Goodfellows Travels: September 2006

PHOTOS: TANGO SHOW

Friday 8th to Tuesday 19th September 2006: ARGENTINA, Buenos Aires

Argentina was never on our list of countries to visit. To be honest we were slightly prejudice against Argentina due to Englands history, i.e. The Falkands War and the 1986 World Cup `Hand of God´ incident all contributed to our reluctance in visiting this country. However, due to receiving so many good recommendations and reports from friends and fellow travellers we decided to include it in our itineray. After spending a few days in Buenos Aires we knew we had been totally wrong in our misconception of Argentina and were so glad that we had put aside our petty greivances and instead took the time to visit this amazing country and get to know its people.

According to our guidebook, to know Argentina we had to get to know its capital, Buenos Aires. A third of Argentina´s population live in the capital and with most of its inhabitants being of European descent, BA is the most European city in South America, reminding Celina a lot of Barcelona but it is actually known as the `Paris´of South America. Built on the Rio de la Plata inland from the Atlantic Ocean, Buenos Aires literally tranlates to mean `Good Airs´in reference to the winds that brought the first settlers to the city.

Buenos Aires is a city steeped in history and culture and is famous for being the birthplace of the national dance, Tango. We stayed in the wonderfully rustic and historic barrio of San Telmo, where the streets are narrow and cobbled, lined with beautiful colonial buildings and mansions. The barrio had once been the district for the very rich but after the yellow fever outbreak of 1871 the wealthy fled the area for the northern neighbourhoods leaving buildings to be taken over by squatters. Today the area is lived in by many artists and musicians giving the area a very bohemian feel. Each sunday tourists and locals alike flock to the to the Plaza Dorrego on the oldest street in the city, for the antique market and vibrant street performances, including tango.

We managed to fall in love with Buenos Aires in our twelve day stay there. We are not sure whether this is because it reminded us of home, being the most European place we´ve visited, or because of the excellent food and wine, the people (the locals, known as `porteños´ have been the most warm and welcoming we have encountered) or cheap shopping; whatever the reason, we know we will one day come back to Buenos Aires as it has been by far the best city we have visited in our travels so far.

Sundays bustling streets of San Telmo . . .

. . . Tango

. . . Singing

. . . Music

. . . and our attempt of the Tango!

MORE PHOTOS: GARGANTA DEL DIABLO, CATARATAS DEL IGUAZÚ, Argentina

The top of Garganta Del Diablo

Scary!
(catwalk over Garganta Del Diablo)

On the catwalk over Garganta Del Diablo

Tuesday 5th September 2006: PHOTOS: CATARATAS DEL IGUAZÚ, Argentina

Snakes in the Park!

Rainbow watching

More spectacular scenery

Looking down from Garganta Del Diablo

Sunday 3rd to Thursday 7th September 2006: ARGENTINA, Puerto Iguazu

On sunday, after five weeks of immense travelling through the width and breadth of Brasil, it was finally time for us to leave and make our way to Argentina. We´d enjoyed our time in Brasil a lot, especially our time in the Amazon and the wonderful kilo restaurants and caiprinhas, but with the everything costing at least three times more than it does in Central America we were glad to be leaving as our budget was breaking!

Crossing over to Puerto Iguazú in Argentina was a short journey (2 hours) so we were able to arrive in time to have our first typical Argentine lunch; a huge juicy steak and fantastic bottle of red wine (the first of many!).

On the Tuesday we visited Cataratas Del Iguazú in the Iguazú National Park of Argentina. From this side we were able to get much closer to the falls and view the smallers cataracts one at a time as here there were much better walkways and views giving us a much different experience than the one we´d had from the Brasilian side. At one point in this beautiful park you can stand and be surrounded by 260 degrees of waterfall!

The highlight of the day came at the end when we got as close as possible to the Garganta Del Diablo (Devil´s Throat) waterfall as we walked across the catwalk over the edge of the waterfall. Garganta Del Diablo marks the border between Brasil and Argentina and with water pouring over it from three sides, it makes for an awesome sight; plus it´s great fun being that close as it also means you can get soaked from the spray coming off!

Garganta Del Diablo

Cataratas Del Iguazú

Saturday 2nd September 2006: ITAIPU DAM: Foz Do Iguazú, Brasil

The only other place to visit in Foz Do Iguazú after Cataratas Do Iguacu is the Itaipu Dam, one of the seven modern wonders of the world.

Located on the border between Brasil and Paraguay, along the Paraná river, it is the largest (in power output) hydro electric dam in the world. Even after China´s Three Gorges Dam is completed Itaipu will still provide the most electricity. Standing at 196 metres high (equivalent to a 50 storey building) it took thirteen years for the first turbines to start working in 1984; in 1991 all eighteen turbines were fully operational. The amount of concrete used to build the Itaipu Dam would be enough to build 210 football stadiums the size of the Maracana and the amount of iron and steel used would build 380 Eiffel Towers! With eighteen turbines (two more are currently under construction) Itaipu Power Plant provides 95% of the energy consumed in Paraguay and 25% of that consumed by Brasil.

It was a cold night (our coldest yet at 9oC!) when we went to see the illumination of the Dam. We stood around shivering whilst we watched the short video showing pictures of the entire plant whilst listening to the two comperes explain the video. Finally (we were frozen by this time!) they switched on the lights which was accompanied with the theme tune from the film '2001 ' which was so cheesy. However, when the dam was fully illuminated there were lots of gasps of 'wow!' from the crowd - us included! Our tour ended with a drive up close to the Dam and around the power plant which allowed us to enjoy in warmth this amazing feat of engineering.

Itaipu Dam

MORE PHOTOS: CATARATAS DO IGUACU: Brasil

Cataratas Do Iguacu

The Quati

(Igazu Park Mascot)

Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd September 2006: BRASIL, Foz Do Iguazú

After a twenty-four bus ride we arrived in Foz Do Iguazú in order to visit Cataratas do Iguacu (Iguazú Falls). Bordering three countries, Brasil, Argentina and Paraguay; Iguazú Falls are the largest in the world consisting of 270 waterfalls up to heights of 82 metres along 2.7 kilometres of the Iguazu river.

Our first day was spent in the hostel in Foz as it was far too wet and cold to visit the falls. Luckily on Saturday the sun came out just long enough for us to visit the waterfalls in the Iguacu National Park, a half hour bus ride from the town of Foz Do Iguazú.

We viewed the falls by walked along the trail that is along one edge of the falls; at every turn we saw brilliant panoramic views of the entire falls. At the end of the trail there were catwalks out over the falls. Viewing the falls from the Brasilian side first allowed us to fully appreciate its enormity, whilst at the same time giving us taste of what was to come when we would see them even closer from the Argentine side.

Cataratas do Iguacu

Garganta Del Diablo
(Devil´s Throat)

Thursday 31st August 2006: PAO DE AZUCAR: Rio De Janeiro, Brasil

Another icon of Rio De Janeiro is `Pao De Azucar´ (Sugar Loaf Mountain), the oldest tour attraction of the city. Our visit to Sugar Loaf was on our last day as it was the only other clear and sunny day we had whilst in Rio and a good weather day is needed to fully appreciate the beautiful views seen from the top. Rather annoyingly our visit to Sugar Loaf coincided with one of nine days a year when maintenance checks are carried out, therefore we were only able to go up half way to `Morro Do Urca´!!! However, we still had a good time riding the famous cable car and we were still able to get some great views.

The famous cable car

`Pao De Azucar´ as seen from `Morro De Urca´

Enjoying the views

Tuesday 29th August 2006: ROCINHA FAVELA TOUR: Rio De Janeiro, Brasil

Rio is as famous for its favelas as it is for Copacabana beachand Corcovado, especially since the excellent film `City of God´ which tells the life story of a young man from the favela of the same name. The favelas are shanty towns on the hillsides surrounding Rio. The favelas of Rio have a notorious reputation for being dangerous and it is true that they are run by the drug dealers who can be seen carrying AK47's and other weapons in full view. The top drug running gangs living in the favelas earn up to US$1 million per month, therefore competition is literally deadly with deaths occur frequently, however, those killed are mostly the innocent people who live and work in the favela who get caught in the crossfire between the rival drug gang shoot outs.

As much as the favelas are full of drug dealers, it is also true that there are many people who choose to live there purely because it is much cheaper than living alongside the expensive beaches of Rio. We visited the favela called Rochina which looks down on the prosperous south side of the city. With 140,000 inhabitants, Rochina is the largest favela in Rio and with its own banks, post office and health clinics it is known as a `city within a city´. Amenities such as water and electricity are free for the residents of Rochina. Water is free as the favela lies near the Tijuca National Park and electricity is stolen! There are also no taxes for those living in the favelas. Refuse collection is provided by the local community centre with local favela dustbin men who roll the wheel bins out to the entrance to the favela as no vehicale would be able to pass through the favela as the streets are incredibly narrow making living very cramped.

Our tour of Rochina began at the foot of the hillside on which it is built, with a fast and hair-raising motorcycle taxi ride up the hill which involved weaving in and out of traffic in the pouring rain! When we reached the top of Rochina we then began our walk down through the narrow streets past the locals shops and houses. Walking through the favela was a very wet and smelly affair. It rained for the entire time we were inside the favela (2 hours) so this enabled us to see the drainage problem they have in the favela as we had to constantly jump over or manoevure through the fast flowing rivers of rain water. Walking through the favela we became aware of the wide disparity between the rich and poor as there were houses complete with air conditioning, satellite tv and state of the art entertainment systems alongside those that had extremely basic living.

Our tour of the favela included a visit to the `Casa De Cultura´ which is a culture project run by a group of local artists who paint scenes of the favelas and its surroundings and then sell their art to tourists. These group of artists also help the local community by teaching the children of the favelas. By encouraging and giving the children an opportunity to paint pictures, the children of Rochina are then able to learn that there other ways to make money other than begging from the tourists who visit the favela. We also visited the community Daycare Centre which is a initiative that has been set up by local and multinational companies to help the younger population of Rochina by providing a place for education and development. The Daycare Centre provides very cheap (or free depending on each person´s situation) daycare to parents which enables them to go find work and earn money so they can better their lives.

Our visit to Rochina was an interesting one and it enabled us to have a good understanding of what life is like for those living there whilst showing us that there is a positive side to the favela as well as the very well known negative.

The narrow streets of Rochina

Rochina Favela

Sunday 27th August 2006: MARACANA FOOTBALL STADIUM: Rio De Janeiro, Brasil

One of our 'must dos' for Rio was to see a football match at the Maracana Stadium, the largest in the world with 118,000 seats. We were fortunate enough to be there for the weekend of a big rivals match between Flamengo (Rio & Brasil´s biggest team) and Sao Paulo. We decided to go to the match with the tour organised through the hostel as this was the safest way to go, plus we thought it´d be the most fun going in a big group of mostly English travellers and football fans.

We arrived at the stadium early in order to secure the best seats possible in the section our tickets were for; this was not an organised English stadium where there is allocated seating! The party atmosphere had begun even before the match started with the fans singing their songs, banging their drums and waving their huge flags so we got into the spirit too by drinking beer and eating hotdogs whilst waiting for the match to start, the best bit being that we didn´t have to move from our chairs to get refreshments - the vendors come to you!

The match was an exciting one full of great displays of Brasilian footballing flair and dramatics and ended in a 1-1 draw, much to the disappointment of the Flamengo fans. We had a great time cheering on Flamengo and enjoying the incredible carnival atmosphere of a Brasilian football match. This was definitely the liveliest and most fun football match we´ve ever been to!

Oliver & Celina in a Flamengo shirt