Thursday 26 December 2013

The Trip 2013 - Mercedes to Itacare

Note: This is a condensed version of the pictures I took with some added narrative. The rest of the pics can be viewed in the album Trip 2013 - Mercedes to Itacare. Each picture can be clicked to see a larger version and comment / like.

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After chilling out at the ranch in Mercedes for a few days we were ready for the next spectacle. So what could be more spectacular than the Iguazu falls.

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We spent two days at the falls, first exploring the Brazilian side when we first arrived then the Argentinian side on the second day.

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Both sides were absolutely spectacular, the sheer volume of water that cascades from one section of it just boggles the mind..



On the second day we all hopped in a speedboat and headed up the river right into the maw of the falls itself



While we were there some of us took the opportunity to visit a bird sanctuary.

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Definitely well worth the visit for the sheer number and variety of feathery (and some not so feathery) creatures on show

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All in all the Iguazu falls was an incredible place and one of the (many) highlights of South America for me!

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After the two days we had to move on. An early flight and bus found us in Paraty an old Portuguese colonial town on the southern coast of Brazil.

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Its a quaint little place that I really enjoyed for the two days we were there. On the second day we took a cruze out around the coast to a number of beaches and snorkelling spots.

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Unfortunately the water wasnt particularly clear for swimming but the booze on the boat was free so it wasnt all bad ;)

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The following day we took a short bus ride then ferry across to the island Ilha Grande.

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The first day we spent walking around the island exploring the jungle, beaches and waterfalls

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Despite it raining hard that evening we had a good time bonding with our GAdventures tour group

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Next up was a long drive up to Rio de Janerio where we had just one day to see the city before saying goodbye to our GAdventures tour group for the last time :(

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Im going to miss most of this bunch of awesome people, they made everything so much more interesting, thanks guys!

Kelsie and I didnt explore the city too much while we were we would be back again in a few weeks for NYE and then a further 14 days so we would have plenty of time to see the sights then. Instead we hopped on a flight he following day and headed north on a taxi then two planes then another taxi and bus and taxi until we eventully reached our Northern Brazil beach destination of Itacare.

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We had three awesome days there soaking up the sun sand and Caipirinhas

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On the second day we decided to go on a hike in search of "one of the best beaches in Brazil". To get there we had to hike along several beaches, then through dense jungle..

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.. past several waterfalls which I had a lot of fun cooling off in ..

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.. until we finally reached the beautiful, remote beach ..

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On the way back we stopped for a beer and relax as the sun went down..

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All in all it was a great start to our Brazilian beach adventure and the start of the end for trip!

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