Hello again – thanks to everyone who posted comments on our last blog posts. We’ve just left Búzios, having had an extended stay there due to the fact that we both ended up getting the flu – so much for the flu injection – and couldn’t face all the effort involved in another 3 hour bus journey back to Rio and then another bus and ferry ride to Ilha Grande, where we had intended going after this. Had a very challenging conversation with a pharmacist, trying to describe our symptoms by a series of charades, but the name of the cough lozenges made me smile – they’re called “Endcoff”. What else??
We felt well enough a couple of days ago to go on an all-day trip to Cabo do Frio – about an hour by bus south of Búzios – and then transferred to a boat for 3-4 hours to visit the Grota Azul (blue grotto) and Arraial do Cabo, which is reputed to have the very best beaches in the whole of Brazil – and that’s saying something, considering Brazil so enormous (similar in size to Australia). We stopped at three different beaches/snorkelling areas for a little over half an hour each. The beaches have the whitest, softest sand I think I’ve ever experienced – kind of like walking on icing sugar, only not as tasty when you suck your big toes afterwards. There were a lot of tanned bottoms and very small bikinis on show on the boat trip, which kept Steve happy during the non snorkelling bits of the trip. I do understand the whole g-string bikini thing if you’re young and pert, but when you’re following one on a 50 year old dimply bottom up the ladder onto the boat, it’s enough to put you off your lunch…
We had to move hostels for our last five days, due to all the rooms having been pre-booked. So we no longer had the beautiful sea view, but instead a very tiny room with a tiny bathroom, which was so compact that the only way to get into the shower was by sitting on the loo and then easing yourself sideways into the shower cubicle, with careful attention to any appendages which might get scraped in the process, and then reversing out of the shower onto the toilet seat again, bottom-first. Doesn’t conjure up a very nice mental picture, does it? But despite that and the flu, we LOVED our time in Búzios – such a beautiful and safe haven away from the madness that is Rio de Janeiro.
Anyway, early this morning we got on a jam-packed mini van for the extremely hot and bumpy 3 hour ride back to Rio. Nearly stuck half a Kit Kat up my left nostril when we went over an unexpected speed hump. OMG the roads are so bad here, I’m really glad we chose not to hire a car on this trip! You’ve got to hand it to the Brazilians for trying to make a buck whenever they can though – it was 30 degrees today with 70% humidity and, when we were driving into Rio on a 4 lane motorway, there were people weaving their way through the traffic carrying enormous bags full of packets of crisps, drinks, popcorn and God knows what else, trying to flog them to motorists through the car window. Amazing sight.
So we are now at our very lovely hotel in Copacabana, where will meet our 9 fellow frosty tops tomorrow morning for the beginning of the South American Sojourn tour, of which the first two days will be here in Rio visiting the main sights. We kept a careful eye out at reception for the white-socks-and-sandals brigade but so far haven’t spotted anyone that looks a likely candidate for the frosty top tour. Then we made a bee-line for the rooftop pool and the free welcome drink of an ice-cold Caipirinha, whereupon the sun went in and it’s now just plain hot and sweaty. More from us soon – next part of the adventure is a flight to Foz do Iguaçu (Iguazu Falls) on the border of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Time to forget about Portuguese and start brushing up on the Spanish. Hasta la vista, baby!
2 Frosty Tops Do South America 