No sooner do we touch down in Rio does the guy in the seat across the aisle poke me and say… “You staying in Rio?”. Me: “Yeah”. Him: “Be careful where you go with the camera.” Referring to Jeff taking photos out of the window on the plane. We’d heard it was a dangerous place. Great way to start the trip.

Despite Jeff’s reports to the contrary, I did NOT wear my underwear for four days straight while waiting for American Airlines to find our luggage. A trip to buy new underwear did take place

If you ever travel internationally, strongly consider buying credits on Skype. $0.05 per min to US. $0.02 min on toll free calls. This was a life saver when we were trying to track down our bags in Rio.

Beer is readily available in most places in Rio. There is seemingly no open container law but there is a no tolerance policy when it comes to drinking & driving… any alcohol & you lose your license.

If you get a chance to visit Brazil, make sure you try a Caipirinha. It’s the national drink of Brazil. Sugar, Lime, Cachaça (liquor from fermented sugar cane). A lot like a mojito.

While waiting in line at Sugarloaf Mountain in the oppressive heat and sun, Jeff, a gentlemen from South Africa and I tried to huddle under a small piece of shade. The guy’s girlfriend (from Rio) laughed when she saw this and dubbed us the “Three White Men”.

Jeff and I are both fairly competitive. On the list of “Dumb Things Tourists Do”, add “seeing who can toss a half-full bottle of water the furthest in the air without dropping it”. We did this in the mostly deserted Pelourinho Square in Salvador at around midnight.

One of the funniest moments of the trip… As Jeff and I are waiting to check-in at the Salvador airport, we hear a guy behind us scream as loud as he possibly can. The relatively small terminal goes dead quiet. We turn to see the guy arguing with an airline employee in Portuguese over what I assume is some flight dispute. He kicks his suitcase before grabbing his girlfriend’s hand and heading to the exit. Before he leaves the building, he turns and gives the entire airport the middle finger. Jeff and I got a kick out of re-enacting this throughout the rest of the trip.

Most music we heard in cabs in Buenos Aires was American. But it was random, older stuff like Gloria Estefan.

Everyone in Buenos Aires smokes.

In Buenos Aires, traffic lights turn yellow AND red right before a red light is about to turn green. This basically signals to cab drivers that they don’t have to slow down since the light is about to turn green. Makes for some exciting cab rides.

Jeff does a great impersonation of Arnold Schwarzenegger. “Get to the chopper now!” “C’mon Cohagen. You got what you want. Give these people air!”

American Sports Team Jerseys Seen: Lakers, Yankees, Cowboys

You learn a lot about yourself while traveling internationally for 3 weeks.  I learned that I am not good at skipping stones.

The only thing besides friends and family that I truly missed during the trip was working out and playing soccer.

16,622 miles traveled, 1800 photos taken, 23 days of vacation, 13 flights, 5 countries seen (Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile in addition to Brazil & Argentina), 2 new FB friends, 1 crush

Great times.

Our Aerolineas Argentina flight, my first ever in business class, arrived at 12:30am and after a short cab ride to Warren’s building, we found ourselves on the 21st floor which amazingly, was all Warren’s. The entire 21st floor. 4 bedrooms, 4 baths and an outdoor deck that provided a 360 degree view of the city. Jeff and I just looked at each other in stunned disbelief during our tour of the place. And not only had Warren scored seemingly one of the best apartments in all of Buenos Aires but he had also made some friends. Sitting on the deck enjoying a bottle of wine (or three) were three very attractive women from the US who happened to be staying in BA. Shortly thereafter, a Buenos Aires native named Diego showed up with another friend of his own.

Having our own bedroom and bathroom for the night, Jeff and I put our bags away and cleaned up before rejoining the crew. After relaxing on the deck for a bit, the group made it’s way out on the town at around 3:30am. Just another normal night in Buenos Aires. As we learned in Rio with Tati, having a native resident with us seemed to make all the difference in the world with regards to night life. Diego took the group to a trendy club unlike anything Jeff and I found on our own during our prior time in the city. Still no real English speakers to meet but having a group to hang out with and good music to dance to made all of the difference. After dancing the night away in the dark, laser light filled club, we were greeted by bright sunshine as we rolled home around 6:30am.

After getting in a good amount of sleep, Jeff, Warren and I woke up around 1pm. Our flight was at 9:30pm so we had plenty of time for a lazy lunch and afternoon before heading to the airport. A return to La Cabrera, site of our best meal on the trip, was the unanimous decision for lunch and it did not disappoint. We headed back to Warren’s to pack and made time to record an MTV Cribs-style video of his place. Again, incredible.

All set to go, we said our good-byes to Warren and hopped a cab to the airport. Before we walked in the terminal doors, I stopped to turn around and take in the final sights, sounds and warmth of South America. As we stood in line at security, I snapped a photo of a Tiger Woods Accenture ad that loosely translated said “What counts is what you do from here”. Ironic for Tiger but, while clichéd, also oddly fitting for Jeff and I as well. My second, big international adventure was over and I was already thinking about the third.

Can’t wait.

El Calafate sits about 350 miles north of Ushuaia and just south of Lago Argentino, the largest freshwater lake in Argentina. The primary tourist attractions in El Calafate are the massive glaciers on the lake so while the tours in Ushuaia were all about landscapes and hiking, our El Calafate itinerary focused almost exclusively on the glaciers.

Day 1 of our tour package had us in the VIP section of a large catamaran for a tour of Lago Argentino and the Upsala, Onelli, and Perito Moreno glaciers. Being two of the first people on the boat, Jeff joked that VIP stood for “Very Isolated Persons” but eventually it did fill up.

As we departed from the dock, what stood out immediately to me was the green-blue color of the water. The wind whipped up white caps on the surface of the lake but the size of the catamaran made for a very smooth ride. Before long, we were treated to our first glimpses of small ice chunks that had recently broken off from the glaciers.

Sadly due to the rapid recession of the Upsala Glacier, the largest in South America, and the number of icebergs separating our boat from a close up view of Upsala, our captain had to divert from our original course and instead took us to a different section of the lake that provided close up views of the Spegazzini Glacier. During our stop at Spegazzini a member of the catamaran crew broke out a large piece of ice that was supposedly formerly part of the glacier making for a classic tourist photo op for Jeff and me.

When we could get close to the face of the glaciers, the captain would skillfully steer the boat back and forth while passengers would jockey for position along the railings looking to get the best photos possible. The boat would come to a stop for a bit and allow us to hear the cracking and popping sounds the ice makes as it melts. A few times we were lucky to catch a glimpse of large chunks of ice falling from the face of the glacier into the lake.

Day 2 in El Calafate took us off of the boat and directly on to the glacier for some hiking on Perito Moreno. After another early 6:30am wake up, an hour bus ride into the Los Glaciares National Park, and a quick 15 minute boat ride from one shore of Lago Argentino to the other, we were met by our crew of tour guides for the morning.

Our English-speaking tour guide, Cunni, kicked things off with an intro to the region, the glacier, and some educational information about how glaciers are formed. Not being a native-English speaker, Cunni had a humorous verbal tick of saying “yes?” at the end of every sentence but was a genuinely nice guy who ended up helping Jeff find good spots to take photos once we made it onto the glacier. So after some brief safety instructions from Cunni and strapping on our crampons, it was off to the glacier for a 90 minute hike.

Much like the green-blue water of Lago Argentino, I was blown away by some of the colorful blues seen during the hike.

Despite the dirty, brown look of the glacier in spots, the ice and water that melts away is actually quite clean. Jeff stopped for a quick sip of the running water and the group was treated to whiskey chilled by ice chipped directly off the glacier at the end of the hike.

Following the hike, we had a final hour or two to walk along the viewing platforms back on the north face of Perito Moreno and take in the final sites of Patagonia. It was here that we caught the most impressive images (and video!) of ice breaking off the face and into the lake.

Having seen our fill of glaciers and our time in Patagonia having come to a close, it’s back to Buenos Aires for one last day before heading back home.

Throughout the morning hike, Frasco would stop from time-to-time to talk about the local vegetation, the animal inhabitants, and the historical significance of the land. I have really come to appreciate the added information a guide on an organized tour provides. It’s certainly great to have the freedom of exploring a city or place on your own but you’re often doing little more than taking in the sights. While it adds a bit of cost to the trip, having the added information and knowing the significance of what you’re seeing makes for a more fulfilling experience.

The hike along the shore and through the park lasted about three hours and provided more majestic views of the Ushuaia landscape that matched and at times exceeded what we had seen the day before. While the air was a bit chilly, it certainly was not uncomfortably cold, and we continued our run of good luck in avoiding the rain. Towards the end of the morning, the sun broke through bringing the vibrant colors of the landscape to life.

Apparently still a bit tired and sore from the rowing the day before, Jeff made the call after lunch to skip the canoeing and to take the motorboat ride to Redondo Island. The remainder of the group was locked in on the canoe adventure so after seeing them off, we headed to the dock. Being by ourselves for the afternoon gave us the opportunity to stop at various scenic spots including the end of Route 3 which is a road that starts in Alaska, just a short 18,000km up the road. It’s also the southernmost point on the planet to which you can drive.

Once at the dock, we boarded a small inflatable motorboat called a Zodiac for a 30 minute boat ride across the clear, blue waters. Upon reaching the island, Jeff and I were greeted by an energetic and beautiful black lab(ish) dog named Rocky. Seemingly the friendliest dog in the world, we stayed for just a bit to pet him and enjoy the mutual affection before setting out on a hike of the small island.

About 15 minutes into the hike, we came to an opening in the forest near the northeast corner of the island that provided a view that rivaled anything else I had seen on the trip to date. In the foreground was the clear blue water of Ensenada Bay which separated us from the lush greens of the mainland and the national park. In the distance rested the snow-capped Andes. The sky was peppered with a few small clouds but not enough to hide much of the beautiful blue sky or block the warmth of the sun. I did everything I could to capture the view with my camera. Initially I was a little disappointed we opted for free time over the canoeing but in the end, I wouldn’t have traded that view and that time on the island for about anything else on the trip. As had been the case time-and-time again, things just seemed to work out for the best. I could have sat there for hours.

Following another 30 minutes of hiking, we made our way back to the dock, signed the island’s guestbook, said goodbye to Rocky and boarded the Zodiac for a quick 10 minute ride back to the mainland to meet back up with Frasco and the rest of the group.

Our tour over and our day nearly done, we spent our last night in Ushuaia enjoying dinner at a slightly more upscale restaurant before returning to Dublin for a few final beverages.  Tomorrow it is on to El Calafate and the second half of our Patagonia adventure.

We were picked up the next morning at a little after 8am by our tour guide, Frasco.  Frasco spoke great English, did his best to make the group of about 13 feel welcome by remembering everyone’s names, and had a surprising ability to name the NBA team of all of the American tourists’ home towns.  He correctly identified the Wizards for Jeff and I as well as the Bulls for a family from Chicago.

After a 90 minute bus ride to the Harberton Estancia, we stopped near a stream and began our day’s adventure by boarding inflatable rafts for a paddling tour of Beagle Channel.  Being paired with an Austrian couple with little canoeing experience and Jeff who was somewhat limited by his camera, captain duties on the boat fell to me.  This really meant nothing more than I got to steer.

Following the paddling, a motorboat took us to Hammer Island where we were able to observe both Magellanic and Gentoo penguins. This was really the only part of the trip where I recall being cold. The rain had held off so far but with thick cloud cover overhead, a pretty vicious wind, and little protection on the island from the wind, I was happy to move on after only about 20 minutes or so.

From there, it was another brief motorboat ride to Gable Island where we stopped at a cabin for a family-style lunch of sandwiches, potato chips, olives, cheese and red wine. Following the lunch stop, we made our way back outside for a three hour hike across the island through pastures and woods where we were treated to amazing views of the beautiful Patagonian landscape.

After returning to the hotel to rest and clean up a bit, we made our way back downtown for dinner and a return to our red meat ways. Once again finding a lively, tourist hangout proved to be challenging. Ushuaia actually seems to have several bars offering the potential for social activity but most are either sparsely populated or have closed leading Jeff and I to wonder if it’s time to lobby TripAdvisor to add a “nightlife” section to their website. We decided to call it a night relatively early by Argentine standards and rolled home a little after midnight.

We lucked out during the day with the weather with rain only hitting us while we were indoors and a few hints of sun throughout the day. Despite being so far south and so close to Antarctica, and aside from the windy Penguin Island, it’s really not super-cold. Hoping for the same luck with the weather tomorrow.

In past travels with Jeff and continuing on this trip, we have always tried to see as much as humanly possible in the time available.  The schedules set an aggressive pace that leaves us fulfilled but often exhausted as well.  Our original South America itinerary had us visiting both Buenos Aires and Córdoba during the four days leading up to the Patagonia portion of the trip. Some brief research showed we would need to spend a total of 20-25 hours on overnight buses to make the Córdoba leg happen. (Flights were not cheap enough.) So rather than pushing ourselves to such extremes, we embraced the laid back Argentinian lifestyle, bagged on Córdoba, and spent four plus lazy days in Buenos Aires taking in as much as we could at a much more leisurely pace.

While in Buenos Aires, most days for Jeff and I started with a wake-up call somewhere between 10am and noon. Only twice were we successful in making it to the complimentary breakfast in our hotel that ended at 11am. We would get cleaned up, get our email/blog/Facebook fix, and eventually make our way to a café for lunch. By 3 or 4pm, we were ready for the day to begin.

Much like most large, metropolitan cities, Buenos Aires is broken up into several different neighborhoods, each with their own style and sub-culture. Our daytime activities included self-guided walking tours of the neighborhoods with help from maps and MP3s from the Buenos Aires tourism website that take you to all of the prime attractions.  While the MP3s were a bit dry and boring (we ditched them almost immediately), it was great to have some understanding of what we were seeing and some of the history behind the sites.

In Recoleta, Buenos Aires’ upper-class neighborhood, Jeff and I visited an impressive flower sculpture that opens and closes throughout the day as well as the city’s famous cemetery which included a stop at Eva Perón’s resting place.

In La Boca, a neighborhood in the southern part of the city, Jeff humored me by going along with a tour of the Estadio de Boca Juniors, the stadium for one of Argentina’s most famous soccer teams. Following that tour, we walked down to Caminito, a cobblestoned street filled with shops and cafés where we stopped to take in a live tango performance.

In San Telmo, we spent an afternoon browsing handmade crafts in Plaza Dorrego. Another afternoon was spent in the central part of the city, appropriately named Centro, where we saw the Presidential Palace, the metro, a famous billiards hall and Congress.

Our walking tours would be followed by some downtime back at the hotel in the early evening and then a late (by US standards) dinner at around 9 or 10pm. From there we would usually venture over to the Palremo district which seemed to be one of the more active nightlife areas.  However much to our disappointment, we continued to struggle finding fun places to meet new people.  The city offers very few bars in the traditional American sense but is instead filled with restaurant after restaurant where locals and tourists alike spend their nights seated at tables.  This setup makes it very difficult to meet new people especially when we still have not come across many English speaking tourists.

Thankfully during our tour of San Telmo, we bumped into a fellow American named Molly who was spending a few days in Buenos Aires before moving on to Bariloche to participate in a Spanish language program.  We quickly bonded over our nightlife frustrations and exchanged contact info in an effort to meet up later that night.  In another stroke of random luck, I received a Facebook message from our buddy Warren stating that he was actually moving to Buenos Aires for two months and was getting to town that day. So on Saturday night Molly, Warren, Jeff and I went out on the town for a much needed dose of variety in both company and conversation. Aside from maybe the New Year’s fireworks on Copacabana beach, best night on the trip to date.

One last highlight from Buenos Aires that doesn’t really fit into the flow but is one that I must mention.  Argentina is known for their meat.  Jeff and I have certainly had our fair share while here.  On Sunday night, our last in Buenos Aires, Jeff, Warren and I visited a restaurant called La Cabrera in Palermo for yet another steak dinner.  While all of our meals in both Brazil and Argentina have been great, this was one of the best meals I have ever had.  I hate “best ever” statements but I enjoyed this one so much, that while in the cab ride home later that night, I was able to merge my love for the Kobe Beef (no jokes please) with the lyrics from Lauryn Hill’s song “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”.  Great waiter, great wine, great sauces, great sides and most importantly, great steak. If you are ever in Buenos Aires, make reservations here.

With our time in Buenos Aires having come to a close, we will say goodbye to the warm, sunny weather and head south for Patagonia and what weather reports tell us will be rain with a little cold mixed in.  Looking forward to it nonetheless.

While crossing the Fraternity Bridge that links Brazil & Argentina, César stopped the van on the actual border and in fairly good English said, “See that line?  Right now I am in Argentina and you are in Brazil.  hahaha.”  We were also treated to a view of a spot off in the distance where Paraguay, Brazil & Argentina meet.

We were scheduled to be in Iguazu for about two days and the timing worked perfectly with our day and a half tour package.  The Iguazu Falls form the border between Brazil & Argentina.  Our tour package had us in the Iguazu Falls National Park in Argentina for all of day 1 and then back in Brazil on day 2 for just a half day before returning to Argentina and on to the airport for our flight to Buenos Aires.

So on Tuesday, after a relatively early 6:45am wake-up, a quick breakfast and a short bus ride, Jeff & I found ourselves at the Iguazu Falls National Park with a tour group of about 35.  The National Park is fairly large with several trails that take you right up to and at times over the falls.  We began the day with a quick train ride (think amusement park train) and following a 1000 meter hike found ourselves at the largest, most impressive section of the falls called La Garganta del Diablo (the Devil’s Throat).  The trails take you so close to the edge that most tourists leave the area soaked from the spray of the falls.

The majority of our hiking for the day after this point was done along the Circuito Superior (Upper Circuit) which has scenic views of most of the major falls below La Garganta del Diablo.

Following a buffet lunch in the park and a rather uneventful 30 minute jeep ride through the rainforest, Jeff and I boarded a boat for the highlight of the day.  About 20 of the 35 members of our group signed up for the “Grand Adventure” where you are treated to an up close view of the falls via boat.  All of our guide books raved about it describing the adventure as an “unmissable – though drenching – experience that gets you almost under the falls.”  Well our boat captain did that description one better by actually putting our boat into the falls at one point.  We have (a very poorly produced video) of the experience that we hope to cut up and post on YouTube soon.

Day 2 in Brazil was a little less exhilarating as the lone trail is relatively short & there is no boat or jeep ride.  Nevertheless, we were treated to some fantastic panoramic views of the falls.  While the Argentina side gets you up close and personal, the Brazil side gives you a better perspective of the magnitude of the falls.  The tail end of the trail on the Brazil side takes you to a viewing platform where you are surrounded by the falls on almost every side and again get nearly drenched (refreshingly so in the 90 degree, 90% humidity weather) by the spray from the falls.

We struggled to find much of a nightlife in Puerto Iguazu and have yet to meet many English speaking tourists so look forward to what Buenos Aires will have to offer in the coming days.

As for my Spanish, so far I’m still quite rusty & a bit surprised at how much of the language I have forgotten but it has been serviceable and certainly useful as many guides speak only a small bit of English.

I’m about four days behind on the blogging but hope to have more from Buenos Aires soon. Note that I’m using all of Jeff’s photos in this post at the moment since he has gone through the trouble of processing and uploading. He deserves all of the credit for their quality.

Upon arriving at the Salvador airport on Friday night, we were greeted by a large, gentle man named Lazaró who was there to take us from the airport to the hotel. Jeff booked us on a half-day tour of the city for our first day and the airport transfer and hotel came with the package. On our drive into the city, the disparity between the wealthy and the poor was just as apparent here as in Rio. On one side of the street stood new or newly renovated hotels and homes flanked on the opposite side by slums called comunidades. As we approached our hotel located in the old city, called Pelourinho, Lazaró noted how the government was working to revitalize that part of town. (US$100 million spent since 1992 on the project.) He made it very clear where we should and should not be walking about, even during the daytime. To stay safe throughout the city, tourists are encouraged not wear watches and should keep nothing more than a copy of their passport and a small amount of spending money in their pockets. After receiving our safety instructions and checking into our hotel, Jeff and I grabbed a quick bite across the street and caught some live music in a nearby alley before calling it a night.

On Saturday we were up by 10am to meet our tour guide, Ronaldo, for our city tour. Unlike the disorganized mess we experienced in Rio, Ronaldo had a great grasp of the city and actually allowed us to stop at several spots to take pictures and walk around. Along the way, stops included Farol de Barra, a fort/lighthouse combo at the end of the peninsula, the Museo Nautico da Bahia where we received a history lesson on early settlers in Salvador and the means it took them to get there from Europe, and Dique do Tororó, a scenic lake in downtown Salvador.

From there we parked the car and began a walking tour of Pelourinho. Pelourinho was the city’s center during the Portuguese Colonial Period, and was named for the whipping post where African slaves would receive any “punishment”. (Odd they would make this area such a focus of their tourist industry.) The walking tour included stops at various shops tailored to tourists and a view of the famous Salvador elevator, known as Elevador Lacerde, that takes its passengers to the lower city. We wrapped up at about 2pm after visiting the San Francisco Cathedral, one of the most ornate and beautiful Christian buildings I have ever visited.

We spent the late afternoon on our own exploring the lower city and the Mercado Modelo that was full of row after row of booths pushing unoriginal handmade crafts on the tourists. It reminded me a lot of the night market that I saw in Chiang Mai last year. The day ended with a valiant effort to find a vibrant nightlife that saw us visit the Jardin Brazil section of the city where we grabbed a bit to eat and then on to the Barra neighborhood for a few drinks. We didn’t stumble upon anything that I would call “vibrant” but it was fun nonetheless.

Having seen most of the major tourist spots on Saturday, our extra day in Salvador gave us the opportunity to take a day trip to Morro de São Paulo. It’s a small town where most get around on foot and “taxi drivers” walk visitors to their hotels carrying their luggage in wheelbarrows and make verbal “beep beep” or “honk” sounds to help them get by slower moving tourists. The shore of the island is broken up into several beaches of which Jeff and I were able to visit about five. Given the three-hour commute both ways via catamaran, we had just enough time to grab lunch and swim in the warm water before heading back. I doubt my pictures will do the beauty of the place justice… definitely a possibility as a honeymoon spot in the future. After returning home to Salvador, we spent our last night in Brazil enjoying the local fare and some more live music.

From here it is on to Iguazu Falls and Argentina! I’m anxious to finally get a chance to try my rarely used Spanish skills.

With a good chunk of time to kill before midnight, Jeff and I made our way up the beach to see what trouble we could get into. Three different stages were setup, two offering live bands/music with the third housing a DJ playing a mix of upbeat Brazilian and American music. Coldplay, U2 and Michael Jackson were some of the American artists I recognized. After making our way up the full length of the beach (2.5 miles) and then halfway back (another 1.25 for the math majors), we sat down near the water to relax and people watch. Unlike last year in Thailand where the crowd was almost exclusively young people experimenting with some mind-altering drug, the Rio crowd was much more diverse. You still had the young & crazy crowd but it was evenly balanced by large families with kids and grandparents in tow.

As the clock approached midnight, the beach started to fill up quickly so Jeff and I waded through the crowd to a nearby beer tent to buy two Skol beers (think Brazilian Miller Lite) which would serve as our “champagne” for the New Year’s toast. We made it back to the beach, near the water with 20 minutes to go.

At the stroke of midnight, among cheers, applause and the uncorking of many champagne bottles (from those smart enough to bring their own), the world famous Rio fireworks display began. For the next 20 minutes the two million people on hand cheered the fireworks show. DC does a great job with their fireworks on the 4th of July but this show in Rio certainly topped anything I have ever seen. When all was said and done, the cruise ships that had previously loomed so large just off the coast were completely concealed by the smoke.

After the show, Jeff and I hung around to soak up the scene and walk the length of the beach one last time before heading home. We managed to meet a few tourists, meet a few locals and enjoy a friendly New Year’s kiss with those locals before making our way back home at about 3:30am.

With NYE now behind us we have moved on to Salvador which has provided just as many sights and sounds as Rio. Much more to come but for now, Jeff and I are off to dinner.

Feliz Ano Novo! (Happy New Year!)

The bad started with our friends from American Airlines being unable to successfully transfer our luggage from the first leg of our flight to the second.  This was not entirely unexpected given the sprint Jeff and I needed to make through the Miami airport just to catch the connecting flight.  What was unexpected was AA’s inability and seemingly lack of desire to get us our bags once they made it to Rio.  After five or six calls to customer service revealing the same status of “scheduled for delivery”  (and after three days in the same clothes) I took matters into my own hands by calling the delivery company and squaring things away.  Our bags arrived last night just two hours after I made that call.  Apparently AA reps are not permitted to make international calls.  How can that be?

On top of this, the weather hasn’t been the best.  It’s rained quite a bit which normally I don’t mind but beach time has been limited and the view from the major sites have been hampered a bit.  Nevertheless, Jeff and I are having a great time and as I said, Rio is little to blame for the frustrations.

We kicked off Monday walking around Ipanema during the day, soaking up the local vibe and enjoying our first taste of Brazilian cuisine at lunch.  At night we toured Ipanema and Copacabana beaches with the aid of a Rio native named Tati.  We met Tati through a friend of Jeff’s and along with being an invaluable tour guide and source of local knowledge, she has been great fun to hang out with.

After knocking out some errands in the morning on Tuesday, we spent the afternoon at the beach with Tati and her cousin Simone.  The sun was scorching hot but the ocean water felt great, and I came away from the afternoon with only a slight sunburn.  At night Tati and Simone took us to our first official Brazilian churrascaria where we stuffed our faces with more food than anyone should consume in one sitting.  The night was topped off with drinking and dancing with Tati and a group of her friends at a bar in Lapa with a live Samba band.

Yesterday Jeff and I spent most of the day on our own on a guided tour of Rio with visits to Sugarloaf Mountain and Corcovado, site of the famous “Christ the Redeemer” statue.  While the city tour was quite poor and the organizational skills of our tour guides even worse, the views from Sugarloaf Mountain kept the day from being a total wash.

Today is our last full day in Rio before moving on to Salvador.  It’s raining now so we’ll try to keep ourselves as occupied and dry as possible in the afternoon before heading out to Copacabana tonight to celebrate New Year’s.  Supposedly the firewoks display is unrivaled throughout the world and is witnessed by nearly 2 million people – a number that boggles my mind.

One last note before we head out… as was the case last year, Jeff is blogging with more frequency, detail and humor so be sure to check out his stories as well: http://travel.jeffnyveen.com/.