Toda Bom

Guest blog by Nick Coder

Walter Brown (aka Wally, World, Duck, Ducky, and most likely a few others) and I met Jon and Kristen for the final two weeks of their SA excursion. While Jon and Kristen were hoping to gain another perspective through which to view their life and their relationships, as well as each another, Wally and I were hoping to gain a few darker shades on our tan. I'm happy to report Mission Accomplished.

We started in Rio. Wally and I got in early Saturday July 15, with Jon and Kristen expected later that night. Without their guidance, Wally and I ended up eating dinner at the Irish Pub. We noticed a number of Indian and Mexican dishes on the menu. I thought it might be ironic to have Mexican food in the Irish pub in Brazil. So we had steak. Jon and Kristen met up with us and for the next few days, we took in all of the tourist sites in Rio (beaches, Christ the Reedemer, beaches, Sugarloaf, beaches, Maracana - the largest soccer stadium in the world, and beaches) and then headed to Paraty, a great beach town between Rio and Sao Paulo.

We started with a bike ride and hike, which led to this:

The following day, we hired a boat operator, who looked suspiciously like Vin Diesel, shown here:

We spent much of the boat tour on the top of the boat, which had a pillow-top deck shown here. Please note Wally in the background giving the Brazilian(/international?) sign for Life Ain't Bad. Also note Jon and Kristen working to put lunch together, while Wally and I do not:

Also seen on the pier at Paraty were Jimmy Buffett and Mark Gastineau. Apparently, Paraty is a big celebrity hideout.

From Paraty, we took a lovely 16 hour bus ride to Iguacu Falls. They are said to rival Niagara Falls and Victoria Falls. You can make your own judgement:

In addition to the Falls, there was a nice nature walk where wildlife was supposedly on display. We were greeted on the trail by this sign:

Clearly, the sign was referring to this:

From the Falls, we then took a 41 hour, 8 leg trip that ended up in Ilha Grande, an island off the coast of Rio. For those keeping score at home it went like this: Cab from Puerto Igassu, Argentina to Foz do Iguacu, Brazil; Bus from Foz to Curitiba; Train from Curitiba to Morretes (very scenic - we took probably 60 pics. Draw your own conclusions based on the fact that none of the pics made the blog); bus from Morretes back to Curitiba; bus from Curitiba to Sao Paulo; bus from Sao Paulo to Rio; bus from Rio to Mangaratiba; and finally ferry to Ilha Grande. After all of that, all we really wanted to do was this:

But after we arrived at the beach, it was all worth it......

All in all, an excellent trip.