At least I have an original start to my conclusive Brazil blog. Up until now it seems like every country I visited was one I had dreamt about going to for years (except maybe Uruguay- no offence, I love it now). I actually had no intention of going to Brazil at all on...

So Ceca will never forgive me if I write a blog about carnaval and don't mention the sambódromo. I wasn't particularly excited about it so I'll keep it short. A sambódromo is a sort of exhibition hall where Samba schools in Brazil perform for the public and compete...

Photos from the fancy dress bloco in Praça XV

I have no idea where to even start with this blog or how on earth to do justice to the madness that is carnaval in Rio. We'll just have to take it step by step and hope the creative juices start flowing... Ceca and I were the first to arrive in the flat. Soon after...

For my final Ilha Grande post I wanted to share our photos from the "most beautiful beach in the world". I don't remember why now, but for some reason I didn't have my camera, so the only photos I have are from my old and broken phone. It was quite the experience. The...

Photos from our beach hopping experience with the speedboat

We left Paraty the next morning on another bus ride; thankfully a lot less dramatic than the last. This was followed by a boat ride to the island and in an attempt to save money we decided to go on the local boat which took two hours (instead of the half hour tourist...

Getting to Paraty was an adventure in itself. We arrived in Saõ Paolo understandably tired after our 16 hour bus journey and it turned out that the next bus to Paraty was only 5 hours later. It was cloudy and miserable in Saõ Paolo and the surroundings of the bus...

Last waterfalls blog I promise! So our final adventure in the West was to the other side of Iguazu, the Brazilian side. This needed no faffing around with borders so it was a nice relaxing day trip before our 17 hour bus drive to Saõ Paolo in the evening. Some people...

Our short visit to Paraguay was spurred by our cultural and etnographical curiosity and had absolutely nothing to do with the desire to get an extra stamp in our passport and a cool status on Facebook. That would be childish. Paraguay was 10 minutes away from our...

So the Iguazu falls are not the only "big water" that Brazil shares with its neighbours. Foz do Iguaçu is also home to Itaipu dam, the largest hydroelectric dam in the world and one of the most expensive objects ever built. This one it shares with its western...

The last part of our day in Argentinian Iguazu was the most fun. You go on a boat that takes you right underneath the waterfall so you get a great view of the falls as well as getting soaking wet. As childish as it sounds it was a lot of fun and a great way to finish...

Apologies for the massive delay guys, it's been a hectic month but once again thanks to the nagging of my most loyal fan/ possibly only follower left by this point (my mother) we are back on track 🙂 So Ceca's and mine first real solo adventure was to one of the most...

So after an emotional goodbye with my wonderful momma, Ceca and I headed east to see what the rest of Brazil has to offer. We were on our way to Foz de Iguaçu, a town right next to the famous waterfalls and the borders with Argentina and Paraguay. Our bus was 24 hours...

Ok this is the last of the food blogs I promise! But I couldn't write about Brazil and not make a quick blogito about the incredible fruits that they have. When I was on my way to Rio I met a boy who had spent 6 months in Argentina and Chile and told me the most...

Obviously the cuisine of Brazil is massively varied, due to both the different culinary influences (mainly European and African) and also the vast variety of ingredients on offer. Food also varies greatly by region and considering the size of the country (mahoosive)...

During our time in Rio we ate a lot of delicious dishes but one of the most interesting things we ate there was on our second night in Rio. The Brazilian Feijoada is the national dish of Brazil and traditionally only served on Sundays but we were having none of that....

Our last tourist stop in Rio was the Maracanã stadium which for over 50 years has brought a variety of experiences and emotions to football crazied Brazilians, and hosted some of the best players in the world. The stadium was originally built in 1950 to host the FIFA...

So amidst our urban adventure we decided to take one day off and go to the beach. My eager mother (who has probably read from front to back more lonely planets than any other literary genre that exists) picked Búzios as a particularly beautiful place not too far from...

Not so far from the stairs in Lapa exists Rio's contribution to one of the new seven wonders of the world. We had been followed around by Christ everywhere we went in Rio (purely geographically of course) but you can't come to Rio without giving him a proper visit....

In between the neighbourhoods of Lapa, Rio's samba district and Santa Teresa, the artistic and bohemian district of the city, is another one of Rio's must-see tourist destinations; Selaron's famous stairway. Selaron, the artist who created the art work was actually a...

So momma was pretty excited about Brasil in general but grew a slightly unhealthy obsession with two things; capirinhas and sugarloaf mountain. Whenever there was a photo opportunity with sugarloaf in the background the camera had to come out and of course we couldn't...