mesmerising, helped with a nice spray giving you a welcoming cool down as it was red hot. The highlight was taking a boat out right under the falls and getting a serious soaking and it taking your breath away.
The Brazilian side is not as big but it does give you panoramic views of each section of the falls. Again you finish right over the top of a section of waterfall with great views. Managed to get some good photographs of the falls but it was impossible to show the sheer scale of them, but hey - I had a good go.
At the moment I have just landed in Rio de Janeiro where I am staying at Ipanema beach which is the next beach down from Copacabana. Great to be by the beach and ocean again as it has been a while. Hard to believe Brazil will be my last country visited here. Should be good to spend the final time on the beach by the ocean. Will be in touch soon with talk of paradise beaches... the bear

Drinking Beer & Watching Sport - a great pastime...

I have to admit I have not done much in the way of travelling and sight seeing since my last post. Sometimes you just have to put the camera and guide book away and kick back.
I did manage to go to Valparaiso a couple of hours away from Santiago by bus. Valparaiso is a nice city with a plus side of being on the coast, so it was nice to be next the ocean again. Its also best known for its many hills rising from the mad city below. Its quite cool how you have the hustle and bustle of a major city and then a short but steep walk up to the quiet of the hill districts. As well as having great views over the city and coastline below there loads of art cafes, bars and bright coloured buildings. Great spot for a quiet coffee or alcoholic beverage (can be a tough choice at times). With the views - I did manage to get the camera out after finding a good view point which was hard work walking up and down them hills. There looked to be a nearby beach resort that sounded ok but the time I chose to go, it was overcast and grim so I gave it a miss.
After Valparaiso I went back to Santiago and the same hostel I stayed in before as it was good hostel with good facilities (a good bar with big screen TV). As you can imagine with the sporting feast that was on over last weekend I was a happy man. Imagine if you can, watching England play Australia in the rugby world cup quarter finals with a load of Aussies and then winning. The grief I gave them was sheer bliss and I do not know much when it comes to rugby but so what, you don't get many chances give the Aussies some grief. Oh the joy when I waved them goodbye at the end of the game, thanks for coming lads! You can imagine that after a couple of premiership games and more rugby games a lot of beer was drunk.

Sunday I felt a little grim but was cheered up when watching the Scotland vs. Argentina game, a couple of jocks walked in the bar. Does it get any better than this? My mates Pie and Harvey who live in Jock land will appreciate the grief I gave them. After the Argie victory I nearly went out and bought but Argentinean rugby top. I have to admit there were some good people in the hostel so I was doing some serious partying until 2 and 3 in the morning. I was almost glad when I actually left Santiago - feeling like I was pickled in alcohol. At the moment I am in Pucon in the lake district which, on first view is lush. Loads of lakes surrounded by volcanoes and mountains. There is a snow peaked volcano that you can climb nearby which has my name on it! I am waiting for a decent days weather to climb the baby so cross your fingers for me and I'll will be in touch soon to let you know how I went on.
Laters!... the bear