PlanetEye

May 9th, 2008

Iguassu Falls!

Brendan

The Global Nomad

Not much to say about Iguassu (or Iguaçu) other than go if you can.

There isn’t much to recommend the cities on any side of the triple border between Brazil, Arentina and Paraguay, except that they are close to one of the greatest falls in the world.

My only advice is to make sure you have at least 2 full days so as to have time to spend a day on each side of the falls–the Brazilian side offers the best overalll panoramic view, while the Argentinian side is much more intimate, with lots of little smaller falls, coves, etc, and more jungle to walk through.

• Posted in  Adventure, City Review, Nature
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May 6th, 2008

Paraty, world heritage town and source of excellent fire water

Brendan

The Global Nomad

The impeccably restored colonial town of Paraty (pah-rah-chee), several hours’ drive south of Rio, is well worth a few days’ visit. The end of the Royal Road that carried the riches of Brazil’s mines to the coast, Paraty was stuck in a kind of time warp until only recently, owing to the fact that the modern coastal highway bypassed the town.

Today it is a tasteful colonial (and UNESCO World Heritage) town in the vein of Antigua, Guatemala or San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, attracting mostly an artistic community and tourists. I swear Paraty has more ateliers per capita than any place on the planet.

Paraty is a mellow, subdued town, and there isn’t a whole lot of night life outside of Saturday night at the disco. However there are a ton of great restaurants (most with live music), a participatory cooking school-cum-restaurant, a well-respected puppet theatre (no, that is not a tongue in cheek joke), and some really charming hotels and B&Bs in restored colonial buildings. A river runs along one side of the town and the cobblestone streets closest to the sea flood at high tide, making it picturesque—a photographer’s dream. As long as it isn’t raining. Add some great shopping (so my girlfriend said) and you have a great recipe for a romantic 3-day getaway.

Paraty is well-known for two other things: booze, and booze cruises. Some of the county’s best cachaça (see last post) is made in the area, and there are stores stocked to ceiling around town with the stuff. The pretty harbour is filled with schooners (although you won’t see many sails) and in the high season they are filled with crowds who come to drink, tan and cruise the area’s pristine coves and shores. Caipirinha anyone?

• Posted in  City Review
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May 2nd, 2008

Caipirinhas and Cachaça, vol. 2

Brendan

The Global Nomad

Like cane liquor around the world, Brazil’s cachaça comes in all strengths and qualities, depending on the goals and skill of the distiller.

In my extensive research I have identified three main varieties:

1) Fine crafted, barrel-aged to a mellow smoothness. A pleasure to drink, high-grade cachaça comes in beautiful bottles and packaging, and each has its own unique character like a single malt scotch or high-grade tequila. Drink neat. This was the kind my house guest and his drunk friends quaffed back one night without realising they couldn’t just nip down to the liquor store to replace the bottle.

2) Nice, drinkable and reasonably smooth. Your everyday cachaça (if that’s your style). Typically these are best mixed, especially in a Caipirinha. (see earlier post)

3) OH GOD IT BURNS!! Best saved as a backup fuel for running the engine of your fishing boat, or say, removing unwanted skin.

I recommend either 1 or 2. Oh, and for the record, although they are similar, rum is made from sugar cane molasses, whereas cachaça is made from pure sugar cane juice, among other subtle differences.

• Posted in  Culture, Drinking, Partying
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April 29th, 2008

The Favela: Rocinha, City of God

Brendan

The Global Nomad

It may seem a strange suggestion to spend an afternoon in a slum. How about one of the largest slums in the world?

Favelas, the slum areas of Brazil, dot the countryside – in fact, there are 350 of these impromptu villages in Brazil, many of them within Rio’s city limits. Run by (often rival) drug lords and gangs, the favelas are a side of Brazil few tourists venture into. Going to visit a place like this may seem like madness, but it can be both educational and safe. Just don’t go on your own….

We choose to visit Rocinha, the largest favela in Latin America, a makeshift city within a city. Made famous by the movie City of God, Rocinha (ho-SEE-nya) is home to 200 000 cariocas (residents of Rio de Janeiro). Although they pay no taxes and have only basic services, the labour that Rocinha and Brazil’s other favelas supply keeps the city’s buildings clean, hotels staffed and clothes cleaned.

The sights, sounds and smells of this community are an in-your-face reminder that there are no government services here– no electrical power, no water, no police, no sewage systems and no garbage removal. Fifty-five percent of the kids between the ages of 4-13 attend the four schools in the favela – many of the rest are “put to work”, begging on the streets of Rio. Two hospitals here attempt to service the needs of this huge community, suffering from ailments many developed countries haven’t seen in decades.

A tour through one of Rio’s favelas is a fascinating experience. There are several outfits that will take you, prices are reasonable and most if not all have ties to the community. We chose Be a Local, and they provided a well-run, educational trip. (The initial ride to the top of the favela on the back of a motorbike was either a highlight or a shock, depending on your personality). The organization supports a daycare in Rocinha, and also offers tours to football games and the like.

Go see the other side of Rio, bring your camera and an open mind. Oh, and don’t be scared—you’re likely safer in the favela than outside. In the words of one guide “the same guy who will steal your wallet on Copacabana beach won’t touch you in here—the gangs rule this place with an iron fist.”

Be A Local
bealocal.com

• Posted in  Culture
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April 27th, 2008

Hang gliding Rio - the video

Brendan

The Global Nomad

Had some issues uploading video earlier but they seem to be solved now. Check it out!

• Posted in  Adventure
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April 24th, 2008

Fly like a bird – Hang Gliding Rio

Brendan

The Global Nomad

There are some crazy pursuits that, more than others, cry out for the right venue. Bog diving, for example, just wouldn’t be the same outside Connemara Loughs. For me it’s always been bungee jumping in New Zealand. It’s not that I haven’t had chances other places, but somehow it just doesn’t seem the same jumping off a crane parked in an amusement park, with nary a bridge in sight.

And so it again seemed one of those times when I returned to Rio hell-bent on jumping off a cliff.

I had tried skydiving—that’s just insane—and bungee jumping was still waiting for my first trip to New Zealand. But hang gliding always struck me as the closest thing to actually flying: no engine. No plane. Hell, you even have wings. And what could be a more poetic, scenic and undeniably cool places to do it than from the dramatic cliffs above Rio de Janeiro, landing among the bikini-clad flesh sea…

Rio’s hang gliding central is São Conrado (aka “pepino”) beach, where a stretch of sand is reserved for the frequent landings. Gliders take off from Pedra Bonita, high above, and on a god day the queue to take off can be 5 or 6 gliders deep.

Costs vary from about 100 US and up, and finding a nut case willing to take you tandem is often as easy as walking Copacabana beach looking slightly unstable. Although it is possible to get cheaper rides this way, it has always seemed prudent to me to pay a little extra for quality when dealing with situations involving potential death. (This is the same logic I applied when renting automatic weapons in Cambodia. So far so good.)

For my first-ever hang gliding experience I chose Just Fly. They were professional and fun, and they even managed to get my acrophobic girlfriend to run off a cliff. Kudos to them.

For an incredible experience you will never forget (especially if you choose the optional CD with photos of your flight from a wing-mounted camera), take the plunge. If her grin afterwards is any indication, it’s even fun for the more sane among us.

Bonus: the typical flight path takes you close to Rocinha, the largest favela (see next post) in Latin America—a bird’s eye view of how millions of poorer Brazilians live. Oh, and you fly over the beach and beautiful mansions as well, but hey, that’s Rio for you.

Just Fly
$144 USD at time of writing for a 10-minute flight

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• Posted in  Adventure
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April 20th, 2008

Caipirinhas and Cachaça, vol. 1

Brendan

The Global Nomad

Most countries have their own favourite classic cocktail—you know, the kind you’re likely to get offered at every turn. In Peru it’s a Pisco sour. In Cuba it’s the mojito. Probably the closest thing us Canadians have is the Bloody Caesar. (for those non Canadians out there, it’s a Bloody Mary with Clamato instead of tomato juice).

In the case of Brazil, it’s the ubiquitous Caipirinha. (kahee-pee-REE-nya) It seems that as soon as they’re stamped your passport you are offered one. Then another every 23 minutes after.

Like the original Cuban daiquiri, the caipirinha is the quintessential local drink for an (originally) sugar-based economy: sugar (grown locally), cachaca, made form sugar, and lime, grown down the road. That’s it.

The result is that caipirinhas are 1) pretty darned cheap, and 2) pretty friggin strong. Brazilians have a notoriously heavy pouring hand when it comes to the bottle, so if you plan to partake, make sure you don’t have any complex tasks to accomplish. Like breathing. Oh and stay away from heavy machinery.

So with no further ado, I bring you the real Brazilian Caipirinha:

2 ½ oz. (at least) cachaça
1 lime, cut into quarters, then crosswise
1-2 tablespoons sugar, depending on your taste

Instructions:

1) Put lime and sugar into a tall glass (or coconut, or whatever). Mash together with a wooden pestle (great souvenir BTW) or similar object.

2) Add cachaça, equal in amount to the lime juice.

3) Add ice and stir, or better yet, cover and shake.

Variations on the theme include Caipiroska – with vodka instead of Cachaça—plus any number of fruits instead of lime. Good luck!

• Posted in  Drinking, Eating, Partying
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April 14th, 2008

Churrasco – Brazil’s meat on a Stick

Brendan

The Global Nomad

Brazilians like their meat. Hands-down the best way to experience this is to join the force-feeding frenzy that is a Brazilian Churrasco. (Tip: don’t eat for several days beforehand.)

Churasco (chuh-HAS-ko), is a style of dining whereby an enormous barbecue with giant swords of rotating meat tries desperately to keep up with a room full of hungry patrons scarfing down flesh like their lives depended on it.

The way it works is simple: each diner is issued a small disc, one side of which is green and the other side red. To start the deluge, simply leave the disc in front of you with the green side up.

Likely the first thing that will happen is a waiter will bring a platter or cart with every imaginable tropical drink on it. Like a dessert tray, these are simply samples; just choose what you like and they will bring a fresh one (and if you haven’t yet, this might be a good time to try a caipirinha. More about that in another post.)

Next, a flood of random starch will quickly fill your table. Some of these may be familiar (french-fries, rice) and others may not (fried cassava, or the powdery farofa, also made with cassava flour). Although you may wonder if they are expecting a football team to join your table, these are just side dishes.

Then the meat. As long as your green light is showing, a constant stream of waiters wielding enormous swords of meat will stop by the table, brandishing giant knives and offering to slice off anything from chicken hearts to filet mignon. (This style of serving is called rodízio) The solid Brazilian fav is picanha (pi-KAN-ya), or rump steak—easy to recognise as it looks like a giant string of the letter “c” written in meat. Make sure to be ready with the little tongs issued with your cutlery—you use them to grab the end of the meat before it has been completely sliced off (the waiter will stop halfway to allow you to do this) so it doesn’t end up on the floor.

Once your distended belly has had enough, simply flip the disc to the red side (usually with something written on it that translates as “for the love of God, make it stop”) and you are done…or just taking a rest. As if this isn’t enough, many churrasco places also have a buffet table with everything from salad to sushi, and of course there is also a dessert cart.

Churrasco can be an affordable way to have a great feed, especially if you make it your main meal for the day. Be aware though, that they make much of their money on the extras, so that the reasonable all-you-can-eat price can double with a few beers plus desserts.

In Rio, Carretão (locations in Copacabana and Ipanema) is one of the most affordable (if more moderate quality) ways to experience the meaty madness.

• Posted in  Eating
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April 10th, 2008

Footie Time

Brendan

The Global Nomad

As any Brazilian will tell you, Catholicism is only the country’s second most important religion. Number one? Futebol. And this coming from the largest Catholic population in the world.

There’s no question that when it comes to the world’s most popular sport, it’s hard to beat the Brazilians, on the field or in the stands. So what could be more Brazilian than going to a soccer match? And if you’re going to do it, you might as well do it right: go to Rio’s Maracanã stadium.

When Maracanã was opened in 1950 to host the FIFA world cup, it was by far the largest stadium in the world; attendance at the final match was 200 000, the largest crowd to attend a soccer match in history. Today the place seats a more modest 95 000. To see Brazilians truly in their element, a game should be on any curious visitor’s agenda—football fan or not.

Finding out when games are on isn’t hard—just ask any carioca (Rio resident). If your Portuguese is as bad as mine, you can always check online. Here is one listing, posted by a Brazilian tour guide: http://futebolnomaracana.blogspot.com/

Some tips for taking in a game:

• Buy tickets ahead of time. Things get crazier, more crowded and more drunken the closer the game gets. Save yourself the headache and the long lineups and go earlier in the day or even a day or two before.
• Tickets can be bought at Maracanã itself, but there are other places if that isn’t convenient. If you are going to a local club game, tickets can be bought at the local stadiums of each team. Price is about 10-15 USD.
• Repeat after me: Botafogo. Fluminense. Flamengo. Vasco da Gama.
• Wear the right colours. Better yet, get a jersey from your favourite team. Just be sure to…
• Sit in the right place. Or rather, make sure not to sit in the wrong place. If in doubt, get seats in the white section, which is mellower, in the middle and less partisan.
• To tour or not to tour: most hotels or hostels can set you up with a company like bealocal.com who will pick you up, get you tickets, and bring you to and from your seats. Be aware, though that naturally there is a premium for this—the evening will set you back about 70 USD.

Note that games are played later than you may expect, to allow working people to get home and then to the game in time. At the time of writing, weekday games start at 9:45pm and weekend games at 6:10pm.

• Posted in  Culture
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April 6th, 2008

Destination: Brazil

Brendan

The Global Nomad

Sex, dancing and partying: it seems the Brazilians have made a science of all that is fun in life. The world champions of hedonism were no doubt aided by a lush land and steamy climate, but still there is something different about Brazilians. For one, they are the most diverse country in Latin America, not to mention the continent’s only former Portuguese colony. One of the largest countries in the world, Brazil certainly has plenty to see—the Amazon and Iguaçu falls come to mind—but more than anything it’s the Brazilian passion for life, epitomised in Rio’s Carnival celebrations, that will make you fall in love and want to return again.

• Posted in  Destination Overview
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