We arrived in Curitiba at 5pm after a pretty comfortable bus ride that showed films in English. We explored the city en route to trying to find an open restaurant (as it is Monday most of them were closed!) We managed to find an open restaurant in a shopping centre (which was open until 11pm). They even had a guy with a guitar to serenade us!
The next day, the girls decided to make full use of the shopping centre and go and buy some clothes. As Kate & I are on a limited budget, we mainly window shopped but I did treat myself to a going out top (as I would like to wear something other than a vest top when we got out in the evenings!!).
We´ve got another bus ride tonight - 10 hours to Rio de Janeiro before taking a 2 hour bus journey and 3 hour boat ride to Ilhe Grande - a tropical island paradise, where we´ll be staying for 3 days!
The weather at Ilhe Grande was not the best - in fact it was bucketing down for all 3 days but it was still an island paradise! We met up with another GAP Adventures group (Darren, Andrea & Elaine) and went for a hike across the island. We climbed up a steep hill to find a waterfall - we'd almost given up finding it but then noticed the giant arrows on the floor pointing us to the falls! The way back down was a little more treterous as it was a steep hill and the rain had made the mud very slippery! After a few people slipped and got covered in mud, we made it down! We then found a small beach and decided to go swimming. Since we hadn't got any swim wear (and were already soaked to the bone), we went in fully clothed - which was very bizarre!
The next day, we went on a Caipirinha Boat Tour (Caipirinha is a popular drink there which is made from Cachaca, limes and ice and is practically all alcohol!) It was not raining when we set off and there was even a hint of sun! We sailed around a couple of islands and stopped off to do some snorkelling. There were tonnes of fish there (especially when we kept feeding them next to the boat) and we even saw some starfish!
That night we all went out for our last night on the island. Ben (the other GAP Adventure leader) and I had played a couple of games of chess the previous night and we were tied 1-1 so we had the decider game in the restaurant. After a tense hour and a half (or so it seemed!), I'd managed to clear most of his pieces so he resigned!!! We then headed down to the waterfront and sat at a bar where some guys were playing samba music so we had a quick dance. I was given a samba lesson by a Brazilian called William Wallace (!) who got annoyed that I wasn't doing it properly!! It was a very funny night.
The next day we took the boat back to the mainland and headed off to Rio de Janeiro!
The next day, the girls decided to make full use of the shopping centre and go and buy some clothes. As Kate & I are on a limited budget, we mainly window shopped but I did treat myself to a going out top (as I would like to wear something other than a vest top when we got out in the evenings!!).
We´ve got another bus ride tonight - 10 hours to Rio de Janeiro before taking a 2 hour bus journey and 3 hour boat ride to Ilhe Grande - a tropical island paradise, where we´ll be staying for 3 days!
The weather at Ilhe Grande was not the best - in fact it was bucketing down for all 3 days but it was still an island paradise! We met up with another GAP Adventures group (Darren, Andrea & Elaine) and went for a hike across the island. We climbed up a steep hill to find a waterfall - we'd almost given up finding it but then noticed the giant arrows on the floor pointing us to the falls! The way back down was a little more treterous as it was a steep hill and the rain had made the mud very slippery! After a few people slipped and got covered in mud, we made it down! We then found a small beach and decided to go swimming. Since we hadn't got any swim wear (and were already soaked to the bone), we went in fully clothed - which was very bizarre!The next day, we went on a Caipirinha Boat Tour (Caipirinha is a popular drink there which is made from Cachaca, limes and ice and is practically all alcohol!) It was not raining when we set off and there was even a hint of sun! We sailed around a couple of islands and stopped off to do some snorkelling. There were tonnes of fish there (especially when we kept feeding them next to the boat) and we even saw some starfish!That night we all went out for our last night on the island. Ben (the other GAP Adventure leader) and I had played a couple of games of chess the previous night and we were tied 1-1 so we had the decider game in the restaurant. After a tense hour and a half (or so it seemed!), I'd managed to clear most of his pieces so he resigned!!! We then headed down to the waterfront and sat at a bar where some guys were playing samba music so we had a quick dance. I was given a samba lesson by a Brazilian called William Wallace (!) who got annoyed that I wasn't doing it properly!! It was a very funny night.
The next day we took the boat back to the mainland and headed off to Rio de Janeiro!
2 comments:
Hi Helen, I'm loving your blog, it's helping me get through the rainy winter days by giving me ideas of places to go to next summer.
Take care,
Sarah (S4S)
Have you and Kate been kidnapped? You're usually the most efficient blogger I've ever met!
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