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Brazil
Brazil is a fun and beautiful place with a lot to do. I spent a week there and did not even touch the surface of what it has to offer. I skipped the Amazon, saving that for a trip when I have more time. A spent a couple of days in Sao Paulo, three in Parati and two in Iguazu falls on both the Brazilian side and the Argentine side. Sao Paulo is big and the traffic is rough. There were really only two highlights of being in Sao Paulo, a terrific meal and good nightlife. The meal was at a restaurant named Café Bahina and the meal was Faijuada, a mix of meats and beans that is fantastic. I suppose it would be hard to find a meal that was unhealthier than this but what an experience.
I went to Brazil with a friend named Peter Salvia, we rented a car and drove north to a town named Parati, on the beach between Sao Paulo and Rio. It is a laid back town with lots to do and great seafood. The first day we rented a boat and visited several bays where we went snorkeling and swimming. The second day we went on a hike to some waterfalls out of town. A nice hike and almost nobody was around. We drove back to Sao Paulo in a driving rainstorm. The next day Peter headed back to the states and I caught a plane to Iguazu.
The falls at Iguazu are large and impressive. Unfortunately there is not much to do at the site except look at the falls. After one day I caught a taxi to the Argentine side where the hotel is cheaper, there are more people and there is more to do. One of the days I spent hiking in the jungle near the falls. Although the hike was nice I saw very little wildlife.
One experience I will always remember about Brazil.
I have a propensity for getting lost in countries where I do not speak the language (everywhere but the US) but nowhere have I been as lost as in Sao Paulo. What should have been a 45-minute trip to the airport from the hotel took almost 3 hours. I came within 5 minutes of abandoning the rental car at a gas station and taking a taxi to the airport. I actually had my compass out in the heart of Sao Paulo trying to figure out what direction I was going. The extremely friendly people would have been happy to tell me how to get there, but not in English.
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Bolivia
I cannot explain why, but I never really fell in love with Bolivia. La Paz is barren (at such a high altitude) and the people are colder and more distant than most places I have been. I spent a lot of time in La Paz just wandering around the city and talking to people. There just was not any warmth to the place. I did manage to spend some time out of La Paz, I rented a car and drove to some hiking spots about 20 miles from town, of course I got lost a couple of times but not as bad as usual. Even the hiking was less interesting than I had expected. I also drove to Lake Titicaca. This is a beautiful place, cold, barren and surrounded by the
mountains. The highlight of my time there was a boat trip to the Isle de Sol. The boat drops you off at one end and you walk to the other end where it picks you up. There are Incan ruins at one end and great scenery all the way along the path. That night I sat out on the cold beach and watched the sun set over the lake. I ended up flying to Peru early, having never found the rhythm of Bolivia.
One experience I will always remember about Bolivia.
My first night in La Paz I found a local restaurant away from the tourist area. I had a traditional meal and listened to Bolivian music. It was the only time I every really felt at home in Bolivia.
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Peru
Wow, I really had fun in Peru. There is so much to see and the town of Cuzco, although full of tourists is friendly with a great nightlife. Every day I hired a driver/guide and went somewhere new and every night I went out to one of the local clubs and danced till late. The biggest drawback in Cuzco is the never-ending sales pitches, the kids in the park and touts at the tour agencies bug you all day and everywhere you go. One thing that is a must for photography around Cuzco, getting there early. Once the tour buses start showing up there is no chance for a clear picture. I got to Pisac when there was nobody around and got my best pictures. The other key is to find some of the less popular places and look for different shots. Machu Picchu is as wonderful as you expect but there are two real downsides. The train ride is really long and if you go for the day it is not possible to get there early to get some quiet time. The day I went it poured the entire time. I hiked up the
opposite peak, Hachu Picchu, which allowed me to get away from the crowds but was challenging in the rain. The view of Machu Picchu is great from this side though. I regret not staying at one of the hotels near the park, but the call of the nightlife was too strong.
One experience I will always remember about Peru.
Being at the top of Hachu Picchu, in the driving rain with all of the Andes around me. I just sat there and watched the storm move through the valley. Few people had made the hike because of the rain – so I had some quiet time.
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Paraguay
One of the few times I have taken a bus on my travels is in Paraguay, I rode from Argentina to Asuncion. It was a clean bus and made only a few stops but I missed being able to stop wherever I wanted. There was no flight from Iguazu to Asuncion so I had little choice. Once in Asuncion, I had a couple of days to kill prior to getting a flight to La Paz. I rented a car and drove south to Ybygui National Park. Although there is not a lot to see at this park I enjoyed myself immensely. There were few people, no tourists and I had the hiking trails to myself. The drive was great, through rural areas, I got a taste of the real South America. Every little town I stopped in the people were friendly and wanted to hear about what was going on in the United States.
When I made it back to the hotel (after getting lost a couple of times of course). I met some people who invited me to out to a traditional meal at a local restaurant (Portiyu). It was a fun evening, except that my poor Spanish caused me to eat calf lung, something I would not normally try. It was also one of the few places where I almost missed my flight, stayed out too late and made it to the airport with only a moment to spare.
One experience I will always remember about Paraguay.
First, I was very short of cash the whole time in Paraguay, I could not get my ATM to work and nobody would cash travelers checks. When I drove up to the hotel I parked in front to get someone to open the parking lot – in 3 minutes my rental car was towed. It took $50, all my cash, and 1 hour to get it back.
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Venezuela
Except for Mexico and Canada this was the first international trip I took. My brother and I went down there for a mountain biking trip (brought our bikes with us) and spent most of the time around Merida. Merida is a college town, located in the western mountains of Venezuela. As it turned out the tour company had no other customers that week so we had the guides to ourselves. We hiked in the jungle, mountain biked at 14,000 feet and spent one night in a little town in the mountains. All of my pictures on this trip came from a little point and shoot that I still have. This is compared to the ton of stuff that I haul around now. Our only real disappointment was that the most of the mountain biking was on dirt roads while we wanted single track. Finally the guides found us a single-track trail along a river, where we managed to get 6 or 7 flats each. We spend one night in Caracas at a Paella restaurant but that was the extent of the nightlife we experienced.
One experience I will always remember about Venezuela.
As we were biking down the mountains we came to a small house with a very large and very dead hawk hanging on the front of the house. We asked why they had killed the hawk and they explained that it was a lesson for other hawks to learn not to kill their sheep.
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