Life’s a beach being a traveller!!!

We're now half way through our trip and are loving it more than ever!! Do we really have to come home and go back to work?!! However, after almost 5 months of long haul flights, epic bus journeys, museums, hikes, hard beds, sagging beds, bunk beds and sometimes no beds, we decided we needed a break from this gruelling regime that is "travelling!!" Since we left Mum and the rest of the Hodges clan in Ilheus, our plan was to make our way back down the coast to Rio de Janeiro, visiting numerous beaches and islands en route. This is what really happened!!

Porto Seguro and the journey of death

As we mentioned in our previous post, we arrived in the coastal town of Porto Seguro after a 6 hour dirt bag of a journey at around 11pm in the pouring rain. We spent the next day walking the town and decided that there wasn't a great deal to do (except watch Man Utd knock Arsenal out of the Champions League!!), so we left the next morning at 6am.

Gem in Porto Seguro

We wanted to head to a small town called Arraial do Cabo, which according to the Lonely Planet guide was a chilled out port town with some of the loveliest beaches in Brazil. However, it being a good 650km from Porto Seguro, we decided to head to the city of Vitoria on the way. The bus to Vitoria was another 14 hour epic, but went quite quickly, however, when we drove through the streets of Vitoria we were a bit disappointed by how skanky it looked. I suppose that week in the idyllic resort with the family had turned us a bit snobbish!! But it was late and we didn't want the fuss of trying to find a hostel with our embarrassing array of Portuguese, so we booked another bus to a town called Macae, a bit further down the coast. It was due to leave in 3 hours time, at 11pm.

Another boring wait and the bus left on time. We quickly fell asleep and awoke suddenly at 4am as we pulled into the bus station at Macae. There wasn't much going on at that hour, but we had an inkling that another bus could get us a bit further down the coast and a bit closer to our final destination. We spoke in some form of Spanish-Portuguese-English hybrid language to the poor bloke at the ticket desk to discover that a local bus service would take us to a town called Cabo Frio and another one from there would get us to what had become the Holy Grail – Arraial do Cabo. Needless to say, after all the travelling and waiting around, tempers had become a little frayed!!

We finally arrived in Arraial do Cabo at 8am, after 26 hours in 4 different buses. Fortunately we had pre-arranged our hostel and on arrival, we crashed for the rest of the morning.

The beautiful Arraial do Cabo

Our plan was to stay here for a couple of days before heading to the spectacular island of Isla Grande. On our first full day, we headed to one of the 25 beaches around the peninsula town called Praia do Forno (god knows what it actually means but it's probably something like "Absolutely stunning secluded beach that you can have all to yourselves". From the first view of the bay we fell in love. The sun was beaming, the sand was pristine and there was no-one there but us to enjoy it all!!

Praia do Forno - perfection

Gem looking fabulous!!

Not exactly James Bond

We came back the next day and decided we'd have to stay for the whole week, just to make the torturous journey worthwhile. At the end of the week, we decided we'd better stay another week, well, we didn't really have a great reason except that boosting the sun tan is free!

Ells doing what he does best!!

Beach football with the sunset

So we ended up staying there for 2 weeks, tanning on the beach by day and drinking beer by night. Lots of fun!!!

The dunes and amazing sky at Praia Grande

Sunset on Praia Grande

Rio part deux

We begrudgingly left our refuge and headed back to Rio with healthy complexions and little beer paunches. We only had a few days in Rio so we had to spend them wisely. We first booked a favela tour, which was top of Gem's agenda as she teaches about them and wanted to get a first hand view of life in a favela.

Rocinha

For those that don't know, a favela is an illegal, self-built neighbourhood, normally in unfavourable areas, e.g. on steep slopes. We visited two, the first being Rocinha – the largest in Rio with 60,000 inhabitants and fortunately the one Gem teaches about. It has been growing for around 50 years so has seen a fair amount of development in that time. For example, it has electricity and some running water. However on our walks around the markets, at some points we were told not to take any photos as there is a lot of drug and gun activity there and they don't obviously want their faces on this blog with a gun in one hand and a fat bag of coke in the other!!

Best view in town from the poorest place in town!!

Christ the Redeemer on the left peak and Sugarloaf on the right

The other favela we visited was called Vila Canoes. It was much smaller and had gone through a governmental development initiative, so they had full electricity, running water and sewerage facilities. But it's still a tough life, everyone is crammed on top of one another, there are not enough schools for the kids and, given how poor these people are, too many bars where the men can go and piss it all away whilst playing on the slot machines!!

The next day we arranged to go and watch a football game at the Maracana stadium – the biggest in the world that held a massive 200,000 standing supporters to watch the World Cup final in 1950. Understandably, the crowds were much lower on our visit. The stadium now holds 95,000 seats but there were probably around 25,000 fans in there. The atmosphere was still incredible (no doubt due to the fact you can buy beer from your seat!!) and when the local team Fluminese came out they were rapturous. The Santos fans and team were getting a lot of abuse though!!

Gem's first live football match

The game was not a classic. It's no surprise the best Brazilians travel to Europe to ply their trade. We had watched a few games of beach football on Copacabana the nights before and the quality wasn't that different!!! It could have been 10-10 after the first 5 minutes!! However, the game did settle down and Fluminese scored the opener. This was shortly followed by 2 goals from Santos and the players and coach got abused at half time as they headed into the dugout. The players were giving interviews as they walked down the tunnel – Fergie would never stand for that!!!

Action from the game

The 2^nd half was much the same. Santos were by far the better side and when they went 3-1, then 4-1 up, the fans started leaving, giving the manager an ear full on their way. At full time, the whole crowd ran to the front and were yelling at the coach and players. The Brazilians sure are passionate about football!!!

South America – done!!

So, today we fly to New Zealand (via Buenos Aires again, but for a full 27 hour stopover this time!!). South America has been a great adventure from the food and wine to the activities and beaches we've enjoyed. The culture here is something we'll never forget, but next time we come back, a few extra words of Spanish or Portuguese would certainly help.

Ciao!!

Love Ells and Gem xx

Nigel Ian Hodges 22 May 1955 - 2 May 2008

On 2 May 2008 a great tragedy took place on this Earth as a wonderful man was taken from us much before his time. One year on we all find it no easier to function on a day to day basis but we strive on to become better people like he would demand.

To mark Dad’s passing we have come to Brazil to the exact place where his plane was lost to get some closure on this episode in our lives that we would wish upon no-one.

This is how the week went...

The surprise!!

Knowing that Elliott’s family were flying over to Brazil to commemorate the 1 year anniversary, we thought we’d give them a surprise by getting on the same flight as them to Ilheus. We flew from Rio up to Salvador and surprised them at the airport. It was fantastic to see them all again, but it was not lost on any of us that this had been the exact place where Dad had taken his last footsteps on Earth almost one year before.

We then boarded another flight to take us down to Ilheus. If only one year ago there had been 4 more free seats on that very same plane, how different would life be? A short flight later and we landed at Ilheus airport and remembered how we had come down the ladder last year to the immediate news that some wreckage had been found. It was emotional for us all to remember those first days of little news and fading hope.

The transfer to the hotel was spent catching up until we arrived at Itacare Village, where it was pissing it down. They’d obviously brought the weather from England!! We soon made it up to our suites where luxury awaited us. Our Master Suite had a Jacuzzi and a balcony overlooking jungle and pristine beach. The noise of tropical birds and crashing waves brought instant calm. It was a wonderful location!!

View from our balcony

Topping up that tan

After a few weeks of city-dwelling, hiking on glaciers and ancient trails, and driving around for hours on end in smelly buses, we are now probably whiter than when we first left England. So off to the beach we went.

Gabs and Courtney taking a stroll at our resort

The private bay at the resort is amazing. The sand is golden, the waves are huge and the sun had come out in earnest. We basically stayed in that same position for 2 days, sunning ourselves, playing in the sea and getting told off by the lifeguard for going out too deep. We also drank a fair amount of beer “in tribute” to Dad, as he was renowned for doing much the same on our family holidays to Tenerife and reminiscing funny stories and jokes from when we were younger.
The food at the hotel was pretty good too. A buffet breakfast, a sushi bar for lunch and amazing steak and wine for dinner was much the order of the day.

Dinner time....can't wait for those puddings!!!

Smile for the camera!!!

One year on

On memorial day we got up early and met our driver Marcelo, who would take us up the coast to the exact place where the wreckage was found. We had hired him and his Land Rover to take us “off road” through the jungle. We had loads of fun getting up to the spot. Marcelo was a fantastic driver who knew how to get the most bounce out of the Landy suspension, as Chris found out on numerous occasions, bashing his head into the roof!!

Comfortable in the Landy....hmmm!!

We were shortly there and Marcelo let us know in a mixture of slow Portuguese, broken Spanish and hand signals that this was where the wreckage was found and if we walked down the beach, he would meet us later. We walked slowly along the beach with the sun burning our backs until we found the exact spot where we had performed our mini ceremony last year. The 2 unmistakable park benches next to a huge curved tree. We couldn’t believe our luck!!

Us at Dad's resting place

We huddled around, said a few prayers and put together a small monument out of coconuts and flowers. We left laminated versions of Dad’s and Alan’s service sheets underneath and a prayer and note from Elliott’s Aunty (Dad’s little sis), then had our own moments to remember the great man.

Dad and Alan's service sheets behind their monument

Chris taking his own time to remember

Again we played around in the sea, then went to say our last goodbyes at the monument, when Mum spotted a small blue ribbon in the bushes. Elliott went closer and found part of the bouquet we had left last year and also a note that one of us had left in a plastic wallet. Unfortunately the writing had washed away in the sea, but it was still incredible to find it!!

We walked further down the beach and found Marcelo, who had reserved 7 sun loungers for us next to a beachside bar. We stayed there a few more hours, then got back in the Landy for the 2 hour bum-bruising ride home. The road hadn’t got any smoother!!

A beautiful walk remembering a wonderful husband and father

All in all it was a nice day, we all had some time to reflect on a tough year and what must now be a new start for us all. Life must go on, and we will live life to the full now that we know how easily it can be taken away.

Saying goodbye

Our last day together was cloudy so there were limited opportunities for refining our new tans. We made our way over to the other private beach owned by the resort called Prainha. According to our guide, this beach is the 7th most beautiful in Brazil and it didn’t disappoint. The wonderful palm-fringed bay really was an oasis seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

The wonderful Prainha

The next day we packed our bags and said goodbye to the life of luxury. We caught our transfer to the airport and said goodbye to the family. We really did have a fantastic week catching up with gossip from home, drinking freely from the mini-bar and enjoying the Jacuzzi after a tough day on the beach.

Wouldn't he be proud?!!

Last night together

But here we are, after a 6 hour white-knuckle bus ride, sitting on our hard bed in a budget hotel in Porto Seguro, backpacking again. We wouldn’t have it any other way!!

Love Ells and Gem xx

Goodbye Peru, Hello Brazil!!

There’s no rest for the wicked!! After our tiring Inca Trail, we only had a week left in Peru and so much more to see. We arrived back at our hostel around 9pm and were out of there at 6.30am the next morning to catch our bus down to the city of Puno, which is on the edge of Lake Titicaca.

Trip to Puno

Rather than catch a direct bus down to Puno, we got on a tourist bus, which would stop at numerous places of interest along the route. We bought a picnic breakfast of bread, jam and orange juice, then set off on our 9 and a half hour journey.

We were introduced to our very enthusiastic guide, Dante, who reassuringly informed us that there was oxygen on board should anyone have any issues with the altitude (we would be climbing over a pass of 4,335m). Not a big deal for us!!

We stopped off at Andahuaylillas, the so-called Sistine Chapel of America and the archaeological ruins of Raqchi, an old temple built again by those Incas. Then as our guide pointed out, the most important stop of the trip, lunch, which was a lovely buffet affair that we felt it was necessary to get our money’s worth. The afternoon’s treats were the high pass at La Raya (no-one needed the oxygen), a visit to a local person’s house, where the kitchen doubles as a guinea pig den (so they can just pick one up and put it in a pot – it’s the local delicacy here) and a museum at Pukara where lots of pre-Inca statues and ceramics had been found.

Gem looking good in a traditional hat Elliott made a friend!!

It was a good trip, but we were so knackered after the Inca Trail that we were just happy to arrive in Puno and hit the sack.

Los Uros, the floating islands

The next day we arranged to go on a tour of the floating islands. These are islands made out of the reeds that grow on the lake. When the Spanish conquested Peru in the 1500s some of the locals didn’t want to be ruled by the conquistadors, so set out to build these islands and live in peace. We took a boat ride for about a half hour until we arrived at one of the hundreds of floating islands, and were given a talk about how they are made.

It is a crazy existence. Almost every week a new layer of reeds must be placed on the ground as the lower reeds rot away and the island effectively sinks. We were told to watch our step if we didn’t want wet shoes!! The islanders live by the reed. They obviously build the island from them, but also their houses and boats and they even eat them. The only other food they eat is small fish from the lake and anything they can barter from the local market in Puno. They also get rheumatoid arthritis around the ages of twenty and thirty due to the sponginess of the reeds. One more fact that put us off considerably is that they use the lake as a cemetery for dead relatives, yet they continue to drink the water unpurified!!

Don't get your feet wet!!

Why anyone would put themselves through this exceptionally difficult life, we don’t know, but it was quite a culture shock!!

Amantani and Taquile islands

There are 2 other islands close to Puno, which we decided to visit. We got a boat the next day for around 4 hours to Amantani island. On arrival we met the host family that we would be staying with. The girl that met us was 21 years old and already had a 2 month old kid, as is the custom here apparently!! She guided us up to her parents’ house and showed us to our bedroom in an outbuilding from the main house. We were immediately fed a huge lunch of soup and salad with a funky cheese in the kitchen. The oven was built from clay and was heated by a wood fire as there is no electricity on the island at all.

In the afternoon we walked around the island watching all the villagers farming, as is pretty much the only occupation here. Everyone has their own plots of land where they grow their own veg. A weird carrot that tasted between a new potato and a sweetcorn was Elliott’s favourite!! We bought candles and a big bag of rice as a gift for our family, then walked up to a temple called Patchatata (Father Earth) to watch the sunset, which was a spectacular sight. We also made a customary wish around the temple.

Dinner was again soup with rice and veggies, after which we got ready for the fiesta that the islanders were going to give us. We all had to get dressed up in the local garb and dance the local dance. It was quite funny!! There were unfortunately a large group of French school kids there and the local dancing quickly turned into the Conga, which then turned into a testosterone fuelled competition to see who could run around the fastest much to our Mama’s dismay. We shortly left after that and went to bed.

Elliott looking good in the local gear dancing with Mama

You haven’t really heard rain until trying to sleep through it in a building with a corrugated iron roof. Needless to say it was very loud and we didn’t sleep much!! After a pancake breakfast, we set off for the other island, Taquile. It was about an hour and a half ride over, then a steep walk up to the main square. We were given a quick spiel about the history of the island, namely the habits of the men and women to show their marital status. All sorts of different hats and hat positions are used for men and the women have to wear various sizes and shapes of pompom on their dress. Wives also have to walk 2 metres behind their husbands for some bizarre reason.

The beautiful island of Taquile

We had an overpriced lunch set for the western wallet, then got back on the boat for our 4 hour ride back to Puno. That night we ate lomo saltado (meat, rice, chips, veggies and gravy) in a local restaurant we’d found a few nights ago for a quid each, then went to bed.

The long ride back to Lima

There should be a rule that for any 22 hour bus ride you take, you must have had a GOOD shower beforehand and be wearing a clean set of clothes. Unfortunately the man behind us hadn’t adhered to these rules and the odour he was emitting was putrid. We had to ask the conductor to spray the bus after a few hours as it had gotten unbearable. Elliott gave off a few choice comments much to Gemma’s embarrassment but it really was disgusting.

Other than that, the journey was quite uneventful. After lots of bad movies with terrible Spanish dubbing and some mediocre food, we arrived in Lima at around 1pm. We got a taxi to our hostel and lay down on the beds where we effectively stayed put for 2 days straight.

Lima again

After what seems a very short 3 weeks in Peru, we were again back in Lima, but had little energy to do much. Constant travelling, hiking, travelling, boating and more travelling has left us pretty knackered. Despite all the good things Lima has to offer, we stayed in our hostel room, skyped lots of people, watched lots of TV and basically just monged out.

Energising in Rio

Our flight to Rio, as we had found out the day before we flew, had been changed but our travel agency didn’t fancy telling us. It basically meant that our connecting flight from Buenos Aires to Rio had been put back by about 9 hours. And despite the excessive airport tax charged at Buenos Aires airport there ain’t nothing to do!!! We arrived at 7.30am, slept on some uncomfy chairs, read, wrote this blog, read some more, slept some more, ate a bit (we’re both sick at the moment, hopefully not swine flu!!). By the time our flight took off at 7pm we were both thoroughly bored out of our minds and looking forward to the comfort of a mattress in Rio. Especially as we’re meeting up with our good friend Dave who is putting us up in his hotel room for free....at the Sheraton!!! SWEET!!

Rio Baby!!

After a nightmare journey we eventually arrived at the Sheraton where we met up with Dave. He’d managed to get a twin room for the 3 of us!! Absolute hero!! Without question the nicest place we’ve stayed all trip!! We met his flight crew down in the bar, then headed over the road to a beachside hut selling cans of beer for 80p. We chatted by the sea for a few hours until we eventually went to bed at around 2am.

The next day we got up and had an amazing shower (power and hot water has been a combination hard to come by over the last few months!!). We left the hotel and got on a bus heading to the famous Copacabana beach. We got there expecting lots of muscle clad bodies and bikini bottoms, but unfortunately just got lots of old fat people walking around in thongs. Obviously all the young good looking people are at work. We had a burger and a beer at another hut, then walked up the beach, dipping our feet in the sea.

Then for the main event. We got a taxi to the Corcovada tram station, where we bought our tickets to the top, to the impressive and famous statue of Christ the Redeemer. The tram was cool, heading up through the forests covering the hill. We arrived at the top and climbed the last few steps until we saw the statue in all its glory. At 30m high on top of a 2,400ft hill, it is an imposing figure over the city. We were impressed by not only its size but also the detail with which it has been created, not to mention the mini chapel underneath his feet!!

A good guy to be looking over you!!

We stayed up there for about an hour, taking the cheesy but necessary tourist photos of us flying in front of the statue and of the immense city and its unrivalled natural beauty, then headed back down and got a cab back to the hotel. Instead of soaking up the remaining rays of the day on the pristine beach in front of our hotel, we instead decided to give in to the amazing facilities of the Sheraton and lie by the heated pool. The super hot Jacuzzi wasn’t bad either. We slowly became prunes as we chatted and drank London Pride and wine that Dave had acquired from his flight over, as the sun went down over the skyline.

Sheraton hot tub...need we say more?!!

For dinner we went to a local Churrascaria. You basically sit down at your table and within minutes waiters have surrounded you with skewer after skewer of meat. After a while we had very full plates and very full stomachs and a table full of pilots and cabin crew. We had a fantastic evening then rolled ourselves back to the room.

Off to commemorate a legend

The next morning we left the comfort of the Sheraton early and just about made our flight after battling the Rio rush hour. We were heading to Ilheus to visit the final resting place of our hero Dad. Wish us luck for what will no doubt be a very tough and emotional week for us all.

Love Ells and Gem xx