We arrived in Iguacu in the late afternoon to a temperature of 38 centigrade: too hot to think of going anywhere but the swimming pool. Next morning we headed out to the bird zoo before the heat became too stifling. Unlike the waterfall, visiting the bird park does not require getting thoroughly soaked, so we needed to go early.
Southern Screamer
They had several guans, not sure which one this is
Gramado is a well-to-do tourist town in the hills north of Porto Alegre. We arrived just in time for “Natal Luz”, a festival of Christmas lights, plus shows and music and so on, that lasts from October until late January. The town has a certain German architectural flavor, and the Christmas decorations at first reminded me of a Weihnachtsmarkt, but after a few days I decided the sheer overabundance was more American than German.
The town does have a lot of fondu restaurants, a proportion of blue-eyed residents, and even the tourists are paler, on average, than we’d seen so far in Brasil. Plus, the town is proud of a freak snowstorm a few years ago. You can get your photo taken against a snowy backdrop. You can also try out indoor skiing or one of seemingly dozens of theme parks, half of them sponsored by a local chocolate company. On the one hand, there were plenty of things to do, but on the other, parking was terrible, prices were high, and the constant commercialism was wearing.
Still, with bracingly cool weather (including some sharp afternoon thunderstorms), excellent scenery including a spectacular waterfall, and a large zoo, the town is well worth a visit.
Looking out the window of a descending aircraft, it’s immediately obvious that Rio de Janeiro is a city of six million people. High-rise hotels crowd the beaches, favelas claw up the steep hills, and the whole writhing mass spills across the bay and over the horizon, like a cellular slime mold that’s outgrown its petri dish.
You see a lot of people wearing the colors of the Flamengo football club (and a few wearing Botafogo colors, depending on the neighborhood). Everywhere in Brasil so far, we see a mix of races in any crowd (and within most of individuals), but in Rio the African contribution is more visible than it was in Brasilia.
A short stay before an early morning flight. Visited a couple of parks in town, which were hot, dry, mostly empty of people, and had just enough litter to feel unclean. Still, a welcome chance for Henry to reconnect with friends, and for me to photograph the local wildlife.
Driving north from Brasilia, you pass
through endless fields of grain until you see some remarkable hills.
Climbing into these as the afternoon wanes, you get a sense of the
vastness of the South American continent. Except for the road, the
landscape is practically empty, and yet you’re still only a hop and a
skip from the coast. At the same time, the hand of man was very obvious,
in the form of smoke from wildfires. After dark we could see lines of
flame licking the distant hills.
Tucked into the hills is Alto Paraiso, a combination hippy enclave and
tourist trap. The forest here is thicker and a bit wetter than in
Pirinopolis – mosquito nets advised, even in the dry season.
In Alto Paraiso you can find a stupa, murals of Ganesh, Om signs, and people tattooed with chakras and mandalas. The main strip was a little crowded and noisy for my taste. Our first dinner was at a creperie where the crepes tasted of olive oil, and the bar across the street was hosting a terrible live cover of “wonder wall”.
We found Sao Jorge a lot more congenial – a smaller town, closer to natural attractions. Had a delicious buffet lunch that was recommended. Got lost trying to find the restaurant suggested for dinner, stopped at a quiet joint at the edge of town and had a delicious meal – filet mignon!
A small town outside Brasilia, with three very similar churches (“the one with two palm trees or the one with one palm tree?”), a street of restaurants catering to weekenders from the city, and a selection of waterfalls nearby. Also nearby, some remarkably difficult dirt roads – we were glad we visited in the dry season, even though that meant some of the waterfalls were less powerful than usual.
Our temporary abode not only had five small falls on the property, it had a nest of blue-winged tanagers in the roof, and many other birds visiting every morning.
