Jardim Botânico, Rio de Janeiro

The Jardim Botânico in Rio is famous for its orchids and palm alleys. Besides gazing at the lovely flowers you can also buy dozens of different orchids. Almost every Brazilian had at least one plant in hand leaving the park. 

An other thing which stood out was that this seems to be the place for a photo shoot. So many pregnant women (and bored husbands) with photographer and assistant holding some reflector to adjust the lighting or spare props, usually a stuffed animal...

I loved the big bamboo they had around and also the giant trees. But the main attraction in my opinion was the long alley lined with palm trees. The trees were gigantic, see for your self!

Orchid @ Jardim Botanico, Rio de Janeiro

Ilha Grande (27.04.2014 - 01.05.2014)

Our bus dropped us off at Angra dos Reis at 5 in the morning, so we had to kill some time till the ferry to Ilha Grande would depart. A 45 minutes catamaran ride later we arrived at the big bay which serves as the main harbour.

As accommodation we had a reservation in a lovely little pousada. Next to a little stream and lots of vegetation it felt like staying in the jungle.

Right next to the main town of Vila do Abraão lies the entrance to the national park. When we walked along the path we could spot some tiny monkeys gnawing at the bark of trees. They where so cute, hanging upside down trying to reach the next branch ;)

The main attraction on Ilha Grande are of course the many beaches. The most famous, Lopes Mendez, can be reached by a two hour hike or a 15 minutes boat ride. As a compromise we hiked one way and took the boat back ;) 

Besides lounging at the beach you can also go diving. But the poor visibility and cold water discouraged us, maybe another day.

As the island was getting crowded for the first of may, a national holiday, we decided to continue on to Rio.

São Paulo (23.04.2014 - 26.04.2014)

After a 24 hours journey ordeal, including two bus changes, we made it to São Paulo. The largest city in Brazil, but also in the whole americas in terms of city limits.

Most of the travellers we met before told us to avoid it: nothing to see, dangerous, DANGEROUS!!! So we had fairly low expectations which where totally exceeded. Compared to the ugly and dangerous cities of central america São Paulo is very nice and safe. At least it made this impression on us ;)

We visited Liberdade, also known as little Tokyo. It is the biggest Japanese community outside of Japan. So we had cheap and good sushi and strolled through the many little Asia shops in the area.
The rest of the time we spent on Avenida Paulista, its side streets and shopping malls.

Soon it was time to pack our bags and take another overnight bus up north. This time luckily only 7 hours, olé!

Into the wild Pantanal (19.04.2014 - 22.04.2014)

As Bonito was totally booked out we fled to the Pantanal. We booked the four days / three nights in the hammock version at Fazenda São João, still not cheap. The Pantanal is an enormous wetland/swamp of three to four times the size of Switzerland! This unique environment gets flooded during the rainy season and slowly drys out during the rest of the year, Mosquito heaven!

At our Fazenda we met Daniel from Denmark, the only other guest! Tending to our needs where probably three times as many employees...
The first night our guide (I'm so bad with names, can't remember his...) made us a fire. But soon the heat and insects drove us to seek shelter in our mosquito-proof-shed. This was only the beginning of a loosing battle, I'm fairly certain that the mosquito make up the biggest part of all the biomass in the Pantanal...

After an earlyish rise and breakfast we went for a horseback ride. We saw heaps of birds, cows and even startled a herd of boars. And got like a million mosquito bites, no kidding! The bite you in the face and through clothing, mean! The mosquito cream we've used so fare didn't seem to work...

In the afternoon we hiked stumbled around the fazenda and saw more or less the same animals again. Got some blisters and more mosquito bites, yay.

At night we headed out, but didn't bring our own flashlight. So we had to follow and trust our guide (with the only light) which ambled bare feet into the fields and swamps looking for caimans and what not. Scary shit if you know there is a field full of caimans and snakes around you which you can't see! Was quite cool once we got over the first shock. Saw a big owl, a tarantula and heaps of caimans. When they get blinded by the flashlight they usually stay still and you can approach them. Didn't work all the time, some got angry and started making angry noises! I even pulled one from the street myself, how manly! ^^ On our way back Melanie almost stepped on a quite venomous Bothrops snake (don't google the images, nasty bites) but I saved her in the last moment, no joke! Manly again! =)

The next day we where supposed to go piranha fishing. Our guide selected for this an stagnant pond with around a dozen caimans perched at the bank. After chasing them away we started throwing our lines into the murky water. Everybody can make the connection that meat on a hook and caimans don't mix well. We didn't catch anything besides greedy caimans! Daniel then tried his luck on an other waterhole and caught at least some kind of fish, not a piranha. I joined him and also caught a little fish, still no piranha. Soon we were out of meat and again encircled by caimans so we abandoned this little venture and headed home.

On the schedule as activity after lunch was another hike around the fazenda which Melanie and I gladly declined in favour of some rest in the hammocks. Daniel and the guide still left and promptly got caught in massive down pour. They got lost and had to sprint home to make it back before nightfall, lol.

For the last day we got in some kayaks and floated down the Rio Miranda. It was nice to glide through the scenery including the occasional argument about when and how to paddle ;) Soon afterwards we had to leave to make it back to Bonito.

It may not sound like it but we had a great time out in the wilderness. The mosquitos where unforgiving but the amount of birds and other animals was just awesome! Who can say the slept just meters from a pond full of caimans?

Some blue Aras hanging out at the fazenda