I'm writing this second Rio entry from an unexpected flight to São Paulo to connect from Iguazu Falls to Buenos Aires. Gillian and I were supposed to be spending a full day at the waterfalls on the Brazil and Argentina border; however, we learned that our connecting flight the next day to BA had been canceled. With a little bit of panicking and even more careful alternate planning, we should be touching down in Buenos Aires right on time by Tuesday night. Since my last post, we spent our final two days in Rio de Jaineiro making the most of our final moments there.
On Sunday, we decided to recover from our night out in Lapa by spending the day at the beach. Instead of lounging on the people's beach of Ipanema again, we made our way to the more posh beach of Copacabana. Upon our arrival, we rented chairs and umbrellas for R$20, which only comes out to around $7. I think anyone would be hard-pressed to find beach rentals so affordable anywhere in the United States. Speaking of prices, overall, Rio has been more affordable than I had expected for a major Latin American center. The U.S. dollar is strong in comparison to the Brazilian Real at this time, and the cost of living in Rio is only expensive in comparison to much of the rest of Brazil. Rio has many fantastic sights and beautiful beaches; however, there is a massive amount of urban poverty. More socioeconomic commentary to come.
After lounging on the Copacabana beach for most of the daylight, we took a taxi (also cheap!) to the Pão de Açucar (or Sugarloaf Mountain). Named for its conical shape, Sugarloaf sits in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean shoreline surrounding much of Rio. Rio is unlike anywhere I've ever been before with its beaches forming right next to tall mountains with lofty viewpoints. Sugarloaf is famous for its panoramic perches, which we were able to take advantage of by riding two separate cable cars all the way to the top. Even though Cristo Redentor provided spectacular views, Sugarloaf's positioning within Rio's harbor provided us with a sunset that can't be forgotten.
After climbing back down from Sugarloaf, we rested for a bit before heading to an authentic Brazilian barbecue dinner recommended by a friend (thanks, Gahan!). Carretão is an upscale churrascaria, which the chain Fogo de Chao is modeled after, serving meats brought right to your table and plenty of fresh sides. To be honest, it was one of the first times we came across vegetables in Brazil, where most people's diets seem to be filled with meat, cheese, rice, bread, and the occasional fruit. After enjoying our mutli-course dinner for $30 complete with Argentinian wine (can't wait for some Malbec in BA!), we digested at an Ipanema neighborhood bar called Barthodomeu on cheap pilsner beer. Fun fact: Brazilians are the third largest consumers of beer in the world while 98% of beer sold is light pilsners. No craft beer to be found in Brazil!
On our final day in Brazil Monday, we decided to take a full day tour of a favela neighborhood. Favelas are infamous around the world for their crowded quarters, drug trafficking, and general violence/social unrest. While it's not recommended to take a tour of one of the 1,000 favelas in Rio on your own, there are several companies that take visitors on guided tours in the safest favelas. While I was not as keen on the idea as Gillian, I learned a lot of information and facts about the people and culture of the Rocinha favela in Rio. More than 300,000 live in this particular favela, which was only the size of any neighborhood in Rio. That's more people than live in the entire city of Madison!
Rocinha was more developed in many ways than I expected. There were fully thriving businesses, schools, transportation, grocers, and housing. Although the quality was expectedly low considering it houses the poorest of Rio's residents, the favela reminded me less of the thriving city of Rio and more of the poorer Central American places I've been such as Nicaragua. Our guide, Jody, was a British national and gringo in his early thirties who moved to Brazil and has lived in the favela for those two years. He was knowledgable about Rocinha and able to provide much of the context of what makes a favela both a thriviling cultural hub and an underserved zone. Seated between two highly expensive communities, Rocinha is one of 60 favelas that have undergone "pacification" in the past several years because of its central location and upcoming major events like the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics. Pacification meant a large police presence and subsequent violence between the police and the drug trafficking gangs. During our tour, we witnessed much peace and calm surrounded by armed military police presence, who carried large assault weapons and were covered in combat gear. Other than seeing the police, our tour was safe and gave us the chance to interact with real people in Brazil. In many ways, the favela had a stronger sense of community and well being than the neighborhood I taught in during my time in Baltimore City; however, it also had the sense of external social mobility stagnation and little chance of leaving or receiving quality education.
After touring the favela, we made our way for one last sunset at the rocky point between Ipanema and Copacabana beaches. As the sun literally set on our four days in Rio de Janeiro, Gillian and I said goodbye to Andres, who would be leaving Rio the next morning to return to his university assignment in northeast Brazil. After taking a very busy and treacherous cab ride to the Rio international airport, we finally made it to the gate for our flight to the Brazilian side of the falls at Foz do Iguaçu. Just as we were about to board our flight, we received an email stating that our flight for the next night out of the Argentine side of the falls in Puerto Iguazu was canceled. Faced with getting stuck in Iguaçu, we boarded the flight anyways. When we arrived, we headed straight to the hotel to grab WiFi and look for alternate plans. Luckily, we were able to get a flight out of the Brazilian side to BA via São Paulo. With a hefty cost and no help from Expedia, we made the choice to lose half a day in the waterfalls in order to get to Buenos Aires on time for our four days there.
That being said, today's journey through the Parque Nacional Iguazu in Argentina was amazing and worth the extra hassle. We spent the night as planned on the Brazilian side of the falls, and we woke up early to figure out how to make the most of the six hours before our flights to BA. We were extremely lucky to have a tour company situated right in our hotel by chance, and the guides helped arrange the perfect private ride to and from the more scenic Argentine side of Iguazu. Unfortunately, we had to miss the Brazilian-side park in Foz do Iguaçu, but we think we made the right choice of which sid of the falls to see. The guides took care of helping us cross the border each way and to enter the park without struggling to find an ATM for the currency change to Argentine pesos to buy tickets. They even took care of our bags while we were in the park and brought us to the airport for our earlier flight this afternoon.
Even though it took a lot of extra planning and expense, the waterfalls were incredible. Once we entered the park right at opening when crowds were low, we took a two-stop train (more like one of those trains you see at a zoo or amusement park for families) to the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat). This section of the park houses a walking trail that takes you right to the very top of the massive main waterfall. Though I haven't been to Niagara Falls, Iguazu supposedly rivals and bests its North American cousin. We were able to walk so close that we were soaked from the spray as the water went barreling down the breathtaking cliffs. After taking plenty of photos at the falls, we took the train back down to hike some of the smaller paths that provided views of the falls from the base and the chance to get closer to dozens of surrounding smaller waterfalls.
Hopefully I'll have nothing more to report of our journey out of Brazil and truly into Argentina for the rest of our adventure in South America. I am really excited to be seeing Buenos Aires, which has more a European flair and what I predict will be more my style of travel. For now, tchau to Brasil and ¡hola to Argentina!
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