football,favelas,funk and the falls

After such an intense experience, we were happy to come back to a hearty meal and a heady experience at the bar as we took advantage of happy hour. We met the English couple who were staying in our room (and actually came from Thornbury and went to castle school!! small world) and two other English travelers. After a few rounds, we decided to go to lapá to watch the 2nd leg of the South American equivalent of the champions league final between a local team and a team from Ecuador. The match was actually being held in the Maracana Stadium a few minutes away. We wanted to find somewhere local to watch it as the atmosphere was bound to be incredible, but as lapá didn’t seem to be the place to be, we decided to all get a taxi and head to the maracana itself to find a bar outside the stadium. However this seemed like a bad idea after the taxi dropped us at a very local, very busy pub within meters of the entrance to the stadium, and we were the only gringos in sight!

However, once we settled in, got some beers and found a spot where we could just about see the telly, we relaxed a bit an got taken in by a group of die hard Flumenese fans (as soon as they found out that was who we were routing for) luckily one of them was studying English so he translated all the various songs and chants and helped us show our appreciation for the countless free beers and love we were getting for being gringos supporting their team. When the game was 5-5 on aggregate at full time the atmosphere was very tense. Then suddenly they opened the gates of the stadium and let some of the fans through for free, so we joined the masses and made a mad dash for the gates, not quite making it in time, but could just about get a view of the inside. That was when the fans started getting rowdy and demanding to be let back in; the feds had enough and subsequently tear gassed the fans, which we all got caught up in!! After that we thought it was probably time to head back to the bar to watch the penalty shoot out; we had been promised parties and even brothels all for free if flumenese (the local team) won, so we were disappointed when after a nail-biting shoot out they failed to come up with the goods, some sad farewells were said, and we joined the hundreds of thousands of people making the miserable way back to the tube! Though the result wasn’t right, the night was definitely out of sight. Getting so involved with the locals’ banter and songs was a truly incredible experience!

After such a night of revelry and rollercoaster emotions, we spent the next day on light mode with hammocks and dvds for company.

With our bodies and mind much rested, we headed up to old town on the Friday to check out Santa Therasa. To be honest it was a little disappointing. In fact, the only real good part was the crazy tram ride to the top, but after missing the next tram we walked back to the hostel, which took forever. It was soon time for the street party in lapá. A small group of us headed out to cause some havoc in the city! Unfortunately for Mills he drank too much, too soon, and ended up being much too flashy with his camera so needless to say that was nicked within minutes! After that disappointment, he decided to go home, so the rest of us including a crazy Aussie we picked up headed to a samba club and threw some shapes, the night carried on till the next morning and with sunrise beckoning, we got a taxi back to the beach and went skinny dipping in the savage sea! An awesome end to a crazy night!

On the Saturday we went to see a football game, inside the stadium this time, Flamengo vs Nautico. Flamengo were the local team so we sat with them. Although the stadium was only half full, there was still over 50 thousand fans going crazy; creating the most unbelievable atmosphere. Fireworks, flares and some mental chanting. Luckily, Flamengo won 3-0 so the crowd stayed in good spirits and there was no real threat of trouble.

The next day was our last in Rio so we had to make it a good one. We started by spending a good few hours on Ipanema Beach, then up to the bar for our free drinks and got convinced by some hot young chicas to go to the favela party (again). Another night of mayhem and terrible dancing followed!

We were on a nice little 24 hour bus ride the next day, so feeling unaccountably awful we made our way down to the bus stop, en route to Iguaçu falls!

When we arrived, we checked in to our hostel which could only be described as the most chilled out hostel you could ever hope for ( perfect after 10 days of madness in Rio!) It was set in the middle of a nature reserve on the Brazilian side of the falls, away from everything and the most people there at any one time was 8! The people we encountered were incredibly friendly and made it feel like home for us all while we were there, the cook was incredible and laid out a Brazilian buffet every night for us all, and the bar man introduced us all to mandarin caprinhas! (delectable)
To top it all off they had the greatest dog and kitten ever, so funny as every night they would play fight around the hostel which provided much amusement for us all especially when they took it to the pool table, mid game!

We spent about 4 hours doing the Brazilian side of the falls, where there were some really nice walks and some amazing panoramic views of the falls. The next day we got a trip to the argentine side, after saying goodbye to the hostel, we headed out to Puerto Iguaçu! Some amazing walks including the walkway out to the devils throat, and the superior and inferior trails, and topped off with a mad speedboat ride along the bottom of the falls, where we actually went under the falls themselves! It was a great trip and a fantastic start to Argentina! We had to stay the night at the town so after dropping off our bags at an incredulously cheap hostel we headed out for a relaxed steak and bottle of wine!


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Photo Credits Armando Lobos VoiceBrazil Mark Barky Wallyshine Iko