Our last night in Iguassu turned out to be a Saturday night and lived up to expectations. Our sleep was regularly broken by cars roaring around, loud stereos, fireworks that could have been gunfire and the sound of police cars. Foz do Iguassu by night - a different kind of tourist experience.
Nevertheless we survived, and began our journey to Bonito. The reality of travelling around brazil is that travel is a significant part of it. After two plane trips we were treated to a three hour car trip before we made it to our destination, with a driver who could hardly speak a word of English.
This wasn't as bad as it sounds. We could dispense with dialogue and take in the wonderful scenario, which included our first giant ant eaters!
A word on driving around this country. Brazil does have the same road rules as us. Stop signs, yellow lines, speed limits, it's just that they must be optional, and judging by the way people drive, most choose not to take up the option. It made my hair stand on end, and as I don't have any on my head you can imagine how uncomfortable that experience is. The only thing that seems to receive full respect is a speed bump, so they've got plenty of these in the most unexpected places. In the city lights are also respected and they have a really cool feature. Pedestrians can see how many seconds left of walking time there is, but beware. So can the drivers, which means when they count down to zero you better be on your skates.
Anyway, back to Bonito. Bonito is one of the great ecotourism centres in Brazil. In classic Jones fashion it appears that I had indicated to the travel agent who organised our trip to cram in as much as possible.
Our digs have been really cool. bonito has a populate of 17,000 and plenty of style about it, though a drive on their local roads would indicate that Australia clearly over-invests in this department. Tar with potholes is standard and secondary roads are red dirt with potholes, and not just woosy potholes. must raise this with Council. There could be some more funding for public libraries out of it.
We seem to have done just about everything in Bonito. The first day involved a walk into a cave with an awesome blue lake, complete with Harry Potter style owl. This was followed by a snorkel down a spring-fed river. This was bucket loads of fun, though Kate greeted it with bladder-clenching trepidation (which is handy in one sense as it's considered bad form to relieve oneself in a hired wet suit). Of course it turned out brilliantly and Kate proved to be a supreme snorkeller. We saw oodles of fish, some up to a metre long. There is something really cool about snorkelling along a Brazilian river with monkeys in the branches overhead.
The next day, today, we reversed the order. We went snorkelling in the morning and walking in the afternoon. Once again Kate was confident she wouldn't snorkell and, once again, she was wrong. We spent a wonderful hour snorkelling down a fast moving river before strolling around some beautiful waterfalls in the afternoon.
And for the record, animal bingo now also includes macaws, toucans, rheas, caimans and crab eating foxes, along with a host of other birds. It's a strange thing about travel. People speak a different language, and you expect that and that's not surprising. The same can be said of the scenery and the animals. It's the everyday that takes you by surprise. It's waking up to bird calls that you have never heard before that makes you feel most like an interloper.
And surely that's a wrap. Thanks for your patience.
Nevertheless we survived, and began our journey to Bonito. The reality of travelling around brazil is that travel is a significant part of it. After two plane trips we were treated to a three hour car trip before we made it to our destination, with a driver who could hardly speak a word of English.
This wasn't as bad as it sounds. We could dispense with dialogue and take in the wonderful scenario, which included our first giant ant eaters!
A word on driving around this country. Brazil does have the same road rules as us. Stop signs, yellow lines, speed limits, it's just that they must be optional, and judging by the way people drive, most choose not to take up the option. It made my hair stand on end, and as I don't have any on my head you can imagine how uncomfortable that experience is. The only thing that seems to receive full respect is a speed bump, so they've got plenty of these in the most unexpected places. In the city lights are also respected and they have a really cool feature. Pedestrians can see how many seconds left of walking time there is, but beware. So can the drivers, which means when they count down to zero you better be on your skates.
Anyway, back to Bonito. Bonito is one of the great ecotourism centres in Brazil. In classic Jones fashion it appears that I had indicated to the travel agent who organised our trip to cram in as much as possible.
Our digs have been really cool. bonito has a populate of 17,000 and plenty of style about it, though a drive on their local roads would indicate that Australia clearly over-invests in this department. Tar with potholes is standard and secondary roads are red dirt with potholes, and not just woosy potholes. must raise this with Council. There could be some more funding for public libraries out of it.
We seem to have done just about everything in Bonito. The first day involved a walk into a cave with an awesome blue lake, complete with Harry Potter style owl. This was followed by a snorkel down a spring-fed river. This was bucket loads of fun, though Kate greeted it with bladder-clenching trepidation (which is handy in one sense as it's considered bad form to relieve oneself in a hired wet suit). Of course it turned out brilliantly and Kate proved to be a supreme snorkeller. We saw oodles of fish, some up to a metre long. There is something really cool about snorkelling along a Brazilian river with monkeys in the branches overhead.
The next day, today, we reversed the order. We went snorkelling in the morning and walking in the afternoon. Once again Kate was confident she wouldn't snorkell and, once again, she was wrong. We spent a wonderful hour snorkelling down a fast moving river before strolling around some beautiful waterfalls in the afternoon.
And for the record, animal bingo now also includes macaws, toucans, rheas, caimans and crab eating foxes, along with a host of other birds. It's a strange thing about travel. People speak a different language, and you expect that and that's not surprising. The same can be said of the scenery and the animals. It's the everyday that takes you by surprise. It's waking up to bird calls that you have never heard before that makes you feel most like an interloper.
And surely that's a wrap. Thanks for your patience.
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